365 Inspirations—198: Valuing Yourself: Getting Paid for What You Love To Do

Signing Books at Edmond's Bookstore in WA State

“Whatever you do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius and power and magic in it.”—Goethe


 Writing is my passion and teaching and sharing are also my passions. I've been teaching ESL for years and it's been such a joy, but writing has always been something I've done on the side—until now.

I have closets full of journals that date back to my childhood. They've been locked away and have never seen the light of day until recently.

It was this blog that I started years ago that gave me the courage to pull my writing out from the closet and to start valuing myself as a writer. 

Now my writing and classes related to writing have taken center stage in my life. Just a few days ago I received a check from my agent for the Chinese translation of my book, Lessons from the Monk I Married and we are gearing up for another yoga/writing retreat at the Yoga Lodge in August. It will be our third annual retreat!

It was a long road to becoming confident enough to share my writing with the public. It took so much courage and still takes courage to "put it out there," but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Each and every time I take a step towards putting my writing, classes and my work out there, I'm facing my old fears and each time I do this it becomes easier to face them.

Every single one of us has these fears and old voices inside of us that try to tell us why we can't do what we love and be paid for it. These may be voices we heard when growing up that we made our own or they may come from the fears of others on the outside who have not been able to live their own dreams.

Whatever you dream of doing, start it. Do you want to be a potter and be paid for it? Start making pottery and start selling at fairs and boutique shops. Every penny you make towards doing what you love is important because that penny becomes a nickel becomes a dollar and so on. Before you know it, you will call yourself a potter and everyone else will start to refer to you as The Potter. And this becomes your life.

Remember, you can define yourself in anyway you choose. You don't have to define yourself by your day job unless you absolutely love your day job. Call yourself a painter or a cartoonist or a card maker or a builder. Whatever suits you. You get to decide. The more you place importance on what you love to do, the more others will recognize you for it. Before you know it, you WILL be paid for doing what you love, it's a natural progression.

Just remember to put your ear plugs in when the nay-sayers come out to destroy your plans and ideas. They will come. Usually these are people whose dreams were not realized and they are frustrated and disgruntled because of it. Don't let them rain on your parade. Keep positive and encouraging people close to you. This is very important.

Most of all, value yourself. You are the only one who can do this completely and YOU are worth it. If you value you, others will value you too and will compensate you for your work. 

Are you doing what you love and being compensated for it?