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Issue 171 |
October 11, 2007 | |
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I've never known anyone yet who doesn't
suffer a certain restlessness when autumn rolls around.... We're all eight
years old again and anything is possible.
~ Sue Grafton
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Opportunity Knocks
Creative Ways to Make a Living Without A Job
A Bit of Pondering
on the Journey of Changing Course
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Valerie and her wonder dog,
"Cokie Roberts" |
By Valerie Young
I was on a deadline to finish an article. The
words weren't coming as quickly or as well as I would have liked, so
I decided to take a break to walk my dog Cokie. It was the first
fall-like New England day of the season. We walked along a wooded trail
not far from my house. While Cokie romped here and there, my eyes were
to the ground. Deep in thought, I was busily editing the article in my
head.
During a pause in the mental action, I happened to look up just in time
to see a dazzling display of autumn color across the meadow. "Wow," I
thought, "I'd almost missed this." That got me thinking about how much
we miss when our minds are "elsewhere."
It is not always easy to stay in the here and now. Our minds race ahead
to what we need to do, want to do, can't do, should do. When we're not
thinking about tomorrow or next week, we are thinking about what
happened yesterday, last month, five years ago. We obsess about what we
did, what we didn't do, what we wished we'd done, what we were glad we'd
done, and on and on.
There is, of course, benefit to looking ahead. That's where dreams come
from, how goals get set, and our true desires get taken for a test
drive. There is also a time to reflect on the past. Thinking about how
we might have done something different is often where we learn lessons.
But sometimes we spend so much time either three steps ahead or three
steps back that we miss the part of the path we are on right now. I
heard a quote once by Eleanor Roosevelt that ends with, "Today is a gift.
That's why they call it the present."
I was reminded of something I had heard from a very wise man named Jim Mendonca. Jim described
himself as a life long recovering head injury survivor. Surely his
injury was no gift. But from it came some wonderful insight into how his
injury has changed his perspective. Here is what he said:
"Sometimes just the way you look at and label things can have a
significant effect on how those things affect you. Case in point, while
recovering from injuries suffered in an auto accident, I realized that
most of the time I was seeing 'things' in a very black and white
fashion. I was either having a good/great day or a terrible/bad day. And
many too many terrible/bad days.
Something told me that if I just looked at or labeled my days in another
way, maybe, just maybe, some of the overwhelming bad days wouldn't be
quite so bad or numerous. I consciously decided and began to purposely
say and 'believe' that I was now having ONLY good days and 'other days.'
Not even acknowledging that maybe I was experiencing bad/terrible days.
And guess what? I began to have fewer and fewer days that I considered
to be 'bad' days. After several months of this, I really noticed that
the quality of my appreciation of my life had changed, for the better.
Then, I took an even bolder step and said to myself, 'Self, if this is
the start of something much better, than NO MORE 'other days'.' Now I was
only going to have good days and better days.
It has been over a decade since I changed my days to good and better and
I can say that my physical, mental, and spiritual health and overall
happiness index has gone off the scale.
I hope that this simple insight can be of a blessing to others."
Jim Mendonca
Thanks, Jim. If you are in the process of changing course, dream of a
better future - but enjoy the journey as well. After all, it is all we
have.
About the
Author
"Turning Interests Into Income" expert, Valerie Young,
abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at
ChangingCourse.com
offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her
career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger's, The Wall Street Journal,
USA Today Weekend, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN,
CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie
has spoken on the topic of
How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are
to
such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb,
Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television.
To read more
articles about how to work at what you love without a job go to
ChangingCourse.com/articles.htm
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Luck has a peculiar
habit of favoring those who don't depend on it.
~ Author Unknown |
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Featured
Resource
Work From Home as a Virtual Assistant
Do you have
great organizational skills and a burning desire to be your own
boss? Consider becoming a Virtual Assistant. Virtual Assistants do
anything from creating PowerPoint presentations to sending out
holiday cards to organizing events, editing document, setting up
appointments or Teleclasses, and more. Your clients can be
anywhere
in the country (or for that matter the world). And, because you are
running your own business, you can work from home and as much or as
little as you like.
 Developed by
Certified Virtual Assistant and founder of the Virtual Assistant
Networking Forum, Tanya Sunderland says this “business in a box” is
designed to show you, “day by day, step by step, task by task, how
to start up your own Virtual Assistant business easily and
effectively.”
I have not yet had an opportunity to personally review
the course materials. But, based on what I saw, it looks pretty
comprehensive. The course teaches you all about setting up your
operating systems, pricing your services, finding clients,
marketing, setting up a website, bookkeeping, managing client
relationships, and much more.
The other reason
I like this program is that it is a relatively inexpensive
alternative to the instructor-led training provided by
AssistU. Plus, if you are a self-starter who is
eager to learn and to get going fast, Tanya guarantees that this
program will show you how to
get your Virtual Assistant business up and running
in as little as
30 days.
To learn more
about the Virtual Business Startup System go to
ChangingCourse.com/recommends/virtualassist
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I have learned, as a rule of thumb,
never to ask whether you can do something. Say, instead, that you are doing it.
Then fasten your seat belt. The most remarkable things follow.
~ Julia Cameron |
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Guest Article
How to Search for a New
Career Before
Giving Up Your Old One
By Kathy Swann
Are you thinking about changing careers but scared to blindly jump into
something new? Are you not sure where to start? Most people are unhappy and
frustrated with their current job, but don’t know how to create a plan to move
into a new career.
If you are lost about where to start, and not sure what career would interest
you right now, think about your hobbies. What did you love to do when you were a
kid? If you love books, maybe you would like to work in a library or bookstore.
If you are good at math, consider an accounting position.
Think about how you would spend your time if you didn’t have to work to earn a
living. Taking a class to learn a new skill is now easier than ever. Most
colleges offer online courses that will allow you to work at a time convenient
for you. You will have specific deadlines to meet just as if you were in a
classroom, but you are able to work at your own pace and within your own weekly
schedule.
Try something new, even if you’re not sure if you would like it. Learn
photography, update your computer skills, or take a yoga class. Even if you wind
up hating it, you won’t know if you don’t try.
If you have an idea about what you would like to do, why not work at it
part-time? Suppose you work in the medical field now but think you now want to
work with animals. You could get a part-time job working in a veterinarian’s
office or a kennel. There are plenty of part-time gigs you can do at night or on
the weekend. Of course, you’re giving up some of your free time, but isn’t this
a small price to pay to test the waters before making the plunge to full-time?
Starting out part-time for an employer is one of the best ways to work into a
full-time position later.
Volunteering is always an option. While you are helping others, you are also
finding out if something is right for you. How about coaching a sports team at
your kid’s school? Could you tutor someone who doesn’t know how to read? Maybe
you won’t wind up changing careers after all, but instead build a part-time
business that allows you to be creative and express yourself.
If you play the piano, could you give personal lessons? If you are good at
crafts, why not sell yours online? If you love dogs, maybe you could be a pet
sitter for your friends and neighbors. The possibilities are endless if you just
use your imagination. As long as you are doing something that feeds your soul,
you are spending your time on a worthwhile cause- yourself!
About the Author
Kathy Swann has worked as the Human Resource Manager for a consulting company in
Baltimore. She freelances as a bookkeeper for several clients and is the author
of the “How to Win" series of e-books available at
SuncatcherPress.com.
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Everyone must take
time to sit and watch the leaves turn.
~ Elizabeth Lawrence |
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Upcoming Workshops and Teleclasses
Here are a few featured workshops and Teleclasses, you'll find a complete
listing at
ChangingCourse.com/courses.htm
Ali's LIVE, closed-door event is like no other seminar in
history. She designed it specifically for coaches, consultants,
authors, speakers, and similar solo-preneurs.
It's just Ali and us in a conference room for
3 full
days, during which she bares ALL her secrets...
...SECRETS on how she turned her own
consulting/professional service business around into one that now gives her
more MONEY, TIME, and FREEDOM than we ever imagined.
Thursday,
Friday, & Saturday, November
8,
9, & 10, 2007
Los Angeles, California
Click Here to
Read Valerie's Experience at
Last Year's Online Success Blueprint Workshop
Learn
More About Alexandria Brown's Online Success Blueprint Workshop
Monthly Dream Maker Teleclass
If you’ve bought into the
old myth about the "struggling artist" than you haven’t
met an extraordinary bead artist named
Valerie Hector.
Valerie’s artistry can be
found in top juried shows like the Smithsonian Craft
Show.
I learned about Valerie
through a client who was fascinated that anyone could
actually make a living traveling around the world (most
recently Turkey and China) researching beads. Even if
you are not a beader, artist, or craftsperson of any
sort, there is much learn from how people like Valerie
who have very successfully turned their passion into
their livelihood.
So mark your calendars for
October 31st for 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. Eastern.
(My apologies to all of
you "trick or treaters" but with Valerie’s busy travel
schedule this was the only date I could get. But as
always we’ll be sure to record every word.) If you can’t
make the session email your questions in advance to
Ask@ChangingCourse.com and I’ll try my best to get
them in.
This
Teleclass is free to current members of the
Fast Track Your Dream
Community members. Non-members are welcome to
attend for $19 with all proceeds going to the non-profit
micro-grant organization TrickleUp.org
Wednesday, October 31st
8:00-9:00pm
Eastern Time
Click
Here to Register
"How to Become Joyfully Jobless"
2007
Teleclass Series
hosted by Barbara Winter
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Barbara Winter |
Learn
what it takes to live the joyfully jobless life from the
master − Barbara Winter, author of
Making a Living
Without a Job.
A
vivacious and wildly popular speaker, Barbara will address
such topics as the power of multiple income streams… how to
stop thinking like an employee and start thinking like an
entrepreneur… why starting small is the smartest (and most
profitable) way to launch your new enterprise… and much
more.
Like
mini-workshops, these monthly Joyfully Jobless Teleclasses
are interactive, which means
you get to ask questions and benefit from firsthand feedback
from the woman I call the "Muse of Self-Bossing."
This
series is free to current members of the
Fast Track Your Dream
Community members. Non-members are welcome to
attend for $19 with all proceeds going to the non-profit
micro-grant organization TrickleUp.org
Wednesday,
October 11th
8:00-9:00pm
Eastern Time
Wednesday,
November 14th
8:00-9:00pm
Eastern Time
Click Here to Register
*To
learn more about how you can fast track your dream of
working at what you love - and get a two month membership FREE - go to
ChangingCourse.com/fasttrackyourdream.htm
**A
portion of all revenue from this Teleclass will go to
support the entrepreneurial aspirations of impoverished
people in the US and internationally via the micro-grant
organization
TrickleUp.org
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Make the
most of today. Translate your good intentions into actual deeds.
~ Grenville Kleiser |
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The View From
the
Other Side
"The
critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as
simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to
do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The
true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer."
~ Nolan Bushnell, founder of
the video game company Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's chain of pizza
restaurants
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Resources for
a Change
Work From Home By Running Your Own Home Repair Referral
Network There are over 200 Homeowner Referral Networks (HRN) operating
in the U.S., Canada, and abroad. Basically, the business
involves matching homeowners with reputable independent home repair
contractors who in turn pay you a percentage of their fee. A range of
business start-up kits are available all of which include The Complete Guide
to Owning and Operating a Successful Homeowner Referral Network and
unlimited leads from the HRN website. You can read my complete review of
Deb's program at
ChangingCourse.com/hrn.htm or learn more about this interesting opportunity
at
ChangingCourse.com/recommends/hrn
Fund Your Overseas Dream
Listen in as
full-time travel writer Steenie Harvey, former International Living
magazine editor turned freelance copy writer Jennifer Stevens, fine pottery
importer Reece Guth, and
International Living's
Latin America Editorial Director Suzan Haskins (with a few comments by
myself) talk about ways to live and work overseas. The recording costs
$29.95 and comes with a free special report called Your Dream Job Overseas
as well as a $300 coupon off of the November Global Business Opportunity
workshop. With five people from three countries trying to get on the line,
there were a few glitches starting out but still lots of valuable
information from a team experts who really know their stuff. (TinyURL.com/yvorsz)
Start Up Money
Contest for Women Entrepreneurs
Since obtaining capital is the No. 1 obstacle women face in starting their own
businesses, Mirassou Winery created the "Make Your Dreams Come True with Mirassou" contest which provides $50,000 in seed money to help start a "Dream"
business.
The contest is open to women who aspire to open a new business. To
enter, applicants must submit a personal essay of 500 words or less describing
themselves and why they think they would make a successful entrepreneur. A
preliminary business plan will also be required and should include: 1) a
description of the new business, 2) the consumer appeal to the new business, and
3) a plan to implement the new business.
Submit your
application
by December 15, 2007 for the chance to win $50,000 or a Talbots Shopping Spree.
(TinyURL.com/3xcsz4)
Note: Changing Course does not accept
paid advertisements from any of the resources listed here. This list is
provided to expand your thinking about just how many interesting ways there
are to make a living without a job!
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live
life on purpose