Being in The Now

Individuals who pursue their passions as side-gigs and gradually ramp up are much more successful in the long run. 

This is because there’s less pressure, so you can take more risks. 

People with that “Go Big or Go Home” attitude tend to end up home. They get injured or burn out from doing too much, too fast, too soon. 

• It ignores the market. Unless you have a trust fund waiting for you, you’ll have to feed yourself and others. 
• It will turn a passion into a job. 

1. Identify real needs in the market that are currently not being well met. 
2. Assess your strengths: Whatever is easy for you that most others have a harder time with, that’s a worthy option.
3. Match up these two in a constantly iterative process: This process takes many years if not decades.

Let’s say that your passion is playing the guitar. What void can you fill in that marketplace? For example, if you can repair guitars and realize that there isn’t a repair shop anywhere else around, that could be a business opportunity.

You also need to ask yourself how you can make the industry better.

Think of all the various ways that you can actually make money off your passion. This may include:

• Selling an actual product.
• Sharing your knowledge about your passion by blogging, writing books or filming videos. 
• Offering advice as a consultant in anything from accounting to gardening.
• Becoming an investor in an idea that you’re willing to financially support.
• Inventing a gadget or software that makes life easier for people. 
• Building an event around your passion, such as a festival or community organization.

Writing is about thinking, researching, contemplating, outlining, composing, then maybe some typing with revisions as you go, deletions, additions, reflections, setting aside and returning afresh.
Typing is what you do in the middle of the two vast thoughtful processes.

Read good writing—Dickens or Baldwin or evolutionary biology textbooks or the Old Testament, whatever holds your attention.

Don't read something just because it is popular at the moment; otherwise, you will be like everyone else and will not be able to make a meaningful contribution.

With the whole world focused on success, instead of excellence, or happiness or personal growth, one has no choice but to strive to be successful.

While success is easy to define, as it has set metrics that are measurable, excellence is much harder to define because it is rare, difficult to scale, and ambiguous.

See how much of your life already matches your vision.  

You want to keep those things and remember that part of your vision is already happening.

Every decision you make about your life should reflect those values.

21–35% of our life is spent at work, making it a crucial part of our lives to spend at something we find meaning in.

Meaningful work should be:

• Motivating and purposeful.
• Should be coherent and make some sense.
• Should be significant.

Meaningful work is when we feel a genuine connection with what we do for a living and our larger spectrum of life.

It is motivating, creates deep relationships and helps others.

If you can't imagine not doing something, it's a passion. It doesn't have to be a moneymaker. 

Make your money some way that will give you the time for what you really love to do.

List the jobs or tasks that you absolutely loathe. Once you have eliminated these options, your true passion may become more clear.

Ask this question: who do I envy the most due to the work they do? List multiple individuals, then look at the work they do, and try those things. You might find your passion from that list.

• Contentment
  
• Enjoyment
  
• Laughter
  
• Well-being
  
• Peace of mind
  
• Cheerfulness
  
• Playfulness
  
• Hopefulness
  
• Blessedness