TSAS #40: The Passion Paradox

Hello SAS Community,

Today's Question: How to find your sweet spot between what you love and do?

In this week's edition, we cover:

• Are you falling into this trap of "Take the shortcut?"

• The Passion Paradox: What if you want to be known for one thing as it brings you business but also does another thing that you really love?

• Announcement – It's HERE! Something SPECIAL for you as a subscriber

• Reading Time: 4 mins

First of all, there are no shortcuts but I believe there are ways to make things easier than they may seem. This feels like a conversation that will never end. Because, we can continue to do things the hard way but then there are also easy ways.

Do you want to set up your Linkedin profile? You can consume 6 hours of YouTube and figure it out. Do you want to learn social media? Sure, you can also find free stuff on that too. Here's the problem. Regardless of how you solve this issue, there is no shortage of helpful resources.

We keep falling into this trap and hook where someone promises you to deliver information within a timeframe. But then when it comes to implementation, it may take hours, months, or years.

So, the answer is not whether you take shortcuts or longcuts, what are you trying to achieve? If you can't answer or have clarity then time is irrelevant.

Here's what I mean.A few years ago, I took an online course from one of the BEST membership experts who has been selling his membership course for years. He launches once a year following a huge event to get his audience excited. I took the course when I was starting to figure out what the hell I sell. The attractive hook was that I would build a business with recurring revenue. And that was juicy. I mean who wouldn't want repeat income and not having to worry about keeping your pipeline full all the time?

The course was phenomenal and teaches you how to launch your membership in the next 60 days. I mean it had all your bases covered. How to run Facebook Ads. How to find your niche. How to create an audience and so on. It covered everything under the sun to make sure you had a successful launch. I was 3 months deep into the content and then what I experienced was "Information Fatigue."

I decided to take a break from consuming and launched to 10 founding members. I followed the scripts and everything. It worked. OMG! We made our first big sale, right? Then after a few months, the membership idea died. I mean completely vanished.

I lost my business partner. We had to refund money and it ended with an ugly cry. See, I didn't want to go through surprises and not know the ins and outs of setting up a membership, so I took that course for a reason. But, then I stumped on a BIG rock. What was the true reasoning other than making a recurring revenue? It turns out I didn't have ONE at all. That was the lesson that taught me that it is not so much about the route you take but you have to know what that path will lead to.

I probably would have overcome the fatigue if I had a great reason other than just making recurring revenue. It was not enough to keep me going. I didn't have a strong footing, clarity around my expertise, and knowledge, articulating my ideas or value in a way where I can take full ownership of what I can do for others. It didn't need to be perfect at it but at least have a starting point. Then I realized the shortcut was a quick fix to my revenue cash flow problem but it didn't bring me long-term contentment. But, I needed to experience the hard way.

That brings me to the next topic:

Sometimes what we think we do for a living ends up only making money but not necessarily that fuels our growth. The key is to find that sweet spot between what makes you money and the thing that you truly love. That can become a life long search instead of a "life-long" pursuit.

I realized early on in my business that I didn't want to be stuck in the freelancer designer world forever which helps me keep the lights on. The problem was I didn't know how to package what I already know that made money and pursue something that is bigger than me. In my previous letters, I told you that I felt like I hit a dead end. I invite you to join my newsletter so you can keep reading my personal insights and experiences.

That's when I started discovering the sweet spot between creativity and self-awareness. Working towards my "Ingenious Method" of developing a personal brand that didn't require only selfies, content templates, and rack up a million followers.

I believe that the goal isn't to "make it to an influencer status" which many people online are stuck with. The goal is rather being on the journey of who you are becoming in the process. This is what I am starting to develop on my newly published PODCAST - LISTEN TO THE TRAILER.

So, how do you discover that sweet spot?

There are NO MAGIC SILVER BULLET. To bring it alive, you need these 7 essential key ingredients.

• CURIOUSITY

• MENTAL AND PHYSICAL GRIT

• COURAGE

• EXPERIMENT

• ADAPT

• IMPLEMENT

• ITERATE

Why CURIOSITY?When we enter adulthood, we lose the urge to create and become curious. Our brains tend to lean into being secure otherwise we go into flight or fight mode. However, if you turn that emotion into being actively curious, you can change that internal dialogue to say things like, "I wonder what would it be like to publish a book on X." Now, all of a sudden you are training your mind for solution-mining for that specific idea.

Why do you need GRIT?I can't remember anything that came to me so easily that was worth pursuing without GRIT. When I taught indoor cycling classes, I thought I was going to pass out every time. In fact, the more I practiced GRIT, the more energy I preserved for the next class. Your levels will plateau only if you allow them to keep at your minimum. So, you have to find that grit to push through the next wave or seek the pleasure of gaining momentum.

Why COURAGE?When you have the courage to finally use your voice, you get people to rally behind you. The problem is when we use our passion in ways that are often misunderstood, misrepresented, undermined, and not clearly communicated. When you negotiate your self-worth, others start questioning too. Courage comes before confidence and the only way o get more confident is to take courageous steps. Being persistent with your voice will eventually make you known for the thing you truly love.

Why EXPERIMENT?I have had clients who had a perfect strategy roadmap but when it came to experimenting with their thoughts, content, and ideas, it fell flat. Remember, when you would be paired with someone in your science lab project and things didn't go the way you expected? The point of experimenting is to explore your ideas without any judgment.

Why ADAPT?We are the only species in the world that can predict the weather forecast and events, and foresee things in the future. We don't always get it right but do you ever see animals doing that? We can adjust, and adapt to environments that can feel extremely uncomfortable but that's how we thrive. You are meant to get uncomfortable.

Why IMPLEMENT?This is best set with an example of my kids turning 7 years old this past weekend. We have been talking about for the past few months how they should be taking care of their own water bottles, bag packs, making their beds, lunch, etc. So, we implemented "what was talked about" to actually do them. Not all at once but one little action at a time. The implementation process didn't happen overnight but the idea is that it is out of our "brains." It is no longer stored. Similarly, strategy and roadmaps are useless without any implementation. It stays in your personal "boardroom."

Why ITERATE?This past couple of weeks while I was busy launching my podcast, I also got the "I need to get it right disease." Not necessarily perfection. I let go of that a long time ago. However, there is a little nagging voice that just wants to get it right the first time. The truth is you will never get it right the first time. The iteration process looks like a million steps when you see a finished product online. You rarely get to see the full transparency behind that making of that "full making."

Each one of these ingredients will play a big part in how you execute your ideas so you can stay in the "ingenious zone."

The questions to ask yourself to solidify this sweet spot:How long can I sustain this work to keep making money?Is it something I want to pursue as a lifelong learner?How will this impact my mental, physical, and emotional health and stability?Does this type of work intersect with the things I want to build for the future?

When you can fully accept those areas of development, you can immerse yourself into creating habits forming and shaping your new sweet spot. Until then, you are playing safe and swimming in the same place of normal direction as everyone does.

My friend, as long as you stay in that safe zone, you will tend to repeat tasks that make you money. The sweet spot is where you not only thrive but also make money by doing what you LOVE. That is where I've found freedom and defined life on my own terms. Eventually, you will be known for something that you do love and also brings you money. I know it's harder than being said.That's where I can help you too. I would love to hear from you what you think of the trailer and also curious to know if you found your sweet spot.

Stay Humble, my friend.Yours Truly, Humaira"Create a collection of memories. Not distraction"