Follow The Work , Not Your Passion
4 | MSPSuccessMagazine . com • VOLUME 4 ISSUE 1
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR
In a commencement speech to a graduating class at Prager U , Mike Rowe , host of the hit show “ Dirty Jobs ,” delivered a refreshingly honest message : “’ Follow your passion to land your dream job ’ is likely to be the worst advice you ’ re ever given .” It ’ s definitely worth a watch ; search “ Don ’ t Follow Your Passion ” plus “ Mike Rowe ,” and it will come up on YouTube .
Personally , I ’ m a big lifestyle person , and I adamantly believe you can make money doing what you love , you can change the “ rules ” of engagement , you can change industry norms , and you can get clients to do business on your terms . I know because I ’ ve done it . HOWEVER …
There are a lot of things I do every day that are not my passion , that I do not like to do , that I grit my teeth and grind through just to get done that have nothing to do with my passion but everything to do with running a successful business . When I first started my company , I took any gig I could get and any client who would pay me money — and I was grateful for them . I put my shoulder into it and worked 10 times harder than they were paying me for . I made cold calls to look for work , networked my butt off at industry conventions , worked referrals , and asked for “ favors ” of introductions from anyone who would listen . I had no money for marketing , so I bartered my services to get a website designed and hosted . I took a lot of pretty miserable gigs , eking out a little bit of money , and working very , very long , hard hours .
And while things are much better today than back when I started up , I ’ m still doing lots of “ dirty jobs ” around here that are not fun , exciting , or even enjoyable . In fact , that makes up about 50 % of what I do . The other 25 % I don ’ t mind doing , and about 25 % I really , truly enjoy . And therein lies what I believe Rowe is trying to convey . You can ’ t get rich doing ONLY those things you love , just like you can ’ t get healthy eating only those things you love to eat . More broccoli , less spaghetti .
That ’ s why so many people are grossly unhappy about their current job or business . They want the sausage — the finished product — but they entirely skip over what ’ s on the inside and the process to make it . It leads many MSPs to believe they are inadequate because they struggle , because nothing comes easy and because they ’ re overwhelmed with problems . They start to second-guess themselves and feel grossly inadequate because they begin to believe there ’ s an elite group of entrepreneurs who are just “ living the dream ,” making buckets of money while only having to do things that bring them joy . Ha .
Someone once said to me , “ You seem to love marketing so much that you ’ d probably do it for free !” Nope . Do I love it ? Yes , but I love it because it brings me money , and that money is then used to give me freedom . That ’ s what I really and truly love . Sorry if that disappoints , but I ’ m not so overjoyed with marketing that I ’ ll write your website copy for free .
And until you ’ re willing to do the “ dirty jobs ” in your business you ’ re desperately trying to avoid — like marketing and selling , hiring and leading a team ,
Robin with the newly appointed Spokesperson Of The Year for TMT , David Javaheri , getting in the driver ’ s seat of his brand-new car he won at the 2022 IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp
Founder And CEO , Technology Marketing Toolkit , Inc .
and understanding the numbers — you ’ ll continue to struggle . I think just about everyone has enough ability to do just about anything but not enough tenacity to get it done consistently . You can speed the process along with the strategies , lessons , and tools we give you here at TMT , but I cannot remove or eliminate the need for you to roll up your sleeves and simply DO THE WORK . Nobody will ever do a reality TV show about MY business because it ’ s pretty dang boring to watch — but all those dirty jobs done well over the years have paid off , and they will for you , too .
This is also why I decided to put David Javaheri , our current spokesperson and ambassador to the IT industry , on the cover of this month ’ s magazine . If anyone is the picture of hard work , tenacity , entrepreneurial ambition , and gratitude , it is this man . He came from very humble beginnings , took a lot of risks , and continues to work his tail off . I encourage you to read his story and use it to inspire you to achieve the same above-average growth and profits he has .
To watch David Javaheri ’ s winning presentation that earned him the title of “ Spokesperson Of The Year ” at this year ’ s IT Sales And Marketing Boot Camp , visit the following
website to check it out :
MSPSuccessMagazine . com / byb . n