Be Passionate

Recently, I decided to upgrade and focus on my YouTube channel. When I first started it in 2006, my goal was to edit scenes from movies to use in my blog or when I spoke to men’s groups.

And for over a decade I used the platform for what I was passionate about. To my surprise, I recently hit the 400 subscriber mark without adding any new content every year. With the changes in big tech and copyright laws, I need to adjust and refocus my YouTube channel martinthomasjohnson.

In their book Social Media for Today’s Writer, authors and social media experts DiAnn Mills and Edie Melson share, “Before anyone can build an online library of resources, we need a focus for what we want to share. This focus is an integral part of developing a strong social media voice to complement our writing voice. A social media personality that posts about any and everything will not gather many followers.”¹

So I decided to do some research about how to build a following on YouTube, the most common advice was to create content about your passions, the following is a brief list of the top ways to build a YouTube channel:

• Be consistent.
• Find your Niche.
• Be creative.
• Be passionate.

The last avenue is vital to all types of success. We must be passionate about what we are doing, and we all have reasons why we want to write. My goal as a writer is to encourage disabled persons because I am passionate about helping others.

I have shared before how discouraging it can be to live with a disability. If it weren’t for the encouragement of others, I might not have made it this far in life. So I am passionate about helping those in the disabled community.

If you’ve been part of the writing community for any amount of time, you are well aware that the writing life can be pretty discouraging and you need support from others within the community. Regardless of your health or writing status, if you want to be successful, you need to passionate about what you are doing.

Be passionate!

Passion drives us and breathes life into our efforts, regardless of what we are attempting. Most writers have a love-hate relationship with the craft. We enjoy the art and end product, but we hate the process.

We dread the hours seated behind the computer with no inspiration to write a single word. Writer’s block and brain fog are easily dissipated by a passion for what we are creating. But how do we birth that passion? Below are six steps I found online.

1. Know Thyself – Understand what makes you tick, what motivates you, what gives you energy.

2. Define Your Qualities – You might have a general idea of your skills, values, and interests, but have you dug deep to determine which of those are imperative in your life? Are you allowing your writing work to overwhelm other places to explore? These places could ultimately help your writing.

3. Create A Vision – Once you’ve gotten to know yourself better and defined what is important to you, begin to create a vision for your life and for your writing.

4. Remove the Roadblocks – As you define the elements of your vision and mission, you may encounter emotional roadblocks preventing you from taking the actions you need to make your vision real.

5. Shift Your Mind – As you learn about yourself, you will begin having profound “ah-ha” moments. Previous ways of thinking will be challenged. Things that you once accepted will no longer be acceptable.

6. Create Your Plan – The final part of the process of discovering yourself and your passion is creating an action plan based on all you have learned. You may find there are many passions and options for your life in addition to writing.²

After my accident, I had goals to attain, hope, and desire, but it took falling one time to zap my passion and change my plans. After achieving those smaller goals through baby steps, my passion grew and motivated me to keep going.

I knew I could walk, why stop there? The possibilities were endless. Do you know you can write? The possibilities are endless, take it easy and find your passion.

Take It Easy?

Confession time, having a brain injury can make one short-tempered and irrationally inpatient. When you know what you can do, passion sends the heart racing at 100 miles an hour, it is full speed ahead.

This is where disabled persons often make careless mistakes. Passion can blind us to the reality of where we are in life. It may sound counterproductive, but sometimes we have to slow down and take it easy.

For me, the stress/grind of constantly going can do me more physical harm than good (seizures, strokes.) Passion can be good and bad. I needed to let my passion keep me motivated along the slow road of recovery. And that is my advice for new writers; the writing journey is a marathon, not a sprint.

• Be passionate.
• Be persistent.
• Be patient.

Growing up I was taught that success comes to those who wait. In my recovery, I learned success requires patience. Neither is possible if we fail to be passionate!

Martin Johnson survived a severe car accident with a (T.B.I.) Traumatic brain injury which left him legally blind and partially paralyzed on the left side. He is an award-winning Christian screenwriter who has recently finished his first Christian nonfiction book. Martin has spent the last nine years volunteering as an ambassador and promoter for Promise Keepers ministries. While speaking to local men’s ministries he shares his testimony. He explains The Jesus Paradigm and how following Jesus changes what matters most in our lives. Martin lives in a Georgia and connects with readers at Spiritual Perspectives of Da Single Guy and on Twitter at mtjohnson51.

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¹  Mills, D. & Melson E.(2020). Social Media for Today’s Writer. Bold Vision Books, Pg.40

²  https://writetodone.com/6-key-steps-to-finding-your-passion-as-a-writer/