This is part of a sponsored collaboration with Prudential and DiMe Media. However, all opinions expressed are my own.
Do you have dreams you’re putting on hold because you have no idea how to pay your bills and achieve your dreams at the same time? Well wait no more. Below I’m sharing how I and several of the of the Hispanicize Texas (HispzTX) attendees have been lucky enough to do it for ourselves and how you can too. Plus I’m also sharing some great financial info and tips learned from Prudential and various panels at HispzTX.
If you follow along you know that by day I make a living designing online content, and by night I design and create content here and on my social media channels so that I can share my passion for the products, spots and trends that help toward living your best life. Both allow me to be creative in different ways, which I love. The beauty is that one allows me the comfort of a steady job with benefits, and the other allows me the ability to share lessons learned in living my best life, while exploring an entrepreneurial spirit I didn’t even know I had. Talk about merging how to pay your bills and achieve your dreams.
Here are a few of the things that have helped me and my fellow HispzTX attendees along the way.
Follow Your Passion
Regardless of whether you’re just getting out of high school, are retired, are attracted to the 9-5 life, the entrepreneurial life, or you’re a combo of any of these things, make sure you choose to spend your life doing the things you’re passionate about. I, along with many of the HispzTX attendees are in different areas of our life and come from different walks of life, but we have one common passion, to share our stories and talents.
I always knew I wanted to help people, so I chose to do it in business, via the world of Human Resources. However, although I had already established myself as an employee relations specialist, even climbing to the role of VP, I found that’s not where my passion lies. I found my passion pushing me more toward dealing with training and development. So I decided to say goodbye to my established career and seek out training programs and jobs where I could participate in projects that would get me closer to my passion for helping others grow. Yes, it took some time, but I kept plugging away, honing my craft, and now I’m blessed to have two jobs I love and allow me to share my passion for sharing insights, in different ways.
I heard a version of this story from many of the other HispzTX attendees. From journalists, to bloggers/vloggers, influencers, to straight up business owners. We all felt the call and answered it.
Here’s a quick Facebook Live my sister and I did at Prudential’s Dream Wall, highlighting our call to dare to dream, and chatting all things entrepreneurial at HispzTX.
And the beauty of it all is that your passion is waiting for you too. You just have to answer the call, believe in yourself, trust the process, and let go of any self doubts. We all have valuable, inspirational stories and/or lessons to share.
Find Your Tribe
Now that you’ve found your passion and are ready to follow it, don’t feel like you have to do it all alone. Manny Ruiz, founder and CEO of Hispanicize, suggests you find a mentor. A mentor can not only share insights on the ins and outs of your craft, but he/she can also open doors and networking opportunities. He adds that it’s all about building relationships. So network, network, network, meet as many people in your industry as possible, and if you say you’re going to follow up, do it. Reach out to local groups, organizations, conferences like Hispanicize, etc., to get to know and learn from others in your field and have fun along the way. Check out some of the fun and learning from this year’s HispzTX.
This, along with the other supportive, positive people in your life, are what will make up your tribe. Nurture it, grow it, and see how it moves you closer to fulfilling your dreams.
Plan, Plan, Plan
Now that you’re following your passion and have found your tribe, you need to start planing if you want to grow your dream. That means you need to sit down and get clear about your intentions. How far do you want to go with your passion? Do you want it to be a side hustle, a full time gig, or do you want it to make you a billionaire? Regardless of your answer, Janie Gonzalez, Webhead’s CEO, said you’ll need to create at least an 18 month business plan that keeps you within your means, and includes how many new clients/projects you’ll need to get to hit your goal.
This is where you’ll have to up your financial literacy to find a way to pay your bills, and achieve your dreams at the same time. Prudential has a few tips to help here, along with a guide for starting your business here.
Janie’s other piece of advice is to make sure you not only pay your bills, but that you also pay yourself along the way. That not only includes paying yourself a salary, but making sure you also add money to your various savings pots. That includes everything from retirement and estate planing, to saving for college, elder care, and any thing that will make your life easier. Prudential agrees, which is why I’ve linked to some of their helpful tips on each. Check them out!
Lili Gil, CEO of CIEN.plus & Culturintel.com, shared that the two things that have helped her in her various business ventures is to keep her business and personal accounts separate, and to have all the money designated for the saving pots, automatically taken out of her checks, vs. having the money hit her account and then taking it out from there. This keeps that pot of money from becoming a temptation. Out of sight and out of mind.
The moral of the story here is stop putting your dreams on hold because you have a fear of not being able to pay your bills, fear of not being good enough, smart enough, etc. Regardless of what your talent or story, there’s someone out there who needs to see it and/or hear it. From beauty, to entertainment, to tech, to self improvement, there’s always a niche that needs your story, talents, and input. The beauty is there’s enough room for everyone. So follow the tips and info shared above, believe in yourself, trust the unknown, let go of all that fear, and see how your passion driven dreams turn into reality.
What dreams are you ready to achieve now?
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