The way to do it, and make a living doing it, is to make a decision. Paris had to make a decision, and you do too. Talent has nothing to do with it. The idea of “talent” is a gateway guardian designed by the outward and inward complexes to scare you away from the life that is waiting for you. Another gateway guardian is Ego, which thinks that you can do everything. You can do anything, but you can’t do everything, at least and be good enough to be a professional, an expert, someone who will get paid.
You have to crucify your ego, but that’s a separate post. For now, if you are not sure, give yourself sometime to play around in the different fields you enjoy. Things that are now hobbies or interests. Give yourself say 9-12 weeks to devote some significant time to each of these activities, and tell yourself you are going to make a firm decision at the end of that time to make your living doing one of them.
You know what the reason is that you can’t do more than one thing? It’s not time. It’s your subconscious mind. If you don’t make a psychological commitment, your subconscious mind, which is the source of your creativity, won’t go to work for you. Not having a psychological commitment has another name: Schizophrenia. You’ll be all over the place but going nowhere and have no “center” to your life.
The key to this whole thing is the “bleeding edge.” Being on the bleeding edge will guarantee you success because A) it’s where the action is B) you’ll be an expert, authority, professional, and C) No one else is there.
I’m getting my inspiration for this piece from Scoble and Leo Laporte. I don’t want to be a tech journalist, but they do, and they are totally into it, and now they are doing what they want to do and making a living at it. They are perfect examples of Joseph Campbell’s saying “Follow Your Bliss.”
- Set a Goal to make a decision
- Make that decision and psychological commitment
- The life that is waiting for you will carry you to where you want to be.
Use Your Geekiness to Follow Your Bliss
February 25, 2008
You can do what you want. The web is the greatest tool ever for allowing you to follow your bliss and make a living at it. Here is the perfect example. Check out this musical artist: Jonathan Coulton, and see how he has built his career using the web and a determination to make a living doing what he wanted instead of feeling like he had to do something just for money. Remember what Joseph Campbell said:
“Working a Career just for Money is a Slave Mentality”
Remember you are going to get good at any craft that you work at. And you are going to work at it if you love doing it. Ask yourself this question: “What do I love doing?” Take some time to open your soul and find out what you really, really, really want to do. And then do it. Don’t let anyone or thing stop you from following this path of what you want to do. Doing what you want to do creates more value in society and raises the standard of living for the whole society.
If you want to research this subject further, and especially about Jonathan, listen Twit Espisode 133, that Jonathan is featured on.
