Back in 2000 I landed an interview with Oxygen Media, which was a fairly new venture at the time. I liked its fresh approach to providing programming for women and it was seeking a Web producer for a sports show. At the time I had nearly 15 years of a sports media career under my belt, so it was a no-brainer.

“I see here that you won a Women’s Sports Foundation award for a series you did on knee injuries in female athletes,” the executive producer said when I sat down to what was my third interview there. “I read it. It was very good.”

Pleasantly surprised because as far as I knew she didn’t live in the circulation area of the New Jersey newspaper I had worked for and there was no way to have seen it on the Internet back then, I smiled but must have looked confused.

“I was on the judging committee,” she said.

Now there’s a small world moment that went in my favor. I got the job, but I also instantly formulated the answer to a question I get asked regularly: What is the best way to market yourself?

The answer, in case it’s not obvious, is “do good work.” And, to qualify, don’t do good work because someone might bring it up in an interview someday, but for the sake of doing good work. When a young man who was just getting into life coaching asked me my “number one marketing tip” a few years ago, I uttered the big three words with conviction, but he wanted more.

“I mean, where do you network and advertise?” he said.

“Do good work,” I reiterated. “The majority of my clients now come from referrals.”

Sometimes when you tell someone he has to pay his dues, it’s taken to mean that he has to spend two years fetching someone’s coffee before he can consider advancing his own agenda. That’s not what I’m advocating here. What I’m saying is, if you’re paying the rent in a job fetching someone’s coffee, be doing something else on the side that gets you closer to what you were born to do AND do it all well.

“I am not afraid … I was born to do this,” said Joan of Arc.

Have you ever felt like that? Like you’re doing what you were born to do?

I have, for most of my career, and it feels great. Not every moment of every day, but on balance it’s been a total thumbs up. I guess that’s why people often want to know my “secret” or “formula” for getting what I want.

By no means is this meant to sound arrogant or boastful. I have made choices and sacrifices along the way that others wouldn’t consider. (Aha! Maybe that’s my formula. Being willing to eschew the “norm” and live a simple life, in the moment, with faith and passion as my guides).

This has all come to mind lately because I recently had a conversation with a friend who left the corporate world to pursue a business and a writing career in her late 30s. We got to talking about how people always want to know how we did it, but that in most cases they want it in a few easy steps. The thing is, even though our stories are very different, what she and I have in common is that we work our butts off – networking, brainstorming, pitching, pounding the pavement, writing, editing, marketing, taking courses, teaching courses, trying new things, staying open, open, open.

This particular friend has authored two books and has made some major television appearances and friends of friends of friends come out of the woodwork wanting a piece of her action. It’s not that we’re not willing to extend a hand, as both of us are generous in that regard, but sometimes it’s frustrating to come across people who think our accomplishments are about hand-outs or that we wrote one pitch and it was eagerly received and we cut a deal two minutes later.

We have both struggled mightily, triumphed brilliantly and experienced the gamut of emotions in between. So our secret is … drumroll, please … hard work! However, that hard work is in keeping with another principle – we’re doing what we were born to do.

I have a writing gift and I have cultivated that gift since the day I could read. I can’t teach that to another human being. But I am also what we call in the industry a “can-do” coach, one who motivates and encourages every client to pay attention to what they know they were born to do.

Recently I saw a Michael Buble concert on PBS and there was a shot of him before he went onstage. He was mentally preparing for what he says he was born to do, what he’s been working at diligently since he was a youngster.

You want a formula? There it is.

Nancy Colasurdo is a practicing life coach and freelance writer. Her Web site is www.nancola.com. Please direct all questions/comments to FOXGamePlan@gmail.com.