Welcome to the first episode of my Podcast. In a bid to serve you even better and enhance our growing experience, I will be posting a Podcast once a week on the subject matter of Leaderpreneurship and Organic Leadership. These will comprise of lessons I have learnt living as a Leaderpreneur.
Years ago I realised that I was blessed to be able to take information and knowledge and distil into very simple teaching material to help empower others. I was really excited when I came to this realisation and so started to look for opportunities to utilise my gift.
Before long I had a group of women sitting in my living room once every fortnight, and we started to learn and grow together. After a while, I took it a notch higher and decided that reaching twenty women was a great thing from where I was coming, but if I could reach more that will be fantastic. So I took those teachings and began to do them into articles in some 8 pages newsletter format and began to circulate. Our reach increased, and this was just great.
A couple years later, it dawned on me that we could take this same material, and spread it even further, so we began to publish a full blown magazine, and our reach expanded even further. I moved away from doing it alone and gathered a team, and also added conferences and seminars, and I was cruising really high on the altitude of satisfaction.
There was, however, a tiny little problem; the fact that all this was still a hobby to me and hobbies are expensive to maintain; more importantly was the fact that the team didn’t want to play hobby with me, they wanted to earn. I knew this was what I was born to do; I knew other lives were getting better, as a result, but I never thought to find a way to monetize some of them and that translated to mean that there was no guarantee how long I will be able to continue what I was doing.
So many of us began this journey to dreamland as Technicians or people who loved something enough to want to do it on a daily or regular basis and money wasn’t the motivation. The challenge is over time, especially when you do it well and keep getting better at it; it is bound to consume more of your time and resources, and it is just wise to recognise that it is no longer a hobby but a calling.
In my view, a hobby transitions into a calling once the individual realises the value it brings to others, the satisfaction he gets, but also recognises that his gift is able to make room for him and create opportunities for others. Once we come to this realisation; we begin to consider how to monetize what we do; but then comes the challenge of self-consciousness; wondering what others will say now that you have a price tag attached to what you produce by your gift. The truth is people will actually complain or wonder if you have sold out to the money god, and I know this crippled me for a long time. However, there has to come a day when you realise that if you want to continue to make the impact you are called to make, then you need to transition from hobby to calling.
The truth is those who used to get it for free know they should and can pay for what you give, but they will not say that to you because free pays them. Question is; does free pay you?
If you are considering that transition here are a few points that should help you.
1. Acknowledge to yourself that what you do is valuable
2. Make sure you do it well! Give your best every time.
3. Settle it in your mind that you can earn from it and that doesn’t make you the devil.
4. Flesh it into a service or product.
5. Find your Tribe – Those for whom your gift makes meaning.
6. Show them what value you can bring – send some freebies their way
7. Be consistent at it
8. Never sell yourself short (I struggle with this).
I learnt this week that Perception is the ability to recognise your advantage. Your gift is a great advantage and until you recognise it as such and begin to work and position it as a calling rather than a hobby; it may remain a really expensive hobby for a long time, and the tendency to become miserable doing it – if at all you can continue to do it for long is there.
Whether hobby or calling right now; remember, that others will meet you at the level you perceive yourself. I am confident you will make it NeverTheLess.
It is your turn what do you think? Please leave a comment below:
Here is to your success!
Bidemi