Sounds good, Tim, but what if you don't have a passion for something that will solve problems for other people? This has been my biggest drawback in starting an online business. I'm a musician, and what I really like to do --- and will do for free as a labor of love if need be --- is make music. But that doesn't solve any problems. I suppose you could say it solves the problem of wanting to be entertained, but that doesn't seem like much of a problem. There are a thousand ways to be entertained.

In your case, you seem to have become sort of a motivational guru. There are a lot of those floating around out there, and you seem to be one of the more successful ones. That's not a put-down: I'm sure you've worked hard at it, and I congratulate you on your success. But that's not my thing. My problem is that I have not found a thing.

As you say in your blog, success depends on helping people solve a problem or achieve a goal. And those two efforts will depend on helping people deal with one of these issues:

“I want more time”

“I want more money”

“I want to improve my health”

“I want to experience less pain/discomfort”

“I want to experience more pleasure/comfort”

I can't think of anything that I would have sufficient motivation for that would help anyone with one of those five issues. As you have stated, I might start a business to address one of those issues solely to make money, but without sufficient passion for the topic I would quit when the going gets tough.

I'm honestly not trying to be negative about this. I would very much like to have an online business that would provide even a modest supplemental income. But I do not seem to have a passion for anything that would solve other people's problems. Maybe I'm a hopeless case.

If you have any thoughts about this I would be happy to hear them.