Have you ever heard the phrase, “Do what you love and the money will follow?”
I used to think that was a sweet, albeit unrealistic saying. I mean, I was an opera singer for goodness sake. I poured my whole heart and soul into it and never made any real money.
Admittedly, I never made it to the Met and perhaps if I had had more artistic success, I would be singing a different tune right now. (Sorry, couldn’t resist that one….)
However, what I’ve come to realize is, doing what you love truly IS the path to joy and abundance. The trick is, most of us are not completely dialed in to what we want and perhaps more importantly WHY we want it.
Even though I passionately love, love, love singing (I mean I really love it), when I was younger, my singing meant something very different to me.
It meant a way out.
There’s’ no way at the age for 20 I could have told you from what exactly I was trying to escape. I just knew I thought singing was going to be my ticket to happiness.
Here’s what I thought singing would do for me….
-give me validation.
-make me famous.
-provide me with lots of money (when I got famous).
-make me feel important.
-make me feel beautiful.
-bring me adoration.
-bring me praise.
-bring me recognition.
-make me popular.
If you’ve ever had the lovely opportunity to have a laryngoscope shoved down your throat, that’s a long tube with a camera attached, you would know your vocal chords are tiny. On average, they’re only about 12-24 mm’s long and 3-5 mm’s thick. That’s it.
When I think of all the pressure I was putting on those two, teeny folds, sheesh, of course, there was NO WAY they could stand up to the pressure!! How could something so small and delicate possibly carry the weight of my entire happiness? Obviously, they couldn’t.
I know there are fabulous singers who had/have just as many misguided, neurotic motivations to be performers as I did who went on to have fabulous careers. I think it’s fair to say there are a LOT of messed up, extremely “successful” artists out there. But I couldn’t do it. My body wouldn’t let me.
The more I WANTED “it,” the tighter I got. I remember very clearly trying to sing in a masterclass where my jaw got so tight, I literally could not open my mouth. How’s that for your body trying to tell you something?
Believe me when I tell you, it was extremely painful. I felt like a leopard without spots. Why would God give me this gift if I couldn’t use it?
The problem was I was asking something of my singing it could never give me. I was begging it to show me I was lovable, but there’s no way it could because deep down, I didn’t believe it. I treated singing like an insecure teenager treats her wardrobe. I was riddled with self-loathing and insecurity.
Luckily, all the pain and disappoint I felt drove me to find answers. “Why is this happening to me? How can I feel better? Is there something else I should be doing with my life?”
I began an intense journey of self-discovery and healing that continues to this day. Obviously, I stopped pursuing a professional singing career to become an entrepreneur, however, the story doesn’t stop there.
I recently had a major epiphany.
For the past several months, I’ve been waking up depressed, not in a full-on depression kind of way, but generally down. I know a lot of happiness tools, so usually by mid-morning my mood improved. However, it was starting to really bother me to start my day this way.
Again, I began asking myself, “Why is this happening to me? How can I feel better? Is there something else I should be doing with my life?”
The answer came back a big YES!
I realized I had been operating my business to some degree in the same way I used to approach my singing, looking for outside validation. I was trying to figure out just the right program, meme, photo or blog post that was going to get people to respond to me. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for marketing and promoting your business, but my flavor of outside-in approval was rearing it’s ugly head again and reeking havoc on my happiness.
I’ll admit, it totally sucked to come to this realization, but I am sooooo grateful because it brought me back to myself.
I know that I know that I know when you honor who you are first, you create happiness and abundance which is why I have decided to make some changes in they way I do things around here.
Don’t worry, I’m still going to give tips and concrete strategies to build your business, but I am also going to be talking a LOT more about holistic success. Because YOU are a whole person. If you are not happy and healthy, you will never create the kind of business that lights you up and makes you money at the same time.
Your business needs to be an expression of who you are at your most creative, expressive, talented, intelligent, LOVING core. When you create a business from that place, you understand why and how you are here to serve. You build a true tribe that loves you and hangs on your every word.
I have spent the past 30 years learning how to love, honor and express who I am to be happy and prosperous. I want to help you do the same.
I can tell you from personal experience, if you don’t create your business in alignment with your deepest desires, it will mess with your mojo. Believe me, I know. On the flip side, if you do, it’s sunshine and roses Baby! (Did I mention I woke up in a good mode today?:)
If you’d like to know how to create a business that makes you happy and profitable, CLICK HERE=>bit.ly/ProfitStratgy
Until next time, here’s to hitting all your high notes.
xo
I have heard something a lot recently that has started to really bother me. It’s not a phrase or even a sentence. It’s one little tiny word. But this one little, tiny word has a huge impact. The word is “just.”
Let’s get one thing straight right here, right now. There is almost no way to create a strong, successful brand without getting criticized. As difficult as it is to be at the receiving end of negative feedback, you do yourself and your brand a huge disfavor by going out of your way to avoid it. No one likes getting lambasted for sticking their neck out, however, charting your course by trying not to offend others is a sure-fire way to weaken the impact and power of your brand.
“I have a dream…”
I recently heard this term and I love it. “Regret Minimization” It doesn’t mean we won’t make mistakes along the way, it means trying to make the best decisions to minimize regret. It’s a little more forgiving than living without regret which I think is impossible if you are human, or at least if you are Heather Poduska, because I put my foot in my mouth more often than I’d care to think about.
In my last blog post I mentioned the fact that nurses and teachers are my heroes, and it’s true. After giving birth three times, my appreciation of nurses has grown exponentially. Having a good nurse makes all the difference in the world when it comes to those times when you really need to rely on someone to help you push through. Most of my maternity nurses were very sweet, but there was one who was tough as nails. At one point I seriously wanted to slap her, but in all honesty she was probably the best nurse I ever had. This was my nurse for my first baby. I think her name was Joan.