This is a cautionary tale.
One that if heeded, will definitely help you to go from talking (and talking and talking and talking…) about being your own boss… to actually having your dream life.
Like many cautionary tales, this one starts with an encouraging one… and some advice.
The advice part is this: If you’re still looking for a money-making idea, you may not need to look any further than your own circle of family and friends.
In Kristen Bassick’s case that inspiration was her children – or little “sprouts” as she likes to call them.
Kristen wanted to find a natural way to treat her kid’s persistent dry skin.
After throwing away money at products that didn’t work her husband urged her to start her own line of all natural kid’s skin care products 
Today Kristen is the proud owner of Stuff 4 Sprouts. Her company motto is to produce products with “Nothing weird. Nothing gross. Just good stuff for dry skin.”
I am particularly proud of Kristen because she attended one of my Work at What You Love workshops.
Take a moment to read this letter I received from Kristen and see what jumps out at you:
When I came to the seminar I was unhappy with my “job” and with an idea for a new business venture.
But I was terrified by the idea of building a “business” with employees, and a building, and a manufacturing site…and all that stuff that just seemed like more than I wanted to take on.
Sitting there listening to all of the stories of micro-business owners, who didn’t have a “job” and didn’t have what I had initially thought that a “business” would need to be, opened my eyes to what was possible.
I launched my company after two years of putting all of the pieces into place.
Manufacturing is outsourced, distribution will be soon. I work from my home office, available for all of the things in my actual life that demand my presence.
I was lucky to be on the receiving end of a well-timed downsizing/ severance at my corporate job and now have the chance to move Stuff for Sprouts to the next level. Life is good and my new jobless job is so completely cool I just had to share!
Got “Grass Is Greener” Syndrome?
There’s nothing safer than staying miserably where you are.
And, one of the best ways to play it safe is to come up with a litany of excuses about why dream making is always “easier” for the next person.
I call it the “Grass is Always Greener” Syndrome.
For instance, did you zero in on the line about Kristen’s well-timed severance package and thought…
“Hey, I could start my own business too if I had money coming in from a severance package!”
If so, did you also see the line about spending two years putting all the pieces into place?
I’ve worked with my share of desperate people who received a full year – sometimes two – of unemployment checks.
They had income and they had all the time in the world to find and launch a business idea.
But instead they waited until they had just one month of severance pay to act. 
Then they called me in full out panic to schedule a Find My Perfect Business session, terrified they were going to have to find another mind-numbing j-o-b.
There are plenty of other people out there with either the time or the money to start their own thing.
But because they are too afraid… or they lack confidence… or they don’t know where to begin, or all of the above, they do nothing.
Kristen did something. And so can you.
As the American judge who served as the first United States Secretary of Education Shirley Hufstedler once said, “If you play it safe in life, you’ve decided that you don’t want to grow anymore.”
If you are tired of coming up with reasons why you can’t leave your safe but ultimately soul-sucking job then do something about it.
When you finally do get the entrepreneurial ball rolling, you’ll find it’s hard to stop.
Besides, as Hufstedler put it, “Security is not the meaning of my life. Great opportunities are worth the risks.”
Tomorrow I’m offering a free informational Webinar called Paid to Brainstorm: Why Helping People Think Outside the Job Box is the Next Big Wave.
If you…
- Are you a creative problem solver who instinctively jumps in to help others?
- Are you always turning other people on to resources they never knew existed?
- Do you constantly think up potential business ideas?
- Do you love thinking creatively and “outside of the box”?
If you answered YES to any of these questions, I urge you to join me and the 430 people (and counting) who have already registered.
The webinar is free, but you do need to register. Then look for an email about your free gift just for showing up!
Your Story Matters
Is the “Grass Is Always Greener” Syndrome undermining your dream? If so, how? Share your story in the comments below!
