The Beginner’s Guide to Doing Work that Makes You Happy

05 Mar The Beginner’s Guide to Doing Work that Makes You Happy

 

“Sure that might work for them, but my situation is different.”

It’s a very dangerous script. And sadly, the world hears it a lot.

So do I.

It’s probably the most common defeatist and negative response I get from people who hear about the work we do at Live Your Legend.

And as it turns out, it’s the real reason most people don’t go through with the things they care about. They find some way of convincing themselves that they’re special.

But the reality is that we all have the same problems…

• I don’t have time to start looking for that new career.
• I don’t have the money to shop and eat in a healthier way.
• I don’t have the discipline to keep working through the uncertainty.
• I have a family to support and mortgage to pay, so we can’t take the risk.
• I’m too old.
• I’m too young.
• I have no idea where to start…

As much as people would like to think differently, none of our situations are that unique. That’s the beauty of it.

And no matter how challenging, scary or impossible your story may seem, there is almost always someone out there who’s been in a worse spot than you who somehow found a way to be victorious. The first step is finding one of those examples to prove what’s actually possible – we all need our own Roger Bannister.

That’s why we’re always profiling stories about people making magnificent change against what seem like all odds.

Because I’ve noticed everyone falls into two camps: You have a compelling reason to do what matters to you – or you don’t.

That’s it.

Live Your Legend exists for two reasons:

1. First to show you proof of what’s possible, from our tens of thousands of Living Legends around the world.

2. And then to provide you the community and roadmap to make the seemingly impossible your new normal.

So today I want to lay out a list of some of our most powerful free tools. I spent the last few hours going through hundreds of our articles from the past few years to cherry-pick the ones that have made the most difference so you can use them as a guide to making real change – both for you and those close to you.

My real goal is to remove the excuses. 

Plus, a couple of weeks ago I got an email from a seemingly-frustrated reader saying something to the effect of, “I don’t just want to buy some expensive product. I wish you’d offer more for free…”

Emails like this always blow me away. My first response is to read it five more times to be sure I’m hearing it right.

My hope is that they’re new to the community and haven’t yet realized how we do things around here…

This community is free to you – all we ask is that you do something with it!

I pour my heart and soul into the articles and workbooks we create. So does our team. And 95% of everything we produce is totally free. Yes, this Revolution is also a business, which allows us to create the free communities, tools and resources we do. We have a couple uber in-depth paid courses for those who want more specific help, but the majority of you will probably never purchase them. And that’s totally fine by me. If you’re motivated and dedicated enough, you can make unbelievable progress on your own. Either way, we’re a family and we’re in this together.

But what I’m NOT ok with is you refusing to take action. 

My #1 goal is to always provide you with the most useful people and tools for finding and doing the work that actually matters – to you and to the world.

What I care about is that you DO something with it. That’s our deal. We promise to do our part as long as you do something, anything, that gets you closer to what matters.

So here’s a reminder for all of you to have at your fingertips – begging to be used. It’s only valuable if you decide to do something with it…

Here’s what I ask you to do with the below:

1. Send this article and list to one person you know could use a change but doesn’t know where to start – or believes it’s impossible.
2. Pick one article that’s most relevant for your current situation and get started taking some action.

Enjoy!

The Beginner’s Guide for Doing Work You Love

#1 – If you haven’t already, the first step is to watch our TEDx talk on How to Find & Do Work Your Love. That sets the stage for everything. Then dig into the rest…

1. Making Difficult Decisions and What do Do Before You Quit

Immediately jumping ship is rarely the smart thing to do. There’s plenty you can (and should do) to prepare before you have to drop everything and run…

1. How to Hate Your Job (or 16 Things Not to Do)
2. The Beginner’s Guide to Enjoying a Job You Hate
3. Does What You’re Doing Actually Matter? (+ free workbook)
4. Do You Want to Be Your Boss? (or How to Know When It’s Time to Quit…)
5. How to Fund a Passion: 5 Not So Obvious Ways Anyone Can Make an Extra $1,000 a Month
6. How Business School Killed the Entrepreneur (and some worthy alternatives)
7. The Death of Job Security & How to Raise Yourself (and Your Child) to Be an Entrepreneur
8. The One Thing You Must Do the Moment You Quit or Get Fired (Purpose Finding 101)
9. Take the 5-Minute “Should I Quit” Test

2. Understanding Fear, Realizing What’s Actually at Risk & Making it Fun:

Everyone’s inaction ultimately comes down to some type of fear. We must get a handle on it…

1. Never Fail Again: 13 Ways to Turn Fear and Doubt Into Fuel for Brilliance
2. Rejection Therapy: How to Build Overnight Courage or Guarantee Failure
3. The Most Dangerous (& Unfounded) Risk of Attempting to Do Work You Love

3. Discovering Untapped Motivation & Seeing the Proof of What’s Possible:

The more people we can see others doing the seemingly impossible, the more it becomes normal. We have to ‘brainwash the impossible’.

1. From Doctor & Lawyer to Musician & Revolutionary: Making Extreme Career Transitions & Why It’s Never Too Late
2. You Can Have a Bigger Impact than You Think
3. How to Stop Failing (or How to Live a Dream)
4. How to Build a Passion Business While Supporting a Family of 8 (the post to kill excuses)
5. 10 Surprising Case Studies of Ordinary People Doing the Impossible
6. 10 More Case Studies of Normal People Doing the Extraordinary
7. How to Change Careers long before Quitting Your Job: The 18 Most Inspiring LYL Transitions of 2013
8. The 9 Most Inspiring Transitions of 2012

4. How to Find and Do Work You Love

Once we have our foundation, we’re ready to follow the steps that get results. Here’s your roadmap…

1. The 15 Rules of OUR Revolution (Are You In or Are You Out?)
2. The Passionate Work Framework: 3 Rare Requirements that Make Passionate Work Possible
3. 11 Quick Actions You Can Do Today to Successfully Start Doing Work You Love (or Anything)
4. The 14 Most Powerful TED Talks for Disruptive Career Change & Making a Difference
5. Become a Writer, Transform Your Career, Change the World + Video Tutorial: How to Start a Blog in Under 10 Minutes w/ Zero Tech Experience
6. 27 Questions to Find Your Passion Workbook (free Download)
7. Simon Sinek Shares the #1 Business Principle that Changes Everything (Video Interview) 
8. Our Most Challenging Choice: 6 Steps to Ensure You Don’t Pick the Wrong Path
9. How Living Legends Ensure Success: Do this Daily & Guarantee You’ll Do Work You Love 

5. Building Your Brand and Creating a Movement

You are your own most powerful brand. It’s on you to position it in a way the world can understand – and maybe even build a movement or revolution around it…

1. How An Average Person Becomes Famous: The Path from Ordinary to Extraordinary (in 2 sacred steps)
2. Behind the Curtain: The 3-Step System to Becoming a Highly-Paid Expert 
3. On Modeling the Impossible and How to Do Anything
4. 18 Field-Tested Steps to Launching a Non-Violent Revolution for a Cause You Deeply Believe In

6. Firing Toxic Friends and How to Surround Yourself with the World-Changing People Who Make Failure Impossible:

I believe changing environments is the first step of any type of meaningful transition. It’s also the last. The right friends will transform who you are. So this  should round out today’s framework…

1. The 31 Habits of the World’s Best Connectors
2. Mastering The Art of Social Facilitation: The Only Truly Instantaneous Performance Hack
3. Firing Toxic Friends & What To Do If Your Community Won’t Support Your ‘Crazy’ Ideas
4. How to Add Real Value to Very Successful People (even if you have ‘nothing’ to offer)
5. 5 Steps to Find & Befriend Your ‘Dream Connections’: Deciding Who You Actually Want In Your Corner
6. Tapping Brilliance: The Ultimate Mastermind Workbook is Live! (Download your totally free 56-page guide)
7. A Beginner’s Guide to Anti-Networking: 13 Tools & Articles for Building Real Relationships

7. Clearing Space and Figuring Out How to Create the Time to Get it All Done

And in case you’re having trouble figuring out how to find the extra time, especially while you might be juggling a full-time job or even fuller-time family, here are my top tools. I use them constantly…

1. 11 Steps to Insane Focus: Do More of What Matters
2. The Day the World Came Together + Download Our Free 2014 Goal Setting & Action Workbook!
3. How I Plan My Week (My 5-Step Process + free workbook download)

*****

The tools are all here…

And I’m to happy to provide them. I love the fact that anyone can stumble upon our community and put them to use. The only price you have to pay is a little time and dedication. Consider them a thank you for being a part of this Revolution – and my friendly urge to get you to actually live your own legend as opposed to just reading about it.

The action comes from the doing. Always has. 

You just have to decide to use them.

Start with one of these today. Then think of one person close to you who you know is in need of the same friendly nudge. Send them a short and sincere email with this link: The Beginner’s Guide to Doing Work  that Makes You Happy. Help them start to roll the snowball. We all know that’s the hardest part.

Once it’s rolling, we’re here to ensure it doesn’t stop.

Much love,

– Scott

P.S. A full list of our articles can always be found on the Archives page.

—-

Image Credit: The above photo was taken by me while on a run across the Golden Gate Bridge. You can follow my ongoing adventure on Instagram.