For a short while, I stopped drawing pictures for my blog because I was frustrated with my level of skill and progress.

Then I realized that no one gave a damn if I could draw well or not. They liked the pictures because they were imaginative or funny or they communicated an idea well. I realized those were my strengths. I stopped worrying so much and started drawing again.

And guess what? My skills began to improve too.

Bob Dylan is kind of a lousy singer, but a terrific song writer, and that’s why so many people love him. Thank goodness he didn’t let the weakness keep him from using his strength.

Creative people make things. They make commitments. They make attempts. They make mistakes. They make adjustments. They make meaning.

I think one way we get stuck is by putting our passion on hold until it’s profitable. If you have a passion, an interest, or a gift you want to put to use, I’d suggest you start doing so immediately and worry about whether or not to turn it into a business further down the road.

I have a lot of dreams which I think are reachable. I have made a decision, though. I will get out and follow my passions.

Two of the questions are “What’s important to you?” and “What are your limitations?” So when you were trying to write novels, for example, you might have noted by answering these questions that it was important to you to write but that a limitation was you couldn’t write novels–”not your thing,” just like Sam. The combined answers would have gotten you pointed to looking at other writing avenues–copywriting, short stories, poetry, white papers, etc.

In my own case, I wanted to entertain people and loved playing trumpet, but wasn’t good enough to be a professional trumpet player. Doh! So entertaining was important but playing trumpet was a limitation. The answers steered me into a successful career in standup comedy.

However you get there, finding your passion and skill set is so much better than living the “daily grind!”

I immediately stopped to write it down in my little book of wisdom and inspiration.