Motivation Monday: Turn your passion into profits

By Chanda Temple

If you’re still a little blurry on what your passion is, entrepreneur and digital lifestyle expert Mario Armstrong could help put things into focus.

Starting today, Mario kicks off his Never Settle Club, a free, five-week program designed to help people identify their passion and monetize it. People may sign up at http://www.neversettleclub.com, share their ideas and get feedback from others. The idea of such a community connection, which has its own Facebook page and #neversettleclub hashtag, is to offer powerful advice, resources and homework to build bridges to success. There will also be weekly chats with Mario.

With the help of AT&T, Mario offered such a program this summer. He’s back at it this month. Why? Because he said he feels like there’s an “obligation’’ to help other people live their purpose.

As someone who’s recovered from a failed business venture and a layoff years ago, he hopes the knowledge shared will open doors for others. Currently, he’s an Emmy Award-winning tech commentator for the TODAY Show, CNN, HLN and Fuse. He recently started writing a column for Men’s Fitness magazine.

“I want people to be successful and be happy, living life on purpose,’’ he said in an Aug.11 video included at the top of this post. He added that the program is for people with all kinds of visions and even those still trying to discover their passion.

So how do you find your passion, which is something that should excite and motivate you to live it each day? Mario offers these eight tips:

Mario Armstrong, right, appears on TV One commentator Roland S. Martin’s show in July 2014 to promote the #NeverSettleClub. Facebook CEO Sheryl Sandberg supports the effort and has joined the group, according to Mario.
Image from Roland S. Martin via Flickr/Creative Commons.

1.) Ask yourself the hard questions

What have you already been doing that you already like? What invigorates you? What are you constantly talking about, researching or sharing on social media?

2.) Mediate

It helps you stay calm when doors are slammed in your face and people tell you no. It gives you the energy to go after your dream again.

3.) Create a vision board

“Having a physical thing that you can frame or put up, that you can see every day, reminds of what you are going after,’’ he said. Recruit relatives, the kids and even dreamkillers to help make the vision board. That way, they’ll see your vision and maybe understand it.

4.) Identify ideas that could be successful

Follow this formula to get started. A) Write down the top three things you are extremely passionate about. B) Add to that which idea has the best market potential. In other words, which one solves a problem or is a need that people will gravitate toward. C) List all the things you will need in to be successful with that passion (your energy, a loan, time away from family, etc.) and subtract. D) Based on the result, decide if this is something you need to do right now or wait.

5.) Break through that brick wall

If your idea doesn’t work, tweak it. If you are making the slightest progress with your idea, don’t abandon it. Stay with it. But if you’ve tried everything and nothing is working, it may be time to pivot and try another passion.

6.) Build a support base

Get a mentor or a support team at home. Check out MeetUp.com to find people in your area with similar business interests.

7.) Have aggressive patience

When things are not moving as quickly as you think they should, take a deep breath. Envision where you want to be and stay focused.

8.) Accept small steps

It takes small steps to get to a big vision. Break down your life’s vision into small, achievable steps. Also, read up on entrepreneur and author Gary Vaynerchuk. 

Follow Mario on Twitter.

Chanda Temple is a former reporter now working in public relations. She blogs about being better in business and more at http://www.chandatemplewrites.com. Follow her on Twitter at @chandatemple. Contact her at chandatemple@gmail.com.