Live Your Dream

What? Turn DOWN $100,000 a day?? Who would do that? Well, Tim Taylor, that’s who. Now before you think I’m crazy–or that he is–let me explain. When I think of guys who do exactly what they want to be doing for a living, and they do it every day, Tim comes to the top of my list of people. Because he really does do his dream job, every day.

[featured-image single-newwindow=”false”]Courtesy of Tim Taylor[/featured-image]

Earlier this week I had lunch with Tim and he shared with me some his ideas on what it means to pursue your passion, and just where the money-factor needs to placed on your list of priorities. Tim told me that when he was asked to go back to NASA – he knew what that life was like. Moving, and working all day on a base. He knew he did not want it. Yet – space was in his blood. He even wrote a book on entrepreneurship that had a shuttle on the launchpad on the front cover and the book was named Launch Fever: An entrepreneur’s journey into the secrets of launching rockets, a new business and living a happier life.

Limiting Thoughts

Yet – Tim, said he had limiting beliefs. He thought there was only one way to live his dream – the old way of being a NASA worker and living outside of the Cape and being on base from 8- 5. He had a family and liked his freedom – so he was torn. Yet – on prodding from friends – he looked into his options. In the interview for a consulting firm for the NASA/DOD team- Tim said “I am not moving, I am not working 8-5, so there is no reason for me to interview.” The answer he got back over the line shocked him. The voice said “fine – we need to set up the interview and put you to work.” Tim did not realize there were OTHER ways of living his dream. He had lived it before – so saw no other option. How often do we do this to ourselves. We see only one way to live our dream – so we put on  blinders and either walk away from the dream, or walk into self –induced misery.

It’s hard not to enjoy what I am doing now these days.  Sometimes I am working inside the cockpit of the shuttle, sometimes at the launch pad, sometimes in a remote control room in the desert, in Mission Control during a launch or landing or most of the time in my living room on a laptop computer.  You couldn’t pay me $100,000 a day to go back to Corporate America doing something I didn’t truly enjoy. ~ Tim Taylor, 2010

 

Tim’s rule of success is simple: “Find your passion and get as close to it as possible – but on YOUR own terms as best possible.”].