Every month we have a teleconference with our IAM Learning Community (premium) members to discuss how they can stay their course, connecting to what is essential about themselves, as they transform their work and life to be their best ongoing.

Last week we focused on the topic of making money doing what you love. With so much fear about work and jobs around, it felt important to address the practicalities of how “money = love” works.

Here’s a summary of the list we created together on the call. The call included both people who perceive themselves as accomplished at the money = love challenge, and people who are still figuring it out. Here’s what we came up with:

1. Challenge/mistake: Attempting to jump directly from work being struggle to work being joyful.

   Best practice: Establish a daily practice of experiencing joy in your work. Gradually build your experience and faith in work being joyful.

2. Challenge/mistake: Listening to nay-sayers.

   Best practice: Surround yourself with people who support you following your dreams. Limit time with people who detract.

3. Challenge/mistake: Listening to experts.

   Best practice: Remember that you are the best expert on what is right for you. Develop trust in yourself to know, to discern, to choose what is right for you. Then consider expert advice.

4. Challenge/mistake: Thinking success is going to just ‘happen’ or an event will make or break you.

   Best practice: Making money doing what you love is a faith journey. Any one event is merely a stepping stone along the way. Remember this type of success is about walking a path of love and joy – ongoing.

5. Challenge/mistake: Looking for physical evidence to ‘prove’ your success.

   Best practice: Feeling the flow of love and joy is a precursor to physical evidence. Focus on the joy and love first, and the evidence will come.

6. Challenge/mistake: Surrounding yourself with other successful people, but feeling ‘less than’ and riding on their coat tails.

   Best practice: Be the leader of yourself and know that you are the source of the joy and love that will determine your success – now.

7. Challenge/mistake: Thinking of success in limited ways, such as only considering $ indicators.

   Best practice: Think of success as an ‘abundance bucket’ that can show-up in an infinite variety of ways. Let go, be open to being surprised at the variety of ways wealth can show up!

8. Challenge/mistake: Expecting the path forward to be linear and logical.
   
   Best practice: Think of a windy path or 100 different tacks that you might take. Those who are wander are not lost. Nothing is ever wasted. Don’t try to make sense of the path and you’ll be fine.
9. Challenge/mistake: Finding security in a well thought-out plan.

   Best practice: In the path of joy, security comes from knowing that you don’t need to know, and trusting that all you do need to have is clarity about the next step you’ll take. Get good at sorting through the noise related to your next step – use your heart as the filter. When you know your next step, move with confidence.

What do you think? What has been key to you making money doing what you love? What challenges are you facing now?