35. How to Pick the Right Business Idea When You're Multi-Passionate
Do you ever feel paralyzed by your own potential? Like you have so many ideas and passions that you don't know where to start? I know exactly how that feels, and in this episode, I'm going to show you how to break free from that paralysis and start making real progress.
As someone who struggled to find a single passion when trying to leave my corporate job, I have a unique perspective on this challenge. I've seen firsthand how the fear of choosing the wrong path can keep us stuck, even when we have so much to offer the world.
In this episode, I share a powerful framework for testing out your business ideas without getting overwhelmed. You'll learn how to take small, strategic steps that will give you the clarity and confidence you need to move forward. By the end of this episode, you'll see your multiple passions as a gift, not a curse, and you'll be ready to take action towards your entrepreneurial dreams.
Ready to start your business but have NO idea what to do first? Get my free workbook below which will guide you through exactly where to start!
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
Why trying to think your way into clarity is a trap, and what to do instead
How to use the "Quarterly Test" to explore your business ideas without getting overwhelmed.
The two key factors to consider when evaluating a potential business path.
Why there's no such thing as the "right" choice, and how to make decisions based on what you know right now.
How to reframe your expectations around choosing a business path and give yourself permission to pivot and evolve.
The truth about what it really takes to start a successful business (hint: it's not thousands of Instagram followers)
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Stumbling on Happiness by Daniel Gilbert
Full Episode Transcript:
You know that feeling when you have so many ideas so many things you're good at and you end up doing nothing? Well today I'm going to show you exactly how to move from paralysis to progress. Even if like me and so many of my clients you're terrified of choosing the wrong path. And I have to tell you, I'm probably the least qualified to talk about having too many passions, which is exactly why I think you need to hear what I'm about to share.
By the end of this episode, you're going to be ready to take action and start seeing all of your passions and ideas as opportunities rather than a heavy burden.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Hi mom friends, welcome back. Thank you for being here as always. Today I want to talk about something I've never experienced firsthand, but that has been coming up constantly, whether with friends, in our group sessions, and even with individual clients. And it's about the paralysis that comes from being multi-passionate. And you know what I mean by multi-passionate, right? You're great at storytelling, but you also love design. You've got a knack for systems, but you're passionate about wellness. Maybe you've got three different business ideas written in your notes app right now. And instead of feeling blessed with all of these talents, you're feeling cursed because you can't figure out which path to take.
Honestly, I can't relate to this at all. When I was trying to leave corporate, I struggled because I couldn't think of a single thing I was passionate about. But that's exactly why I think I can help you see differently today. We're going to walk through exactly how to move forward when you feel pulled in multiple directions. And I'm going to share a story about a client that I think will completely change how you view this challenge.
Whether you're a multi-passionate or don't quite know what it feels like to be passionate about anything, like I was in corporate, this episode touches on themes that really will help anyone. I'll also share a guide in the show notes that was inspired by episode 6, What Kind of Business Should I Build? So if you're still in the early stages of figuring out what you want to do for an entrepreneurial venture, check out in the show notes that guide and go to https://jenna.coach/35. Also check out episode 6 while you're at it.
So here's what I see happening with so many multi-passionate moms. You're trying to figure out the perfect path before you start. You're stuck in this cycle of endless research, pros and cons lists, and asking everyone's opinion because you think you need to be 100% certain before you take a single step. You might believe that choosing one path means closing the door on all others forever. And underneath all of that, there's this fear that if you choose wrong, you'll waste precious time that you could have spent with your kids or building the right business. We've all been there.
But here's what's fascinating. I actually learned something valuable about this from my own experience of having zero passions. Like I said, when I was trying to leave corporate, I was the opposite of passionate. I couldn't think of a single thing that I wanted to do that excited me. And that taught me something crucial, that you can't think your way into clarity. You have to act your way there.
This brings up the first tool that anyone can use when trying to choose their entrepreneurial business idea, but especially the multi-passionate moms with numerous options. It's the quarterly test. We all remember how breaking up the year into quarters works in corporate. And I want you to consider testing out any one business idea for one whole quarter.
So instead of trying to figure out your perfect path through endless journaling or pros and cons lists and soul searching, you're going to choose one direction, just one, and commit to it for three months, not forever, just three months of focused attention. I want you to take action and see how it feels. How does it feel to talk about this particular topic? How does it feel to introduce yourself in this way during networking events?
Start working with some clients, even if it's free work at this point. And if you're like, what do you mean free work? Check out episode 24, why offering free work pays off in the long run, for my thoughts and insights on how free work can really be a game changer. But start working with people and figure out if you even like being around those people all day. One of the greatest benefits of entrepreneurship is getting to choose your clients. In corporate, someone tells you who you have to work with and it's a real pain when that person sucks.
When you own your own business, you get to decide the clients you serve. You get to decide your industry. So test these things out and see how it goes. But test it for three months, which is a decent stretch of time so that you can really get a feel for what it feels like.
There's this fantastic book called Stumbling on Happiness that talks about how terrible we are at predicting what will make us happy. The only way to know is to test it. Well, that and to manage our mind so that we don't depend on our work to make us happy, but that's a whole other podcast episode that I'll do at some point.
And I know what you're thinking, but I'm already so busy with kids and work. And that's why it's important to start small. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to choose one business idea from that whole list of things that excite you. And I want you to test that one idea. And I want you to commit two to three hours per week to it. That's it.
Attend some networking events relevant to it. Talk to some people already in the industry. Create an offer and pitch it to three people. Maybe find one or two people to be your first clients and make them an offer they can't resist, maybe even free work, so you can really test things out.
As you're doing this, I want you to think about two things. I want you to think about your energy levels during and after and any income potential you discover. I want you to consider whether doing the work drains your energy or gives you energy because that's important. You don't want to trade one burnout for another and if you're drained from doing the work before you even truly start, I would recommend trying a different path.
I'm sure I also don't have to convince you that money is really important too. Okay, assessing money is crucial because sometimes what gives us energy isn't what people will pay for. During your test period, you should get some early signals about whether there's a real market demand. Maybe you have some initial conversations with potential clients, or you discover what others are charging for similar services, or maybe you identified a clear problem that people are willing to pay to solve. You don't need to have made money during the test period.
You just need to see the potential path for profitability. If you're barking up a tree that grows no money, that's not a great business path either. Now, be sure that you're open-minded to earning potential. Don't just write things off because of things like saturated markets and thinking that no one will pay for that because those are sometimes excuses coming from fear.
I've said this before but the fact that there are so many successful companies selling bottled water, something that we get basically for free in our own homes is proof that no market is too saturated and people will pay for anything if it hits a need.
Lastly, I want you to set a calendar reminder for three months out to evaluate. And I actually don't want you to evaluate at all before that calendar reminder hits. I used to recommend something similar to leaders I managed and coached. When you take on something new, it's easy to judge yourself and judge the new thing right from the start when you know very little about what you're doing. You can immediately feel underqualified or like it isn't a good fit because you're judging yourself too soon.
So hold off any reflection or judgments until the three month mark hits and set aside at least an hour in the future to be intentional about analyzing whether it's the right path for you for right now. After three months of testing with those two to three hours per week or more whatever your schedule allows, here are the questions you need to ask yourself.
Number 1, did you find yourself looking forward to working on this? Number 2, did this energize you or drain you? Number 3, can you see a clear path to making money? And number 4, do you want to learn more about this?
Okay and I recommend going to the show notes jenna.coach/35 and looking at the transcript and copy and pasting those questions so that you have them for that reflection. If you're feeling excited about the work and you can see how it could make you money that's your green light down this path. It's that easy, right? If you're excited about the work and you can see how it could make you money, that's your green light down this path. It's that easy, right? If you're excited about the work and you see an earning potential, that's the one.
I'm sure my multi-passionate moms are out there rolling their eyes at me because there's something missing, right? It's not that easy. And why not? It's not that easy because we have certain expectations about the path ahead, and it's those expectations that make this entire process so much harder.
And actually, this came up just the other week with a new client I'm working with. She has this business she's been building in one industry and suddenly this amazing consulting opportunity came up in her previous field. The kind of work she could do in her sleep and they're practically begging for her to help them. But instead of seeing this as an opportunity, she's torturing herself about what it means. She thinks that saying yes to this consulting work means she's not committed enough to her business, that she's giving up when things get tough and retreating to something comfortable.
And this is exactly what I'm talking about. These expectations we put on ourselves. It's the expectation that what we choose needs to be "right". It's the expectation that if we're saying yes to one path, we're saying no to another. If we're saying yes to one of our passions, the rest are left behind. It's an expectation that whatever we choose, we are stuck with that choice forever. And again, what if it's not the right choice?
So let me challenge these expectations for a minute, because they're causing so much unnecessary pressure, just like they were for my client and so many other clients and people I've talked to. First, there's no right choice. I know that sounds scary, but it's actually incredibly freeing when you really get it. There's just the next choice, the choice you're making right now with the information you have right now.
For my client, saying yes to this consulting opportunity doesn't mean she's abandoning her business. Saying yes to one path doesn't mean saying no to everything else forever. Who says you can't start somewhere and evolve? Who says you can't take strategic opportunities that fund your bigger vision?
I was just talking to a client last week who's been sitting on three different business ideas for months. She kept thinking she had to choose between being a copywriter, a reiki practitioner, or a course creator.
But who says you can't start with one and bring in elements of the others as you grow? Who says you can't pivot if something isn't working? The most important thing is really knowing yourself and knowing why you're saying yes to something. What do you want to make it mean?
My client could choose to see this consulting opportunity as a feat, or she could see it as a smart business move that creates more freedom and possibilities in the future. Think about it this way. If you were taking a road trip, you wouldn't need to know every single turn before you start driving. Sometimes you might even take a detour that actually helps you reach your destination with more resources and less stress. Right. That's exactly what this consulting opportunity could be for my client, a strategic detour that makes her whole journey more sustainable.
Let's talk about this idea that we're stuck with whatever we choose. Since when did making a choice become a forever marriage? The beauty of entrepreneurship is that you get to pivot, evolve, and grow. Your business can grow with you. It should grow with you.
I see so many moms approaching this decision like it's a do or die moment, like they need to create the perfect business right out of the gate. But the truth is, your first version doesn't have to be your forever version. In fact, it probably won't be. And that's okay. That's normal. That's how it should be.
Remember what I said earlier about testing things out for three months, that's because business is an experiment, life is an experiment. You try things, you learn, you adjust, sometimes you pivot slightly, sometimes you pivot completely, but you can't pivot if you're standing still and not taking action.
So here's what I want you to do. Take all those expectations about choosing right, about saying no to other passions, about being stuck forever and set them aside. Just for now, instead, ask yourself, what's the next logical step? Not the perfect step, not the forever step, just the next step. The one that makes sense right now with what you know right now, with the time and resources you have right now. That path that gives you energy and has earning potential, that's your next step. Not your only step, not your forever step, just your next step.
And taking that step will teach you things about yourself and your business that you could never learn from just thinking about it. It will open doors you can't even see right now. It will create opportunities that you couldn't have planned for.
Let me wrap this up with what I really want you to take away from today. Being multi-passionate is not a curse, it's a gift. You have to start somewhere to unlock that gift. Whether you have too many passions like most of my clients or you're like me and started with none at all, the answer is the same. Take action.
Choose one path to test for three months, just two to three hours a week if that's all you have and track your energy and the money potential. The truth is your business journey is going to have twists and turns. That's not just okay, it's actually perfect because each step teaches you something you couldn't have learned any other way.
And speaking of taking action, next week's episode is going to tackle something I know keeps so many of you stuck. And this is one I can definitely relate to and that's social media. I hear from moms all the time who think they can't start a business because they don't have thousands of followers or because they hate the idea of posting every day. Well I'm gonna bust that myth wide open. I'll show you the truth about social media as a business owner and reveal other powerful ways to create a steady stream of clients without being glued to Instagram. You won't want to miss it.
Until then, remember, you don't need to see the whole staircase, you just need to take that first and next step. Take care of yourself this week and do something fun for heaven's sake. I'll see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
By the end of this episode, you're going to be ready to take action and start seeing all of your passions and ideas as opportunities rather than a heavy burden.
Welcome to How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. It’s a podcast that helps working moms just like you, optimize your time, manage your mind, and start a business that helps you create more freedom, flexibility, and, yes, fun. I’m business and mindset coach Jenna Rykiel. And I offer practical tips to help you ditch the nine-to-five. I have been exactly where you are and I know what it takes to make the transition without trading one form of burnout for another. So, let’s get started.
Hi mom friends, welcome back. Thank you for being here as always. Today I want to talk about something I've never experienced firsthand, but that has been coming up constantly, whether with friends, in our group sessions, and even with individual clients. And it's about the paralysis that comes from being multi-passionate. And you know what I mean by multi-passionate, right? You're great at storytelling, but you also love design. You've got a knack for systems, but you're passionate about wellness. Maybe you've got three different business ideas written in your notes app right now. And instead of feeling blessed with all of these talents, you're feeling cursed because you can't figure out which path to take.
Honestly, I can't relate to this at all. When I was trying to leave corporate, I struggled because I couldn't think of a single thing I was passionate about. But that's exactly why I think I can help you see differently today. We're going to walk through exactly how to move forward when you feel pulled in multiple directions. And I'm going to share a story about a client that I think will completely change how you view this challenge.
Whether you're a multi-passionate or don't quite know what it feels like to be passionate about anything, like I was in corporate, this episode touches on themes that really will help anyone. I'll also share a guide in the show notes that was inspired by episode 6, What Kind of Business Should I Build? So if you're still in the early stages of figuring out what you want to do for an entrepreneurial venture, check out in the show notes that guide and go to https://jenna.coach/35. Also check out episode 6 while you're at it.
So here's what I see happening with so many multi-passionate moms. You're trying to figure out the perfect path before you start. You're stuck in this cycle of endless research, pros and cons lists, and asking everyone's opinion because you think you need to be 100% certain before you take a single step. You might believe that choosing one path means closing the door on all others forever. And underneath all of that, there's this fear that if you choose wrong, you'll waste precious time that you could have spent with your kids or building the right business. We've all been there.
But here's what's fascinating. I actually learned something valuable about this from my own experience of having zero passions. Like I said, when I was trying to leave corporate, I was the opposite of passionate. I couldn't think of a single thing that I wanted to do that excited me. And that taught me something crucial, that you can't think your way into clarity. You have to act your way there.
This brings up the first tool that anyone can use when trying to choose their entrepreneurial business idea, but especially the multi-passionate moms with numerous options. It's the quarterly test. We all remember how breaking up the year into quarters works in corporate. And I want you to consider testing out any one business idea for one whole quarter.
So instead of trying to figure out your perfect path through endless journaling or pros and cons lists and soul searching, you're going to choose one direction, just one, and commit to it for three months, not forever, just three months of focused attention. I want you to take action and see how it feels. How does it feel to talk about this particular topic? How does it feel to introduce yourself in this way during networking events?
Start working with some clients, even if it's free work at this point. And if you're like, what do you mean free work? Check out episode 24, why offering free work pays off in the long run, for my thoughts and insights on how free work can really be a game changer. But start working with people and figure out if you even like being around those people all day. One of the greatest benefits of entrepreneurship is getting to choose your clients. In corporate, someone tells you who you have to work with and it's a real pain when that person sucks.
When you own your own business, you get to decide the clients you serve. You get to decide your industry. So test these things out and see how it goes. But test it for three months, which is a decent stretch of time so that you can really get a feel for what it feels like.
There's this fantastic book called Stumbling on Happiness that talks about how terrible we are at predicting what will make us happy. The only way to know is to test it. Well, that and to manage our mind so that we don't depend on our work to make us happy, but that's a whole other podcast episode that I'll do at some point.
And I know what you're thinking, but I'm already so busy with kids and work. And that's why it's important to start small. So here's what I want you to do. I want you to choose one business idea from that whole list of things that excite you. And I want you to test that one idea. And I want you to commit two to three hours per week to it. That's it.
Attend some networking events relevant to it. Talk to some people already in the industry. Create an offer and pitch it to three people. Maybe find one or two people to be your first clients and make them an offer they can't resist, maybe even free work, so you can really test things out.
As you're doing this, I want you to think about two things. I want you to think about your energy levels during and after and any income potential you discover. I want you to consider whether doing the work drains your energy or gives you energy because that's important. You don't want to trade one burnout for another and if you're drained from doing the work before you even truly start, I would recommend trying a different path.
I'm sure I also don't have to convince you that money is really important too. Okay, assessing money is crucial because sometimes what gives us energy isn't what people will pay for. During your test period, you should get some early signals about whether there's a real market demand. Maybe you have some initial conversations with potential clients, or you discover what others are charging for similar services, or maybe you identified a clear problem that people are willing to pay to solve. You don't need to have made money during the test period.
You just need to see the potential path for profitability. If you're barking up a tree that grows no money, that's not a great business path either. Now, be sure that you're open-minded to earning potential. Don't just write things off because of things like saturated markets and thinking that no one will pay for that because those are sometimes excuses coming from fear.
I've said this before but the fact that there are so many successful companies selling bottled water, something that we get basically for free in our own homes is proof that no market is too saturated and people will pay for anything if it hits a need.
Lastly, I want you to set a calendar reminder for three months out to evaluate. And I actually don't want you to evaluate at all before that calendar reminder hits. I used to recommend something similar to leaders I managed and coached. When you take on something new, it's easy to judge yourself and judge the new thing right from the start when you know very little about what you're doing. You can immediately feel underqualified or like it isn't a good fit because you're judging yourself too soon.
So hold off any reflection or judgments until the three month mark hits and set aside at least an hour in the future to be intentional about analyzing whether it's the right path for you for right now. After three months of testing with those two to three hours per week or more whatever your schedule allows, here are the questions you need to ask yourself.
Number 1, did you find yourself looking forward to working on this? Number 2, did this energize you or drain you? Number 3, can you see a clear path to making money? And number 4, do you want to learn more about this?
Okay and I recommend going to the show notes jenna.coach/35 and looking at the transcript and copy and pasting those questions so that you have them for that reflection. If you're feeling excited about the work and you can see how it could make you money that's your green light down this path. It's that easy, right? If you're excited about the work and you can see how it could make you money, that's your green light down this path. It's that easy, right? If you're excited about the work and you see an earning potential, that's the one.
I'm sure my multi-passionate moms are out there rolling their eyes at me because there's something missing, right? It's not that easy. And why not? It's not that easy because we have certain expectations about the path ahead, and it's those expectations that make this entire process so much harder.
And actually, this came up just the other week with a new client I'm working with. She has this business she's been building in one industry and suddenly this amazing consulting opportunity came up in her previous field. The kind of work she could do in her sleep and they're practically begging for her to help them. But instead of seeing this as an opportunity, she's torturing herself about what it means. She thinks that saying yes to this consulting work means she's not committed enough to her business, that she's giving up when things get tough and retreating to something comfortable.
And this is exactly what I'm talking about. These expectations we put on ourselves. It's the expectation that what we choose needs to be "right". It's the expectation that if we're saying yes to one path, we're saying no to another. If we're saying yes to one of our passions, the rest are left behind. It's an expectation that whatever we choose, we are stuck with that choice forever. And again, what if it's not the right choice?
So let me challenge these expectations for a minute, because they're causing so much unnecessary pressure, just like they were for my client and so many other clients and people I've talked to. First, there's no right choice. I know that sounds scary, but it's actually incredibly freeing when you really get it. There's just the next choice, the choice you're making right now with the information you have right now.
For my client, saying yes to this consulting opportunity doesn't mean she's abandoning her business. Saying yes to one path doesn't mean saying no to everything else forever. Who says you can't start somewhere and evolve? Who says you can't take strategic opportunities that fund your bigger vision?
I was just talking to a client last week who's been sitting on three different business ideas for months. She kept thinking she had to choose between being a copywriter, a reiki practitioner, or a course creator.
But who says you can't start with one and bring in elements of the others as you grow? Who says you can't pivot if something isn't working? The most important thing is really knowing yourself and knowing why you're saying yes to something. What do you want to make it mean?
My client could choose to see this consulting opportunity as a feat, or she could see it as a smart business move that creates more freedom and possibilities in the future. Think about it this way. If you were taking a road trip, you wouldn't need to know every single turn before you start driving. Sometimes you might even take a detour that actually helps you reach your destination with more resources and less stress. Right. That's exactly what this consulting opportunity could be for my client, a strategic detour that makes her whole journey more sustainable.
Let's talk about this idea that we're stuck with whatever we choose. Since when did making a choice become a forever marriage? The beauty of entrepreneurship is that you get to pivot, evolve, and grow. Your business can grow with you. It should grow with you.
I see so many moms approaching this decision like it's a do or die moment, like they need to create the perfect business right out of the gate. But the truth is, your first version doesn't have to be your forever version. In fact, it probably won't be. And that's okay. That's normal. That's how it should be.
Remember what I said earlier about testing things out for three months, that's because business is an experiment, life is an experiment. You try things, you learn, you adjust, sometimes you pivot slightly, sometimes you pivot completely, but you can't pivot if you're standing still and not taking action.
So here's what I want you to do. Take all those expectations about choosing right, about saying no to other passions, about being stuck forever and set them aside. Just for now, instead, ask yourself, what's the next logical step? Not the perfect step, not the forever step, just the next step. The one that makes sense right now with what you know right now, with the time and resources you have right now. That path that gives you energy and has earning potential, that's your next step. Not your only step, not your forever step, just your next step.
And taking that step will teach you things about yourself and your business that you could never learn from just thinking about it. It will open doors you can't even see right now. It will create opportunities that you couldn't have planned for.
Let me wrap this up with what I really want you to take away from today. Being multi-passionate is not a curse, it's a gift. You have to start somewhere to unlock that gift. Whether you have too many passions like most of my clients or you're like me and started with none at all, the answer is the same. Take action.
Choose one path to test for three months, just two to three hours a week if that's all you have and track your energy and the money potential. The truth is your business journey is going to have twists and turns. That's not just okay, it's actually perfect because each step teaches you something you couldn't have learned any other way.
And speaking of taking action, next week's episode is going to tackle something I know keeps so many of you stuck. And this is one I can definitely relate to and that's social media. I hear from moms all the time who think they can't start a business because they don't have thousands of followers or because they hate the idea of posting every day. Well I'm gonna bust that myth wide open. I'll show you the truth about social media as a business owner and reveal other powerful ways to create a steady stream of clients without being glued to Instagram. You won't want to miss it.
Until then, remember, you don't need to see the whole staircase, you just need to take that first and next step. Take care of yourself this week and do something fun for heaven's sake. I'll see you next week.
Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of How to Quit Your Job: A Mom’s Guide to Creating a Life and Business You Love. If you want to learn more about how I can help you stop making excuses and start making moves, head on over to www.jenna.coach. I’ll see you next week.
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