March 16, 2019bErin Nicole
The first time I heard the title’s phrase, “Do what you love and the money will come”, I was in high school. Mr. Crouse would repeatedly say this to us. I was blessed to be a part of his Music Company, an after school singing/dancing group that performed around the state and elsewhere about 40x/year. He played a major role in why I constantly do things I am passionate about.
I was SO frustrated when I got to college though. No one was really like Mr. C. where I went. I sang in the college and they paid some of my tuition. I wasn’t happy though. Some of the ‘tudes or my perception of them was that they were stuck up and I wanted nothing to do with music because of that experience. I chose a different degree in Physical Education K-12 because I was afraid of not being good enough and not enjoying my time in the music department. Jazz choir with Kelly Kunz saved me from quitting all together (he’s pictured on the right if you go to his group page).
I gratefully got some redemption in graduate school when my Aussie advisor encouraged me to choose a project that I’d enjoy doing for a year (Thanks Dr. Ebbeck)! I ended up creating 5 songs, dances I choreographed educating about asthma, video’d them both in part-whole-part and whole style with some cool teenage girls, wrote up some curriculum for 5th grade level, scripted the music out as best I could, and had the program evaluated by teachers in music/PE/classroom. I was even invited to present it at a regional conference for AAHPERD (Now Called Shape America).
The two distinct differences between one school experience and the other was that I can do things I’m passionate about and make more money doing what I enjoy. There were no full time teaching jobs when I got done with grad school. My guaranteed teaching position at the district I worked prior to graduate school acceptance was cut due to budget cuts. After 5-part time jobs in the teaching world that year (yes at the same time), I decided there had to be a better way.
I started singing and doing things I loved in my off time and connected with some cool jazz musicians. They asked me to be the singer and we performed at restaurants and retirement parties and such for food and gas money. It wasn’t premium living, but it brought me joy and compensated me for my time at the level I felt I deserved back then.
Believe me, I am no expert in making zillions of dollars doing what you’re passionate about, but I have learned a few things through not pursuing my passions, and choosing to pursue them, and the income increases every time I make intentional focus to do things I love. Below are some strategies and some tips from my experience and what I’ve read online to help you do something you love and make more money.
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Fresh Strategy 1: Carve out time for things you enjoy on your calendar as important as you would a doctor’s appointment.
One person that always inspires me to spend time in my passion is my bro Josh .
He is a famous musician on Spotify, YouTube, iTunes pretty much anywhere you can get music. You definitely want to buy his albums/EPs if you enjoy his R&B/Gospel/Pop style!
I want you to carve time for your passions on your calendar as important as a doctors appointment because it’ll grow your brand, and inspire you to keep moving forward on tough days.
Fresh Strategy 2: If money is the issue, find ways to work towards your passion a little bit everyday
Ask yourself, if money weren’t the issue, how would I spend my time? The answer to that is what you should really work towards doing full time down the road. I ask myself that regularly as my passions are many. At the heart of it all, I have a passion of building people up and making everyone feel like they belong. Its a gift I’ve been given.
Heck when I was 3 my mom told me the Sunday school teacher witnessed me I grabbing these two girls’ hands who were new to the class and brought them over to the circle of children. I didn’t want them to feel left out. It is in my nature. So I spend time now everyday intentionally bringing people together, making them feel welcome and building them up. I am no expert at it, I just practice everyday (either digitally or physically).
In doing so, it has opened opportunities for me to interview big influencers, sing on stage for thousands, and make money doing things I love. I’m a work in progress and I am so grateful I can earn money doing something that makes me feel so warm and fuzzy inside. If my story isn’t convincing enough to follow your passions, check out this great short article by Anisha Joshi, on why you should spend time in your passion here.
Fresh Strategy 3: If your day job is something you don’t enjoy, plan your exit strategy
Do you love your job? If the answer is no, did you know it can kill you? 😳
Check out this article by Dr. Rankin. I don’t know about you, but I am not okay with giving my time, energy, and creativity to a company I don’t enjoy. I am very particular about my worth, company culture, and compensation. If I don’t feel like I am being valued to the company, the culture isn’t supportive of building people up (my core value), and the compensation isn’t what I know I deserve, I don’t stay long.
Some people are too scared from leaving a place of work because of the unknown. Believe me, there are plenty of jobs out there and ways to make your own money doing your own business these days online and in person. If you spend 8 hours a day at a job you can’t stand, you spend more than 8 hours a day not enjoying it. Work with me here. You wake up, not excited to go to work. You get ready and maybe have a few thoughts that are not work related, like kissing your significant other goodbye, talk about your weekend adventures, etc. But most of your time before even approaching work is about how much you can’t stand your boss, or your co workers, or the pay sucks and you’re unhappy there. Then at the end of the day you’re so exhausted because you worked your butt off in a place you don’t like. And you have to do it all over 4-5 more days. If you work traditional Monday-Friday job, your Sunday is ruined because you’re regretting going to work the next day.Yet you’re too afraid to try something new because of ‘work stability’ or how it’ll look on your resume, or whatever.
If that’s you, start small. Start going to networking events 1-2x/month to see what’s out there. Reach out to friends that love where they work and see if they’re hiring. Look online to see how you can start selling products or services that you enjoy. You don’t have to take a big leap right away. You can make small changes everyday to move you towards a happier career and happier, healthier life. Your bank account will thank you in the long run because you won’t have all those pesky hospital bills from the heart attack or stroke you prevented.
Fresh Strategy 4: Do something that gives you goosebumps at least once a week.
What activity do you do that gives you goosebumps? I’m talking about it keeps you up at late at night because you’re so excited 😆. For me? It’s trying new BIG BODACIOUS things like singing the National Anthem at a AAA stadium (Done that twice). Or working outside my comfort zone of being a natural introvert and chat with big influencers about positive changes.
I had trouble sleeping a few nights ago because I knew I was going to be interviewing Tori CEO of @theposhgirlsclub for my up and coming Move Happy Podcast. Tory has over 650,000 followers on her Instagram channel alone, at least a couple businesses. And she said YES to an interview with me? I’m a nobody compared to her. Yet in my soul I am compelled to do things that give me goosebumps. It bring me joy because I know ultimately I serve Him and He opens doors of opportunity. If my heart is in it for the right reasons, there is nothing I can’t do!
I was so excited/nervous to interview her. I bought this super swag mic to make the sound quality top notch. I was testing it out a couple hours before our scheduled call. Issue after issue with the sound. I flipped through the manual and watched a youtube tutorial. I set everything how it was supposed to be set. Still the recording was not showing any sound. UGH. I had my backup plan of using a digital recording device. I told her what happened and she was like, “girl don’t even sweat it, these things happen.”
The interview was SO fun! She’s so down to earth, a mama, doing her thing helping other women and men online with their digital marketing agency, and supporting her family. She is launching in the next couple weeks an online community to help you grow your Instagram and really build authentically online. Check out her website and sign up! .
Stay tuned for the release of our interview 🙌
I’m so blessed! Sure struggles come along, and bad days happen. Most importantly, you’ve gotta focus on the positive and keep moving forward. Every day, spend at least 10 minutes doing something that brings you joy, and at least once a week do something that gives you goosebumps!
Fresh Idea #5: If you lead groups or want to, download the Move Happy Facilitator Program today.
It includes 16-weeks worth of curriculum, and 60+ workout demo videos moving your audience towards happiness by building community, practicing daily (4x/week) positive mindset, and workouts with minimal equipment. Every workout includes cardio, muscle fitness, flexibility and meditation (I even throw in some dance moves)! I ran the program three times in a psychiatric hospital setting with measurable positive results each time (both from review of patients and fitness testing results showed they improved from baseline). My patients encouraged me to share it with others. This is my gift back to them (portions of proceeds go back to mental health foundations).
If you want to get into my VIP Leadership Course, Q1 2021 email me. It includes lifetime access to the Move Happy® Private Facebook Group, 6 week do it at your own pace materials (video, worksheets, and fun quizzes), Move Happy® Group Certification, private 1:1 calls with me, and 7 other bonuses. This is so new everyone that gets in early gets the lowest pricing. I only have 5 spots available and once they’re filled the course is closed.
Soon I’ll be adding affiliate links so you can earn money by sharing great content to others as well.
We went over how to make more money doing things that you enjoy doing. Specifically, we talked about carving out your passion time on your calendar. If money is the issue, find even 10 minutes a day to work towards your passion. Plan your exit strategy from your day job if you don’t like it because it can literally kill you. Do something that gives you goosebumps at least once a week (this next week I’m interviewing some super cool fitness peeps from Canada for the podcast)! If you’re leading groups already or plan to, download my Move Happy Facilitator Program . It’ll save you time, and money in planning what to facilitate, how to open up dialogue, and lead fitness workouts with minimal equipment with the 60+ workout demo videos you’ll have access to.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s blog! If you did, I’d appreciate your comments and questions! Please share with a friend or two if you find value in what I’ve shared today.
Thank you and don’t forget to tell someone you love them today.
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