Part 2 of 4: Identify Your Passion in Your Skills and Interests

by Case Lane

When I was at law school, a few years ago, I realized something no one ever talks about.  People were NOT putting their entire lives online on the social networks.  The secrets were still very much being kept secret. 

You might guess what some of those secrets were, but what’s surprising is that even the benign activities were being self-censored. 

For example, if someone had a hobby they thought their friends would make fun of them about, or an interest in an influencer they wanted to follow, but did not want everyone to know they were following, people had to find other groups and places to express this interest away from their main social pages.  They created new pages or signed up for other sites under different avatars.

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur who wants to start an online business in a niche no one knows you are interested in, or where you have limited or no experience, you face the same dilemma right? 

How can you legitimately declare your passion or expertise to be exactly what you say it is even if you have no experience in your niche?

The Science Geeks Hangover

Have you ever actually seen one of those bubbling plastic model volcanoes?  You know the kind that are the staple of jokes on TV show when making fun of a science project.

Those model volcanoes are Science Fair fodder.  And at the Science Fair, as you remember, the winners get a blue ribbon nobody sees, and a pat on the back that has no clear path to ongoing success…

Now don’t get me wrong.  I love science.  I think the Science Fair champions should get the front page of the paper, and be honored at the Super Bowl half-time show. 

Those brilliant geeks make the plastic volcano to demonstrate the build up of pressure into heat, steam and gas that EXPLODES into the air, then down on to everything in molten liquid destruction…

It’s super cool!  And often easily forgotten…

The State Science Fair is a big deal for some people, but it receives not nearly the attention given to the State Basketball Championships, which is a big deal for everyone.

The science champion will likely receive a free ride to college, and so will the basketball champion.

The science champion may even receive a lot of interesting offers to work in a research lab or at a big corporation.

But the basketball champion knows exactly the types of offers she could receive.  The basketball champion already has an absolutely clearly defined road to success that almost everyone knows, and can repeat.

Only the future professional athletes have this clarity…not the biologists, not the musicians, not the historians, not the programmers, and…definitely not the entrepreneurs.

The Value of a Familiar Road

The high school basketball player who has the intention of playing professionally, knows to work to earn a spot on the varsity team, and if not the junior varsity, and at least play intramurally.

The top players may even earn a spot on an AAU traveling team, and compete at multiple levels.

During high school, the goal is to earn a Division IA full ride college scholarship, and if that doesn’t materialize, the player tries for Division II or III with an eye to reach Division I, some day. 

While in college, the goal is to try for the NBA, and if not the Development League or leagues in Europe, Asia or South America.

There is also an opportunity to compete for a national team to play in the Pan-Am Games, or maybe even the Olympics. 

When playing days are over, the player can start the process again as a coach or team management, first in high school, and then college, and internationally…

…and so they keep going.

Not everyone makes it, but everyone knows what the path is…and has an chance to pursue each possible direction to achieve the next level of success.

The science champion may or may not get a job, may or may not have a promising career, may or may not get to work in their preferred field, and in all circumstances has no clear path to defined markers of success.

There could be annual science competitions, but none have the objective championship declaration like the number of points scored in a basketball game.

The science champion will have to figure things out and accept decisions made by others.  They are caught in a status quo of research grants, subjective analysis, and naysayers and unbelievers, questioning what turn out to be their best ideas.

The Opportunity to Prepare

The basketball player can ramp up her own performance, and aim for higher and higher opportunities along the pre-determined path.

And because the basketball player can see the path, the road and the opportunities ahead, she can PREPARE to be a professional basketball player, coach or even team manager or executive, knowing the available jobs and programs, out around the entire world…for life.

Every day the basketball player needs to do more drills, more shots, more weight-lifting and running.  Diet can be modified, so can sleep.  Hours can be spent watching tape to see not only how the greats play, but also your own mistakes.

The basketball player can always be ready for the next opportunity…

…The science champion has to rely on outside forces.

The aspiring entrepreneur must do both.

Like science geeks, aspiring entrepreneurs do not have a clear road, but like basketball players, you can prepare.

An aspiring entrepreneur can understand the road to follow, and the skills to develop, while declaring a passion around an idea upon which you build your business…and then work directly in that business to achieve success.

And the success is defined…by the objective global marketplace.

The market will tell you if you have won or lost against your definition of success.

Declare Your Expertise Through Your Work

Many who follow the entrepreneurial road are indoctrinated into the science geek’s understanding of life, and allow the gatekeepers to decide their path.

Outside forces define not only the qualifications for your professional success, but also the attributes that would put you on their radar in the first place.

The result is not always satisfactory, a fact that leads many to try entrepreneurship. And when walking away to go into business for themselves, aspiring entrepreneurs can look at the activities successful entrepreneurs are doing, and model their practices.

As an entrepreneur, you set your goals based on the opportunity you see, and you work to achieve them. 

The only approval you need is from the global marketplace where you deliver your product or service. 

Select your passion, the niche or space – the product or service you want to champion – exactly where you want to make your mark, and you use it to do exactly what you want to do, even if you have no experience.

The key driver for successful entrepreneurs is doing the work.  That’s what separates the successful from the forgotten.  That’s the only common denominator.

Entrepreneurs can be born rich or poor, finish school or not, go to the formal workplace or not, travel the world or not – and in all cases, the success stories are written by and about those who did the work, and did not give up.

You declare your expertise exactly where you are going to put in the work. 

Because your intentions and effort will put you ahead of those who are not doing anything.  You can start with zero experience because the minute you get started you know more than the next person who never tried.

If your production and delivery of the product or service resonates with that next person, that person will consider you the expert they want to follow, and you will have your business.

Just like a basketball player, you keep the main goal in mind, while you make adjustments based on feedback and the response you receive from the global marketplace.

While the science geek is waiting for grant money or possible job offers, you are practicing the moves needed to break in to the next level by being passionately involved in your chosen area of expertise. 

You have to get ready like the basketball player.

You have to prepare to be a Ready Entrepreneur

For the next article, Part 3 of 4: How to Decide on an Online Platform: Click Here

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