Disclosure: I only recommend products/services I would use myself and feel might benefit you as well. This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
A year ago at this time, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do with my life. It was incredibly stressful. While I was still getting to live a pretty flexible life and schedule, deep down it was always eating at me that I just didn’t know what to do with my career and vocation.
Fast forward a few months and I decided that I wanted to try to pursue a career in writing. I made an investment in a coach so I knew that I was doing everything I could to try to be successful and started the journey. A few months after that, I decided I wanted to add coaching in to my business as well.
And now, I’ve decided to add copywriting and social media services into my business, which has been the magical bow that seems to tie both of my passions of coaching and writing together. I love it and after just a week of offering these copywriting services, I already have three paying clients!
But I would’ve never even thought of that as a vocation if I hadn’t gotten started on my journey to joy and made the necessary investments to really commit to that journey.
You won’t have all the answers before you start, but you have to take the first step to get those answers.
Allow yourself to dream
One of the most common reasons I hear from people I interact with that don’t make a career change or start their own business is that they don’t know what to do.
They don’t know what to do frequently translates into, “Deep down I know the things I love, but I don’t think I can make any money off of those things.”
Immediately, we’ve shut down our ability to dream by immediately getting into the logistics of time and money and making assumptions of what the outcome will be.
The ability to dream is not as easy as it sounds. It takes time, investment in self, and support. As I mentioned in my blog a couple weeks ago, we often feel that once we choose a career path that we are stuck in it for life. It becomes difficult to dream and think outside of the box because our brain anchors on what we know. Sure, we can think of varieties of the types of work that we’ve done, but it becomes difficult to see the possibilities that are in a completely different realm from what we’ve experienced before.
Through the help of exercises like prayer, meditation, and journaling, you can start to open your mind to what is possible. I’m currently working through The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron (links to paperback and Kindle), and although I’m only on Week 3, it was been a wonderful tool to help me more fully channel my creativity. And of course, if you’re really looking to expedite this process, book a free strategy/discovery session with a coach. Often in the course of this first free session, your eyes will be illuminated to what you didn’t even know was possible. I know that’s what happened for me with Rasa DiSalvo.
Learning comes from the journey
Many other times, people know what they’d love to do but feel they don’t know enough to start. I have to say that I’ve been guilty of this in the past too. It’s easy to get sucked into the trap of feeling like you need to take more courses, read more books, and listen to more podcasts to have the perfect plan to move forward with.
Guess what? You’re never going to have the perfect plan before you start.
You learn best once you get going and start taking action. No one will ever be perfect no matter how much research is done, so it’s best to get started and get on the highest learning curve to see what will work best FOR YOU.
When you’re on your own journey and not the journey of someone else trying to teach you (which is also valuable in its own right), you learn from your own experience, your own networking, and your own creativity what the best combinations are to bring YOU joy.
Many times, you won’t even fully know what’s out there until you start. This has happened to me both in my corporate career and my entrepreneurship journey. When I started in corporate, I had no idea what project management was and that it was an established career path, and I eventually went on to earn my Project Management Professional certification. As an entrepreneur, I hadn’t even considered adding copywriting as a service until my coach and I talked through this together, and now it’s been the absolute perfect addition that I’m very passionate about.
Don’t let social media be a blocker
The third most prevalent blocker I hear that prevents people from pursuing a path that brings them joy is that they don’t want to have to deal with the social media aspect that will come along with that journey.
I get it! It is daunting to have to build a brand, promote yourself and your business, and *gasp* put yourself in front of the camera!
There are so many solutions to ensure social media and marketing don’t stop you from pursuing your dream. My coach, Rasa DiSalvo, taught me that you should always pursue doing what you love in a way that you love it; otherwise, what’s the point? There are literally unlimited ways to approach any aspect of your work.
Furthermore, you can always hire or outsource your work. Many of my copywriting and social media clients love what they do but don’t love doing the social media, blogs, emails, etc. That’s where I come into play. I take care of the words, so they can focus on what they love.
So don’t get ten steps ahead of yourself before you even take the first step. Don’t be stopped from achieving your dream before you’ve even started.
I can support you along this journey by providing impactful transformational and tactical coaching as well as providing copywriting and social media support so you can focus on what you love! Only looking for coaching or only looking for copywriting? That’s great too! Let’s chat using the button below.
Disclosure: I only recommend products/services I would use myself and feel might benefit you as well. This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Disclaimer: This blog should not be construed as providing, or intending to provide, professional financial, legal, psychological, or other professional advice. It is simply meant to share my experiences for those that may find them relatable and helpful.