Digital Marketing And Social Media PR – The Future Buzz

image credit:  chris gin

I’ve been asked repeatedly how I am able to concurrently be a writer, an artist, have a career as a marketing/PR professional and be prolific at all of those things.  I want to share my processes and methods I’ve developed with you, but first let’s answer the obvious question:

Why even try to become proficient in several things and instead devote all efforts to one?

I do not believe you have to limit yourself to one thing and one thing only in life, and believe that having multiple passions/pursuits is a perfectly acceptable path.  Those who think you can only do one thing are missing out on so much, and they may not realize they are actually limiting how good they can be at their specialty.  Growth does not occur in a vacuum, and getting proficient at several things will forge lots of new patterns and problem solving approaches your mind can potentially take.  You’ll never find something innovative or disruptive if you’re thinking just like everyone else in your industry.

It is possible and actually quite fulfilling to push yourself to excel at several things, and you will be a better person for it.

This brings us back to answering the question of exactly how to achieve concurrent success in multiple fields, to which the answer is actually simple:  consistently challenge and push yourself slowly over time across your pursuits.

Sounds simple enough right?  It is.

No one becomes instantly successful at anything, let alone multiple things – it is the result of a slow and consistent process.  The reason you ever “just find out” about anyone successful in something is actually due to years of effort.  The idea of the overnight success is a myth.  And the key to success is to develop a strategy behind what you’re doing if you’re seriously going to push results in multiple passions to the next level across time.

I’ll share my processes, methods, and thoughts:

Let your attention shift naturally between your passions

If you have multiple passions, chances are at one point you felt equally motivated about an old one at one point as you do about one of your newer passions.  There is nothing wrong with that, and in fact don’t let old passions get in the way of the new if you’ve recently developed a new one.  Beginner’s mind is a beautiful thing and you shouldn’t waste those precious moments that experienced people in a field actively try and get back.

Don’t feel guilty about neglecting one of your other interests, because it isn’t going anywhere if you are totally committed to it.  You will return again soon with a fresh perspective.  Don’t ever feel pressured to focus attention on one thing right now, instead naturally shift your attention to what you have an unstoppable drive for that day.  That will guarantee strong results.

Growth does not occur in a vacuum

Your personality is naturally attracted to pursuits that support each other.  For instance, you may not realize it but I know for a fact my patience and persistence I learned while writing music has brought a similar skill set to my writing here.  I do not personally see one as more difficult than the other, they are both challenging in unique ways – but patience and persistence was first learned in making music and has carried over to writing.

I was writing words long before I was writing music, but creating art has definitely been a factor to make me  a stronger writer.  Mentally I am tapping slightly different areas of my mind with each, but the patterns overlap, and support each other.

Your time must be prioritized properly

If you’re serious about becoming successful in multiple areas and you have equal passion for each, you probably can’t have the same social life as your peers.  But if you really are passionate about what you are doing – this won’t matter.  Your results will be equally or even more fulfilling than time in common social pursuits, and concurrently you will form new connections with like-minded individuals who will push you to the next level.

I do not for a second feel like I am “missing anything” if I stay home on a Friday or Saturday night because I am in the process of creating something that is intrinsically fulfilling.  The next day I have something I am proud to share with the world.

Always timeshift viewing or reading content – nothing is that important it should get in the way of your passions in your free time.  Automate paying bills, batch-task things like cleaning or organizing, basically look for ways to streamline all the non-essentials.  Remember what your dreams are and if they really are important, make them top priority – no excuses.

Become more efficient over time

As you push forward in your passions, you will not only reach new plateaus with what you’re doing but you will also become much more proficient at getting results.  Become as efficient as you can with completing the basic, low-level things to make as much time as possible to craft the more complex layers and you’ll reach new heights.

If you don’t really consider any of it “work” you’ve chosen the right pursuits

Some might label me a “workaholic” but I personally don’t consider anything that I do “work”.  In my mind, it is all play.  Ignore people who tell you that you work too hard.  If you’re driven and enjoying the process, who cares what others think?  You shouldn’t even associate with people who don’t understand your passions, they are a negative force in the wrong direction.

Invest 100% of your emotions in the process

Your emotions should be totally vested in all of your pursuits, equally or even greater so than they are with other humans.  Love is not something merely between two people, you can love something you are putting your time into just as much as two people have love for each other.  Fight me on that if you want, but if you don’t see it, you simply haven’t spent enough time pursuing a passion for intrinsic reward.

Be in it for the long haul, have patience

Malcolm Gladwell says that the key to ultimate success in any field is simply a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of 10,000 hours – or around 417 solid days.  Over the course of your life, if you’re dedicated, you could potentially hit this in more than one specialization if you were dedicated.  If your fields play off each other to create some synergies, you could potentially cut this time down – but the point is you are going to have to commit to become a force.  Don’t get frustrated, don’t expect instant results and commit to your passions – all of them – as lifelong pursuits.  If you’re out for instant gratification, you’ll never have lasting success.

Conclusion

Life is long enough we have time to delve deeply into more than one interest and be successful at each of them.  It is limiting to simply go down one path blind of what else is possible – this closes you off to so much.  If you’re really interested in pursuing multiple paths and challenging yourself to achieve personal growth, you’re going to have to embrace a different journey than your peers.  This is hopefully an exciting prospect.  Embrace all of your passions fully without restriction and you will find new levels of productivity, efficiency and success in life.

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