I’m about to tell you some good stuff. I need you to listen to me: Some of us are not built to do the daily grind, earning minimum wage or just above it, navigating the red tape, eating the BS fed to us–all for the sake of having a job. I want you to stop right now, wherever you are, and think about whether you do what you do because you love it, or because you have no choice. If you do it because you love it, great! But I guarantee you know someone who has no choice, so you can share this with them.
Whatever your passion is, whatever it is that you wish you could do and get paid for it–bottle that sh*t up and sell it. I couldn’t be more serious. I kick myself daily for listening to people in 1988 who said, “Get a job in the government; that’s where you wanna be.” I kick myself for going to UDC in 1991 and stopping because I didn’t want student loans as long as my arm. So many options, so many decisions, so many regrets. I try to live like I don’t have any, but it is what it is; Iwishihadda syndrome kicks in on occasion. But it’s not too late–for me or for you. I didn’t know back then that I was a good writer, and I had no idea writing books would bring me so much joy, or that people would buy them. Find your happy place; at four months shy of 42, I have mine–finally. You can’t change my mind either. If I sell enough books, if I reach enough people, if I…whatever, I will die a happy woman because I have found that place even without finding the success I know I can have–today. If I live another day, I’ll be happy because I’m closer.
My brother went to school and learned to be a good barber. He eventually opened a barber shop, then a barber shop/salon, and another, and another, then he started a clothing line, opened a storefront, and another, and another. Started a band with some folks; it’s one of the hottest in the city–today. He has helped so many people do so much, I wonder if he knows how much. He fell into a coma two years ago, but when I saw the amount of people who came out to see him, to pray for him, to party in his honor, and who post to electronic walls about him, it made me realize that he needed some rest. I realized that he has always been so passionate about what he wanted, no matter who understood or didn’t, he made things happen–and people paid him for it.
Find your passion, put it into something the people want/need, dress it up nicely, and sell it. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, a PhD, an M.D., or a flunky for any of the above. Brand yourself. Surround yourself with the right people after you cement your ideas, make the money to get it off the ground, then hire folks for the technical parts–the IT specialist, accountant, or marketing machine. We always say life is short, and we remind ourselves after somebody dies or falls into a coma, or whatever tragedy hits; we rarely live like we mean it. We spend too much time on somebody else’s dreams, goals, and deadlines. It’s time to focus on our own. Pay yourself what you’re worth, but until you can get there, at the very least, you should do something that makes you want to get up early and stay up late for it. Find your passion, bottle it up, and sell it.
From the mind of:
Tonya D. Floyd, Author
Versatili-T Creations, LLC
www.Versatili-T.com