{"id":975,"date":"2016-03-01T16:56:21","date_gmt":"2016-03-01T21:56:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/?p=975"},"modified":"2016-03-01T16:57:20","modified_gmt":"2016-03-01T21:57:20","slug":"key-1-who-am-i-and-why-am-i-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hamiltonartist.com\/blog\/?p=975","title":{"rendered":"Key #1: Who Am I and Why Am I Here?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"keys<\/a>You may\u00a0think you know yourself; but do you really?<\/p>\n

You are a lot more than your name and your heritage and your body. You are a spiritual being, living in a body that is unlike anyone else’s on earth. \u00a0You are a unique one-of-a-kind person and you have a valuable place here on earth. \u00a0But before you can decide what you want to do or become or have, you have to get in touch with yourself and know who you are.<\/p>\n

If you are going to stretch out and become the best that you can be and give the most of yourself that you have to offer the world, then decide what that is. \u00a0What do you like to do? \u00a0What are you good at? What are your strengths?\u00a0If you are unsure, try asking those close to you. \u00a0They will probably start suggesting character traits and capabilities that you didn’t even know that you had. \u00a0 Now, write them all down and see which ones stand out and which ones complement each other or can be grouped together. \u00a0I think the one universal quality is that everyone wants to be of help to someone or something else, so don’t be vague and just list ‘helping people’. \u00a0Be specific in the area that you would like to help. \u00a0Now align this with something that you are good at. \u00a0Be creative here. \u00a0List more than just one or two ideas. \u00a0I found that by using my artistic talents and love of old architecture, along with some common sense marketing strengths, I was able to start a print collection of the history of the city that I live in. \u00a0I discovered that my memories were everyone else’s memories. \u00a0I was doing something that I loved; something that made a lot of people happy; and that I made a good living at, while being able to work from home, have a lot of leisure time and spend most of my days with my dog. \u00a0All of these things were very important to me and on my list. \u00a0So don’t think it sounds stupid writing down “spending a lot of time with my dog”. \u00a0If it is important to you, jot it down. \u00a0And don’t let anyone else write or edit your list. It is yours alone.<\/p>\n

So, like I said, when you have written everything down that you love and are good at, start grouping them together; sort of like a puzzle, and see what fits. \u00a0After you have grouped some of your strengths and favourite activities, start listing some ways that you would be able to make money at them. \u00a0For example: \u00a0maybe you have a good vocabulary and can therefore write. \u00a0Is there something that would make an interesting book or guide? \u00a0Do you just love being a stay-at-home mom? \u00a0Add that to some skills, like organizing or a special approach and see what comes out of it. \u00a0Many women have started successful businesses out of a need for a special item that didn’t really exist until they made one for themselves. \u00a0Did you write ‘watching TV’ as one of the things that you love doing? \u00a0That’s OK too. \u00a0Start watching some shows like “Shark Tank” or “Dragon’s Den” and see what others are doing. \u00a0You just might get a spark of inspiration.<\/p>\n

Sometimes you may find that there are things that you love, but don’t really go together. \u00a0That’s OK. \u00a0Sometimes there will be something that \u00a0you can’t see how it will ever fit into a career path or how you could ever make money at it, only to find that out of nowhere and no-how that you suddenly got a brilliant spark of an idea. \u00a0Many men and women have become multi-millionaires this way. \u00a0Remember, Andrew Carnegie was just a worker in a steel mill and went on to become one of the wealthiest men in America. \u00a0He often admitted that he did not know nearly as much about the steel industry as the men who worked for him.<\/p>\n

Don’t let any old ideas stand in you way, such as:<\/p>\n