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You can't cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.
~ Rabindranath Tagore
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In the Life
This has been the most snow intense winter in memory – we’re talking water leaking through the walls, $300 to have the 3 feet of snow and ice on my roof removed. The good news -- spring has finally arrived in western Massachusetts!
I’m looking forward to doing a little yard work and am getting
serious about actually building that stone wall I’ve been
talking about for two years now!
I had the great honor of being one of the keynotes at the 21st Annual Equity Within the Classroom Conference in Michigan. If you’ve never
been to the Upper Peninsula I highly recommend the fresh trout
from Lake Superior!
I rented my investment property to a family moving up from Florida for a May 15 move in. I love decorating so offered to rent it furnished or not, which of course all my real estate friends tell me is insane. They took the furnished option so now I’m busy pulling it all together with mostly used stuff I’m finding or refurbishing… which, to me, is totally fun! It may turn out my friends were right, but some things I need to learn for myself.
I’m getting totally jazzed about the upcoming
Work at What You Love workshop and retreat in Ecuador. I leave in 2 weeks -- cashed in all my American airlines points so I can go First Class – woohoo!
I’ve never been further south than Mexico and everyone who’s ever been says the mountains of Ecuador are incredible and the people delightful. Plus there is wireless internet everywhere – who knew!
 I’m also very curious about using some of my 401k to invest in property there. With all the ex-Pats retiring there from the US, Canada, and Europe it seems like a better risk than stocks. I’ll keep you posted!
I’ve had pre-workshop profit center brainstorming sessions with half of the attendees and am really excited this chance to meet and work with such a fun, talented, and diverse group of dreamers.
P.S. Thanks to everyone on
Facebook for your helpful tips and well wishes when Cokie wasn’t feeling well. He’s back to his old self and I couldn’t be more relieved!
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Opportunity Knocks: Creative Ways to Make a Living Without A Job
The Key to Changing Course is to Start:
6 Tips on How to Get Started
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| Valerie and her rescue dog,
"Cokie Roberts" |
By Valerie Young
Sometimes signs arrive when you least expect them. On a recent dog walk along the Connecticut River, I spotted a large white sign tacked to a tree on the opposite shore. The sign contained a single word: Start.
This simple but powerful word got me thinking of all the different places someone who wanted to change course could start. Here are 6 tips to get you started on getting started:
1. Start where you are.
The great tennis player Arthur Ashe once said, “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” Let’s say the main thing holding you back is money. You might start by downsizing your life now so when you do take the leap, you’ll be better prepared to earn less in the short term.
Or, you could start by setting up a special savings account to fund your dream. The psychological impact of saving for a dream can be as powerful as the actual monetary earnings.
2. Start hanging out with the right crowd.
A client named Eve had been a teacher for 20 years. Whenever she talked about the things she’d love to do – travel, work with dogs, start a summer camp, her voice would fill with excitement. This initial excitement, though, would though always turn to resignation, “I know this is just a pipe dream,” she’d sigh.
The fact that I never see dreams as unrealistic made me think that Eve was probably hanging out with the wrong people. People who have always worked for someone else tend to have a status quo, play it safe, the only way out is to hit the lottery type mentality. Entrepreneurs on the other hand are possibility people. They think “what if…” and “why not?” and then they go out and make it happen.
Where do you find entrepreneurs? You don’t have to be a business owner to join your local chamber of commerce or another organization like Business and Professional Women (BPW). Even though I’m not an inventor, I joined a local inventor’s group just to be in the company of “yes you can” type people.
3. Start tuning into your gifts
For the
record, you don’t have to travel to Ecuador LINK or even leave your home
to figure out how to get paid to do what you love.
There are
lots of good books to choose from in the
Changing Course Bookstore. Two of my all time favorites are Barbara
Sher’s Wishcraft and
Barbara Winter’s Making a Living
Without a Job.
Nor to do
you need to spend a lot of money. For example, it costs nothing to start
a business idea brainstorming group with friends or via
Meet Up.
You can also
sign up for one of the very limited
free initial
consultations with a trained Profiting from Your Passions® Career Coach.
It’s a great way to test the waters to see if a full idea-generation
session is right for you.
Last, you
can sign up to be on the pre-notification list for a fun day-long
creative brainstorming event I’m planning in New York City sometime the
first week of August called Brainstorm Nation!
Sign up here – then watch for details!
4. Start listening more to yourself and less to others.
Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem is how
to remain an artist once he grows up.” Unfortunately, even in childhood,
our dreams too often get dismissed by others.
Once you discover the thing you want to do, do your homework. Then when
you are ready to act, heed the advice of a very wise client who
said, “listen to your heart because your head will tell you
differently.”
5. Start letting go of the idea that everything has to be perfect
Perfectionism is the bane of dreams. So is striving to be the “expert” who has to know everything there is to know about a subject before you can take action. And like perfectionism, striving to be the expert can slow you down or, in some cases, bring your goals to a screeching halt.
Why? Because if your definition of competence is “needing to know everything there is to know” then there will always be one more book to read, one more class to take, one more presentation to make, one more book to write, one more degree to earn before you dare pronounce yourself “qualified.”
6. Start taking action
The important thing is that
you must put yourself in a position to be open to possibility. Sometimes
changing course happens in phases.
Not quite ready for a big change? Then start small. Read a book, take a course, talk to someone who is doing work you’re drawn to, research how other people are making a living from their love of animals, cooking, writing, travel, art, or wherever your own gifts lie.
If you’re waiting for inspiration to strike first, don’t. As Frank Tibolt put it, “We should be taught not to wait for inspiration to start a thing. Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action.” When it comes to changing the course of your life, the key is always simply to start.
Add Your Two Cents
Your thoughts mean so much to me -- and the other 23,000 change seekers who've received this article. I'd love to hear what you think!
Click here to hop over to the Changing Course Blog!
About the Author
Profiting
From into Passions® expert, Valerie Young, abandoned her
corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at
ChangingCourse.com
offering resources for people who want to work at what they love. Her career
change tips have been cited in The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend,
More, Kiplinger's, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN,
CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie
has spoken on
How to Feel as Bright and
Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are to such diverse organizations as Boeing,
Intel, Chrysler, IMB, P&G, Harvard University, 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
Connect With Valerie Online | |
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You
are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.
~ CS Lewis | |
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| Featured Resource
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| |
No one knows what he can do until he tries.
~ Publilius Syrus |
| | | 
The Changing Course Newsletter
Copyright 2011
Lisa Tarrant, Editor
Valerie Young, Publisher info@ChangingCourse.com www.ChangingCourse.com
| | All About Your Subscription Know someone who could benefit from Changing Course? Please 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. ~OptOut_0~ Previous Issues: changingcoursenewsletter.com | | | |
Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature.
~ Helen Keller
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Learning Opportunities
Write a Book in a
Weekend®
A Complete System You
Can Implement in One Short Weekend to Get Your Book Written and Published
 If
the idea of writing a book really has you overwhelmed or even a little
scared, then you'll want to check out this resource.
Donna Kozik is former newspaper editor
and senior communications specialist, a two-time award winning book author
who has been featured in Woman’s Day and
Women’s World magazines, The LA Times
and The Baltimore Sun newspapers, NPR’s
“Marketplace” news magazine and the NBC Nightly News.
She’s also been a paid
national media spokesperson for Sprint PCS and has been featured in several
other books including ones by Bob Bly and MarketingProfs, along with
Don't Sweat the Small Stuff--and It's All Small Stuff Stories
and The Vision Board: The Secret to an Extraordinary Life
published by Harper Collins.
Now she has set a personal
goal of turning 1000 people into published authors in the next 12 months.
Wow!
Her system for doing this is
live and virtual "Write a Book in a Weekend" events, featuring Donna's
"fill-in-the-blanks" book template plus a weekend of live audio and recorded
video messages that motivate and inspire soon-to-authors to complete their
books in 2 days.
Here's everything you get when
you sign up for her Write a Book in a Weekend program:
-
A pre-formated book template, already designed in “book format,”
so you can craft your book in a matter of hours.
-
Step-by-step info about how to
funnel messages into your book the
easy way.
-
Secrets to streamline
your writing and editing process so you can
knock your book out in a matter of hours (not weeks or months)!
-
Access
to Donna's expertise so you overcome any roadblocks on
your way to being a published author. (A writer all my life, I'm a
former newspaper editor and the author of three books...and counting!)
-
Insider information for getting your book published so you don’t
have to wade through all those online options—she's done the work for
you!
-
The commitment and accountability some people crave—it will be like
having your own personal book writing coach and cheerleader
sitting right next to you!
Her "bullet proof" system means you
will not leave the weekend without having a book done—complete with your
name on the cover! (And that system doesn't include you staying up all night!) Instead, you'll have a book
people will covet and have it done fast and easy.
It's time to get that book
out of your head and on to paper.
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I've chosen my life - now I want to start living it.
~ the character Bella in Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer
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The View From the Other Side
"Sometimes
the difference between seeing your dreams through is not
following strong enough or long enough, and the worst
thing that can happen is you get to an age where you get
bitter because you gave up too early or you keep looking
back."
~Howard Schultz, Starbucks CEO
| | Resources for A Change
National Dance Association
For anyone with a love of dance, or teaching dance,
the National Dance Association
(NDA) is a fantastic resource for information and materials on dance and
dance education. You'll find books, standards, films, videos and CD's that
can help you and your students along with CEU-accredited workshops. Visit
them online at www.aahperd.org/nda
Animal Care Expo
Love animals? If you’ve
thought about being involved in animal care and control, rescue, or
emergency services, consider attending the Animal Sheltering Expo May 4-7 in
Orlando. This is billed as the largest international education and training
conference and trade show for shelter and animal care professionals,
emergency managers and responders, veterinarians and vet technicians, and
people doing work in the area of equine protection. This is largely for
people already in these fields but there’s no reason why you can’t jump in,
take some workshops, and see what these worlds are really all about! Learn
more at
AnimalSheltering.org/expo
Calling all Unsigned Bands, Artists, and Song Writers
TAXI is the world's leading Independent Artist & Repertoire Company. Since 1992, they have specialized in giving artists, bands, and songwriters real access to the people in the music business in order to help unsigned bands, artists, and song writers get record deals, publishing deals, and placement in films and TV shows. I think you’ll find the success stories inspiring. Learn more at Taxi.com.
FabJob This site features "how to" guides to starting a wide range of livelihoods like catering, acting, floral design, screen writer, personal fitness trainer, wedding planner, yoga teacher, etiquette consultant, art curator, stand up comic, and butler… just to name a few. ChangingCourse.com/recommends/fabjob | |
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Note: If you purchase a pre-screened seminar or product from a partner company it may result in my receiving a referral fee. I only recommend products I feel are high quality and will help you to profit from your passions. |
    
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live life on purpose 
