Jill Baughan

I think it really is following what was in my heart to do, whether I got paid for it or not. I have had the luxury of not being the primary breadwinner, and so I was able to work part-time and do a lot of things on the side. That is just a gift. I think you just can't be afraid to make something happen. For instance, if you quit one job or retire from one career, there are so many things you can create, and you don't wait for anybody's permission to do it. You just go do it - go speak, go write, go start a podcast. What the heck, you know?

Someone told me once that, in particular, if you're not satisfied with what you're doing, if what you're doing is not your dream, to remember that in every stage, it's just preparing you for the next thing. In my case, I taught college English for all those years, which really prepared me for speaking and writing. And at this late point in life, I just feel like I have come home to who I was meant to be and what I was meant to do.

I would say don't be afraid to go create what you yourself have needed. That usually translates into, if you need something - for instance, I wrote a book about adults having fun called Born to Be Wild, Rediscover the Freedom of Fun, because I saw that way too many adults just didn't allow themselves to have fun, and that morphed into joy, because I went through a period of time where I was in desperate need of it, and then I found out just about everybody is in desperate need of finding joy. So find a need and fill it, you know?

The biggest challenges are trying to be heard in a very, very noisy industry, which is podcasts, speaking, all of it, writing books. That is a big challenge. The other challenge is avoiding the temptation to give up before you said everything you want to say. It's imposter syndrome, too. I think that's a challenge of just about everybody's professional life. It's always tempting to say, who am I? Who am I to write a book? Who am I to talk to people or to start a podcast? Who am I?

I will say my relationship with God is number one, of course. My relationship with my family - I have two grandchildren, and my relationship with my daughter and her husband, and those two boys is paramount. Those are the two biggest ones, I guess. I also really believe in community and deep connections with the people you're in community with.