Be Who You Want

In terms of career, you can genuinely be anything you want to be and actually doing that is easy. Want to be a writer? Great, all you have to do is to start writing. Want to be an artist? Sure, just start painting! Want to be a pilot? Start looking for pilot courses. Want to be a pilot but can’t afford the course/don’t want to give up your current lifestyle? Then look into flying a microlight. The point is that as soon as you start doing the thing you want to do, you become that thing. As soon as you write, you are a writer by definition. Sure, you may not be famous for it. You might not be professional. You might not even be any good. But you are a writer! And when someone asks you what you do, you can legitimately say ‘I’m a writer’. Hopefully what you’re getting from this is that you don’t have to define yourself by your current career. Likewise, you don’t have to have just one career. Again, it’s about not waiting. And it’s about realizing what it is about the thing that makes you excited and happy. First things first: remember the old adage that 'it's never too late to be what you always want to be'. Sometimes it's actually easier to accomplish things when you are older. The internet actually makes all kinds of things possible today that weren’t before. Did you know that you can self-publish your book on LuLu and you don’t have to pay anything up-front? It’s called ‘POD’ or ‘Print On Demand’ and that means that the copies only get made when they’re sold – meaning there’s no upfront investment and no risk. The point is, that you don’t always have to go about reaching your goals in the traditional or obvious manner. Almost always, there are other ways you can go about achieving the same thing if you just take the time to come up with a strategy. What are your strengths? What are your current resources? Who are your most valuable connections? How can you personally achieve that goal you have in mind? Remember too, the longer you work at something, the better at it you become. This applies not only to obvious skills but also business and the ability to self-promote. This is also just one more reason to step on it! The sooner you start trying, the quicker you’ll get to a professional standard!