Follow Your Passion

The beautiful thing about pursuing your passion is starting from nothing.

Some might say that starting from nothing is a great mistake and people who choose that path are only going backwards. They could be right; people who have comfortable lives, people who wake up every morning to go to a job they despise is what success really looks like. Isn’t it?

To some, it might be if they don't despise their job entirely. But to those who have a dream and aren't living it, it most definitely is not. People who quit that day job and decided to start from scratch are giving themselves the chance to make it big time. Sure, it may seem irresponsible if you have children to feed and loans to pay. But it only seems that way: quitting your crappy job really means that you’ve committed to working harder than you ever have in your life. And starting from scratch will only fuel your hunger for success.

Have you ever found yourself saying something along the lines of, ‘Man, I hate my job! I should have gone to film school instead of becoming a stock brocker’? Excuse me, sir, GO TO FILM SCHOOL. In fact, start making films right now. Or, if your passion is model airplanes, guess what! There are thousands of people who have the same passion. Chances are if you have a passion for something, you’re not the only one. That means that there is a market for it, and you can make money off it by using the Internet to find as many of those people as possible. Gary Vaynerchuck, author of Crush It! wrote three small and true words, “[…] scarcity breeds desire” (pg. 22).

So, if you’ve got that passion inside you, and the willingness to work incredibly hard to follow your dreams, then you have a world of opportunity waiting for you. 

Success is Not the Key to Happiness, This is..

Your happiness is your success. These days, a booming business is available to anyone, even you. Gary Vaynerchuck, author of crush it!, says not to measure your success by the wealth and grandeur of your business, but to measure it in happiness.

The secret to success is only made up of three simple rules: love your family, work super hard, and live your passion. If you are measuring your success in happiness, that first rule is crucial. Second to that, working hard may be on obvious rule for achievement. However, it is one of those things that are easier said than done. Finally, the key to your true happiness is living your passion: “Are you living, or just earning a living?” (Vaynerchuck, 3). 

We as a society have shifted in the way we do things. With the invention of the Internet, we’ve been flocking towards the web to socialize, shop, find entertainment, and more. This is a gigantic opportunity for businesses to harness and take advantage of. With the global audience that has moved to the Internet, it is clear that businesses, too, must move to the Internet.

Now, personal branding has never been easier, and advertisements are found (these days, personalized advertisements) everywhere in the online world. The Internet is a moneymaking machine just waiting for you to learn how to use it. Using the Internet as a tool will boost the speed of your success, and minimize the money you would need to put in to make it flourish. Keep in mind that, “[these tools] are only as good as the person who uses them” (Vaynerchuck, 12).

You have to have passion and an excellent work ethic to make things happen. If you have the drive, you have the power and everything you need to start making money. However, this isn’t all about the money, this about taking your passion and finding a way for you to live from it. Remember, we’re measuring success in happiness. 

Written by Natalie Mansilla,
Growth Hacker

Use SMART Goals Standard to Reach your Maximum Potential

Whether you call them goals, objectives, targets, or your Holy Grails, if you want them to ever become a reality in your life, they need to be something specific and measurable.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-bounded. If the goals you’re setting for yourself comply with this standard you will have a bigger chance of achieving them than those, for instance, that are too vague or don’t come with a specific deadline.

So, the SMART standard goes like this:

S, for Specific: Your goal must be clear and detailed enough so anybody can understand it –including and especially yourself!

M, for Measurable: always add dates, numbers, and amounts; “more money”, or “less weight” won’t work. You’ll have to set an exact number; that is, how much of that do you want (we’ll also add a “by when” a few lines later).

A, for Attainable: your goal should be something able to be accomplished given the specific amount, deadline and all the circumstances around it. This doesn’t mean you choose to go on the easy way –something that too easy to achieve; but shouldn’t mean that you are going after the fantasy either (like losing 100 pounds in a week). Be smart and don’t limit yourself based on your beliefs, but don’t set yourself up for the impossible.

R, for Realistic: and this means it should be in line with your life purpose. It is a waste of time to climb all the way to the top of the ladder only to find that it was leaning against the wrong wall.

T, for Time-Bounded: here it is our “by when”. Setting a deadline for the completion of your goal adds a vital accountability and motivational factor to this formula. If you don’t have the pressure to make it happen, you won’t do what’s necessary.

For example: if your goal is to do some jogging but never seem to find the time –or the will, you’ll get more “motivation” with a mean Rottweiler chasing after you than with a friend sweet-talking you into it.

And I’d like to add one more item to the list:

Align your Goals with the Greater Good; see that you don’t harm anyone in the process of achieving it.

Like the great coach Jack Canfield stated once: “you can have a goal of breaking 50 car antennas on your way home… It’s specific, measurable, attainable, and time-bounded; but you’ll surely harm a lot of people in the process…

So keep this in mind: always see that the fulfillment of your goals would help create a better world for everyone.

And remember,  if you ever find yourself a little short in the motivational department, wel... you can always get a Rottweiler.