Earning Money to Pursue Your Passions – Amelia Earhart
The “See Jane Soar” life lesson: you have to leave your comfort zone to earn money if you want to pursue your passions! The successful woman: Amelia Earhart. She was an American aviatrix – female pilot – who took risks and forced herself to do things she didn’t want to do, just to earn money to pursue her passion – her infamous flying career.
It’s debatable what Earhart hated more: not being able to fly because she had no money, or performing like a circus pony for the public. She had to force herself to play to the crowds – but her husband, however, loved the spotlight. In Amelia Earhart: A Biography, Doris Rich writes, “If G.P. Putnam needed to bask in her limelight, she needed him to maintain that limelight.”
Here’s how Amelia Earhart earned money to pursue her passion for flying…and two life lessons you can take to the bank! And, if you’re a woman who wants to earn more money, click on Women’s Way of Earning Money by Cynthia May Westover Alden for some money making ideas.
Earning Money to Pursue Your Passions - Amelia Earhart
1. Get out of your comfort zone. Earhart reluctantly married publishing magnate George Palmer Putnam in 1931. She wrote him a letter stating that marrying him was “as foolish as anything I could do” (this, from a woman who flew alone over vast oceans through fog, rain, and darkness at 10,000 feet, inhaling gas fumes, barely eating or sleeping). After the wedding she insisted on keeping her full name – “Miss Amelia Earhart” – for business and writing purposes. To earn money for her flying “hobby”, Earhart forced herself to take action, even when it scared her. And for you to pursue your passions, dear reader, you too will need to leave your comfort zone.
2. Be prepared to work hard. Earhart feared marriage was a cage that would prevent her from working, but her concerns were groundless. She worked. A lot. Her pockets weren’t deep enough to pay for the planes, fuel, licenses, contest entry fees, flight arrangements, and navigators that her record-breaking flights demanded. So, Putnam kept Earhart jumping through never-ending, increasingly demanding hoops: speaking engagements, media interviews, professional dinners, new business ventures, press-friendly junkets, photo opportunities, and book signing tours.
Fame brought money, which gave her wings to fly. Earhart worked hard to make money so she could pursue her passions…and it gave her wings to fly.
Are you finding it difficult to pursue your passions because you don’t have enough money? Do you have any suggestions for other women about earning money to pursue their goals? Comment below!
For more info about Amelia Earhart, go to the Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum.
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