What Is A Passion-Project Without Passion?
Understanding the toxic detriments to my own motivation.
For those of you reading this, I honestly hope you can’t relate to this. But, I know some of you will. It is important to remember that consistency, in anything you do, is key. It’s easy to forget, but definitely don’t give up.
It has been 57 days since I decided to begin writing about my journey as a digital entrepreneur. In those 57 days, I have published 1 article here on Medium and made 3 social media posts for my photography business.
Why has so little progress been made, you might ask?
Well, I fell victim to a self-induced burn-out.
After taking my first step into documenting this journey of mine by writing my first post on Medium, my brain went into overdrive. I started brainstorming like crazy for writing ideas and photography concepts. I made timelines and a structured schedule to hold myself accountable. I had solid concepts and a detailed progress tracking system.
Even with the plan perfectly tailored to my specific schedule, working style, and conceptual preferences, it was not enough to combat the feeling and ease of giving up.
And so, in the 57 days that have passed, it is safe to say that what I intended is not what occurred. In this post, I discuss the factors that led to my demotivation.
Constantly Researching Is Disguised Procrastination
The moments leading up to me posting my first article here on Medium, I was fully invested in devoting the entirety of my free time to developing my side hustle and creatively documenting my entrepreneurial adventure.
This all started as a photography venture and my value proposition has since transcended to wanting to help others just like you and me achieve their goals.
I was doing so much research on tricks of the trade, trying to garner as much knowledge as possible that may one day help me in the future. Additionally, I was reading so many articles on Medium and watching so many “How I Achieved This and That…” videos on YouTube about people’s entrepreneurial journey and success.
It was inspiring… or so I thought at the time.
What I did not realize is that I was doing too much consuming and hardly any creating.
I felt, as if, since I was reading about the success of others and wanted that for myself, I was making my own progress. I disguised procrastination as research.
Upon that realization, I wrote my first post on Medium documenting my entrepreneurial journey about getting the first step out of the way.
It felt really nice and I felt like the ball really started rolling. But, that led to my next issue.
Perfection is the Enemy of Progress
Once I had written my first post, my brain went into overdrive.
Photography concepts and writing topics came flooding in. I used my background in Project Management and created a detailed work breakdown structure and subsequent gantt chart, inclusive of tasks that needed to be completed in my personal and professional life.
It was perfectly planned and organized and I was ready to continue along this entrepreneurial journey.
As we know, though, life does not work out as planned.
My critical path quickly became overloaded with entrepreneurial work. I was only focusing on my day job and personal life.
At first, it was no big deal, I just pushed my timelines out. As the days and weeks went on, I noticed that I kept compromising my entrepreneurial work for meaningless and mindless media consumption.
Some days, I was procrastinating under the guise of doing research or planning, like I discussed above, other days I was simply ignoring the work.
Eventually, my carefully curated timelines and plan of work became naught but a distant thought.
And I have still yet to complete anything on it…
Passion Versus Profit
One of the reasons surrounding my lack of motivation to follow through with my plans was simple.
I began looking at my passion-turned-side-hustle as a job. I started photographing things that I knew were easy to sell.
I slowly stopped creating and ideating for myself and started doing it to appease others.
When my photography went, so did my writing.
I am not saying to completely disregard focusing on “profitizing” your passion, but it is certainly important to remember that you are pursuing your project because you love what it is. And I, personally, did not want to ruin that.
Unplanned But Not Totally Unnecessary
That brings me to today, 57 days later. In the last 57 days, I have realized quite a bit about myself and my entrepreneurial journey.
Taking a break is absolutely necessary.
Whether it is planned or not, it is important to detach and re-center yourself. In today’s day and age, it is very easy to get caught up in the digital world and lose focus.
Progress is more important than a plan.
I notice that I “productively procrastinate” by performing research or creating a plan. Sure, this is great, but only if the research is turned into an idea and the plan is executed.
Last but not least, passion is more important than profit, at least at the beginning.
When attempting to transform your passion project into a profitable side-hustle, it is important to remember WHY you are trying to turn your passion into profit. The answer is simple, you love whatever it may be, and would love to make a sustainable life out of it.
The second I started viewing my passion as another stressor in my life, it very quickly demotivated me and my creative spark simply disappeared.
There’s Always A Bright Side
In short, I did not intend to take this long of a break from my hustle. But I know now that it is what I needed to realign and refocus. And, I learned a few things along the way.
At first glance, it seems like progress was not made, but in reality, this is probably the most headway I have had in a while towards my goals.
And for those of you reading this, I honestly hope you can’t relate to this. But, I know some of you will. It is important to remember that consistency, in anything you do, is key. It’s easy to forget, but, definitely don’t give up. Keep that passion in your project. Achieve your goals. Kick ass.
Want to talk about motivation or your lack thereof? Let’s inspire one another. Or, tell me what demotivates you. Introduce yourself to me and let’s chat.
I’m still figuring it out too and would love to have a little community where us aspiring entrepreneurs can support one another!
