From Passion to Profit: Moving Beyond Myths

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Laura Simms, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

Myths got you down?

Here you are, trucking it from passion to profit, and all this mythinformation is weighing you down. Let’s debunk and carry on without the baggage, shall we?

myth: I don’t have a passion.

I am surprised every time I hear someone say this, and I hear it more often than you might think. Let me assure you: you do have a passion. But you may not have found it yet.

The word “passion” can be misleading. Oh, if I’m not serenaded by angels when I think of it, then it must not be my passion! Not so. Think of passion as an interest with drive.

A passion is something that excites you and challeneges you. It simultaneously feels like home and just out of reach. A passion grows with you. You chase it, it chases you.

Also likely is that you found your passion a while ago, got spooked, and tucked it into a nice, dark corner. Where you’ll be safe. But by it’s nature, passion is persistant. Regardless of where you banish it, it’ll try to wriggle out and be acklowledged.

myth: I have only one passion.

Ahhhhh…Soul Mate Syndrome.

There’s only one thing in the world you can do that swells your heart and pocketbook simultaneously? I’m not buyin’ it. I think you got more goin’ on than that.

But this myth is often perpetuated by artists. It’s a common saying among actors to pursue acting “only if you can’t do anything else.” It’s a very romantic notion. But it’s also kinda insulting to acting and to indiviuduals. The actors I know are well-rounded, competent people who could excel at many different things. They are actors because they choose to be, not because the are fated by their limitations.

myth: If I do what I love, I’ll never have to work a day in my life.

Tricky thing about love: it takes work. Marriages don’t survive on love alone, not every moment of parenthood is bliss, and passion-based work sometimes feels like work.

There will probably be stuff you gotta do that you don’t like—dealing with difficult personalities, working on the weekend, handling numbers. Just because you run into things that feel like chores and have-tos doesn’t mean you’re doing the wrong work.

Expect some tough work. The best thing you can do for your passionate work is lean into the challenges of the yucky stuff. Your love for your work is not enough for everything, but it is enough to fuel you to the other side of any unpleasantness.

myth: If I’m good at what I do, the customers will come.

I was floored when one of the big movers and shakers of social media tweeted something like this recently: “If what you do is great, you don’t have to market it.”

Augh! Nooooooooo!

You do need to be great, and you do need to market. Marketing is essentially creating awareness. If people don’t know you & your great thing exist, they can’t have at it. You need ways for your message and mission to find its right people. Word of mouth is powerful, but it’s just one way of creating awareness.

myth: I have to start my own business to profit from my passion.

If you spend any time in the blogosphere, you may absorb this message. Lots of people online have quit their job to start their own online business, and lots of them now teach people how to do the same, and lots of them insist that working for yourself is the only way to go. It’s a great option, but it’s not the only way.

When searching for your ideal passion to profit gig, you’ll consider many factors: what kind of work environment you prefer, if you like working in a group or going solo, what kind of lifestyle you want to support, and a billion other things. Working for yourself is the answer to those conditions for many people, but it’s not the answer for everyone.

myth: I’m going to figure out this passion to profit thing once and for all and ride into the sunset with my money bags.

Mmmmm…maybe. But maybe not. It’s more likely that you, your interests, the work you are drawn to, and the demands of the market will evolve over time.

But hey, evolution is good! Your business may change, and you will adjust. In a way, your work is a fluid, living thing. Let it move and do its thing. You will grow together.

The best way to bust a myth? Test it.

You will find the glorious sweet spot of passion-n-profit overlap when you get out and try things. Hypotheticals and theories must be tested. You run the experiments, you make the adjustments, you get the rewards.