Living your passion doesn't mean slacking off (although I'm still really good at that). Living your passion often means working just as hard but with joy instead of obligation. Just because it's work doesn't mean it can't be fun. I'm not saying that there aren't things that I really dislike doing. Filing is one of them. Tax prep is another big one. Probably because those are "shoulds" and rebels like me (ha!) really don't like "shoulds." We like "want tos" but not "shoulds." So my struggle has been how do I turn pumpkin-like "shoulds" into beautiful, sparkly, horse-drawn carriage "want tos"?
Well, first I visited my fairy godmother (and her duck). There I learned about Metaphor Mouse and the Pirate Tax Cave. Metaphor Mouse helps you work through your issues with things like "shoulds" and find a way to deal with them. That's how I got through my tax prep issues (Yeah! Got my tax stuff to the tax dude). But I was still struggling with the wide array of shoulds that pepper my to do list. So I came up with my own metaphor (with help from Bryna and Todd, my financial advisers - yes, even though I have no money I have financial advisers! They're awesome.)
My business is like a trampoline. I can jump around and do flips and spins and seat drops and have all kinds of fun. But if the trampoline mat is sitting on the ground, I won't be able to jump much. And the seat drops will hurt like hell. So doing the paperwork, setting up the systems, getting my ducks in a row - all the shoulds - that's building the framework for my trampoline. That's doing the stuff that's necessary to make the trampoline fun. And also (because I like to beat my metaphors to death), by setting up rainy day savings and insurance and all that stuff, I'm putting up a net around my trampoline to keep me from falling on the ground and hitting my head. Because concussions suck.
I'm off to tend to the elephants. Now that I have a trampoline, I've decided that I want a whole three-ring circus around it. And of course, I'm the Ring Master (Mistress?).
