Suck It Up and Do What You Love
Screw fear. Screw convention. You’re born to create.
I’m not the first person to say, “You don’t need permission from anyone to do what you love!”. Yet I’ve met so many amazing people who have such a fear of life they wouldn’t dare spend time on passions or creative goals.
“I’m too tired” or “I don’t know what to do”. This breaks my heart as I’m sure yours too.
For anyone who may be on the fence, in the gray area, or need a boost I’ve compiled reasons why you SHOULD take the time to do what you love.
Screw fear.
Screw convention.
What your mom/ dad/ lover/ friend says.
You’ll be happier
Way too many people put off doing what they love. Whether because of fear, excuses, or procrastination these really are just forms of resistance. “Don’t you want to be happier?” is what I feel like saying while shaking them by the shoulders.
Doing what you’re creatively called to do causes so much joy and growth there are forces out there opposing it. I believe in God so for me there’s an adversarial force who doesn’t want me to be happy (sometimes it’s me!). For others, it’s resistance. For every great thing there’s an equal opposite force.
You don’t have to commit to hours on end either. Start with ten minutes a day. That’s large enough to feel like you’ve accomplished something and small enough to have no excuse.
Ten minutes every day for a month is a lot easier than four hours on one day in a month.
What you love can stay a hobby
In this day and age of making a living off of “any-passion-you-can-think-of” it’s easy to feel enormous pressure even thinking of what you’re passionate about. Paralyzed when you see dozens of people doing the same thing. Guess what? You can have a day job and do what you’re passionate about too.
Elizabeth Gilbert actually encourages this in her book Big Magic. She kept her day job even after her hit novel Eat Pray Love was on its way to worldwide success. She clearly states that depending on your creativity to make a living kills it. You’ll start resenting your art and shut off the channel of inspiration when your livelihood depends on it.
“But to yell at your creativity, saying, “You must earn money for me!” is sort of like yelling at a cat; it has no idea what you’re talking about, and all you’re doing is scaring it away, because you’re making really loud noises and your face looks weird when you do that.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Most successful creatives had regular day jobs, worked on their craft, then made it big.
If you just want to write for fun before work or on weekends? Great! If you want to be able to quit your job to earn from your passion? Awesome. Either way start working ten minutes to an hour a day before or after work. Just be consistent. Give yourself that extra boost by doing something you love every day.
You’ll become more connected to your authentic self.
If you’re connected to your authentic spirit then you can know what it’s like to be your brightest self. Creativity is a huge part of who we are and allows us to create something larger than the confines of the tangible world.
Life is short.
“Do whatever brings you to life, then. Follow your own fascinations, obsessions, and compulsions. Trust them. Create whatever causes a revolution in your heart.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
It’s wise to start thinking of possible regrets now not when it’s too late. Whatever it is you’re doing in your life right now ask yourself:
“Will I be proud of the work I’m doing 20 years from now looking back?” If the answer is no then it’s time for a change. This is the process I went through when I left the music industry. My answer was no.
“Will I regret missing out on this opportunity?” If the answer is yes then there’s no looking back. Do it.
Now I ask this same question with everything I do. This is a great way to be proactive and make sure I’m not saying yes or no to something out of fear.
You have something inside of you only you can create.
Who do I think I am? I’ll tell you who I am: I am a child of God, just like anyone else. I am a constituent of this universe. I have a right to collaborate with creativity, because I myself am a product and a consequence of creation.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear
Imagine if J.K. Rowling didn’t believe she had a story worth sharing. Or if Thomas Edison didn’t believe he had the capacity to create something new like the light bulb. They (as well as any person who’s created something that touched the lives of others) believed what was stirring inside of them was important enough to make tangible and share with the world.
Start believing you have a purpose. Make affirmations and get rid of the negative self talk. I believe in affirmations so much I created a free download for anyone who needs help creating their own. You got this!
You’ll inspire others to be their best selves.
Be the person who takes the lead. Don’t be the person who waits around for permission from others. For a bit, I needed external validation to keep my momentum going but now I’ve created an internal dependence. So now it doesn’t matter what people do around me. I keep going.
As a social species we thrive off the influences of one another (or don’t thrive if an influence is bad). Think of the times you felt inspired seeing someone close to you chase after a dream or fail then pick themselves up again. I have friends this very second who push themselves hard to succeed and it helps feed my fire.
Also, believe it or not, people want to see you succeed. Think of the last time you witnessed someone else doing something and you wanted them to do well. For example, in my German class a teacher-in-training taught us for thirty minutes in order to pass evaluations. She was extremely nervous. So everyone in the class made an extra effort to interact with her, answer her questions, and make it a pleasant experience. We wanted her to succeed! Most good people who interact with us want to see us rise.
This kind of goodwill and energy is wonderful, contagious, and a huge blessing. Be passionate about your work and bless others with your light.
Conclusion
There’s nothing more satisfying than being connected with your true calling. Expressing yourself in the purest way possible by drawing from the ethereal realm of creativity and bringing to Earth what can only be revealed through you. Your soul will thank you.
Don’t put off the gentle and quiet pull deep within your soul asking you to listen and create. Your soul takes its truest form in creativity. Time stops, the spirit expands, and lives are changed.
This is the stuff of life. We’ve all bought into the lie long enough. The world doesn’t want you to remember what’s important. Your soul does. You owe it to yourself and the world.
Take Action
Get your mindset into kickass shape by downloading my affirmation freebie.
Commit to a 30 day creativity challenge! You choose the terms: 10 minutes of writing a day, 15 minutes a day painting, etc. Pick a time limit which is challenging but not discouraging.
