In this 11‑minute coaching conversation, Aaron Doughty and guest speaker A (a fantasy author with 20+ published books) discuss the challenge of having two strong, simultaneous callings—creative writing and spiritual coaching. A describes feeling torn between the two identities, fearing that letting go of one would be like cutting off a limb. Aaron shares his own experience of juggling a 9‑to‑5 job with a YouTube career, emphasizing that the perceived need to choose is an illusion. Together they explore practical mind‑sets: giving yourself permission to hold multiple passions, reframing identity from a fixed label ("writer" or "coach") to a broader role of "communicator," and experimenting with time‑energy allocation. They cite Joe Rogan as a real‑world example of someone who successfully pursues several unrelated passions. Speaker C adds that the mind seeks balance but the answer often emerges through trial, play, and allowing the energies to intersect. Aaron also promotes his free High Vibe Tribe community and the SHIFT framework (Seeing the pattern, Healing the root, Integrating the frequency, Transformation) as tools for navigating such internal conflicts. The conversation concludes with encouragement to own both passions without forcing a single‑path decision.
Chapters
What if you feel like you have two purposes? I actually was like, okay, let go of this identity, but then it was almost like I had cut off my right arm.
One thing that held me back from getting on YouTube a long time ago, that my identity was like I was a YouTuber, and that was like cutting off a part of myself. But then eventually I realized that—
What if you feel like you have two callings, two purposes that very much both light you up.
Mm-hmm.
And figuring out which one, because I've gone back and forth, back and forth, and I feel like now that I've overcome a lot of fears, I've let go of so much, especially this week, but that's still there. It's been with me for 5 years now. The, the one path that I was on and the spiritual coaching and healing and that kind of thing. So how do you— I can't just let go and go chop down all the plants, um, because I've tried that. I actually was like, okay, let go of this identity. That's not who you are anymore. You're shifting into this other one. And it wasn't hard at first, but then over time I just felt like it was almost like I had cut off my right arm. It's that important to me. It is very much part of who I am.
Yeah.
And I know many people are multi-passionate, so yeah, I would just like your perspective on how to not necessarily choose, but maybe how to navigate that if you have anything, you know.
Well, why can't you just choose both?
Time, energy. I mean, they're both, and that's what I would look at.
Yeah. I, I'll give two like quick examples of this. One thing that held me back from getting on YouTube a long time ago is I thought that in order to make YouTube videos, I had to quit my 9-to-5 job to make YouTube videos. And eventually I was working 40 hours a week and making videos every single day for YouTube.
Mm-hmm.
And I was busy.
Mm-hmm.
But that before was almost excuse that kept me from just doing both, even though I was busy for a while.
Right.
So what I found is I found a way to make it work. For both of these things, the old reality of a 9 to 5 job that brought me stability, and then the passion of making YouTube videos. And what eventually happened is with time, I was then able to let go of the one that I personally wasn't that passionate about to do the one that I wanted full-time.
Right.
At the same time, I'm sure what you're wondering is, well, I like both of these things.
Exactly.
There are multiple— there are many people that we know that have businesses and they have other things that they're passionate about and they do, they find a way to do both. It's simply a story that we can begin in a similar way to observe the thoughts around, I have, I can't do both and I don't have time for both. What would it look like to make time for both of these things?
Yeah. Can I give a little context?
Yeah. Now, before you go deeper into the video, I want to invite you to experience this for free inside a community I have that's a free community called High Vibe Tribe. I run continual challenges in this community as well as there are free resources that can show you how to transform your life from the inside out. This is also where I teach my signature SHIFT framework, S-H-I-F-T, seeing the pattern, healing the root, integrating the frequency, and transformation. And if you want to experience it live for yourself, go ahead and click the link below, grab your spot, and I'll see you on the inside of the community.
Okay, so what I've been doing for the past 15 years is I'm a fantasy author. Cool. I have 20-something books published. I edit for other authors. Yeah, I love being in the fiction world, creating, um, all new worlds and people and everything. And when I tried to step away from it, it just felt like a huge part of my life was missing.
Yeah.
Then about 5 years ago, I started getting interested in the coaching and the spiritual healing. I've done all kinds of certifications. I've kind of dabbled in it and pulled back because my other business needed me. But this is a very strong calling as well. And so, yeah, it's— they're both businesses that I want to invest time and resources into.
Yeah.
And I've kind of explored how can I maybe integrate them together. You know, all these different things that I've explored. And yeah, um, I'm so deep into it now that I feel like I can't see probably the answer that's right in front of me. Yeah. And so it's not just having a business and then a passion on the side. They're both businesses. And so how do you, you know, if you have any perspective or ideas on how to navigate them both, or—
Yeah, I, what I, what I've learned is that oftentimes the mind will want to know, how is it all going to balance out? How is it going to fit? But you can't know. And what we both do is we just play with the energy. If I was like you, I would write and I would take courses. Maybe not as much writing as I would like to, obviously, and maybe not as much learning, but I would do some. And then oftentimes time will show you how they link up or not. I'm a Gemini. I have a whole bunch of things going on. I have to have multiple things going on. Even me and Aaron, we discussed this because we have a full-time purpose, our business. That's a pretty big thing. And I always tell him, like, I love having that, but I also have my other thing. I literally need both. Some people, it's got to be one thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But the letting go thing I was talking about earlier, that was speaking to the people who know they have something to let go of. It doesn't have to be— it's not a simple, precise formula that you have to choose one. It's more like if you know you have something you're holding on to, you're gonna have to let it go. It sounds like you just have two passions that you've yet to reconcile.
Yeah, yeah. And what I was— why I had gone there yesterday is because I was like, well, maybe I really do just need to let it go. Um, I'm not writing as much as I used to. I'm not selling as much as I used to. Maybe that part has run my course. But every time I think that, it's just No, you know, it just feels like, I know it's part of my identity, but not a part that I want to shift. And, but I also know you guys really talk about focus on, you know, your business and do the reps and everything. That's how do you do that?
Yeah. I would say don't take anything we're saying too seriously. It sounds like you honestly, it sounds like you have a genuine passion for writing. Is that correct?
Yes.
And also a genuine passion for coaching.
Yes.
So I would invite all of you not to hear like some one-liner from me or Aaron and say, oh shoot, I gotta, I got to let go. I got to do this. It's like, it sounds like you have clarity. I could tell when you talk about writing, it's like it's not some mental attachment. You do this.
Yeah.
It's literally in your soul.
Yeah.
So regardless what me or Aaron or anybody here says, that is as true as it gets. So that's your clarity right there. And then you feel that same way when you're learning about coaching and things like that.
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
So can you just let it be like, you know what, I love these two things. I have no idea how they connect. Maybe they don't even have to connect. Why not just have— some people don't have any idea what they want to do. You have too many things that you love. It's a good problem to have.
And I know I'm not the only one though. Yeah.
It reminds me a bit of someone many of you probably know of at least, Joe Rogan. Someone that has the biggest podcast in the world. He loves very unique things. He loves podcasting and having conversations, which he loves the process of. It's not to become the biggest podcast in the world. He just loves talking to people. Then he loves UFC and like basically fighting and commentating on fights, which he still does, even though he's made hundreds of millions of dollars over here. He's just passionate about that. And then he has other— it's comedy. He does comedy. And then he does— I didn't know that when he— when I first back in the day saw his podcast, I then saw some clips online of him doing stand-up comedy. I'm like, why is the Fear Factor guy doing comedy? I was so confused. I'm like, my mind couldn't put someone— it's like the part of my mind saw him in a certain way and I couldn't understand how he could be both. But look at him. I mean, he's a— he's like a very high-level comic. He's a very high-level podcaster, and he's a very high-level sports commentator. And they don't really relate at all, right, that much, you know? But he's owned it, and he just does it because he's passionate about it. It probably doesn't have to go anywhere. And when he started this podcast like 20 years ago, it was literally just him and his friends talking. He had no idea it'd become the number one podcast in the world and eventually get hundreds of millions of dollars for having it. You know, so it's like a lot, like it's okay, we can give ourselves permission to like follow these things and to find our flow and balance for whatever that is. And you know, it's hard to imagine having the number one podcast in the world doing comedy like multiple times a week 'cause he owns something in Austin, like a comedy club. And then also doing, um, like UFC fighting. Like, literally every, like, month there's, like, a fight. Like, he— how does he do all that? Yeah, he just loves it. It probably isn't that hard for him to do. He's busy, but he probably loves it.
Yeah.
And once you get to a certain place to where you really fall in love with the process of both— with— you've already found it with one. With this one over here, you might find that it's— it just naturally finds its balance within you.
Yeah. And I think just you saying own it, I think maybe that's Really what the block has been is not owning it because I feel like it's supposed to be one way or the other. And yeah, so that really helped.
Yeah, yeah, it's interesting. Even as I, you know, when you talk about identity, I don't think that the key is like taking on an identity and that's who you are forever. For a long time, I had the identity of like a 9-to-5 job goer, created a lot of abundance once I started myself as a YouTuber. But then eventually for years making YouTube videos, I'm like, I wanna start running live events. And one thing I realized was that my identity was like I was a YouTuber and that was like cutting off a part of myself. And I would feel guilty about not making as many videos. And it was this whole inner battle.
Yeah.
But then eventually I just started— I realized that I'm not any of these one things. I'm not just a YouTuber or a speaker. I'm just— I'm someone— I'm someone that I'm a communicator. I like to express things.
Yeah.
So I kind of broaden— I've been brought like kind of like broadened my way of viewing myself. And there's just different modes that I enjoy doing that down. Anytime I find like, sometimes I'll get into this mode where like I find this one thing that I'm getting excited about or one new way of making videos or one new way of running live events. And I'll think that's the key, that's the key to the next level. But then what happens is I do that thing for a period of time and I realize that it starts to feel limiting because I've just like pigeonholed myself into one thing. So I always go through a process of kind of like dialing in and then wanting to expand again. And so like that box that I create for myself, I always want to break out of anyways. So yeah, so it's like you let it be okay and give yourself permission to have multiple passions. You can then fill the space of your life with that. And that permission may then bring the insights that you're looking to connect to. Yeah.
