Ready to Find Your Calling?
Sign Up Now to Get Your FREE
Changing Course Newsletter!
Dear Change Seeker,
Do you ever dream about this mythical “other life” where somehow all the bills get paid… and so you get to be a photographer… or write children’s books… or run a spiritual-renewal retreat… or open a pet spa… or cook gourmet meals as a personal chef… or work as a collectibles consultant… whatever it is you’d rather be doing than going to your job every day?
“This program is great. Very motivating and informative. I’ve listened to some tracks over and over, just to learn everything I can.”
Well, you’re hardly alone. But what do you do? How do you get out from under? How could you ever afford to?
Those were the kinds of questions Georgeanne was asking herself. She had this dream of creating an artists’ community, but no idea about how to do it or make a living at it… and a growing sense of despair at the prospect.
But then she attended a life-changing workshop in Boulder, Colorado called Making Dreams Happen. Just eight weeks later she wrote to say:
“Just want to thank you for Boulder. I had been working on my own for 3 years and hit a major slump. I had no clients, no money and no support. No one in my life was self-employed or taking risks and I was beginning to feel like a failure. “Anyway, I just had to let you know the positive things that have manifested in my life since the conference. I dreamed of starting a community of self-employed artists… 3 weeks ago a 4-story brownstone in my neighborhood went on the market, so I made an offer with the seller financing 100% of the loan (what a long shot.
“Turns out she wants to sell to someone with roots in the community, who is self-employed and a go getter. I plan to rent the upper levels as student apartments, which should take care of the mortgage, and make 4 studios in the basement for myself and 3 other artist/self bossers. What do you know – instant community! Thanks again for helping me get my mojo back. Keep doing what you do.”
Georgeanne isn’t the only one who turned came away from this workshop with a plan of action for making her dreams happen. When Sharon arrived in Colorado, she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do or be… she only knew she needed a change. At mid-life, she and her husband were getting a divorce and selling their business – a time of great flux and uncertainty.
Just four months later, she’d already begun to reinvent herself. Over the course of the workshop, Sharon arrived at the idea of taking a six-month sabbatical… to travel, maybe do some volunteer work. Within six months, she planned to kick it off with a three-month journey through Australia, New Zealand, and the South Pacific.
Two participants at the Making Dreams Happen Workshop told her she should write a book… she wasn’t sure she had one in her, but she realized she’d always been interested in reading and writing about travel. So she’s signed herself up for an intensive travel writing course to be taken between now and her departure. She plans to write about her adventures on the road and sent me an email saying:
“This is the beginning of my book… who knows where it will end. It’s true when you take action, things will fall into place. I let go of what I had been looking at as a loss… and now my new life is falling into place minute-by-minute. Every time that I stop to think about what is happening with me, I get goose bumps. Dreams do happen.”
When she came to Making Dreams Happen, Kellie Jo didn’t have any idea what she wanted to do either… but by the time she completed the program, she had direction and momentum. She came up with a useful list of what she really enjoys doing and a revealing list of what, deep inside, she always dreamed of accomplishing. Even more important, she outlined a plan of action that would put to use the whole gamut of her interests, talents, and dreams.
In working through the exercises and talking with other participants, Kellie Jo came to realize she could combine her people skills with her interest in problem-solving. She likes working with kids and adolescents, too. She’d always dreamed of writing a book. Seemingly disparate facts, perhaps… but they’ve all come into play since Making Dreams Happen as she’s begun to put her dreams into motion.
An incredible positive, supportive experience. Totally life-changing!
During the program, she struck upon the idea of being a coach. A handful of weeks later, she was well into a coaching certification program and is doing some volunteer coaching to get some practical experience.
She’s taking a course in how to write children’s books and, she reports, loving it. In the interest of learning more about kids, she’s now spending her Saturday nights as a volunteer at the organ-transplant unit of a local children’s hospital and says, “I’m getting more out of it than the kids are.” She’s set a deadline for herself to have her first book outline ready within two months.
Amazing. Extremely valuable. Full of resources and ideas. Great practical information. Inspirational and extremely helpful in finding where you want to go with your ideas. Great way to learn about being an entrepreneur.
The list of success stories goes on and on. But my point, really, is this: You can make your dreams happen. You can find a way to do work you really love… and embrace the freedom, flexibility, and quality of life you deserve.
Armed with the proven advice, hard-won wisdom, and hands-on exercises the Making Dreams Happen program teaches, you can do it much faster than you ever could on your own…
You may not have had the good fortune to sit with Georgeanne, Sharon, Kellie Jo, and the others in Colorado… but that doesn’t mean you can’t still benefit.
You see, we recorded the whole event… every last life-changing word. We call it the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program.
It’s a way for you to “sit in” at the workshop… and learn exactly how to create for yourself a roadmap for success, a plan of action that outlines what you need to do, in specific terms, to get from where you are today… to working at what you love.
Totally transformational and inspiring.
I should make one thing very clear up front: If you are looking for tips on how to write a winning resume, climb the corporate ladder, or dress for success… the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program is not for you.
But if, instead, you’re looking for a more satisfying livelihood where you call your own shots… then I encourage you to listen in. Maybe you know what you want to do, but you just can’t quite get started… or maybe you really haven’t figured out what it is you want to be when you grow up. Either way, this program will put you on the fast-track to living your dream. You’ll –
The first step in identifying and defining your dream is thinking, as I like to put it: Life first, work second. In other words: First you figure out what you want your life to look like, then you figure out work that fits that goal. It sounds simple, I know… but it’s easy to get sidetracked.
A highlight in my life — tools and motivation to continue my journey.
Lynn, for example, came to Making Dreams Happen wanting to be a comedy show writer. What she hadn’t considered was that a studio job would likely require commuting in stand-still traffic on the Los Angeles freeway several hours a day.
Turns out the commute didn’t pass the “life-first test” for Lynn. She realized she’d really rather a) work from home and b) pretty much work alone. So she went back to the career-change blackboard and this time landed on the idea of being a work-from-home writer of a humorous slice-of-life column (think Erma Bombeck for baby-boomers).
Not three weeks after completing Making Dreams Happen, she sent me her first column. It was not only hilarious, but dead-on. If anybody can launch a career as a nationally-syndicated columnist, this very funny and determined dreamer can.
The Making Dreams Happen Audio Program will help you do exactly what Georgeanne, Sharon, Kellie Jo, and Lynn, did – figure out what you really want your life to look like… and then come up with practical ideas and a plan of action for satisfying work that will allow you to live that life.
This program is fabulous! I’m getting value, enthusiasm, encouragement and a bit of a push. It’s hard to do nothing when you have all this motivation.
Follow your bliss… because the number of creative ways you can live your dream is endless. Sometimes it might be a matter of doing what you’re already doing… but at the same time, paying a little more attention to fantasies you long ago laid aside…
Consider Peg: She came to Making Dreams Happen figuring on changing careers. But instead, she discovered that though she was weary of some aspects of the corporate world, she was already doing work she really loved, editing books for children. So instead of quitting her job, she turned her attention to leaving the office on time so she could pursue interests she’d long neglected. She told me:
“I’ve loved reading about archaeology ever since I was about 10. I majored in anthropology in college and always dreamed of going on a dig. I’d just always imagined that ‘sometime’ I’d find six months to spend on a dig in some marvelously exotic corner of the world – and of course that time never arrived. After the workshop, I figured, well, going on a dig is one dream that I can make happen now!“I had only a week of vacation left for the year, but I looked in the Earthwatch catalogue and to my surprise discovered a one-week dig session was available this fall. Even better, it was in New Mexico – one of my favorite places in the world and a spot I’d been yearning to go back and visit. (I went to grad school in NM back in the 70s and returned frequently in the 90s on a work project.) So I called Earthwatch, learned there were still a couple of openings, and signed up… I leave Saturday morning!”
And that’s not all. She’s also taken a knitting class, is on sweater number two, and has yarn for a third in her closet. Now she’s considering a stint in community theater. “This is not at all what I thought I’d get out of Making Dreams Happen,” Peg said, “But it’s certainly making life more interesting and fun! (And I’m happier at work, too.)”
The experience was truly life-altering. I now know the direction my life should take. I have a vision of my ideal life, a plan to get me there and a support group to help me through the hard times.
Before I go into any more detail, let me take a moment to introduce my colleagues and myself – the people you’ll hear from in this comprehensive program:
Barbara Sher is a career counselor, world-renowned speaker, and author. She has appeared on national and local radio and television, including Oprah, The Today Show, and 60 Minutes, among others.
Barbara is perhaps best known for her five New York Times bestselling books including…
Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want, has sold well over a million copies.
If you read Barbara’s next book, I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was, you know she’s a master at helping people tune into their gifts.
Her latest book, Refuse To Choose deals with people who have so many interests they’re unable to choose only one. Barbara calls them “scanners.”
If you’ve been told all your life to “just pick something and stick to it”… you’ll love Barbara’s advice!
In fact according to Barbara, scanners aren’t dilettantes or undisciplined. And they don’t change interests because of A.D.D. or a fear of success. Instead, she says scanners tend “to be highly intelligent, multi-talented people who need to have more interests than the average person.”
Throughout the program, Barbara shares her wit, wisdom, and most importantly her proven methods to guide you step-by-step, through what you need to do to transform your life into something extraordinary.
Barbara Winter is the second principal speaker you’ll hear from. She is the author of the bestselling book, Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love, and a self-employment advocate who found her own right livelihood after overcoming her early notions that work was meant to be drudgery.
A former high school English teacher, Barbara has turned her considerable energies to the teaching of adults. Her popular seminars, including “Making a Living Without a Job” and “Establish Yourself as an Expert,” are regularly held throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
This Barbara, too, lends her considerable experience and talents to the goal of helping you figure out how to best take the passions most dear to you and turn them into real-world opportunities.
In case you don’t know me, my name is Dr. Valerie Young, and since 1995 I’ve been the Dreamer-in-Residence at Changing Course, where I’ve built a reputation for helping people turn their passions into profits.
Today 28,000 people subscribe to the Changing Course newsletter. And my advice has been cited in these and other publications around the world – further proof that the desire to make a living doing what you love is universal.
My methods have been so successful that I’ve gone on to train over 250 people from 18 countries how to become licensed Profiting from Your Passions® Career Coaches.
I’m also considered an expert on something called the “impostor syndrome” and recently wrote a book on the topic called The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women.
You may not have heard the term before but I bet you’re familiar with the nagging self-doubt that says, “If I can do it anyone can!” or “I was just lucky” or “I’m still waiting for the No Talent Police to show up and arrest me!”
Feelings that by the way are most likely to pop up whenever you embark on something new… like for instance changing careers or starting your own business.
If you struggle with self-confidence you’re in luck.
Because when you purchase Making Dreams Happen you’ll get to the very same confidence-building advice I’ve shared with over over 60,000 people from such diverse organizations as Intel, Chrysler, Boeing, Procter & Gamble, Merck, American Women in Radio and Television, Harvard, Stanford, MIT, and many more.
But perhaps what I’m most proud of is the fact that I abandoned my corporate cubicle and my 90-mile-a-day commute to launch Changing Course. And today I am doing work and living a life I love.
And my goal with the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program is to help you do the same.
Not only will you benefit from the ideas and methods the experts offer, but you’ll also hear from three more successful entrepreneurs – regular people just like you who have made their own dreams happen.
Artist and designer Bonnie Druschel offers a heartfelt account of how, with little self-confidence and even less business experience, she went from struggling artist to successful entrepreneur when she launched her own enterprise selling and licensing her art. She’ll tell you how to avoid the roadblocks she encountered and inspire you… even if you’re not an artist.
Joan Brett, founder of the Culinary School of the Rockies, tells you how she left behind a successful career as an attorney to build a whole new life around cooking – her passion. She started out small, teaching a few classes a week in her home, and built what is today an accredited, professional culinary academy. Find out how she did it… and come away with some ideas of your own about how to design a food-related career.
Coach, writer, and public speaker Cynthia Morris shares her unique approach to finding your heart’s desire. This former tarot reader, on-the-spot poem writer, illegal dishwasher in France, manuscript editor, calligrapher, hot air balloon chef, restaurant reviewer, and house-sitter (to name just a few of Cynthia’s fascinating jobs) reveals the seven things you absolutely must possess to live a creative life.
You’ll hear, too, from Doug Woods, owner of Boulder Bike Taxis. He had a long-standing passion for bikes – even rode across the country – but couldn’t figure out how to make a living with his feet on the pedals. Until, that is, he struck upon the idea for a bike-taxi service. Problem was, he had no money. So he went out and found investors. He’ll talk about how you can get people to fund your own dream… and reveal the one magic word that makes investors enthusiastic immediately…
If the idea of loving what you do… of jumping out of bed every morning excited about what the day holds, appeals to you, then I strongly encourage you to take seriously the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program. Just think: Six months from now, you could be living your dream…
The bottom line is: If you want to work doing something you love… if you want more control over your time and your life… if you crave a better balance of family and friends and work… then you have to really focus on your dreams. Yet I know how hard it can be to find the time for that when your day-to-day commitments already have you stretched too thin.
The format of the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program makes it a lot easier, though. That’s because you can listen to it whenever it’s convenient for you… in your car, in your kitchen, early in the morning, or at midnight…
The program is designed to guide you to your dream life… at your own pace. (Though I think you’ll find that once you start “sitting in” on the sessions you won’t be able to stop. The energy and enthusiasm are contagious.)
This program demands you roll up your sleeves and get involved. You’ll be asked to do some thinking on your own, sure, but you’ll also work through various exercises designed to expand your horizons and help focus your creative energy – whether you know what your dream is or not.
Plus we put you in touch with other audio program participants, so you have an active network of fellow participants with whom you can brainstorm, share advice, and ask questions. You might be listening to the program on your own set of headphones… but you’ll never feel as if you’re reaching for your dream all alone.
Over the course of the full program, we’ll help you…
Everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about making your dreams come true.
You don’t need to have a well-defined goal to find this program life-changing. In fact, you don’t even need to know exactly what your dream is… we’ll help you figure all of that out.
But what you do need is a curiosity about the world… a mind open to ideas and possibilities you might never have thought of before… and an eagerness to start something new in your life.
We’ll give you all the tools to make it happen, including extensive materials that will keep you focused long after you’ve listened to the last audio track.
When you sign on for the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program, you receive not only the full audio program in tracks that you can play on your computer or download onto your MP3 player, but also the Making Dreams Happen Companion Guide, containing nearly 200 pages of helpful tools, exercises, articles, resources, and wisdom you can refer to again and again.
This collection is an invaluable resource. It’s a workbook, really, with hands-on worksheets through which you track your dreams, the steps you need to take, and your progress. Plus, it includes all sorts of useful tools for getting your new life off the ground – from a Business Plan template, to a Multiple Income Stream worksheet, to a Resource Guide on how to set up your own Success Team.
Become a participant in the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program, and you’ll come away with an attainable vision for your new life, a do-able plan for making your dreams happen, and the confidence and support you need to take the leap.
Whether you dream of starting your own import-export business… writing a best-selling novel… owning a dude ranch… working with kids… helping underprivileged families…
… whatever your passion… deep inside you know what you really love to do, the life you dream of having.
Through the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program, you’ll learn how to harness that vision… and build a life around it that not only provides you a living… but feeds your spirit, too.
Participants at the Making Dreams Happen Workshop in Boulder paid $1,297 plus the price of their transportation, meals, and overnight stays in order to gather this know-how firsthand. Every last one agreed it was worth every penny.
But now you can “sit in” on the four days of intensive, interactive workshop sessions for a small fraction of that price. And you can do it from the comfort of your own home. Sign up for the Making Dreams Happen Audio Program, and for just $149, you can put yourself on the fast track to a life you’ll be able to look back on with satisfaction and pride.
You’ll have immediate access to the recorded audio and resources given in this amazing program.
Warmly,
Valerie Young
Dreamer-in-Residence
http://ChangingCourse.com
P.S. If the idea of loving what you do appeals to you, then I strongly encourage you to give your dream the attention it deserves. When Barbara Sher, Barbara Winter, and I got together and created Making Dreams Happen, even we were astounded by the high-energy momentum it generated – every bit of which comes through on this audio program. You’ll feel just like you’re in the room with us and with your fellow participants. There’s no other resource like this available… a program that lets you participate at your own pace, but also connects you to a network of like-minded dreamers.
*Because this product delivery is immediate and fully digital, I’m sorry, but we cannot accept any requests for refunds.
Barbara Sher is a business owner, career counselor, speaker, and the bestselling author of five books, among them I Could Do Anything, If Only I Knew What It Was, How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It, and Live the Life You Love, In Ten Easy Step-by-Step Lessons.
She has appeared on national and local radio and television, including Oprah, The Donahue Show, The Today Show, 60 Minutes, CNN and Good Morning America. Her first book, Wishcraft: How to Get What You Really Want, has sold well over a million copies.
In 1972, Sher invented Success Teams—small groups in which members work together in weekly meetings to identify their dreams and help each other make them come true. The teams were an instant hit. By 1976, she was running workshops to help people create Success Teams throughout the United States and Europe. Today, Sher's teams are operating in universities, career centers, Fortune 500 companies and in entrepreneur associations in Nepal, Siberia, Israel, Canada, Thailand, Australia, and Bulgaria.
Her latest book, Refuse To Choose deals with people who have so many interests they’re unable to choose only one (she has named them ‘Scanners’). This subject has obviously struck a nerve. “In the last four months since the book and the TV show have been out in the public eye, I’ve received an astonishing number of impassioned letters,” she said. “And all of them say Thank you!” As usual, Barbara’s advice is not what you expect. She finds that Scanners aren’t dilettantes or undisciplined, and they don’t change interests because of A.D.D. or a fear of success. “They seem to be highly intelligent, multi-talented people who need to have more interests than the average person,” she says.
Presently, Barbara Sher consults with clients in her New York office and travels throughout the world running workshops for professional organizations, colleges, corporations, and government agencies.
Barbara Winter, author of the bestselling book, Making a Living Without a Job: Winning Ways for Creating Work That You Love, is also a business owner, itinerant teacher, and self-employment advocate who found her own right livelihood after overcoming her early notions that work was meant to be drudgery.
It all began in 1974 when she founded The Successful Woman, a pioneering training and development company, which conducted programs on self-esteem and entrepreneurship for women. She went on to found several small businesses-all with the intention of passing along to others the lessons she had learned.
A former high school
English teacher, Barbara has turned her considerable energies to the teaching of
adults. Her popular seminars, including Making a Living Without a Job and
Establish Yourself as an Expert, are regularly held throughout the
In addition, she is the
editor/publisher of
Barbara is the mother of an adult daughter, a devoted Anglophile, an intrepid world traveler and is ferociously committed to lifelong learning. She is particularly enthusiastic about being an inspired grandmother.
Valerie Young is the founder and Dreamer-in-Residence at ChangingCourse.com and an expert on turning interests into income. Following the sudden death of her mother Barbara in 1993, Valerie left her corporate job and 90-mile-a-day commute to pursue her own dream of launching Changing Course.
Valerie's career change tips have been cited in such publications as Inc., Kiplinger’s, The Wall Street Journal, USA Weekend, Reader’s Digest, Redbook, Glamour (UK), Cosmopolitan, Entrepreneur, The Chicago Tribune, The Globe & Mail, The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), and online at iVillage, CareerBuilder, and MSN.com
A popular guest speaker Valerie has delivered her How to Feel As Bright and Capable As Everyone Seems to Think You Are program to over 30,000 people from such organizations as Intel, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Chrysler, American Women in Radio and Television, Society of Women Engineers, Harvard and MIT.
She is the author of 10 Steps to Escaping the Job World Personal Planner and contributing editor of the e-books Finding Your True Calling: The Handbook For People Who Still Don't Know What They Want To Be When They Grow Up and Yes You Can: The Inspirational Kick in the Pants You Need to Take Control of Your Life and Go After Your Dreams.
I decided to take the Work @ What You Love Workshop and also work one-on-one with Valerie. The workshop explored so many unusual and unexpected solutions to my specific questions. I made so many new connections to what clearly works for me in creating my own income, and I learned there are wide opportunities existing out there if you ask the right questions, make decisions, and create a plan. This was the best way for me to get unstuck.
Thank you so much, Valerie, for sharing so many tools, insights, and ways of thinking that have made a difference to me, my business, and life.
A great start to help organize your thinking if you’re is interested in starting your own business. Inspirational!
The workshop teaches you the skills and way of thinking you need to create an entrepreneurial lifestyle and work that fits who you are.
Insightful ways of figuring out what you are good at, what you love and solid ideas for how to make a living out of it. Thank you for encouraging me to wait for the live workshop. I finally feel like I am on my new life journey. Before all this, I didn't even know where to start!
Valerie is very passionate about her work and with helping people attain their dreams. The workshop was realistic, logical and straight forward about what you can do and how to go about doing it. It was full of great information.
I was looking for ideas to where to take my handwriting analysis business and the workshop gave me great ideas to move forward with this. If you want to start to think differently about your business ideas, this workshop is a great place to do it. It makes you look at things differently, to open your world up and it will change the way you view the world. Valerie gave so much great information to move forward
Valerie's workshop and laser session is just what I needed to make real decisions about how I can do what I love. Learning how to break down the steps into manageable pieces that are not overwhelming is the key to being able to keep moving forward. The workshop was very insightful in that hearing other attendee questions also helped me learn and focus on what I want to do.
I came up with 11 possible streams of income. Most of them won't make much money, but combined they should be good enough. I’m 65 and just quit my job and I feel better than I have in 5 years. Getting out of a toxic environment will do that! And I wouldn't have had the courage to do it if I hadn't subscribed to your newsletter all these years. I knew I had other ways to make money other than a job. Thanks for letting me and other people know that there are options.
I was hoping to gain some clarity on choosing a direction. I had 2 possible avenues as far as job/career choices that I was considering, both very different and was stuck about what I should pursue and lacked any motivation to do anything about it. The workshop led me to make a choice. l felt motivated after it, and realized that I needed to make a plan that would support me.
This workshop gave me some new ways to look at my business and new tools I can use for myself and clients. The workshop offers a comprehensive look at what your top passions are and how to look at turning them into potential profit centers. It’s an opportunity to get not only excellent business tools, but tools that can be applied to your everyday life. Work at What You Love will generate some very probing questions you ask yourself.
This workshop was informative, practical, encouraging, and VERY helpful. It includes step by step assistance for changing the course of your life to work at what you love! The course met all my expectations. Now it's my job to use the tools for ongoing success.
Creative, realistic, and fun recommendations If you’re looking to find work that you love and align it with your lifestyle, start with this workshop.
I felt very encouraged - and will continue to explore my ideas. I was hoping to solidify my direction, but I'm okay with just knowing the next few steps toward figuring it out. Valerie is terrific! I'd love the opportunity to work with her in-person.
I've attended online "seminars" before but this was very engaging and really well done. I have to say it exceeded my expectations. Thanks so much!
I decided that even if I couldn't find 'the one and only idea' I would use a presentable idea to move through the material. That worked out very well and really helped me to see options and helped me to make better use of the workshop materials. The workshop is an opportunity, especially for 50+ men and women, to realize there are options other than holding onto a job they despise but need desperately.
Valerie was extremely knowledgeable and I liked her style. She had good suggestions for folks, and I also liked the inclusion of real examples from people she's known or worked with. I also thought she was very professional in being open, receptive and respectful about all the different paths people had chosen or were considering.
It provided me the encouragement that I needed to go forward. This is a practical seminar that encourages out-of-the-box thinking for getting your dreams out of your head and into reality. Realizing that others have implemented their dreams and ideas empowers a person to do more than just think about things. New mental connections and ways of taking steps allows a person to move from wisher to achiever.
The workshop far exceeded my expectations. My goal was to get "UNSTUCK" which I have been working on for a while. Valerie's Part 4 - "Getting Unstuck Before You Get Stuck & Getting Support" was extraordinary. She has all the tools for everyone right on the tip of her tongue. Valerie is truly the guru for figuring out what your passion is and then giving you the tools to build an "entrepreneurial" business to support your goals and dreams.
This was a very affordable alternative for me and I'm very grateful for it. I wanted to learn how to take my ideas to the next level. The workshop absolutely met and exceeded expectations and gave me a thorough methodology for every step along the path. I'm excited to be getting the recording so I can reinforce what I've learned and apply it.
Excellent! I am so grateful I had this experience! I am turning 48 years old and I am in a soul-sucking job. Thankfully I got rid of my two hour a day commute to NYC last year, which was a step in the right direction. However, there is no way I can or will continue to be a corporate rat for 15 more years. UGH.
I wanted to gain direction from the workshop - to believe that this can happen. My goal is to be a humor writer and live a simple life that is MINE. I had hoped the workshop would help me take action toward transitioning out of the rat race. This met that expectation big time and made me believe that it isn't only something others can achieve!
The materials were much more than I envisioned in depth and scope. The value for the money was incredible, and you absolutely "over delivered."
This workshop was beyond my expectations. Every one received an overabundance of information. This is a wonderful opportunity to bring your passions and dreams to the table, learn how to give them life and a voice and action; and add marketing to create streams of income.
Valerie's course is full of ideas on where to discover income opportunities where we would not have looked. She has a unique real-world perspective that she communicates through her workshop and presents the material in a fun and lively manner. It was a pleasure to attend her seminar.
I was hoping to find ways to market several start up business ideas and this seminar helped me brainstorm several creative ways to do that. The “Getting Paid” sections were particularly beneficial because they taught me how to turn my interests into money-making ventures. I’d recommend this to anyone that I would come across that has an idea or simply doesn't know where to begin to start a business venture. The course helps you learn how to turn your interests and skills into a business that can be profitable. It opens your mind to seeing an opportunity where you never knew existed.
I appreciate that it was very nuts-n-bolts rather than pie in the sky, but still keeping with the idea of possibilities. That's a difficult balance to achieve, I think, and Valerie has that mastered.
My goal was to get motivated to make the next steps, to hear from someone who has done what I yearn to do, to build a plan that I can execute against, however slowly, so that I don't dread going to work tomorrow morning.
The workshop met and exceeded my expectations in that, although my plan is rough, I have a whole toolbox on how to make it better… like the exercise where we took the interests and created various scenarios by combining them in different ways. I intend to use those to further develop ideas for profit centers.
It is clear Valerie has a lot of experience & information to impart. Her ideas & exercises really are great food for thought and she has a lot of detail to add to them. I've been retired from corporate America for 11 years now and have dabbled in a few things that align with my passions (food, entertaining, travel). This really helping me to think out of the box and the "multiple streams of income" concept was worth the price of admission alone! It offers an out of the box approach to thinking about work & how to sustain an income source for the rest of your life.
Dr. Young has provided a wealth of information and website suggestions of which I was not aware. I've learned late in life that when you love what you do, it doesn't feel like work. If you want or need guidelines to know how to monetize your passion for profit I highly recommend Dr. Valerie Young's Work at What You Love course… the knowledge you gain will be priceless.
Valerie has such a gift for inspiring not only the desire, but the "how-to" jump in and begin things in order to change your course and start earning money right away. I can see earning potential around every corner now and the cost of the virtual workshop is small enough to earn it back with the multiple income streams that are generated. I have more ideas than I know what to do with! Plus, a wealth of knowledge, or where to get it, for coming up with monetizing the ideas I had.
I was amazed with the amount of content you supplied and stepped us through. The workshop exceeded my expectations - I now have tools that I will use time and time again as I try to implement the ideas in my scanner brain. I felt like I was learning from a friend.
I was inspired and walked away with a new perspective and better understanding of how I can custom design my life! I really benefitted from the immediate gratification of knowing that I am SO not alone in believing life's work passion is possible in this soul-selling, work-a-holic, 9-5 mentality we call "livelihood."
This was way more than I expected and I am excited about moving forward with some of my ideas! When I started this workshop, I had no ideas at all. By the end, I believe I had documented at least 15 ideas that I can explore. Very excited!
I've seen several sets of coaching material for this kind of endeavor, and I think this is the best I've seen – the most succinct yet thorough. The workshop marches you through in a clear, thoughtful, practical way to identify what it is you want to do, and have clear and well-thought out questions/tools to follow through and get going.
I was hoping to figure out what I wanted to do when I grew up before I am retirement age, and this brought me some new ideas and helped me remember and substantiate some ideas I have had for a while. The workshop helped jog my brain of some things that I forgot and some things I had never thought of. Sometimes it is very hard to think of all the steps individually and the workshop helped to break them down.
The workshop went beyond my expectation, so much to do and think about and learn. The workshop gave me permission to move forward.
I could go on and on about this awesome workshop. I would not change one thing. Valerie has opened my mind and thought process to an entrepreneurial level I had never been to before. She has given information to process one’s life for change.
The investment value is priceless. Don't let fear hold you back, Valerie is awesome!
This is the first webinar I've ever taken and it was good and an efficient way to take a class
Valerie over delivered with information and tools to jump start your dream. This was an eye opening online workshop on how you can create income with you gifts and passion!
When I started this workshop, I had no ideas at all. By the end of the webinar, I believe I had documented at least 15 ideas that I can explore. Very excited!
My goal in taking the workshop was to get motivated to make the next steps, to hear from someone who has done what I yearn to do, to build a plan that I can execute against, so that I don't dread going to work tomorrow morning.
Valerie presented the material an easy to understand way. I appreciate that it is very nuts-n-bolts rather than pie in the sky, but still keeping with the idea of possibilities. That's a difficult balance to achieve, and Valerie has that mastered.
Valerie is a great presenter with a personal, conversational style. Virtual workshop information is well organized and complete. I came away with more ideas than anticipated and many resources to discover their viability and potential success. Plus I found some hidden passions.
Appreciated Valerie's clear, relaxed delivery with targeted information and handouts that I can continue to use when fleshing out new ideas.
My main goal in attending the virtual workshop was insight which I got tenfold. I now have more clarity on what my talents are, but more importantly I have more clarity on how to take actions, where to seek, what to ask for, how to ask for it, and know how to turn it into profitable venues: money and happiness for me, service to others.
Amazing investment! Valerie did over deliver and I am very proud to have taken the step to attend. Maxed out my credit card to pay for the small fee and it was returned to me with translation work that paid for the course!
I had some ideas and I needed an approach and I needed the inspiration and a group effort to give the "chutzpa" to move forward the next step. I'm very excited, I'm full of ideas that are just blossoming now and I'm very much looking forward to the next step.
The workshop definitely helped me narrow down several of my interests and pick the best one to monetize. I urge anyone who is interested in attending to read the other reviews -- this workshop is not for women only!
It was phenomenal! A great way to figure out what you want your life to look like, find your passion, and to change course. Valerie was excellent. The content and Valerie’s base of knowledge is unbelievable!
The workshop exceeded my expectations.
I was hoping to find a new path. The workshop opened up a whole new learning about profit centers, crunching numbers and seeing myself as a success.
A wonderful opportunity to face your dreams and fears and an opportunity to jumpstart your journey to a new life.
Empowerment + vision = tangible vision creation session to put you on the path to being who you want to be. An amazing value.
This workshop was life changing for me. I went to it having no idea what I wanted to do and came out with clarity, hope, and a plan of action. It brought excitement and enthusiasm back into my life.
The workshop is a way to move forward in your mind and ideas. It’s like walking into your vision/dream board and starting to really experience it.
This workshop was beyond my expectations. A wonderful opportunity to bring your passions/dreams to the table, learn how to give them life and action and marketing to create streams of income.
This was a truly special, life-altering workshop more ways than one. Thank you again for helping us to clarify our goals so we left with a much better picture in our heads as to what we need to do next.
When I think about the value received for the money invested, I’d say even at $2,000 the retreat was worth a WHOLE lot more!!
The workshop exceeded my expectations. An awesome mind changing and life changing experience! Worth every penny.
Since I've been doing the exercises in The 10 Steps to Escaping the Job World and Creating the Life You Really Want Personal Planner, I've gotten so clear that I am a teacher/writer/speaker/leader. Thanks!
I found this book to be a very useful tool. I have imagined myself owning a successful small business for some time now. Valerie teaches you how to step back and listen to your intuitive desires and then shows you how to get there. It motivated me to feel no dream is impossible. The exercises are extremely important as they are the key to Find Your Calling. They helped me focus on how to sort out what’s my heart’s desire and how to accomplish getting there. This book is like having a road map to your dreams coming true.
I have parted with perfectly good coin to read the wisdom of many different authors concerning what I should do with my life and career. They all offer platitudes, exercises, and encouragement to the seeker… this book is different. It is clearly written, extremely useful, and the surprise is that it is inspirational! …Believe it or not, I carry this book around in my briefcase!
This book has some really useful information in it. I have been a fan of Valerie’s Changing Course website for some years now, and it is full of inspiration to help you get what you really want out of life. Thanks to Valerie’s inspiration, I have now given up my career in IT to concentrate on being a motivational author and speaker.
Ever wish you’d been born with a piece of paper in your hand saying, “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is…?” Fortunately, Valerie Young has created the perfect guidebook to move you along faster and farther after clearing away the obstacles that have kept so many of us stuck. This delightful handbook is also loaded with fascinating stories she’s gathered along the way, stories that will convince you that being realistic starts with defining what that means for yourself. Quite simply, Being Realistic is Killing Your Dreams is a sledgehammer for eliminating obstacles.
Everything you ever wanted to know (and more) about making your dreams come true.
The experience was truly life-altering. I now know the direction my life should take. I have a vision of my ideal life, a plan to get me there and a support group to help me through the hard times.
“I’ve loved reading about archaeology ever since I was about 10. I majored in anthropology in college and always dreamed of going on a dig. I’d just always imagined that ‘sometime’ I’d find six months to spend on a dig in some marvelously exotic corner of the world – and of course that time never arrived. After the workshop, I figured, well, going on a dig is one dream that I can make happen now!
“I had only a week of vacation left for the year, but I looked in the Earthwatch catalogue and to my surprise discovered a one-week dig session was available this fall. Even better, it was in New Mexico – one of my favorite places in the world and a spot I’d been yearning to go back and visit. (I went to grad school in NM back in the 70s and returned frequently in the 90s on a work project.) So I called Earthwatch, learned there were still a couple of openings, and signed up… I leave Saturday morning!”
I’m getting value, enthusiasm, encouragement and a bit of a push. It’s hard to do nothing when you have all this motivation.
Tools and motivation to continue my journey.
Amazing. Extremely valuable. Full of resources and ideas. Great practical information. Inspirational and extremely helpful in finding where you want to go with your ideas. Great way to learn about being an entrepreneur.
An incredible positive, supportive experience. Totally life-changing!
This is the beginning of my book… who knows where it will end. It's true when you take action, things will fall into place. I let go of what I had been looking at as a loss… and now my new life is falling into place minute-by-minute. Every time that I stop to think about what is happening with me, I get goose bumps. Dreams do happen.
Just want to thank you for Boulder. I had been working on my own for 3 years and hit a major slump. I had no clients, no money and no support. No one in my life was self-employed or taking risks and I was beginning to feel like a failure.
Anyway, I just had to let you know the positive things that have manifested in my life since the conference. I dreamed of starting a community of self-employed artists... 3 weeks ago a 4-story brownstone in my neighborhood went on the market, so I made an offer with the seller financing 100% of the loan (what a long shot.
Turns out she wants to sell to someone with roots in the community, who is self-employed and a go getter. I plan to rent the upper levels as student apartments, which should take care of the mortgage, and make 4 studios in the basement for myself and 3 other artist/self bossers. What do you know – instant community! Thanks again for helping me get my mojo back. Keep doing what you do.
Very motivating and informative. I've listened to some tracks over and over, just to learn everything I can.
For most of my life adult life I have tried to work a “real job”, but I never felt comfortable in the corporate world and I never fit in. Valerie Young’s book “Finding Your True Calling …” has inspire me to follow my dreams and believe in my ideas AND it has reminded me that it’s okay NOT to fit in and there is more to life then the corporate world. The book is an interesting read with contributions from many authors who followed their dreams. It also incorporates career counseling/lifestyle activities that focus on what you love to do OR what you love in life and then helps you transform these loves into alternative job ideas. This is a great book for individuals looking for alternative professions and I highly recommend it.
I am finding this book to be not only inspirational but helpful in a concrete way. Each author has a different experience of finding their calling and achieving success, so it will be useful to a great many people. I highly recommend doing the exercises, rather than just reading the book, because that is where you will get your “light bulb” moments, finding insights into your own desires and stumbling blocks. This is a truly practical book for those of us dreamers who need a guide on the road.
After many years, many tests, and many registration fees to obtain my Professinal License, I found myself in a great job that I just hated. I did not “fit” into their social culture and I found my brain just worked differently than others in my Profession. What to do? I had reached the big 50 age bracket and was feeling despondent over making any kind of a job change. After all, I had invested a great deal of time and effort into this career. Was it time to quit or to work part-time?
Keeping an open mind, I started reading Valerie Young’s book. This book offers wise advice and the contributions of several experts in the field, but it was the worksheets that made the difference. Once I opened up the word processor, followed her directives and poured my heart out into black & white text, well, it all made sense. I was able to analyze and understand myself, from the child through adult, including my dreams, creativity and rewarding experiences. Valerie has provided a forum to allow you to quiet the beast of negative voices in your head and to design the next phase of your life. Be sure to do the worksheets! Thank you, Valerie, for the tools that inspire me into my next phase of life. I now have a clear insight into how to phase-out of my full-time profession and to phase-into work that is more suited to my natural talents.
I have parted with perfectly good coin to read the wisdom of many different authors concerning what I should do with my life and career. They all offer platitudes, exercises, and encouragement to the seeker. Some have complex diagrams, case studies, whatever. Chicken Soup for the aimless. Let me assure you, this book is different. It is clearly written, extremely useful, and the surprise is that it is inspirational! Not only will you (probably) get some great ideas to help you break out of that rut, but you’ll enjoy the process, and almost certainly be in a better mood just from reading the book! I didn’t get that from any of the ‘what color is my jumpsuit’ books, which gather dust on my shelf. Believe it or not, I carry this book around in my briefcase! I show it to friends, suggest they buy it, loan it to them if they won’t buy it. You should buy it–try it, and you’ll probably love it. If you read it and don’t think it’s a life-changer, give it to a close friend and they will thank you for it. Loved the book, by the way!
I found it inspirational and especially like that her books are spiral bound. It's now highlighted pages will be a ready and re-inspirational reference piece that I will revisit and share with my family and friends. It's simple and to the point, with no wasted time, but a fully delivered message.
I think I was most surprised by the fact that this book is a compilation of articles by different people.
Once I got past that, I began to realize that each person had, to varying degrees, experienced the anxiety I've felt at being locked into a job that brings no joy. To realize that there are others are taking that leap into the unknown and finding happiness while the "normals" stand by and scratch their heads at what is surely insanity is massive relief.
And to find that these "insane" people are holding their hands out to the rest of us who are a little afraid of our inner "insanity" to show us the way and to help us to realize that not going after our dreams is indeed the end of our happiness.
Going after our dreams should be the "normal" thing to do, and Thank You to people like Valerie Young, Barbara Sher, Jerry Stocking ("Quitting A Job - Without Plan B", read the "Yes You Can" book and you'll know what I'm talking about!), and others who are helping us fraidy cats get out there and take control of our lives!
I am still trying to catch my breath after our call! I am very satisfied with the way things went. I found that your services and ideas are just as advertised: “Affordable, Immediately Usable and Practical Career Advice…”
I came to the call with many ideas swirling around in my head and little direction. I had wondered aloud to myself when I was going to get started on all my ideas. In seeking you out, I was looking for even more ideas, but more so, clarity on my ideas and tips for getting off the ground. I am happy to report that I got them all in abundance. You were giving me ideas, tips and resources until the second our call ended.
I want to tell you how substantive, focused and intelligent I found you as a coach/consultant. I appreciated the opportunity to take the measure of all my various endeavors and understand more precisely how each could be orchestrated in the context of an ideal life. I felt fully understood and "seen" for who I am which is deeply gratifying.
I wanted to share one meaningful anecdote: In the process of writing everything I love, I put in "acting in a play," thinking to myself that I would surely never get to do that. The very next day I met a woman in yoga class who is active in a community theater. Without my saying anything, she came over to me after class to ask if I had any interest in auditioning!
I just had the pleasure of working with Valerie's excellent book and a private telephone session with her and all I can say is WOW! I've been grappling for years it seems on how take all of my varied interests and turn them into a viable business/job.
The work I did with Valerie helped me to clarify what I want to do and offered me FRESH perspective.... I'm still working all the details out but I feel her valuable assistance got me on the road to living a life full of travel and creative opportunities. Don't hesitate if you're tired of trying to figure it all out on your own.
I've taken a lot of career assessment tools and they always end up telling me I'm creative – which I already knew – but they still leave me stumped as to what to DO with my creativity to actually make a living.
Valerie gave me a lot of good ideas that really made me think. She helped me see how many different possibilities there are in the world for us creative types.
Your great gift, I think, is the ability to help a person focus. Thanks so much for devoting yourself to this calling.
Arranging a consultation with Valerie was a great investment in myself – money well spent. She not only gave me ideas, but asked questions which helped me clarify what I realistically should do next. The best part was she came up with an angle on an idea I had, that I had never thought of and now I'm most excited about.
Having many ideas racing through my head, lack of direction and self-doubt creeping in, I decided to talk with Valerie. While I had doubt that anyone could help me organize my thoughts, define clear idea patterns that fit my passion, and give me action oriented suggestions, I was amazed!
Within 90 minutes, we had cut through the fluff, targeted potential career opportunities that fit my passion, identified my resources and established some time sensitive goals. What a value for ninety short minutes! Thank you Valerie
Thank you for helping me to chart a clear path to my future. I truly appreciate the great work you do. Warmest regards.
Ready to Find Your Calling?
Sign Up Now to Get Your FREE
Changing Course Newsletter!
Ready to Find Your Calling?
Sign up now to receive your FREE Changing Course Newsletter
Enter your name & email below to get started.
We value your privacy and will not share your information.