Follow Your Bliss! It may lead you to unexpected places.....

It’s interesting….what I remember from my childhood.

My dad would always say “The worst person to work for is yourself!”  He ran two businesses; a hair salon and a landscaping business.  (Yeah, I know, an interesting / odd combination!)  He loved working outside but hated doing hair.  Nonetheless, come rain or shine, he would do both.  I believe his advice was born not from his lack of passion for planting rose bushes but from his lack of business acumen.  He was, in a nutshell, not a good business man.  Financially he never knew where he stood, who he owed, or who owed him.  It’s no wonder he was always stressed out.  Day in, and day out, no matter how hard he worked he never felt like he was getting ahead.

I carried this perspective into my adult life.  I always figured I would work for someone else and that the freedom that came from working for myself was not worth the stress of taxes and marketing. (the two areas of business in which I am the least adept at.)  It wasn’t until very recently that I realized the value in putting my time and emotional energy towards the advancement of my own standard of living, instead of someone else’s. 

Conquering Unemployment may not mean finding a job working for someone else.  Instead of updating your resume, it may mean drafting a business plan.  Instead of cashing an unemployment check, it may mean meeting with bankers or investors to apply for a loan to launch your newest idea.  Instead of worrying about fitting into someone else’s idea of professional or productive, you’ll be writing your own job description.

Tip Of The Day:

It takes passion and conviction to turn your bliss, into a money making reality.

I could, and perhaps will, write a whole blog about my becoming an Entrepreneur.  But before you follow my lead, know this; it takes a strong will and undying passion to get past the nay sayers and the cynics. (my father included!)  Before you quit your job to start a business lecturing about the nutritional benefits of Spam, consider that the comfort of a bi-weekly paycheck may be replaced by weeks of mac and cheese or top ramen for dinner.  (No Spam for me, thanks!)

I am, however, inspired daily by examples of the “follow your bliss” mentality.  Like Scott, the Cheap Landscape Guy, who didn’t have a computer so he handwrote his flyer in pencil on a piece of notebook paper and left it on my door step.  (Of course, I hired him to mow my yard.) 

Would you ever think of launching a website called “I Want To Write A Song For You!”? Some guy did and his website was recently featured on Shark Tank! (Yep, I sent him $99 to write my theme song and I have to admit it turned out pretty well!)

Or take, for example, every farmer’s market booth owner that wakes up at 5 am to set up and oftentimes sit under an awning, in the rain, to sell their wares.  (I’m NEVER awake at 5 am on a weekend.  That’s just crazy!)  Can you imagine how much passion that takes?

Think about it.  What did you want to be, when you grew up?  Are you following your dreams?  Are the benefits of running your own business worth the lack of financial security?  (which, in today’s economy, really isn’t what it used to be…..)

It may be.  Only you can decide.