This is a series of lessons learned in my nine years as a Passion Catalyst.
As I was transforming myself from Curt the marketing guy to Curt the Passion Catalyst, I realized I had a lot to learn. I had put a framework around something I had done naturally, informally for years, but the career passion spin was new.
I decided to start building a "knowledge base" by interviewing people who had successfully pursued their passions. As I did, a few common themes started to emerge. One of the big ones, expressed in some way by pretty much everyone I talked to, was this: "I couldn't have done it alone."
The more clients I see moving toward their own transformation, and the more I experience of my own journey,the more convinced I am that the support of others is as vital to our success as oxygen is to staying alive.
That support might come in any of a number of packages. For example:
- Emotional
- Knowledge (e.g., a mentor)
- Logistical / practical
- Networking / connections
- Creative / brainstorming / idea-bouncing
- Spiritual
- Financial
- Motivation / inspiration
My own path has been packed with examples when, if not for the support of others, I would have just gone splat. Some of them have related to my business, others have related to other parts of life (which in turn related to my business, because life is a holistic system, with every piece interconnected).
On the non-work side, I have written about the support of my friend Sharon during some really challenging times with my health. On the work side, one of my favorite examples took place in the first year of my Passion Catalyst work.
The 11th-hour reprieve
As you might imagine, recreating myself with no formal background to stand on other than, "This is who I am - I do this naturally," presented some challenges. In fact, that first year was brutal. After ten months of trying to make something happen and making about a third of what I needed to meet my monthly obligations, I finally threw my hands up and said, "I give up." I resigned myself to having to go back to the marketing world.
Just prior to that I had reached out to Richard Tait, co-founder of the game company Cranium, and asked him if I could interview him to get his career passion insights (his e-mail address had been on their web site, and I just lobbed the request over to him). He graciously said yes.
Over the course of our conversation, I told him about my Passion Catalyst work, and mentioned some discussion groups I had been organizing. Something about what I was doing must have resonated with him, because later that day he sent me an e-mail offering to talk to one of my groups.
Rather than something small-scale like that, I decided to create an event called the Passion People Speaker Series. Richard was the first speaker. That month, for the first time in the ten months since I had hung out my shingle as a Passion Catalyst, I earned enough to pay all my bills. And I could trace all that additional business to the event in some way, whether it had been someone who had heard about me via the event promotion, or someone I met at the event.
In a very real way, my Passion Catalyst work exists today because of Richard's generous offer of support eight years ago. I'm not sure if I would have picked it up again after feeling so battered and bruised by the attempt. Richard's support, whether he realized it or not (I'm sure he didn't), amounted to an 11th hour reprieve.
Do a support check
Having the support you need to succeed is too important to leave to chance. Take a look at your own life and ask some questions:
- Where do I get my support?
- Where could I get my support?
- What kind of support do I need?
- What kind of support am I missing?
- Who can I reach out to?
And to balance the equation out and keep the energy flowing, complement those questions with these:
- Who needs my support?
- Who can I help, and how?
Be conscious about what you need, be purposeful and intentional about bringing it into your life, and be proactive in reaching out to find it, and the support you need will show up.
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The Occupational Adventure Guide:
A Travel Guide to the Career of Your Dreams
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by Curt Rosengren, Passion Catalyst
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