How to sustain your passion (and your side-hustle)

A reflection on SEA’s time spent at Yellow Conference 2018

Being a social entrepreneur is no small feat. Passionate, purpose-driven individuals spend their days working toward visions of impact while simultaneously maintaining profitable businesses, a balancing act that is hard to manage and can feel isolating.

With so many hurdles to clear, it’s not surprising that conferences, memberships and meet-ups are so valued in the social impact industry. (It’s why we bring social entrepreneurs together at SEA!) Because doing the hard work of a social entrepreneur takes support, and taking time to hear best practices and refine our approach, gives us the energy we need to keep going.

Doing the hard work of a social entrepreneur takes support; and taking time to hear best practices and refine our approach gives us the energy we need to keep going.

Knowing this, we were thrilled to partner with Yellow this year, a membership community for women entrepreneurs and creatives who seek to be agents of good. Their annual conference, (read all about it here), brings together nearly 500 conscious-minded women to connect and learn, and we couldn’t wait to have our Strategic Partnerships Manager, Elisa Morales, attend and share her experience.

From the minute she arrived, Elisa shared, “The conference felt very warm and welcoming. [It was] energizing, fun, and inspiring to see a growing number of entrepreneurs and individuals interested in using their talent and business for good.”

[Attending Yellow was like] walking into a conference full of people who could all potentially be both your best friend and business partner.

Along with creating an inspirational space, Yellow offered a well-rounded experience, sparking conversations around social impact, practicing mindfulness, sharing career tips and encouraging entrepreneurs in their quest to bring their passion projects to life.

One such session struck a chord with Elisa, led by Enid Hwang, Head of Culture & Community at Pinterest. The discussion centered around “Sustaining Your Passion” and was jam packed with lessons learned, practical advice and hopeful encouragements.

Enid’s talk left us feeling empowered and reenergized. We compiled our favorite tips below:

Top 5 quotable takeaways from Yellow:

1. Become goal-oriented rather than to-do list driven.

Don’t just create busy work. Ask yourself: What are you doing? How are you doing? Are you driving results you really want? “Good goals exist to make better work.”

Pick goals that are time-bound and measurable, and prioritize them. Make a list of long term projects (what you want to accomplish by end of year)

• Pick two of these things (yes, two) then add a personal one
• Frame them positively — (e.g. rather than stop doing this frame them as “start doing..”)
• Define how you want to measure success (e.g is it sales?, engagement?, quality time?)
• Write one goal per priority

At the end of the exercise, you’ll have the three most important goals to get you to the next level with your work

2. Be intentional about your time.

Learn to say no and block your schedule based on priorities. Thirty minutes in between meetings isn’t effective. “We’re not that good at multitasking. We need to stop kidding ourselves.” [so true]

3. Learn to deal with change and control your growth.

Choose an area each year where you want to learn more skills and pursue it. Also, write a personal mission statement that outlines your personal priorities and values. Enid shared Oprah’s personal mission statement as an example:

To be a teacher and to inspire students to live more than they thought they could be — Oprah

4. Own yourself at work.

Being a woman in the workplace, it’s easy to doubt yourself and play small. Don’t wonder if you belong there, you do. “If you’re in the room, you’re already halfway there — so be in the room.”

5. Give yourself time to regularly self-reflect.

Ask yourself: Am I happy? Am I on mission? Am I learning what I said I wanted to learn? “What projects have I loved the most and why? Do this every six months.”

These tips, Enid shared, are to help entrepreneurs find balance and find the fuel they need to pursue their passions.

“Pushing for perfection to the point of exhaustion is a quick way to burn out,” she said. “So much of why we all are here is because of passion and purpose, but passion alone won’t sustain you.”

Overall, attending Yellow Conference was an energizing, empowering experience that created space to reflect and be re-energized. It was a good reminder of the importance of taking the time to pause, reflect and connect.