-part 6 of 6-
You may find it strange that I’ve saved this for last. In a sense, this is similar to finding inspiration, the meaning of life and happiness. When I was younger, I was devoted to cultivating a greatness of spirit so that I would be bursting with love and joy; something I could pass on to everyone I came in contact with.
But then I needed to work for a living. And I discovered something condescending about sharing only joy and love and happiness with people who are facing real systematic problems (like telling the to be happy for what they have, when they have nothing, while we return to our iPhones and luxury).
Also, if you start with your own happiness as a guide then you focus on producing whatever you like without it being economically viable… which means you waste an incredible amount of resources making something that people don’t like and then trying to get them to buy it anyway. That’s what I don’t want you to do.
That’s the whole problem with the indie movement, the separation of artists from artisans. Creativindie, as laid out in this plan, has given you the tools to become the type of person and surround yourself with the type of friends who can make a positive, powerful and fundamentally self-less contribution to society at the world at large. To make this kind of impact, you have to focus on projects that can earn an indecent amount of money – or at least cultivate enough relationships and a large enough platform that you can instigate visions of incredible goodness and get support from thousands of people.
This is the ultimate goal of my life, and I hope yours as well: to be much more than successful and independent – to do much more than produce your own work. To actually make a Big Difference.
Quotes and Expert Roundup
“Instead, igniting the fire on the inside burns a light so fierce it can’t be burned out. Instead, you will brighten the galaxy. You will add brilliance to the lives around you. You will become a beacon, a light that attracts abundance, instead of a flickering fame that is eventually smothered.” – James Altucher, Choose Yourself!
“My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive; and to do so with some passion, some compassion, some humor, and some style.” – Maya Angelou
“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” – Nelson Mandela
“I try to live my life where I end up at a point where I have no regrets. So I try to choose the road that I have the most passion on because then you can never really blame yourself for making the wrong choices. You can always say you’re following your passion.” – Darren Aronofsky
“I want to know what passion is. I want to feel something strongly.”
― Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
“All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire.” – Aristotle
“Oprah Winfrey at 2011 TCA” by Greg Hernandez from California, CA, USA – Oprah Winfrey at 2011 TCA. Licensed under CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons –
“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you.” – Oprah Winfrey
“Nothing is as important as passion. No matter what you want to do with your life, be passionate.” –Jon Bon Jovi
“Follow your passion. Be yourself, but check yourself before you wreck yourself.” – Andy Cohen
“What’s money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.” —Bob Dylan
“Kyle-cassidy-neil-gaiman-April-2013” by Kyle Cassidy – By email. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons –
“The one thing that you have that nobody else has is you. Your voice, your mind, your story, your vision. So write and draw and build and play and dance and live as only you can.” —Neil Gaiman
“We work in the dark – we do what we can – we give what we have. Our doubt is our passion and our passion is our task. The rest is the madness of art.” – Henry James
“Skill is the unified force of experience, intellect and passion in their operation.” – John Ruskin
“I have met many entrepreneurs who have the passion and even the work ethic to succeed – but who are so obsessed with an idea that they don’t see its obvious flaws. Think about that. If you can’t even acknowledge your failures, how can you cut the rope and move on?”- Kevin O’Leary
“Vera Headshot” by vera wang – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons –
“When you have a passion for something then you tend not only to be better at it, but you work harder at it too.”- Vera Wang
“There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.” – Norman Vincent Peale
“A sure sign of a soul-based workplace is excitement, enthusiasm, real passion; not manufactured passion, but real involvement. And there’s very little fear.” – David Whyte
“In motivating people, you’ve got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example – and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved.” – Rupert Murdoch
“Cate Blanchett Deauville 2013 3” by Georges Biard. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons –
“If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink my entire life – that great sense of expectation and excitement without the disappointment – that would be the perfect state.” – Cate Blanchett
“I try to live my life where I end up at a point where I have no regrets. So I try to choose the road that I have the most passion on because then you can never really blame yourself for making the wrong choices. You can always say you’re following your passion.” – Darren Aronofsky
“As long as we are persistence in our pursuit of our deepest destiny, we will continue to grow. We cannot choose the day or time when we will fully bloom. It happens in its own time.” – Denis Waitley
“Palahniukmic” by AlexRan – http://www.flickr.com/photos/sourdiesel/484793142/. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons –
“Find joy in everything you choose to do. Every job, relationship, home… it’s your responsibility to love it, or change it.” – Chuck Palahniuk
“Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it.” – Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“I believe that passion and money belong in the same sentence, but not quite so close together. Do what you love, do it very well, be prepared to accept appropriate payment for it, let people know what you’re doing and that you’re excellent at it, and then — at the very least — a sustenance level of money will follow.” – Naomi Dunford from IttyBiz
“It sounds a bit too much like a guaranteed statement. I don’t agree that it’s a sure thing, but as I said, you have better odds if you follow your passion. I’d change it to something like,“Follow your passion, and don’t worry about the money. You’ll be happier, and you’ll give yourself a better chance at the money.” It’s not as catchy, though.” – Leo Babuata from Zen Habits
