Follow your heart and Do What You Love
I’ve struggled with this idea for many years. Of course, when you’re a kid, you believe you can do anything. You follow your heart, you only do the things that which you love. You have this wonder and glimmer in your eyes that anything is possible and that you are that person that can make it possible. There is no fear, no doubt, no negative thoughts, no worries, no stress, no complaining, no plan B. You’re all in. Heart, soul, mind and body.
And in fact you do go on to achieve amazing things. But to you it’s like nothing. It was supposed to happen. This was your plan all along. You expected it.
But then you become an adult and you have to find a job, support yourself, provide financial security for your family which results in stress, working at a job you hate but stay at it because it pays the bills. You dread getting up out of bed every morning. You hate the person you see in the mirror. You’ve lost your soul and will to live life to the fullest. Now, you’re living like a zombie. Just coasting, not talking with anyone, making eye contact nor making a difference in someone’s life. You’ve checked out…This was me back at my day job before playing Pro Ball. I hated my life, hated my job, hated my commute, hated having to live a life that did not allow me to live out my dreams. I was playing Semi-Pro Ball at the time with the Bronx Holy Flames and I also had a business on the side, which I started since I love online marketing, love helping people, but most importantly to repay my Mom and Dad for putting me through Private High School and College, and also to help them pay for their expensive mortgage for our 2 houses and bills. I made some money over the past 5 years with this business, but it was a failure. And I did not make nearly enough to support my family let alone support myself. But, it was Basketball that kept me going. That gave me purpose. That filled my thoughts and heart almost every second of every day. I would sit at my boring day job and dream of playing Professional Basketball, getting paid to do what I love and traveling the world. I thought having my local marketing business would allow me to do that but it didn’t. So, I took matters in my own hands. I went to Vegas, got an agent, tried out for a Pro Team and got signed to play on my first pro deal in Mongolia. I still had my business, which was making me some money and was making money playing ball. But it wasn’t enough to help my family in a big way. So, I did some soul searching, scoured the internet for businesses that I could be successful with. However, in my heart I knew I wanted to build a business around Basketball. I had already started blogging about my pro journey here on this site, I had gained a ton of new experiences playing overseas and traveling, and had become a much better player. So I decided I wanted to do what I love and share my knowledge of the game and experiences with aspiring young athletes to help them take their game to the next level.
I wasn’t sure how I was going to make any money but I knew that I had to follow my heart, do what I’m best at, and share it with the world. It’s only a matter of time, when I’d be impacting the lives of thousands of people, making enough money to retire my Mom and Dad, and living out my life purpose.
I’ve come to learn that you can monetize anything. Whatever is flowing within you and which you think about all day, you CAN make money from it. It can become your career. You just have to have enough faith and discipline to make it a reality. Although at this moment in time, I have not made money from this website or my basketball business I know in my heart that I will impact the lives of millions one day, be making millions inspiring kids to get better and living out my life’s purpose.
If you are not doing what you love you are selling yourself short, cheating yourself, harming yourself, doing a disservice to yourself, bringing unnecessary and unwanted stress.
Here are some quotes which have inspired me and stuck with me all these years:
“I learned many, many lessons from my father, but not least of which is that you can fail at something you don’t want, so you might as well take a chance doing what you love.” – Jim Carey
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” – Steve Jobs
“Success comes to those crazy enough to follow their dreams. Here’s to the crazy ones.” – Steve Jobs
“Profit from your purpose.” – Eric Thomas
“Being realistic is the most common path to mediocrity.” -Will Smith
“Passion is the genesis of genius.” – Tony Robbins
“When you walk up to opportunities – don’t knock it. Kick that bitch in, smile and introduce yourself.” – The Rock “Dwayne Johnson”
So, think about what you love to do and go do that. Follow your heart, and do what you love. It is only a matter of time when you will be successful beyond your wildest dreams.