This is a guest post by Allison Maslan.
Have you ever impulsively jumped on a great new idea to make money only to find that your enthusiasm dwindled after the first week or two? Have you started a hobby that a friend got you fired up about, dropping a big investment to get started, but soon after you completely lost interest?
In order for an activity or goal to sustain itself long enough to be successful through life’s ups and downs, there must be meaning or a passion behind it. This love of your work, relationship, hobby or practice is the glue that will keep you cherishing your wins and picking yourself up after your losses as you progress on your path toward success. When an activity or goal has meaning to you, you are more likely to give your heart and soul to this cause, making sure that you stay focused, labor over every detail, and absorb yourself in every moment. When you spend time on efforts that really matter to you, it’s much more probable that you’ll make the commitment that’s necessary to build a lasting entity.
Millions of people desire to leave the confines of the corporate world to start their own business. Even though they fantasize about the idea of freedom, they become paralyzed with fear at the thought of leaving a safe, secure job. I talk to people all day that tell me they are feeling empty as if something is missing in their daily lives. They spend three quarters of their lives at a job void of soul and passion. Their creativity and drive are buried so deep within them they feel numb and shut down. The status quo, title and a paycheck are not enough anymore. They have upped the ante. They now want to be inspired and fulfilled with purpose in their home and work life.
Then there are those who have taken the haphazard plunge into a business that they are not passionate about, and find themselves feeling like they have fallen into the drudge of yet another boring job. What was once their mission becomes their biggest nightmare. After a few years of being disillusioned they opt to throw in the towel. This does not need to happen!
When the purpose of your business matters to you on a deeper level, your efforts will endure. And when you reach your meaningful goals, success will feel like a shining glory. When you have built something you can be proud of, something you are completely passionate about, the satisfaction is not only in the outcome, it’s in the day-to-day process. If you’re only working toward the destination and not reveling in the journey, you miss out on the abundance of life. When you are only focused on the goal , you may find yourself thinking, “Is that all there is?” while feeling empty, sad and bored, and once again, unfulfilled.
What’s the difference between those entrepreneurs who are optimistic and moving forward and those who are just getting by? I believe that much of it has to do with how you view the glass – half full or half empty. George Sheehan (author, track star, cardiologist), once said, “Success means having the courage, the determination, and the will to become the person you believe you were meant to be.” People with a positive outlook and a life plan don’t get off the track when things change – they just change tracks.
As a life and business strategist, I spend a great deal of time helping clients tap into their passions, and then guiding them to create a business that reflects their inner purpose and dreams. Particularly in this economy, if you are a business owner that is having some slower weeks or months, it is crucial that you stay connected to your mission and why you started the business in the first place. If the business is only about making money, there is not much heart or soul to draw from to get you through.
Here are a few tips to feeding the soul in yourself and your business.
- Surround yourself with inspiring and motivating people. You may find that your usual crew begins to lean toward the negative side of life when times get tougher. Seek out those people who are supportive of your goals. Join groups or seek counseling to keep you motivated and accountable.
- Be Easy on yourself. Change and transformation can bring up all sorts of good, bad and ugly stuff. When you feel yourself struggling, take a break. When you have small successes, give yourself kudos for all your hard work and continue to move on toward your bigger visions and dreams.
- Start now. You don’t want to look back in ten years and realize that you’re still at the same place in your life then as now. Even if you love your life now, growth is a necessary part of your evolvement on this planet. Every single day of your life is precious. Embrace it, and those you love, to the fullest.
Once you finally connect with something that has meaning to you, and your internal passion regarding this is accessed and utilized, your once deadened perception and reality will be pumped with new and energized life blood. I call this your Secret Spark, a perfect mix of meaning and passion that enlivens your life purpose and gives you the drive and stick-to-it-ness to make things happen. When you discover the soul in your business, your work will become stimulating and fun, and you’ll be immersed in your satisfying activity and lose track of time.
Dreams are gifts of the soul.
We need to make every effort
to cherish them, to live them.
Otherwise they only surface in our sleep.
A soulful life is an awakening
and actualizing of our
deepest dreams within.~Allison Maslan
Allison Maslan, HHP, CCH has been an entrepreneur for the past 25 years and has a vibrant array of nine successful businesses to her credit. She is an author, life and business strategist, homeopathic physician and international speaker. Her book, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality launches on January 19 2010.
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December 19th, 2009 at 7:52 pm
Awesome guest post. One of the better one’s I have read recently. I really like Allison’s point on surrounding yourself with motivating/inspirational people and cannot agree more on its importance. I think that might be the exact reason why I try to read a lot on what other people in my niche are doing and the results they are achieving. Statistics always keep you motivated and quite often, it is statistics of your friends and various people in your network. Hence, I guess I’m here and many others are here just reading away again.
I’ll cut the blabbering and just say thanks for motivating me once again.
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Hi Static!
Thank you for your comments on my post. It is so important to surround yourself with positive, inspirational people to help keep your spirits up and on track when you are reaching for your goals. If you have any self doubt or anxiety and you begin to allow negative thoughts from others to seep in, you might find yourself thrown of your path.
Be discerning with who you share your dreams with. Keep walking toward your dreams every single day!
Happy New Year!
Allison
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December 20th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Great article and post. The idea of hanging around with the people you want to be like is always the best advise for anyone. Its the old saying of you can pick you friends. Staying motivated is like going to church. You have to get the pick me up more than Christmas and Easter to carry you through the rough spots the whole year. Staying motivated is a every day thing that I do with books,CD’s and seminars to keep the juice going. Best of Luck to all in the coming year.
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Hi Paul:
I agree. Staying motivated and focused takes daily effort. Reading books and listening to speakers that remind us about what is important within ourselves is really helpful. Life can get stressful and we forget what are mission is all about. Having that reminder on a daily basis gives peace, solace and inspiration to let the stress roll off your back! My book, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch Your Dreams Into Reality is being released on January 19th in all major bookstores and Amazon. You might want to add it to your reading list to help support your journey.
Happy New Year. Make it a great one.
Allison
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December 21st, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Allison comes across as a very passionate person in whatever she does and that is half the battle won in gaining admiration and success. I have a couple of friends who did something unimaginable in their social circles. One was an excellent baker and the other an excellent dressmaker. Both were constantly being asked to bake or make dresses for others and both decided to take what they were very good at and start businesses from their respective homes. Today, both employ others to help them and to keep things manageable, refuse to grow much bigger preferring to remain in their small niches and getting better all the time. Needless to say, the money is nothing to sneeze at either! In these two cases, they made businesses out of their passions and were able to succeed beyond their expectations.
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 8:12 am
Hi Nicole:
Thank you for replying to my post and sharing your story. Your examples are perfect. I love helping people turn their passions into careers. That is what I just wrote my book, Blast Off about. I felt the need to help people that are feeling stuck or held back to see that they can make a change, To show hat we are not powerless and there are many, many opportunities for a fulfilling career. If you think about it, we spend more time at work in our lifetime than any other thing we do. Often more hours than sleeping, eating or spending time with loved ones. If you don’t absolutely love what you do, I recommend being totally honest with yourself and begin the process of re-inventing your career. And by the way, it is never too late.
Best Wishes in 2010!
Allison
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Nicole Price (80 comments) Reply:
January 4th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
Thank you Allison for taking the trouble to respond to my comment. It is very satisfying to know that one’s comments are read by the guest blogger!
One of the downsides for these two people is that they now do not have the time to “surround themselves with inspiring people”. They are too busy, and often have to be very careful, almost to the point of being paranoid of people wanting to compete with them! Their personalities have changed!
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December 25th, 2009 at 3:17 pm
’staying in tune with your soul’ is a also a great theme around these holiday times! Nice tips.
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 8:13 am
Thank you! Glad you like the tips.
Have a soulful New Year!
Allison
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December 25th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Just wanted to say Merry Christmas
- Kristina C
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December 27th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
Thanks for the great tips and merry christmas.
Good luck for the new year.
Thanks
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December 27th, 2009 at 6:21 pm
Awesome post & Good Luck selling the blog, I was expecting the BIN to be a little higher though!
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December 28th, 2009 at 6:16 am
I’ve seen how passion makes a difference. Many years ago I started my PhD but that wasn’t my passion. So, I didn’t finish it. Three years ago, my friend and I started on a business. He quit two weeks after we started. I, on the other hand, survived all the challenges alone for the past three years because of passion.
Thanks Stanley for this interesting post of Allison.
Jose
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
December 28th, 2009 at 8:16 am
HI Jose:
Thank you for your comment Congratulations on following your heart and gathering up your courage to leave your PhD process and starting your own business. That is not an easy decision to make! It sounds like your business has been a great fit for you. Is it easy to be an entrepreneur? No, not always. However, if you are passionate about it and it has meaning to you, you will most likely give it the effort it needs to succeed.
Best of luck to you for many huge successes!
Happy New Year.
Allison
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January 2nd, 2010 at 8:50 pm
Thanks for this post,
That’s what I aim for, to have an Online Community with Inspiring & Motivating people, with Daily Inspirational Items, and for example all kinds of interesting Inspiring Interviews, Video’s, Podcasts and Blogposts.
And although one of te first comments I received where comments in the Chines Language that made it a little complicated to understand if it was Inspring & Motivating, Nowaday’s I actually also frequently get easier to understand
positive feedback.
Feel free to write your compelling comments, ideas and feedback.
All the Best,
To your Happy – Soulfull Business – Inspiration,
HP
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
January 3rd, 2010 at 2:12 am
Hi HP. The more we are inspiring one another, the better shape this planet will be.
Keep up the great work.
Thank you.
Allison
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January 4th, 2010 at 2:41 pm
Any idea what this is all about?
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January 10th, 2010 at 3:38 am
I totally agree with you about surrounding yourself with motivated and successful people. By being around them, you pick up on their habits, state of mind etc and start to do so yourself.
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January 14th, 2010 at 4:50 pm
This is a really great post. Its always good to stay motivated and continue working and doing what you love. If you are surrounded by inspiring people, you too will be inspired. Thanks for sharing this post with us.
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
January 14th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
Thanks, Bidet! I am glad you enjoyed my post. There is much more inspiration in my new book, Blast Off! The Surefire Success Plan To Launch You Dreams Into Realty, that is being released next Tuesday, January 19th! Go to http://www.myblastoff.com/booklaunch. On that day, you will be able to download over 20 amazing inspirational books, audios, e-programs to help keep you motivated and on target with your goals. You will also be able to get it on Amazon.
I would love to hear what you think about my book.
Allison
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January 15th, 2010 at 7:57 am
Passion can be the very driving force to lead someone to success. Being surrounded with motivated and successful people is a good idea as it encourages you to work harder to become as successful. All, in all, it was a definite great read.
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allison Maslan (9 comments) Reply:
January 17th, 2010 at 8:04 am
Thanks, La Digue. I am glad you liked my post. Passion does drive you, doesn’t it.
Without it you have to really manufacture the energy to move forward. Passion is what I call the ‘Secret Spark” . The deep connection to whatever you are fully embracing in life. And if you are not, what is the point?
Take good care.
Allison
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January 16th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
I agree that surrounding yourself with inspiring people will get yourself motivated too.
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January 21st, 2010 at 4:26 pm
Hi Presidente Prudente:
Find what has meaning to you and combine that with your passions. That will give it the fuel
it needs to thrive. If you don’t love it, what is the point!
Hey, my book, Blast Off! released yesterday and hit the best seller list in Entrepreneurial and Motivational books on Amazon. It has all the tools to help you find your dream career and more.
Thanks for taking the time to leave your comment.
Allison
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July 14th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
Yes, it happens to me all the time—I hear about a good idea or jump into something new and then my gusto just falls short–probably happens to all of us though sometimes, right? Your blog has been very motivational to me though, it helps to learn from people really making money online.
Dance Instruction Videos´s last blog ..Dance Instruction Videos – Ballroom Dancing for Beginners
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