The Jeff Pulver Blog: Turn your Passion into YOUR Reality

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August 18, 2008

Turn your Passion into YOUR Reality

A few years ago, a friend told me: “Jeff, sometimes you first need to make a difference before you make money.” Looking back, I know what he said was true.

Several times in my life I have experienced a period of time where my passion for a product, technology or a service became a personal obsession which eventually turned into a revenue producing opportunity for myself (and for others.) Usually I discovered this new found passion when I was totally entrenched doing something else. Looking back, it seems that this just another one of my personality traits, something in my DNA.

I first remember having this happen to me back when I was a teenager where my passion for music drove me to become a DJ which eventually gave me my first source of income in high school and college. It happened again when I was working at an accounting firm and I started using Lotus 1-2-3. While working at the accounting firm, I founded a software publishing and consulting business focused on servicing the financial services industry. Back in those days “Lotus” was my obsession and about every 5th word of mine had sometime to do with Lotus and spreadsheets. In 1995 it was my passion to communicate and my usage of Vocaltec’s Internet Phone as a hobbyist which put me down the path I took which eventually lead to me working full time in the emerging Voice over IP industry.

Never during the transition of passion to obsession do I question myself as to why I am spending my time being obsessive, nor do I ever ask myself “what’s in it for me?” before moving forward in a specific direction. In fact most of the time the direction I go in is never planned. It wasn’t totally random either. I more or less allow myself to respond to the opportunities as they present themselves and from there I just do whatever l feel is the appropriate thing to do.

Yes I do believe in earning a living. And yes I do believe and respect business models. But sometimes what excites me more is the opportunity to be disruptive and to challenge the status quo. Especially when I’m following my heart. Maybe more to challenge the status quo and bring about change than I even realize.

I remember having a big argument with my father during Thanksgiving weekend in 1995 about Internet Telephony and my passion/obsession with it. My father’s feeling that “now is the time you need to cash in on the work that you are doing” and my response that “now isn’t the time to cash in. That time will come later.” And it did.

Sometimes it is your passion which will open up doors of opportunities others who are blinded by just the opportunity to make quick money can never can see. Sometimes you will have the opportunity to do things others either can’t or won’t do. It is what you in these situations that will (sometimes accidently) put you in a position to stand out. In my case, it was my founding of the VON Coalition in March, 1996 in response to the ACTA petition while working full-time on Wall Street that created an opportunity and platform for myself. I started the VON Coalition to defend the nascent VoIP industry because I felt it needed to be defended. No one asked me to do it and no one told me to do it, I just did it. Once I got fired from my day job, I was able to leverage my passion with VoIP and spend time with the community of people who had a vested interested in the future of communications. (In this case, getting fired was a good thing.)

What I’ve learned and experienced is sometimes your next big opportunity doesn’t always present itself clearly. Sometimes you have to make the opportunity yourself. And sometimes you need to put yourself in a position so you can benefit from such opportunities. In order to do this, you need to have a clear perspective on what you truly believe in and then be in a position to allow yourself to act accordingly. This isn’t something you can ask someone else to do for you. And this isn’t something you necessarily need to ask anyone’s advise about because chances are no one will see the opportunity as clearly as you do. This is one of those times where you need to believe in yourself because if you have doubt in yourself, you can’t do it.

When you are able to take advantage of the opportunity you see, be prepared for a pretty amazing ride. And should you get lucky along the way, just accept it. I used to feel defensive about being lucky. I have since learned that “being lucky is o.k.”

Whenever you can find yourself working in the field of your passion, enjoying the work you are doing and in a position to earn a living because of it, for many people this is a great place to be. And a place I look to get to myself whenever I am able to give myself to the opportunity to be there.

And yes, sometimes you first need to make a difference before you make money.

Tags: Entrepreneurship, leadership, Entrepreneur, Jeff Pulver

Please consider leaving a comment. And if you are someone who also discovered a way to turn your passion into your reality, please feel free to share your story. And feel free to find me on twitter and continue this conversation.

Posted by jeff on August 18, 2008 08:35 AM | Permalink

Additional resources: #140conf events | Watch the Jeff Pulver Show | Jeff's Qik Videos

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Another interesting note is that I had a similar experience when my passion hit the turning point of becoming my career. I got to a point where I was spending a vast majority of my free time working on Asterisk. My employer at the time didn't quite understand it, and essentially asked me to quit working on Asterisk, or leave. So, I left. Being asked to leave that job turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.
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Posted by: muhabbet at October 3, 2008 07:10 PM

I found out about this post through FB where we are "friends."

This post really drove home several points for me, many of which I've done and continue to do:

1. Being in the right place at the right time often happens when you have a passion for something (that's how I became the world's first deaf instrument rated pilot - a feat considered "impossible" by others).

2. Being ready when an opportunity presents itself (I believe we are life's perpetual trainee, getting ready for the next big thing in life - if you're ready, you will fly. If not, you crash).

3. Having faith in yourself is incredibly important - sure you get nervous, anxious but overall, if you feel you're on a mission (I'd say "divine mission"), the tools will be provided for your journey (that's how I quit a six figure Wall Street career to follow my dreams of becoming an inspirational speaker).

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Posted by: Stephen Hopson at August 19, 2008 05:50 PM

Something I have noticed about you Jeff, is you are an optomist. And I like that. I love the saying when life hands you a lemon make lemonade- and why not? What is holding you back? What is holding me back? Fears and inhibitions. But life is full of surprises and forks in the road. So I just tread on and try to not let things get me down.

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"Luck is the intersection of preparation and opportunity"

Posted by: jack sears at August 19, 2008 04:04 PM

Very good article. There are many ppl who believe that you cant make money doing something you love, absolute madness. I disagree with these people.

We have but one wild and precious life, there is more to life than the drudgery of a Job that you dislike / loath.

If people feel that they are maybe wanting to tread this path then the following were books I found invaluable in helping me understand that a different world of work was possible.

Ethical Careers guide published by New Internationalist

Careers Un-ltd by Jonathan Robinson and Carmel McConnell

Soultrader by Carmel McConnell

Change Activist by Carmel McConnell

Posted by: mike ashworth at August 19, 2008 01:43 PM

yeah, tell it to the farmer in the village, the factory worker in a sweatshop. tell it to a hungry person. tell it to someone with four kids and a mortgage. it is an elitist view, but worse, it is pure ego. you must have liked the law of attraction film and book too.

"change your mind, change your life" has truth to it, but you need to already have the grace to remember to do so.

simplistic concepts, in short. you have to go deeper to explain how this works.

Posted by: gregorylent at August 19, 2008 10:53 AM

So much seems to be about making personal connection. People want to connect and they want to work with people who have in some way made their life better or easier.

This post really spoke to me. I've got an outline/game plan but it's always being tweaked. Sometimes I see an original opportunity might not have been what I was looking for, but something else opens up. So many people bang their head against locked doors instead of taking opportunities that present themselves.

And often those opportunities come when we just put ourselves out there.

Posted by: Zoe Winters at August 18, 2008 06:05 PM

Actually, all of my passions have been volunteer work, I've never found a way to get paid for what I love to do so I donate my time.

Am I unlucky? I don't know...there is work and then there is the rest of my life where I can do what I want and indulge my interests & "obsessions", such as they are.

Posted by: Liz at August 18, 2008 05:33 PM

So bizarre, my wife and I were actually having this, somewhat heated, discussion last night - balancing making money and doing something I would be passionate about. Can the two exist together, and isnt that a good thing when they do? Thanks for sharing your thoughts, as usual it is a great way to start the day/week.

Posted by: doublegboston at August 18, 2008 05:23 PM

It's hard to make money doing what you love. I think few have succeeded at that. Even someone like Steve Jobs, hawking the coolest products on the planet, must have days (and weeks) that are hard.

One of my favorite sayings is, "Why do you think they call it work?"

I am glad that you, Jeff, have found a job that provides that elusive balance.

Posted by: paul merrill at August 18, 2008 02:06 PM

Sometimes it is your passion which will open up doors of opportunities others who are blinded by just the opportunity to make quick money can never can see.

+1 On this one...

Its a nice read. I too am on the same path, nah, not as big and grand as yours, but ya in my small little way. It runs deep down into my DNA, I used to believe, your write brought it back.

Yes, and I believe that when opportunity doesnt exist, I create it. And then when my passion outruns I go miles to see it fulfilled.

Thanks for this nice write.

Posted by: Ankita at August 18, 2008 02:02 PM

As always---dead on--

one final thought also, speaking of okay to be lucky:
It also seems to be that the harder one works the luckier they are----amazing how that seems to be the result--isn't it?

Posted by: Tom Karlya at August 18, 2008 10:33 AM

Great post, and I am sure many of us would be able to relate to it. Moreover, lot of times what we do (or want to do) may not translate into money, but it satisfies our other goals in the Maslow's need hierarchy (e.g. social, esteem, or self actualization).

My recent project of the VoIP blog is probably in the social or esteem category. But who knows, as you said, the time to make money will come later!!!

Meanwhile, you and your readers are welcome to read ways to make unlimited free calls to any destination at http://truvoip.blogspot.com/2008/08/unlimited-free-calls-to-any-destination.html

Posted by: Alok Saboo at August 18, 2008 10:22 AM

I think, for me, the difficulty comes in understanding what will truly make a difference. I've done countless things with the idea in mind that, "this could help someone, just as it would have helped me had such a service been around when I needed it."

Unfortunately, I've discovered that there really ARE very few people like me, and the things which seem to me to be helpful or useful are things which most people either take for granted (free global communication, for instance), or things people have no interest in (keeping track of how to connect with friends in the ever-emerging global communications culture as an example).

Eventually, I hope to hit that synergy between what people need and what I can provide, and it will all fall into place. But until then, I'll just keep plodding along and see where my life takes me.

Posted by: Neil Fusillo at August 18, 2008 09:58 AM

capitalism isn't about making money as an end to itself. it's about being able to make money doing what you _really_ want.

Posted by: sean808080 at August 18, 2008 09:34 AM

Thanks for the post, Jeff.

This one hit home for me. I started working on the Asterisk open source project without any idea of what it turn in to. I did it because I had a passion for learning, and for communications. I spent many many hours as a volunteer because I loved working on the project. Today, 4 years after I started working on the code as a volunteer, I now get paid to work on it full time.

I'd like to think I was able to make a difference before this turned into my career. If I didn't, it is extremely unlikely that I would be in a position to get paid to do it today.

Posted by: Russell Bryant at August 18, 2008 09:18 AM

August 18, 2008

Turn your Passion into YOUR Reality

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