We live in a time of change. You can feel it in the air. Some are afraid. Some are excited.
Some are losing their homes.
Some are making a fortune.
Where you are doesn’t matter, it’s where you’re going and what you’re doing that is important.
You’ve probably been thinking about starting a business or have already started. You might have a blog, website or an eBay store, all that doesn’t matter.
Those are merely tools and platforms that you transmit your energy and message through.
The important question to ask is “are you doing things that change people’s lives for the better?”
Now, this doesn’t have to be a big thing. If your passion is to make and sell jewelry you’re already improving people’s lives by doing what you love.
The mere act of you being happy and following your heart makes a difference.
We all have different things we like to do. The only problem is that most people are too afraid to be themselves and allow their gifts to shine.
We’re not all here to be the next Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela or Martin Luther King. There are no rules that tell you what you can and cannot do.
It’s Not About the Platform
As my blog has grown, I’ve started getting e-mails from people asking me what platform they should use. Should you blog, start a website, do the eBay thing or start an offline business?
Those are all platforms. They are all great and they have different advantages and disadvantages. In the end, it is up to you to pick one that resonates and fits your personality.
For me, I’ve always liked doing stuff online. When I became serious about building an income through websites in the beginning of 2009, I was instantly drawn towards websites and blogs.
They are an effective way to get started without spending a lot of money. All that is required is a lot of hard work, patience and persistence. I’m at least decent at those, so that’s what I chose.
I recommend you learn from experience instead of reading too much. Less thinking, more doing.
It’s Not About Being Perfect
Passion, purpose, or whatever you want to call it, they are all interesting labels. They mean different things to different people.
What I’ve learned is that most people have many passions. No one has just one, and the thing that stops us is the fear of picking the wrong one.
I’m here to tell you that you can pick one, work on it and then work on another. Stop stressing over small stuff and get started.
Another one of my passions is natural health, and before I started the Wake Up Cloud, I was afraid that I was going to miss out if I just focused on one area, but I realized that I couldn’t dilute the blog with more topics, at least not in the beginning.
I now realize that there are other avenues that I can use as an outlet for my passion, such as guest posting, or just putting in tidbits here and there in my blog posts.
I can always start another blog later on, but the focus right now is to work on what I have in front of me. It’s all well and good to try stuff, but there comes a time when you have to focus and start taking action if you want to get anywhere.
It’s Not About You
The more I’ve started doing what I love and following my heart, the more inspired I feel and the more ideas I have to provide value and make a difference.
When you focus on what you can do for others, good things happen. Now, I’m not saying to give away everything you know.
It’s perfectly okay to create products that help people and charge money for them. There’s nothing wrong with making money.
What I’m saying is that when your focus is on helping people and changing people’s lives, the results you have will be much greater than you could ever imagine.
The Wake Up Cloud has been growing faster than I ever thought possible. My goal from the beginning was to help and connect with people, and I think it’s one of the reasons why good stuff is happening.
I take my own experiences and do my best to translate them into valuable bits of information that others can use to improve their own lives.
Stop asking what you can get and start giving people stuff that makes a difference. We all have the potential. It’s scary, but now more than ever is the time to step up and do your part.
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Hi Henri, this really makes sense here to focus on how to give value for other people and make a difference in their lives, instead of focusing on what we can get out of it. In you’re example of your blog growing big, it’s because you’ve went out there and helped people out, providing in a way that you could. I think you know a lot of us when starting out want to things perfect, and because we’re so concerned about not making any mistakes, we never take action. That’s why agree with you that whatever our aim is, we need to just get out there and start taking action whether it’s perfect or not perfect.
Something that has really helped me get over my perfectionism is to look at other people making it online and how non-perfect their blogs, products and courses are. They aren’t the most awesome in the world, yet people like them because of the value, content and personality. Pretty interesting it is 😉
Hey Henri,
This is some great advice. Having been one of those people sitting on the sidelines of life for a while, I’ve recently decided to stop thinking about the things I want to do and just jump in.
I just started writing my blog. So far, it’s been great. Many of my worries have evaporated, and I’ve never felt this kind of focused purpose in my life. Like you said, if this writing/blog thing doesn’t work out the way I’m headed, no big deal. I’ll try it something else out in a different direction. For now, though, I need to focus on the present.
I’ve realized that it’s not necessary to be 100% sure that it’s what you want to do. The most important step is to stop thinking about it and just jump in. That way, if it’s not what you want to do, you’re that much closer to figuring it out.
Thanks for the inspiring post, Henri.
Mark, you’re rocking it! That’s exactly what happens to me. I’m currently learning a lot of different aspects of blogging and building a business. It’s confusing, but just by taking action and trying what works, everything becomes so much clearer.
Hey Henri!
What you say is very true, it’s about giving our gift to the world without expecting anything in return. The medium through which you give that gift does not matter, it can be a blog, it can be music, it can be painting, it can be poetry or anything that you wish.
I really recommend reading the book ‘Linchpin’ by Seth Godin. It totally changed my persepective of pretty much most things in life we all take for granted and it shows how everyone can make a difference by being a true artist.
Cheers!
Diggy
I’ve actually read Linchpin and I really liked it. It’s a good reminder and kick in the ass. Definitely a must read for everyone that haven’t read it yet.
It’s interesting how when you don’t really need the money and are focused on helping, the money comes anyway. If you give value, you’ll get value.
What simple and yet sensible advice, I particularly like the comment “Less thinking, more doing.” I’ve been thinking about starting a business for a while, but kept getting talked out of it (I’ve written a post about that on my blog!). However, I’ve recently started working on my business, and because I’m passionate about it I know it’s going to succeed. That’s such an inspiring feeling!
Awesome comment, Topi!
Something I realized is that you have to be willing to jump in and start experimenting. Chances are that you will fail a lot in the beginning, but the more you do it, the better you’ll get and soon enough you’ll succeed and become an “overnight success” 😉
I completely agree with your mention of just get started with something. Too many times we put off doing something because we feel we don’t have the right widget or tool.
I’ve fallen prey to this trap lately. I wrote a small desktop application about three years ago. When I first created it I just started from nothing and added to it until I felt comfortable with it for selling and put it out on the web. It’s still selling to this day with no updates posted in over three years. Now compare that with the update to that same product. I’ve been stalling updating it because I’ve been trying to find the best architecture for it, the best UI, etc. I’ve been putting off and delaying it only because I keep waiting for the perfect “thing” to come together. Now in hindsight, if I’d just updated the application shortly after it was first released I would now have an application that’s up to date, but instead I have an application that’s unusable on the latest version of Windows and now I’m scrambling in my free time to get it finished.
It’s best just to do “something”, “anything” to get started towards your goals and dreams in life.
I really enjoy reading your posts, keep it up.
Thank you for your kind words, Victor!
What a great story. It’s funny how these things become apparent to us after we’ve spun around in the same circle for a while. Just the fact that you’ve become aware of it will help you break the pattern and adjust your course towards success.
Nice article Henri. I also believe that you should do what you have a passion for. I personally started with the idea of making money through my blog but now I have realized that it’s not about this anymore. It’s about helping other people. It’s not about me.
Keep it up man 😉
It’s a tough line to balance. We all want to make money, and we should, but we have to focus on delivering value first. Thanks for stopping by, Julius!
Very nice article, Henri. I already see enough comments which bring my points up. So thanks and keep up the good work!
Thanks for reading!
“The mere act of you being happy and following your heart makes a difference.”
This is a great point. I’ve always believed that a happy me will be able to benefit others much more than an unhappy me. While some feel that concentrating on your own goals is a selfish approach, in actuality, it is way to lead by example and hopefully inspires other to go after their passions as well.
I couldn’t agree more, Earl. In order for us to help others, we must first ourselves become better. As Gandhi said “be the change you want to see in the world.”
I too have realised recently that I have more than one passion. Like you said, that doesn’t need to be a reason not to take action. Choosing a platform and moving forward where your heart is calling, helps things fall into place.
You are a very inspiring guy Henri! 🙂 Thanks for another reminder to get out there and do!
Jen
Thanks for another heart-warming comment, Jen!
Just following one of the paths that are laid before you will get you started on your journey. Even though they may seem to lead into different directions, they all end in the same place. As they say “all roads lead to Rome” 😉
Good morning Henri. You definitely have your fingers on the pulse here. Particularly with what has happened in the financial world, I think people are looking more at the value of their qualitative contributions to their working life. I have coached people who have left corporate life, either by choice or by redundancy, and many of them are using the situation as an opportunity to tap into their passions and capitalize on them too. The bonus culture formerly seen in banking is being reinvented by a lot of people. ‘Bonus’ can be other forms of payment – seeing yours kids, for instance, or doing a job you love (even if it’s for less dosh). Great post.
It’s pretty cool how many people are realizing that you really don’t have to make millions to be happy. You can settle with less and have more time to spend on the things you truly enjoy, just like you said.
Have an awesome day, Mandy!
Thanks for the encouragement, Henri. Nice post, as usual.
I am a generalist: a person who has many interests and hobbies. Initially, I tried to be a specialist, but I failed. My mind does not work that way at all. Not at all.
I had to be versatile because, as a child, I had a short attention span. So, this was my way to cope. Otherwise, life would have become unbearable, to be sure.
If you can’t sit still, you can always play sports. If you feel bored with sports, you can always go to a reading room. If you become bored with that, there is always the option to go swimming. If you still feel restless, watch an art movie. And so on.
You can also become a more versatile person by reading widely and deeply; by learning how to play a musical instrument; by developing your imagination and aesthetic faculties; and by playing sports and learning martial arts. And so on.
This makes you a more interesting person to talk with, and also translates into contributing to society.
If you client is a martial artist, you can talk to him/her with ease and comfort. This helps you cultivate a better relationship with others.
Thus, stepping out of your comfort zone can help in so many ways. This is what I got from your post.
Being focused on other people can help you get results, provided you focus on yourself first and take calculated risks to learn things you normally would not. You have to be willing to experiment with various genres to crack the code.
In the end, not only will you better yourself as a human being, but your clients will thank you for it. People tend to like people who have interesting things to say.
They just found an entrepreneur who they can finally relate to.
And you become “easy to talk to” and a “joy to be with” and guess who meets the sales quota? No prizes for guessing and no cigar for the right answer. Cheers!
Excellent points, Archan. You’re completely right. The people that have a lot of experiences are much more fun to talk to, because they actually have stories to share and the more you can relate to someone, the more you’ll like them.
Exactly. If you want to create your own product, you can always start small and charge $7 for it, then keep building on the feedback you get and keep raising the price.
Definitely pick up everything from Seth Godin. His books are a treasure trove of information!