Subscribe to blog updates via email »
Four Things About You
Being yourself for a living may not work for the you that you are right now. The old ways of doing things have molded your personality in a way that is incompatible with building an integrated life where work and pleasure are one in the same, friends and colleagues the same as well. The old world has compartmentalized our personalities. Mechanical reproduction and assembly lines have trimmed our talents down to neat little cubes that stack together. You aren’t a cubes. You aren’t a square.
So some of the things that are required to be yourself for a living may not sound like you at first. But these things are inside of you somewhere. You may be better at some of the things than the others. You may be really great at some of the things that you haven’t even tried yet. Here are some assumptions that the BYFL way makes about what every human is capable of.
One: You are social
Humans are social animals, and this is a pretty safe assumption. You may think of yourself as a shy person. It may just be that you haven’t unlocked the motivation to have contact with many people. Interacting with a wide range of people is critical to BYFL. They will be your first customers, whether it’s because they read your blog, or they try your product. They will be a feedback mechanism, an advisory board, a support group.
WANT TO WRITE A BOOK?
Download your FREE copy of How to Write a Book »
(for a limited time)
The social aspect of BYFL isn’t about networking. It’s about appreciating what a beautiful thing it is for someone to be free to pursue those things that arouse their curiousity – and to make a living doing such. Then, it is about recognizing that happening with the people you meet – and celebrating it. Do this, and you will never be lonely.
Two: You enjoy writing – whether you know it yet or not
Writing is as much a process as it is a product. It allows us to understand ourselves, and explore the depths of our minds. The lack of desire to write is usually paralysis caused by external expectations. The bounty that lies within that brain of yours is complex. It is almost laughable to think that it could be expressed in words.
This is why you shouldn’t be afraid of the words you write not making any sense. Write whatever pops into your head. Write about the things that seem so basic to you that they don’t need to be written about. Write nonsense strings of words. Write with no audience in mind. You don’t have to publish but a fraction of what you write. The publishable things will come easier if get the nonsense out first.
Three: You are creative
It’s true, some people are more analytical than they are creative, and vice versa. Creativity is important to BYFL because BYFL requires recognizing opportunities to use new tools in technologies in ways that exploit your passions and talents. Sometimes, you’ll be using these things in ways that they’ve never been used before.
If you really think you’re uncreative, it’s probably because you haven’t needed to be creative. Your whole being has been stuck into a rut, and you need some creativity tips.
Four: You are self-motivated
Some people have ended up in a place where they believe that they need to be told what to do. Where they believe they are not self-motivated. This goes completely against human nature. We are always looking out for ourselves. Even in cases where we are directly trying to help others, we are helping ourselves in some way. Each and every one of us needs intellectual activity, social contact, some sense of importance and attention, and finally – some way to make a living. The people who believe they don’t have it in them to pursue their genuine interests have forgotten their childhoods. In most cases, they had love and support, and no responsibilities – and so their minds were free to play creatively. They were intrinsically motivated. Eventually, obligations built up – many of them imagined – and those then became the motivations that informed their actions.
It’s chicken-and-egg, but those obligations are often built up by the pursuit of things. Let’s not kid ourselves: some things are really nice to have. But when those things cannot be had within an integrated, self-sustaining life, they start to take us over. Requests from our bosses become obligations to our bills, rather than opportunities to grow and feed our curiousities.
So, those are the things that I believe are in you. Are they?
