Want to Work for Yourself? Those Dream Jobs Don't Just Happen, They're Created - Get Articles by Valerie Young |  |
> Get Articles > Job and Career > Want to Work for Yourself? Those Dream Jobs Don't Just Happen, They're Created Want to Work for Yourself? Those Dream Jobs Don't Just Happen, They're Created Download as PDFValerie Young ltarrantchangingcourse.com ChangingCourse.com http://www.changingcourse.com Want to Work for Yourself? Those Dream Jobs Don't Just Happen, They're Created By, Valerie Young While traveling in northern California last October, I happened to tune into a local newscast. The newscaster was telling his co-anchor that the speaker at that morning's Rotary Club meeting had to cut his presentation short because he was being flown down to Disneyland to carve elaborate Halloween pumpkins for the park festivities. The newscaster wrapped up the story with the familiar quip, "Nice work if you can get it." He got the first part right. For a creative kid-at-heart, being a professional pumpkin carver is a dream come true. It was his serendipitous "if you can get it" thinking that missed the mark. The fact is, people rarely "get" great work; they create it! Despite all the emphasis on growth in the "job sector" I am continually amazed at just how many fascinating alternatives there are to the whole 9-to-5 schtick. And just as traditional job seekers can't wait around for "Mr. Job" to knock on the door, people who want to do satisfying work -- and call their own shots -- need to be proactive as well. Francis Bacon defined a wise man as one who "makes more opportunities than he finds." Here's a couple of other wise entrepreneurs who made it by going for it. Sports-lover Don Shoenewald was just 18 when he went to the Philadelphia Eagles management wearing a homemade Eagle costume and asking for a mascot job. They weren't interested. Undaunted, Shoenewald kept showing up at Eagles football games. Pretty soon the fans adopted him as the unofficial (meaning, "unpaid") mascot. Thirteen paid team mascot jobs, four mascot character creations (including ones for the New Jersey Devils and the San Jose Sharks), and 18 years later, Shoenewald started Mascot Mania, the only professional training school for mascots in the world. Despite what your high school guidance counselor might have told you, showing up invited in a bird costume isn't the only route to self-employment. For Dan Zawacki it all began when he was working as a sales rep for Honeywell and decided to give away 120 live lobsters as gifts to his customers. Dan was so bowled over by the response that he decided to open a small side business shipping live lobsters complete with pot, crackers, butter and bibs to crustacean-lovers from coast-to-coast. That is until his boss heard him pitching Lobster Gram, Inc. on a local radio station and promptly fired him. In the beginning, Dan worked out of his bedroom, storing his lobsters in a used tank in his father's garage. His first year he netted only $4,000. Ten years later, his company sells about 9,000 lobster packages a year for $99 plus shipping. All and all, not a bad tale. If you dream of making the transition from employee to self-bosser, the first thing you need to do is belief that you can. Then, the next time you see some entrepreneur doing what they love, try thinking: "Nice work - now, all I have to do is get it! Right livelihood consultant, Valerie Young (mailto:vyoungchangingcourse.com) is the Dreamer in Residence at http://www.changingcourse.com , an on-line resource for people who want to discover their life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, The Guardian (London), The Edmonton Sun, The Chicago Sun Times, The Dallas Morning News, The Boston Globe, Redbook, Reader’s Digest, and Entrepreneur’s Business Start-Ups. She is an internationally known speaker and workshop leader. Over 20,000 have attended her program on Overcoming the Impostor Syndrome (http://www.impostorsyndrome.com). How useful did you find this article? This article can be downloaded freely from http://www.get-articles.com and used on your website or in your ezine so long as the author is credited and their resource box left intact. You should not change any links in the article, and where the article is used on a website it's links should be clickable. Please see our terms and conditions page for more information: http://www.get-articles.com/authors-publishers-terms.php |
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