an interesting view on things...

I've read posts on this board referring to taking action and stopping procrastination. I recently heard something that I think puts an interesting spin on the common problem of not taking action.
The other day, my business was temporarily put on hold for about an hour while I was waiting for an order of leads to arrive in my email. Because I was in one of those situations where there was nothing to do but wait, I found myself in front of the TV, flipping through the channels.
This guy named "Dr. Phil" was on the Oprah Winfrey show and he was talking about various reasons why people don't live to their fullest potential. He used an analogy that really left an impression with me:
He said that people who live their lives doing something that is not their passion or something they're not naturally inclined to do is like when you were a child and you'd be playing in the pool and you'd try to hold an inflated beach ball underwater. The beach ball would do everything to try and get back to the top of the pool surface and you'd have to consume all of your energy to try and fight against the beach ball if you wanted to keep it under the water. Dr. Phil said that when you're doing something that you don't love for a living, it's like trying to keep that beach ball underwater your entire working life.
On the other hand, doing something that you thoroughly enjoy for a living, that you have a natural affinity for makes work never seem like work. Hence, there's no desire to procrastinate because you don't feel like you're working when you're doing what you enjoy. "Work" becomes like rolling a boulder down hill instead of uphill.

Many times on this board, I read about various new products and services that people talk about selling. And while it's easy to get fired up about a new idea or product, I think that a lot of people forget to ask themselves, "Is this something that will give me gratification over the long term?" If it's not, you're going to be trying to swim up stream once you start taking action, no matter how hot or exciting the new idea is at the time.

The best advice I can give anyone who is thinking about starting a new business or is struggling in their present profession is to be honest with themselves and ask themselves if what they're thinking about starting (or doing now) is REALLY what they want to spend their lives doing or if they're just enticed because of the potential monetary pay off.

This is a concept that I've heard other self-help speakers talk about in the past, and I never REALLY thought about how important this concept is. If a lot of you are thinking, "I don't know what my passion is", grab your yellow pages and an empty notebook and begin going page by page to see the thousands of jobs that are out there. Any time you see something that appeals to you, write it down. DON'T write a job down if the only reason you're writing it down is because it pays a lot. After you've got your list and have gone through the entire yellow pages, begin investigating and educating yourself on the many great possibilites the world has to offer.
If some of you are thinking "It's not practical for me to pursue my passion at this point in my life", you MUST eliminate that incorrect way of thinking, because what's really not practical is continuing to live your life in a way that you're not cut out for.

Again, a lot of speakers talk about the above concept and I'm certainly not a professional speaker (or typer), but I can say that I strongly believe that this is the key to happiness both professionally and personally.

Joe Cooper