Scott Lee: Tough stuff part of following dreams

Jean Batten

IMAGINE doing what you love doing every day ...

Bounding out of bed and saying to yourself: "How lucky am I - I get to do what I love again." And what if you got paid to do it ... how would it feel? Pretty bloody good, I would think.

It is an interesting concept - doing what you love. There are so many gurus out there - Deepak Chopra, Louise Hay, Dr John Demartini - saying "do what you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life again".

They are right - what you love to do, you'll do anything for, even the tough stuff. Nothing will be too hard or too great a sacrifice in order to achieve your goals - even the "work".

What they don't tell you is that, initially, a lot of it will feel like work. You will have to be all things to all people which requires a lot of organisational skills, patience and resilience - skills that can be developed.

This I have learned as I've had to develop many of these skills recently. And, while it may seem tough initially, it can be done.

How will you know if you are doing what you love? Because it will all feel easier to do than anything else you've ever done and it will feel like it's worth it - maybe not in the moment, but certainly in the end.

It is with this in mind that I share my visit to the Museum of Transport and Technology in Auckland this weekend, in particular, the section about Jean Batten, one of our most amazing aviators and explorers.

This remarkable New Zealand woman set out at the age of 18 to be a pilot, just 24 years after the Wright brothers had first flown a plane.

The exhibition described her four golden years, from 1934 to 1938, when she flew solo from England to Australia and England to Brazil in record times and was awarded aviation's highest honour, the Federation Aeronautique Internationale.

What I discovered, though, is it took her three years of training and flying to be prepared to attempt flying from England to Australia the first time. Then she encountered sand storms and crash-landed near Karachi, Pakistan, on her first attempt, and ran out of fuel, crash landing in Rome, Italy, on her second attempt, a crash that sounded very dangerous and life-threatening.

I am sure there were many other risky adventures while she was learning, but she kept going and didn't give up, which is an amazing trait - one driven by her love of what she was doing. While she received many honours and awards for her flying, without the sandstorms, the crash landings and the years learning to fly, Jean Batten would not have been the great New Zealander and person she was.

My point is, whether what you love is being a mum, being an artist or being a great chef, remember, the tough stuff is always worth it. We don't know in the moment, but a "crash landing" could be teaching us the very thing we need in order to look back on our lives and say: "Yeah, I did that ... it feels great."

It is not anyone else's life, it's yours. Do what you love to do, crash-land every now and again and love your life. It will be a far happier life if you do what you love.

Jean Batten said it best:

"Every flyer who ventures across oceans to distant lands is a potential explorer; in his or her breast burns the same fire that urged the adventurers of old to set forth in their sailing ships for foreign lands."

What fire burns in you? What do you want to explore? And are you doing what you love?

-If you want to discuss anything in this column, please feel free to call, text or email Scott on 027 2367729 or scott@loveandmoneynetwork.com