Greetings and Good Morning to you! Happy Monday!
I hope that you’re off to an amazing start this Monday morning. Today, I wanted to focus on what it means to follow your passion. I think, the phrase, "follow your passion", is something that sounds great, but what about what happens when you do, "follow your passion". No one really talks about the “joys and pains of following your passion”. Since I’m in this stage of my life, “following my passion”, I thought I’d talk about the ups and downs that I’m facing, as I go through the process right now. Maybe reading my story will motivate and inspire us all to keep going. So, without further delay, “let’s dive right in”!
The easiest part of following your passion, is probably saying you want to do so. For me, following my passion meant, trying my hand at becoming a writer full-time, self-publishing my first romance novel, and starting my own business. When I left my job as Senior Budget Analyst and Supplier Diversity, at a well-known insurance carrier in the northeast earlier this year, I was excited to finally be able to follow my passion. I decided to do what I’ve loved all of my love life, and that is writing. It was a longtime dream to become a professional writer. I’d never believed I could or would have a career doing it. So for many years, I focused my strengths in other areas. But, those jobs never fulfilled me. Getting started following my passion wasn’t easy, but it wasn’t completely difficult either. The hardest part for me after actually following my passion, is staying true to what I love and not getting discouraged. When, I finished and self-published my first book, The Violet Rose, I was so proud of my accomplishment. However, I was still in the same place as before, and to be quite honest sales were low. After releasing the book, I had high hopes to build a strong following, have a strong presence on my social media platforms, build my mailing list, but all of that has been slow to get up and running. Now, I do realize the growth will come in time, and I knew that it would be hard, but I didn’t think I would feel so defeated in the process. It’s hard work, and there are no guarantees. I’m responsible for everything, if all of this fails, it means I've failed at trying to follow my passion. When everything goes as planned, you’ll feel like you’re on top of the world. However, they’ll be moments when it feels like you want to give up. Going back to a regular nine to five job is not an option for me. So I have to stay the course, change my strategy, and stay positive. I will say, having positive reinforcement and encouragement from family and friends will go a long way. I’m still working through the growing pains of being a new writer and first time business owner. However, my message for today is NEVER GIVE UP! You can do this, I can do this, we can do this! Whatever your passion is execute it with determination. If you can relate, we’re the lucky ones because, we were tough enough to follow our passions! With that said, we’re also human and there’s going to be joys and pains while following our passion. However, if we stick with it, mold it, and nurture it, success will come, and that’s the day that I’m striving to one day see.
Remember following your passion is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. There will be joyous times and you will experience some pain. The key is to “stay the course”, believe in yourself, and never forget the importance of why you decided to follow your passion.
Happy Monday! Stay motivated and go out there and give whatever you’re passionate about, all that you got!
Thank you for reading my post today. Hey, do me a favor, if you like or love this post, please discuss it, comment on it, and share it often with your family and friends in social media universe.
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