Home > Spotlight > Project Sweet Spot > Loved Ones Skeptical Of Your Dream? Hot Tips From Pro Blogger And Trailblazer Jonathan Mead

The Project Sweet Spot Interview Series has officially begun (can I get a “WOOT”?!), and I couldn’t have interviewed a better person to kick off this series than Jonathan Mead of Illuminated Mind.

Jonathan fully embodies the kind of transformation that Project Sweet Spot is all about, having successfully transitioned from going “from one job to the next” in order to pay the bills, to becoming a highly-respected professional blogger with a community of over 22,500 subscribers that he calls The Unstream (the opposite of ‘the mainstream’ – cool!). On top of being a living example of someone who carved a path into his own Sweet Spot, Jonathan also teaches others how to carve the shortest path into their own.

I hear the same basic objections over and over as to why people are afraid to make the shift from whatever they are doing now into doing work they love that is more fulfilling for them and makes more of a difference in the world. I asked Jonathan how he handled some of those common fears and challenges on his own journey, and found some truly grounded and practical wisdom gained only by someone who’s walked the path and can speak from depth of experience.

One particular challenge I want to highlight here is the pressure a lot of people feel from those around them to stay in the so-called ‘safe and secure’ job or business they are already in – even if it is stressful, draining and/or demoralizing. The pressure may may be subtle or strong, and may come from spouses, parents, friends, colleagues or other significant people in their lives. For the most part, these naysayers are well-meaning, yet their influence can drive a dream six feet under in less than a nanosecond. So what’s a guy or gal to do??

When Jonathan decided he was going to become a pro blogger, he faced the most resistance to the idea from his wife. She was skeptical that he could do it since she had no experience with entrepreneurship, and especially since she happened to be an amateur writer herself with some preconceived notions about what it takes to be paid as a writer.

Fortunately, Mead decided to set her opinion aside and go for it anyway. However, he had to deliberately find a way to feel supported through the period before he could demonstrate the results that would get his wife on-side (she now supports him wholeheartedly and works on the business with him):

“For me it was really getting my wife on board that was one of the hardest things. And it really took showing her results to get her on board. She wanted to see the practical numbers, and that’s ultimately what I did.

And I had to rely more on support from other people that were trying to do what I wanted to do, or had been there and had already done it, rather than trying to get support from people that that wasn’t something they had ever experienced or that wasn’t their reality.

I just had to come to terms with the fact that ‘I’m going to get the most support and best support from other people that have some kind of context for what I’m trying to do.’ And it was hard at first, you know, because you want the people around you that you love to understand and to get it, and sometimes that’s the case for some people, and sometimes you have to get that support elsewhere.

I think it’s definitely really vital to get that support somewhere and to start surrounding yourself with those kinds of people, because they are going to start acting like a gravitational pull in the direction you want to go, rather than having this inertia all the time to stay where you are.”

Jonathan nailed it. His experience and advice has proven to be true on my own journey as well: Surround yourself as much as you can with people who are on the same path as you, and who’ve already created the result that you want for yourself. It’s ultimately your job to make your own way into your Sweet Spot, but support from like-minded people along the way is a critical antidote to resistance you are likely to experience at some point along the way.

You can listen to the entire interview here, in which Jonathan shares other golden nuggets from his own story, including how he financially supported himself through his transition, whether he felt any guilt making the choice to do what he loves, and what the first and last hour of his day is like these days. Powerful guidance.

Check out the buzz around Jonathan’s current Trailblazer Journey project that provides not only the fastest path to quitting your job, but also the support from a community of like-minded people along the way. He’s created a super cool movie trailer for Trailblazer as well that involves Jonathan almost getting hit by a car, and a sinister, robot-like bald guy (trust me, check it out!). Original and valuable creations from a true trailblazer.

Photo credit: Jason Digges