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Issue 180 |
March 20, 2008 |
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ChangingCourse.com since 1995 dedicated to helping people like you to: ~Live Life on Purpose ~Work at What You Love ~Follow Your Own Road | |
Inside Today's Issue Who Says You Can't Live Your Dreams? 2008 "Outside the Job Box" Career Consultant Training From Food Stamps to Entrepreneurial Success What Have You Learned Lately? By Barbara Winter Upcoming Workshops and Teleclasses
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Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact. ~ Henry James |
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Opportunity Knocks: Creative Ways to Make a Living Without A Job Who Says You Can't Live Your Dreams?
By Valerie Young Dreamers beware: for every dream there are 10 naysayers just waiting to dash it. It almost happened to Beverly Goodman Park. Park was close to 60 when her marriage ended. At an age when most people are contemplating retirement, Park decided to pursue a long-held dream of becoming an attorney. A lot of people told her she was too old. Undaunted, Park went to law school while working full-time, passed the bar exam, and at 61, landed a job at a law firm. Of her critics she says, "I thought this age stuff was baloney." Walter Anderson, author of The Greatest Risk of All, says by the time we are in our 20s, we will have heard 25,000 "can’ts." Don’t expect a lot of support for your "foolish dreams." Instead, be prepared to reach deep within to turn "can’t" into "can." Here are two motivation-boosting tips to get you started: Become the Future YouDreams, by their very nature, are about the future. With so many present-day demands your dream can start to feel distant. The more far-off the goal, the less likely it is you will act on it. How can you make sure your dream doesn’t fall prey to the out-of-sight, out-of-mind syndrome? By bringing it into the present. To do this you must become the future "you." Here’s how: The next time someone asks what you do for a living, try answering, not in terms of the present, but as if you were actively engaged in pursing your dream right this minute. In other words, squelch your pat "I’m an accountant/in sales/a social worker/a homemaker" response and instead try saying something like: "I’m an aspiring mystery writer," or "I’m looking into returning to school to become an oceanographer," or "I’m in the process of changing careers to pursue my love of gourmet cooking." It doesn’t matter if you haven’t written a single page of your future bestseller, sent away for one college catalog, or lifted a finger to pursue your passion for cooking. What does matter is that the dream that once felt elusive will suddenly begin to feel real. And when that happens, you will be amazed at how much sooner you’ll get the change ball rolling. Before you know it, you will actually BE the future you! Get InspiredSomeone who knows a lot about the power of "acting as if" is Steven Spielberg. Hoping to fulfill his filmmaking dreams, Spielberg explains that he snuck onto the lot of Universal Studios and became a "squatter" in an empty office. He even bought plastic letters to mount his name in the building directory. Security guards and exec’s alike thought the guy belonged there. His high jinks paid off. Spielberg’s first directorial break came when the studio bigwigs finally saw his first film and liked what they saw. This and other success stories can be found in Mischief Marketing: How the Rich, Famous, & Successful Really Got Their Careers and Businesses Going. Author Ray Simon reveals how famous people as diverse as Mother Teresa, Duke Ellington, Andy Kaufman, rap artist Big Pun, and Benjamin Franklin really got started in life and how you can use their mischievous techniques to do the same. As encouraging as success stories can be, learning about another’s failure can be just as inspiring. Did you know that Bob Dylan was booed off the stage at his high school talent show? Or that Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper job for "lacking ideas?" Or that Thomas Edison failed to perfect the light bulb until his ten-thousandth try? How many "can’ts" do you think these dreamers had to endure? And when faced with a dream-buster, these "failure stories" can make great comebacks, too. Would Parks’ critics have been so quick to discourage had she pointed out that Grandma Moses didn’t start painting until she was 80 years-old and that, of her over 1,500 paintings, 25 percent were produced when she was past 100? "Persistence," said Robert Half, "is what makes the impossible possible, the possible likely, and the likely definite." As anyone who has ever chased a dream will tell you, disappointment, self-doubt, and failure go with the territory. The trick is to recognize these setbacks for what they really are – bumps in the road, not the end of the road. Publisher Katherine Graham said it well: "To love what you do and feel that it matters – how could anything be more fun?" This is your life we’re talking about here. So what are you waiting for? Catch a dream, have some fun and start turning can’t into can! Add Your Two Cents Want to comment on this article? Click here to hop over to the Changing Course Blog! 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 |
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If we do not change our
direction, we are likely to end up where we are headed.
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Join Me this Spring…
And Over Five Extraordinary Days, 2008 Certification & Training Summit
Become an "Outside the Job Box" Career Consultant What could be more fun than sitting at home (or anywhere in the world really) and brainstorming with people over the telephone about creative ways they could make a living without a job − and actually getting paid to do it! Or running workshops on how to turn interests into income? If you’re a creative thinker, are entrepreneurial, love to brainstorm, and want to get paid to do what comes naturally, then in a few short months, you could be running your own business as an "Outside the Job Box Career Consultant." I’ll show you how. What if you had a chance to build a business like mine? I really do make a living working for myself, doing what I love. A good living. And you can, too -- by following in my footsteps. People around the world are clamoring for the kind of help I provide. Without a doubt: There's plenty of room on this path. Of course, the question you have to answer is: Is it the right path for you? Ask yourself…
Maybe they even seek you out. And why wouldn’t they? After all, thinking about creative ways to make a living without a "job-job" is something that just, well… comes naturally to you. It does to me, too. So we already share that in common. Now I'd like to show you how you can share in my success as well. And I'd like to do it in a way that will help you get started faster and with more forward energy and confidence than you ever imagined. A way for you to learn all the hard-won secrets I've discovered over the last decade. So you can launch a real business in less than a week… and be making money in less than a month.
The 2006 and 2007 Certification classes both sold out. The Spring 2008 program is going to be more personalized, more intense, and more immediately productive than anything else I've ever offered. It is also the only training I will run in 2008. Registration and Special Savings are Happening NOW Registration for the 300+ people on the First in Line advance notification list began this past Tuesday, March 18 at noon. The first registration came in within 30 minutes and kind of snow balled from there. There is a substantial early registration discount that is in effect until March 26th as well as a $300 Travel Credit Discount that ends Friday, March 21 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern. I’ve also added two other creative ways you can afford to take advantage of this unique training and business start-up opportunity… I was planning to foot the bill for your lodging and meals. But if you are local, have friends in the area, or are practiced in the art of traveling "on the cheap" you can take advantage of the "Pay for Your Own Stay" option (a $1,200 savings). Already marketing and web site savvy? If what you really want is to take advantage of the Outside the Job Box career consulting skills/business training and tools only you may opt to forego the extensive web site assistance and 6-months of additional marketing and mentoring with a self-promotion and marketing expert and save yourself an additional $1,000. Seats Are Limited To learn more about whether the relaxed life of an Outside the Job Box Career Consultant or this Certification Summit is right for you – and to find out about these new ways to save even more – go to ChangingCourse.com/livecertification.htm "This program is a great opportunity for anyone interested in helping others to change course. It’s something that can put you in business immediately after completion, if you choose. It’s fun, challenging and inspiring. I’m so excited about doing this and full of ideas. Thank you, thank you for giving me all the tools I need to get going." ~ Barbara
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We all have ability. The difference is how we use it. ~ Stevie Wonder |
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The Changing Course Newsletter
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All About Your Subscription You're welcome to forward this newsletter in its entirety to other dreamers. If someone sent this to you, don't depend on your friend for this great information. Get your complimentary subscription at ChangingCourse.com/ezine.htm Please do not reply to this message. Subscribe or Change Your Address: ChangingCourse.com/ezine.htm Previous Issues: ChangingCourse.com/archives |
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From Food Stamps to Entrepreneurial Success
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If
you really are serious about wanting to look in the mirror and see
the boss, then there's someone
I really want you to meet...
One of the very best ways to be an entrepreneur yourself is to learn from people who have done it themselves. That's why I really want you to meet marketing guru (and I'm happy to say new friend) Jeff Walker. Jeff not only introduced me to marketing techniques that have - and I am not exaggerating here - literally doubled my income, he also happens to be one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.
Jeff is one of the only big "internet marketing gurus" I know who genuinely cares about the "little guy." I cannot remember a time when I’ve been chatting with Jeff at some conference or workshop when someone didn’t come up to say that his program changed their life. I’m talking about people with little business in the crafts market, pets, horse training…
One of his most inspiring success stories is about a guy named John who put his family in debt (we’re talking food stamps here) in his quest to make and market a board game. John was a success at making the game. It was the selling part that bombed. That is, until he met Jeff…
Over the years, Jeff has helped hundreds of regular people to launch small businesses in such diverse niches as health food, knitting, horse training, even business coaching in Poland. And, like you, the overwhelming majority had no previous marketing experience… and I do mean NONE.
I know you want to change course… preferably yesterday! That’s why I’m so excited to have a way for you to "meet" Jeff via a short talk he’s put together. In this talk he explains why you need to start thinking now about what it will take to succeed - even if you aren’t anywhere near starting your business… or having anything to sell. As you move through the video series he also shares more and more meaty content.
The case studies Jeff shares here, and in the follow up videos, are very real. I know because I’ve personally met and talked to dozens of people who have learned and prospered from Jeff as I have. These are people who have launched very successful small businesses and in a very short period of time were able to replace their salaries. This is not hype. It is fact.
You don’t need to enter your email address to watch the video. It’s free to watch. But you DO NEED to sign up to watch the follow up case studies, which Jeff tells me are even better than the first. If there is any doubt in your mind that it’s really possible to make good money doing work you enjoy, you really do need to watch and learn from my friend Jeff.
The first 1-2 minutes of the video may not make a lot of sense to you unless you’re already familiar with the people and world of internet marketing. But hang in there for some really inspiring "regular Joe and Joanne" make good stories.
Again I highly recommend you continue to watch and learn by signing up to view Jeff’s other case studies. I guarantee they will be eye-opening. Click here to meet Jeff now ChangingCourse.com/recommends/jeff
P.S. Jeff is very upfront about the fact that he’d love you to buy his new product launch training program. I wish there was a way I could impress upon you how much what Jeff has to teach you could help you accelerate your path to entrepreneurial freedom. (Hey, the fact that I’m willing to put this horrible photo of myself out there should tell you that I’m raving fan!:-) ) But even if you ultimately decide not to make a purchase, I am confident that you will learn valuable information you can start using right away.
P.P.S. Don’t have a product or service yet? Drop an email to brainstorm@ChangingCourse.com, and I will try to set you up with one, or perhaps a team of Outside the Job Career Consultants, to help you do a little creative brainstorming on how to turn your interests into one or more viable business ideas!
Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow. ~ Ronald E. Osborn
What Have You Learned Lately?
By Barbara Winter
Every time I left my house, I used to see a poster near my front door that read, "It’s not where you’re going...it’s where you’re coming from." While that might sound like a bit of leftover jargon from the sixties, it also bears a truth that touches us all. Any project, any goal, any relationship with which we’re involved is colored by what we bring to it.
For a long time, I’ve had a strong predilection for being around people who are positive, enthusiastic and creative. Somewhere along the way, I realized that those nurturing kinds of people would probably not show up in my life unless I was one myself. And so my personal quest began to become the person I wanted to hang out with. The quest isn’t over yet, but the things I’ve learned have been amazing. For example, how do ordinary people become life’s big winners?
One of the most interesting answers to that question came from author Robert G. Allen in his book, Creating Wealth. "The will to prepare to win is more important than the will to win. Preparing usually means doing those kinds of things that failures don’t like to do. It means studying and learning. It means reading books, going to seminars. It means not being afraid to corner experts and ask foolish questions."
Sometimes finding the time - or motivation - to keep learning seems to be a huge challenge. As busy adults, we may have forgotten to make Lifelong Learning a high priority. Or maybe we never had the benefit of a teacher like Rafe Esquith who helped us discover early on the joy of learning. I recently read his book
Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire and was wildly inspired by his story and the academic and creative wonders he consistently turns out. Esquith teaches fifth grade in Los Angeles. Most of his students come from immigrant homes where English is the second language. Nevertheless, in addition to performing well academically, all Esquith’s students learn to play a musical instrument and their annual Shakespearean performances have received national attention. What Esquith - and all great teachers - demonstrate is that the potential to soar resides within all of us, but it needs to be coaxed and nurtured. Happily, putting yourself in a roomful of others who are on the same journey can accelerate that process.
Brian Tracy, one of the leading authorities on personal achievement, makes this observation: "Increasing your knowledge and skills is like using high-octane fuel in your engine on your way to your destination...Unfortunately, for most people, their earning ability is a fixed, or even worse, depreciating asset. Because of this, most people just have a ‘job’ which stands for ‘just over broke.’"
So it’s probably no coincidence that the people who are the most Joyfully Jobless just happen to be Lifelong Learners as well. One of those folks was a woman named Donnie, but she didn’t start out with entrepreneurial ambition. Donnie Nair was a successful real estate salesperson who came to her success after being a housewife, mother and civil servant. Of those earlier years she said, "I was absolutely happy and had no ambition whatsoever."
So what unleashed this super saleswoman who continuously broke sales records? Donnie said it sneaked up on her when she was sitting in a Tom Hopkins Sales Seminar one day. "It was like a light went off in my head. I just knew he was talking about me. Success really was available to anyone who wanted it." Her business took off like a rocket. "It didn’t matter what goals I set for myself," she recalls. "I always surpassed them."
What set Donnie Nair apart from those who are less successful was her continuing effort to grow and learn. One evening she called me as she was driving to a class. I asked her what she was studying now and she said, "It might sound silly, but I’ve always wanted to learn how to sing so I’m in a class for beginners who can’t carry a tune in a bucket."
Socrates said, "Let him who would move the world, first move himself." With all the resources - the books, the seminars, the insights of others - available for a pittance, it makes no sense to skip the critical preparation stage. Because, in the final analysis, winning isn’t about what you have or even what you do.
Winning is about becoming the person you were meant to become, no matter how long and difficult that journey may be. So study and learn all you can. Take advantage of every resource you can find. You never know what might happen if you do. Like Donnie Nair, you could find yourself sitting in a roomful of strangers and suddenly meet yourself.
About the Author
Barbara J. Winter is a Las
Vegas-based writer, speaker and enthusiastic fan of Changing Course. In addition
to conducting seminars for the Joyfully Jobless, she also publishes the
Winning Ways
newsletter. Barbara is currently at work on a collection of stories from people
who have made the transition from employee to entrepreneur. She'll be joining
Valerie in Northampton, MA on April 11-12 for the annual
Work at What You Love
workshop. Visit Barbara online
at BarbaraWinter.com
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Upcoming Workshops and Teleclasses
Work at
What You Love:
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Maria
Gamb, "The Anti-Sabotage Expert" coaches female entrepreneurs and other
highly motivated professionals to overcome self sabotaging limiting beliefs
about money, relationships and success, allowing them to live abundant and
successful lives without boundaries. In her spare time she enjoys traveling
the world and the pursuit of the perfect purse. 
Author,
life coach, and teacher Kamin Bell has successfully manifested careers, material
possessions, and relationships. After stumbling financially she drew from
her Christian faith to transform her relationship with money and in doing so
changed her life. Today she is building a thriving speaking and writing
business both within and beyond the Christian community. You don’t to be a
person of any faith to benefit from Kamin’s work. Rather, she’s a great
example of someone who has learned the value of finding what Barbara Winter
calls your "natural monopoly." Learn more about Kamin and the many resources
she has to offer at
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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*. Non-members are welcome to attend for $19 with all proceeds going to the non-profit micro-grant organization TrickleUp.org**
Wednesday,
April 9th
Special Q & A Session
8:00-9:00pm
Eastern Time
ChangingCourse.com/courses.htm
*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
Personal action is your
pathway to success, even if it is a little bit at a time!
~ Catherine Pulsifer
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"I think human beings always like to see what's happening from the air."
~ David Ghysels,
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Ezine Marketing Teleclass
14th
Annual
Women’s Empowerment Expo
Do You Know a Young Entrepreneur?
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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