Do You Believe This About Money?
On the beautiful crisp winter’s morning of January 1st, during an extended 60-minute www.SuccessQnA.com session on Facebook, reader Allan Yeo posted, “Happy New Year Craig. Everyday you go out there and fight the same fights we have but you still take the time to help and motivate. For that, I thank you. Have a great 2013.”
My reply: “Happy to help Allan, this is what I was born to do!”
That’s not just some cheesy platitude. I truly believe it. I was blessed, as Frank McKinney describes it in his book, “Make It Big,” to have recognized my highest calling as early as possible in life.
It all started around the age of 16. My friends and I would pay a couple of dollars to go the local YMCA weight room where we’d be those obnoxious kids trying out every machine in the gym, but not knowing what we were doing.
None of my friends took it seriously, but I started buying muscle-building magazines, reading about Arnold, training in my parent’s basement, and writing my own workouts. I was hooked. Soon after I was training other people and going down the path of what I was born to do.
I knew that I wanted to combine my love of reading and writing with helping people change their lives. It would eventually become a fifteen-year journey (including six years of post-secondary education) until I had a financial breakthrough by doing what I love.
This breakthrough came in 2006, but each day during my journey was a gift. I have been waking up in love with my work since 1998 when I started my first summer job as a personal trainer – rather than spending another hot summer in a dirty, grimy factory back in Stratford, Ontario.
This brings us to the age-old debate about the belief that you can “do what you love and the money will come to you.” Our friends Chris and Janet Attwood of “The Passion Test” believe it is true. On the other hand, Cal Newport, author of “So Good They Can’t Ignore You” insists that skills trump passion when it comes to success.
I must admit, I’m biased to the former approach. I believe that if you have a vision for your life, and you continue to take action towards it, and you connect with positive people that support your vision, then YES, you can do what you love and get paid to do it.
You can do what you were born to do.
But it takes work, a clear purpose and vision, and a never give up attitude. However, it is rewarding and meaningful in the end.
It is with this belief that I approach every day, working hard and moving closer and closer to helping 1 million men and women transform their lives. As you’ve heard me mention many times before, I spend time each day going through what I call my “Daily Guiding Documents.” One of these comes from direct marketing legend Ted Nicholas. He laid out 21 affirmations that I quickly made part of my daily review. In this list he writes, “I can make my life anything I want it to be.” And again, I believe this to be true because that is what I have done.
But while each day was a gift full of valuable lessons and many victories, there were also a fair share of dark days.
In fact, there were so many dips in the road to success you’d think I was riding an eternal roller coaster. But Winston Churchill was right. Never give up, never give in. Or as I tell my fat loss clients over and over again, “You must never, ever, ever give up on something that is important to you.”
By believing that I could earn a great living by doing what I was born to do, and by taking a never give up attitude and working hard each day (while also learning from valuable mentors), I have been able to create the meaningful life of my dreams.
I would love for you to be able to do the same. It all starts with having a vision for your life. You must start with the end in mind. Your vision doesn’t need to be elaborate, but you need to hold some core values in your mind as to what you strive for in life. You need to be clear about what you will and will not do. You need to know what legacy you want to leave.
When you are able to communicate these important beliefs, then you’ll be one step closer to understanding what it is that you were born to do.
And yes, I sincerely belief that each one of us was born with the aptitude and attitude to uniquely deliver value to the world.
My mentor, Frank McKinney agrees. In “Make It Big,” McKinney wrote, “Each of us has not only a professional talent but a spiritual one as well. Find yours and apply it.”
Find yours and you will find what you were born to do. Once you find it, then find a way to do it every day. The rewards are worth what it takes to do so.
[Ed. Note. Craig Ballantyne is the editor of Early to Rise and author of Financial Independence Monthly and Turbulence Training. He is also the co-creator of the Early to Rise $100,000 Transformation Contest. Though this round of the Transformation Contest has closed it’s not too late to access to all the helpful tools and advice that helped many people make a positive change in their lives. Get started on your major life transformations today.