I woke up this morning feeling incredibly blessed (in general), but I gave some specific attention to the fact that I would have the opportunity to work on my blog today. And I had to stop and reflect on the incredible gift I’ve been given in getting to educate, inspire, and sometimes entertain others with an activity (writing, writing, and more writing) that I absolutely love/enjoy doing.

What are the odds that one individual (me, in fact) would find the thing she loves doing and have that thing be something she’s fairly decent at? Well, I guess the odds are pretty high, because many individuals can and do find themselves in this very welcoming position.

But, I left out one component to this whole beautiful trifecta of perfectness. Let’s add on a third piece to the puzzle — the piece that allows you to make a living based off of the thing you love/enjoy doing and are good at. I mean let’s actually factor in the money.

Well, you’re tipping the perfect professional placement scale too much in your favor, don’t you think? Getting to enjoy an activity while being good at it and, then, making money off of that? Hey ma’am, hey sir — you’re asking for waaaaaayyyy too much. Just slow your roll and be thankful you’re good at what you love/enjoy doing.

MONETIZING IT is just plain greedy and too much goodness for one person to handle.

I’m kidding, of course. No, the successful creative professional considers money-making as a logical outcome for meeting his or her target audience’s expectations when delivering quality information, products, and services that satisfy needs and wants.

But, delivering quality (and getting paid for it) doesn’t come by happenstance. It comes from putting the right mixture of ingredients together to get the most sublime dish to ever grace a blogging business table. And I happen to have the ingredients list if you’re interested in knowing. Here’s a run down:

• dedication
• commitment
• perseverance
• patience
• proficiency
• hard work
• consistency
• long-term focus
• confidence

So, I don’t know if you remember me blogging a couple of weeks ago in Blogging Truths Be Told: Monetize Your Blog the Obvious Way that . . .

“. . . you’ll immerse yourself fully into something you love/enjoy doing and will, consequently, dedicate the time and energy needed to wholeheartedly participate in it. Dedication and commitment are the key words here. You’re totally “all in” when it comes to the thing you love/enjoy doing.”

Well, I did . . . blog that. The statement above is exactly what I stated. And, I meant it too, which is why I’m repeating it again. I think I’ll even add a little “true story” anecdote as food for thought while I’m making my points about dedication and commitment in the thing you love/enjoy doing and its relation to monetizing your blog.

Let’s go back in time, shall we?

Once upon a time, when I was a freshman in high school (many, many, many years ago), I had a dream of being a business major one day, attending my local university (well known for its business school). I envisioned soaking up every ounce of business liquidity I could get my hands on — in hopes of positioning myself for landing the best business professional opportunities I could possibly find for my skills sets.

And if you think this blog post is going into the career ladder that I slipped on but mostly climbed on when I was working in corporate America, think again. I’m totally NOT going there. Too many twists and turns and mishaps and triumphs for one little blog post to handle. No, I’m staying back in time with the whole purpose-driven mindset I had back in high school.

I was pretty laser-focused back in the day. I didn’t have time for drama, hot messedness, or foolishness. I was on a MISSION. And my mission was OPERATION GRADUATION with HIGH HONORS.

I had definite goals too. While some of my peers were taking in more of the wide variety of cliquish opportunities being offered, I tended to be very strategic in the things I devoted my time and attention to. And the areas of focus had to be aligned with and assist me in arriving at my overall goal of graduating with high honors.

So, I took the higher level classes such as honors and the AP courses, joined organizations like National Honor Society, went to the college prep workshops, self-studied for the college entrance exams, and worked extremely hard in each of my individual classes to elevate the level of achievement I needed to fast track to my overall goal.

And there were other pivotal activities I participated in in high school that were responsible for helping me to appreciate my civic responsibilities and develop into a well-rounded individual, prepared for life after college. Some of those activities included working as a volunteer in a local congregation and for charitable organizations, holding an active membership in Girl Scouts, participating in the arts vocally and instrumentally, and working in retail.

I was a BUSY girl. But, it was good for me. All of these opportunities were strategically helping me build my personal and professional portfolio and preparing me to take on future challenges as a college student while presently adding to the fuel for my “graduating with honors” fire.

I guess I said all of this to say that I was all in. Dedication and commitment were must-haves and need-bes for realizing my goal at the end of my Senior year. And I did meet that goal by the way. The fire never died out. I was in it to win it.

There were very hard days of overwhelm throughout my four years of high school. I mean you read all the stuff I was doing, didn’t you? And my classwork, in and of itself, was no joke. I was taking college level classes. Needless to say, classes were grueling sometimes, but they were worth it. They built character. That’s for sure. But they could also lead to a big payoff at the end of the year. In fact, I was able to get some college credit for doing well on several of the AP tests. And that credit led to me getting out of a couple of required courses for my business degree. Woo hoo!

Putting in my 100 every working day, knowing that my educational reputation depended on me “showing up” to perform my job (as a high school student) at a high level, was the indication that I understood how dedication and commitment worked. And I look to that very example to this day as I’m striving to navigate within my blogging business. The kind of work-related behaviors I displayed back then are exactly what I need to draw on today.

And let me just end this true story by letting you know that I graduated as one of 13 valedictorians at my high school that year. Yes, there were a lot of overachievers that graduating class. I wouldn’t count myself as one of those overachievers though. I went to school with kids who were just obnoxiously brilliant. Makes my head hurt thinking about them. And although I couldn’t hold a candlestick to their genius in some of the academic areas — what I lacked in smarts, I made up with being dedicated and committed enough to the process to see it through (as if my future depended on it). And it did.

My parents couldn’t afford to make my dream a reality with paying my way for college, so I went into my freshman year in high school knowing I had to perform at the highest level because I would have to pay for my college education. It was almost like I signed a marriage contract to hold my educational process as a top priority, doing everything I could to meet my overall goal of graduating with high honors. I would stay the course (day by day) and stick it out (until the end). I was dedicated and committed alright. I had a goal in mind and I was aiming for it with my whole being.

When it was all said and done, I ended up graduating with high honors which led to recognition by scholarship committees which led to me getting a full ride through college which resulted in me earning my Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration which landed me some really great jobs opportunities which all made me the person I am today — a Creative Entrepreneur.

Oh, and just to tie this all together with monetizing your blog by tying it to what you love doing. I’d just say the equivalent way to look at my story in comparison to the blog is as follows:

• blog (college education)
• what I love/enjoy doing (being a student who performed academically at a high level)
• monetization (scholarship money, AP credit for college classes)

So, if you’re planning on making money with your blogging business, start with ample amounts of the first two ingredients (dedication and commitment). If you’re not all in, you’re going to be out of blogging money for sure, and you just might find yourself out of blogging altogether if you’re not careful. But . . . if you’re all in . . .

Let’s Go!