Live a life of passion

It’s been said if you want to be happy for a year, win the Lottery. If you want to be happy for the rest of your life, make a living doing something you love.

All this talk about living the dream and making a living doing what you love has made me think of my son’s story. I thought I would share it here and maybe encourage you to go after your dreams, no matter how far out of reach they may seem.

When my son was in preschool, he wanted to be a professional wrestler like nearly every other preschooler. As he got older his aspirations changed to professional ballplayer—either football or baseball, depending on which season we were in. Sadly, the poor thing took his athletic abilities after his mother and only made the team because our local school was so small, they didn’t cut anyone. If you showed up in cleats, you were on the team.

It wasn’t until high school when a friend of mine asked him to provide color commentary for broadcasts of our county schools' ballgames that he found his passion. For the first time, he was able to combine his brains with his love for sports. He thought, “I’ve got to figure out a way to do this for a living.”

Everyone knows it's highly unlikely to get a paying job doing something like that. ESPN wasn’t hiring precocious kids who loved ball.

He took his scholarships and enrolled in a traditional college. It didn’t take long, though, for him to realize this was not the path he wanted to take. Against everyone’s advice, he quit school and entered the Ohio School of Broadcasting, a non-accredited school that meant he lost all his scholarship money.

As his mother, I worried and listened to all my friends tell me he was making a huge mistake and I needed to step in and make him see the light, and did I want him living in my basement the rest of his life. I held my breath and prayed he was doing the right thing.

He soon got an internship for a local talk radio station. That eventually led to hosting a show on a local country music station where I only heard his voice during 10-second promo spots between programming. The job paid minimum wage so he cleaned floors at Kroger’s, worked the front desk at a discount motel chain, and worked a short time at an Amazon distribution center just to pay the rent while pursuing his dream.

Fast forward five years. Those little spots on the radio, working for peanuts and experience, led to a producer’s job in a major market. Now he interviews celebrities, athletes, and politicians for a living. He’s paid to attend sporting events and concerts. Last month his station even gave away tickets to attend a major sporting event with him as a prize to a lucky caller.

Whatever your dreams, there are ways to make them come true. Spoiler: It will take a ton of hard work and personal sacrifice. You will endure abuse and ridicule from friends and family who think you are wasting your time or making a huge mistake. The only question to ask yourself is: How bad do you want it?

Only you know the answer.

Livin' the Dream

Did you know more people suffer heart attacks on Monday mornings than at any other time? I can’t say I was surprised the first time I read that statistic. My father-in-law used to say he dreaded Sunday nights because he knew the next morning he had to get up and go to a place he hated. He did this for nearly forty years. A sad way to spend the biggest part of your life if you ask me. So what can a person do in this situation? Regardless of what Washington wants us to believe, the economy is still wretched. Millions out of work. Millions more giving up on looking for work. People with Master’s Degrees serving up iced coffees at Starbucks. Finding any job is tough. Finding one you love can be nearly impossible. You can’t just walk away from a job because you don’t like it or it doesn’t fulfill your calling, and you’re destined for greater things.

Recently I heard a man say he didn’t dislike his job, but he loved doing something else. He wanted more out of life than to spend it doing a job he didn’t hate. Maybe you don’t dread Monday mornings either. You don’t hate your job, and you’ve never really thought about leaving it. But is it what you imagined doing when you were a kid? Does that job give you an opportunity to impact your world the way you want?
I’m a true believer in doing what you were designed to do, not what pays the most and has the best benefits. We’re on this earth for such a short time. God has created each of us with specific talents and gifts for a reason. I believe it’s our responsibility to use those talents and strengths to impact our world.

I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to look back on a life of regrets. The if only I had… Or I wish I did…when I had the chance. What is your dream? What would you rather be doing today to impact your world than what you’re doing right now? It isn’t too late you know. If you’re still breathing—and you must be if you’re reading this—you can make a difference and begin to make each day count.

You probably can’t walk away from your job today. You probably won’t move to a different part of the world by the end of the week to pursue a dream you’ve always had. You might not even be interested in a big change, but something small that could alter the legacy you wish to leave. Whatever your dreams or ambitions, there is probably a step you can take today to get closer to them. Closer to making your life better. What will you do today to make this day count?

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw off the bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” ---Mark Twain

Take it Like a Man

Summer break is only two weeks old and everyone is already posting pics all over social media of the amazing things they’re doing. Everybody but me. So far my summer is going like every other season of the year. Work. Writing. Dinner. Dishes. Laundry. Repeat. I can’t help but wonder if summer is any different for those posting all the pics. Or are they faking it to convince themselves as much as to convince me?

Do you ever compare yourself to someone else? I think we all do. The other day my friend posted this pic on FaceBook.

She is a wonderful person—funny, loving, generous, beautiful inside and out—the best kind of friend. Even with all those things going for her, she sees herself in a negative light because of how she thinks she looks. Isn’t that sad? We are all created in God’s image and have something to offer the world. But it’s easy to forget when it seems everyone else is the perfect size, looks great in a swimsuit, has raised beautiful, successful children, and has never put her foot in her mouth.

I recently read a study that showed men spend three times as much time looking in the mirror as women. While women focus on what they believe are their negative qualities, men only see what they consider strengths.

How can men overlook their faults while women are unable to look past a simple flaw?
I have never heard my husband fret with his buddies over putting on a few pounds over the holidays. If one of them brings it up, it’s to brag about it. I heard one say as long as stores keep stocking bigger shirts he’ll eat whatever he wants.

Not women. If a friend loses weight, we belittle ourselves for not sticking to our diets. We might even secretly hope she’s been sick or depressed, and we aren’t complete failures that we couldn’t lose while she made it look so effortless.

It isn’t only our weight that makes us compare ourselves unfavorably to others. Have you ever told a joke that fell flat? When men do it, they don’t seem to notice. If they do, they shrug it off and tell the same joke 100 more times, thinking for sure it’ll be a hit this time. Not women. We punish ourselves for months and dread the memory of the time we embarrassed ourselves at a party. Even though in truth most every witness to our social faux pas doesn’t even remember it.

Maybe we give ourselves more credit than we deserve. When we embarrass ourselves or gain too much weight or don’t have vacations as interesting as someone else, we imagine the whole world is judging us. In truth, the world is too busy examining their own embarrassing moments and has forgotten all about ours.

As men seemed to have figured out, we women need to learn not to take ourselves too seriously. It’s a given we’re going to say dumb things. We’re going to walk out of a restroom with our skirt caught in our pantyhose—figuratively speaking I hope. Life happens. When it does, man up. Laugh off those less than stellar moments and don’t forget no one’s summer vacation is nearly as fun or angst free as it appears on social media.

Write your Passion--Part 2

The other day I posted about a friend from church who asked me how to get started writing. Her mother has been posting mini-devotionals on FaceBook for over a year. She let me read the most recent, and it was quite good. It had all the necessary elements of a good story. An interesting anecdote with a touch of humor. What the writer learned from the experience. A takeaway application for the reader.

My friend wanted to know how her mother could put these together into a book. Her mother had already done the work. The writing part. A little more work and she could turn her writing into a passive income. I was quick to assure her it isn't easy. Too many people think it is. No successful writer becomes that way by sticking a few cute stories together and throwing them onto Amazon where they sell day and night for the rest of the writer's life...and beyond.

It is so much work. That said, there is money to be made writing. The simplest way to do that is to find your passion and to write it. What are you passionate about? Sports? A particular sport or all sports? Either way, you are not the only one. Cooking? Kids? (My bad. I didn't mean cooking kids. You saw the question mark, right?) Animal rescue? Craft beer? Knitting?

Whatever your interest, someone else is interested in it, too, and they are looking for more information. What have you learned while pursuing your passion? Suppose you make the most delicious Parker House rolls for every family dinner and church function. A friend called you today and asked you to teach her how to bake them. Could you? Providing you aren't planning to take your secret to the grave, could you teach her how to make your Parker House rolls?

If you can explain it to a friend, you can write it. If you can write it, you can turn your passion into an income stream. If you bake the best Parker House rolls, chances are you can bake something else. Do you know how many cooking shows are on TV right now? A lot. People love it. Even non-bakers are fascinated in the art of baking. Lucky for you it's your passion?

There hasn't been a better time in history to be a writer. Or to become one. All you need is something you're passionate about and the desire to share that passion with others. Give it a try. What do you have to lose? There is so much to gain.

Write your Passion

Someone asked me today about how to get started writing. Let me warn you, the moment you become a published author everyone you ever met will come to you with that question. Some are interested in writing books. Most, like the woman today, write smaller things, like inspirational or how-to articles and devotionals. Since this blog was created to inspire & encourage you to live life to the fullest, and there are probably others out there wondering the same thing as my friend, I thought I would answer her questions here.

Most of us, including ones who have no interest in writing, believe we have something to say. Something to share with the world. In today’s digital age, it is easier than ever for writers to share our message, and almost a shame if we don’t. Blog posts like this one, devotionals, sermonettes, or articles can be put together with a common theme and published as an ebook.

Suppose you are an expert on early childhood education and have written articles for magazines or your local newspaper. You could collect some of those articles on a common theme—let’s say potty training—and create a book.

Ebooks don’t have to be long. In fact, some of the most successful are less than fifty pages. It depends on your topic of course. But let’s stick with potty training. I would imagine you can say all you need to say about how to inspire a little one to use the big boy or girl potty in less than 50 pages. If we’re talking about childhood anxieties or something more complex, it would probably be a whole different matter. Not that potty training isn’t complex, especially for those in the throes of it.

If you’ve written articles on a particular subject, you’ve already done the work. The only things left to do are to find your common theme, put the articles together in a cohesive format, hopefully add a few things that haven’t been previously published, and format for publication. You’ll need a catchy cover & blurb that draws the reader in, of course.

Series is king. Since we started with early childhood education, we’ll stick with that example. You are an expert in more than just potty training. There are so many topics parents are interested in that you know all about. You know the arguments on both sides of the vaccination issue. What to look for in choosing a preschool. How to break a thumb sucking habit. How to overcome separation anxiety. The list goes on and on.

Start going through those old articles and blog posts. You probably have more than you realize. If not, write some. What topics interest you most? What do you know a lot about? How can you share your knowledge with others & become a published author at the same time?

Happy writing.

One-Problem Writing by Dennis Becker--A review

Last week I downloaded a free copy of One-Problem Writing: A Writer's Guide to Speed writing Helpful, Nonfiction Books & Earning Money in 7 Days or Less.

If you're looking for a textbook or week-long study guide, this book isn't it. It's only about 70 pages. But that should be pretty obvious from the description. By the title alone, you should be able to figure out what you're getting. In short order, Mr. Becker explains how anyone can write a one-problem book and make money off it. Best of all, your one-problem books can lead readers to your other writing or whatever business you're in.

I never thought about writing nonfiction before because I didn't think I knew enough about anything to write a book on it. That's why I stick with fiction where I can make up everything. But Mr. Becker's book showed me even I know enough about something to write a one-problem book about it.

I've published ten fiction titles, but I wasn't sure where to start with a nonfiction project. I downloaded several books to explain the process, but this one was the most concise, logical, and exciting. After gobbling down the book, I couldn't wait to get started. I particularly loved Mr. Becker's challenge to all readers to write and publish a one-problem book in 7 days. I sort of cheated since I already had a project in my head and halfway mapped out. Now a week later, my project is written, though not formatted or in order for publication. I'm waiting to finish at least one more title so I can release as a series. Thanks, Mr. Becker. for a great little resource.

Click on the link above to grab yours.

Seize the Day

Know the true value of time; snatch, seize and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness...never put off till tomorrow what you can do today. - Lord Chesterfield

I have a friend who says he’s always wanted to write a book. Actually, just about every person I meet tells me this. Then they say they would, but they are too busy. They offer to tell me their idea and let me write it. Okay, that’s not going to happen. I have enough of my own ideas, thank you very much.

Even though my friend insists he doesn't have time to write, he apparently enjoys discussing his ideas with me. He is a busy man. He has a family and a full-time job and property that needs maintained. But he also watches sports on television every weekend. He is nearly addicted to computer games and loves surfing the Net for news coverage.

All of us—no matter how busy we are—find time for what’s important to us. If it matters enough, we'll carve the time from somewhere in our schedules. Writing is hard. It’s lonely and usually more work than it’s worth. It's easier and a lot more fun to sit around and talk about the art of writing and discuss plotlines and characters than to actually fasten our butts to the chair and put words on the page. We put it off. We say; “Someday”.

The problem is, most of us do not put enough value on our time. Ask any successful person. It’s our most valuable commodity. Think back a few years to what you knew you should do and really meant to get around to. Were you thinking about contributing more money to your 401K? Or contributing any money to a 401K? What if you had started ten years ago? Or twenty? Just think how sweet your portfolio would look today.

Did you entertain notions of beginning an exercise plan at the first of the year? Maybe you didn’t, thinking you’d start after the weather got warm enough to get outside to exercise. Now it’s nearly June, and you’re no closer to your fitness goals than you were last June. Did you dream of starting a home-based business? You knew the steps you needed to take, but it was so daunting and overwhelming, you never got around to it.

Have you put off cultivating relationships with loved ones? Maybe there is something standing between you and a family member. A past hurt or wrong that left you both bitter and disillusioned. Time is passing and you want to make amends, but you don’t know how. Or you don’t want to make the first move.

The older I get—and, boy, have I gotten older in the last few years—the more I realize time is so so short. It is truly precious. We must seize every moment and hang on. All too soon, we’ll be looking back, wondering why we aren’t closer to our goals. Closer to what truly matters. We’ll wish we had acted sooner. Saved more money. Asked forgiveness. Offered it when no one asked. Written that book. Planted a tree outside the kitchen window. Fallen in love. Inspired someone.

Make each day count. Stop wasting time & seize each day you’re given.