The Introduction of the Concept Lifestyle Careers

The idea that you can create work around your lifestyle isn't new. 

According to the website job-hunt.org, "A lifestyle career is first and foremost, about generating income in a meaningful way that is compatible with your personal lifestyle goals. Prime candidates for a lifestyle-friendly career include parents who want to work from home while raising children, baby boomers who still need to work but want to run their own show and professionals of all ages determined to escape the restraints of the conventional workplace in exchange for greater control over their personal life and career trajectory." 

It Isn't Easy

In order to be a success at creating a lifestyle career you must be driven, focused and organized. The first two attributes are inherent but the last one can be learned. 

Variety is the Spice of Life

Lifestyle Careers can come in many flavors such as:

• working from home for an employer
• working from home for yourself
• telecommuting
• working for yourself/location independent

In the next blog we will take a closer look at working from home for an employer and analyze the pros and cons for this type of lifestyle career. Be empowered, do what needs to be done to reach your goals and you will have success. What is your ideal lifestyle career?
Be Do Have!

Are You Productive or Just Busy?

According to an article in the SFGate, "productivity is what sets your career in motion." If that is true then what does being busy do for your career? Well....Nothing!

You see many of us (including myself) get caught in the trap of thinking that if we are doing something then we are being productive versus sitting and maybe watching television. But that couldn't be further from the truth. The proof is the pudding right? Whatever that means. :)

If we can see tangible results from our efforts that propel us to our career goals, i.e. a finished proposal for getting a new client, research that resulted in making a project that we were working on more effective then we can clearly see that we are being productive. 

How do you feel?

Usually after I complete a task that has led to a tangible result I "feel" great like a weight has been lifted off my shoulder. On the other hand when I am just clicking on my keyboard aimlessly and not getting anywhere fast I usually feel frustrated and overwhelmed. If you need help getting from being busy to being more productive check out Cathy Sexton's site: The Productivity Experts. She has some wonderful tips to help set you on the path to success. Please share how you feel when you are stuck in the land of being busy versus being productive and what are some things you do to get unstuck? Be Do Have!

I Don't Want To Grow Up!

Can you remember the jingle heard during christmas time from the toy store Toys R Us? "I don't wanna grow up I want to be a toys r us kid". Those were the days right? No responsibilities, no jobs you dislike and certainly no need to make life decisions. Life was simple. Go to school, go play, do homework, do chores, get allowance and go to sleep. Pretty darn nice. What happened to those good ole days?

Is the Kid in you gone?

When we were kids if someone asked us what we wanted to be when we grew up we certainly had a variety of answers that seem to change daily but each time we said them we believed them and we were so excited about them. The person would usually give us words of encouragement and off we went to work on our dreams. It might have sounded like: I would like to be a teacher, veterinarian and a singer. That was my go to answer. Somewhere along the way that kid started to get more and more quiet as life's adult demands began shouting louder in our ears. But the funny thing is that the kid that still wanted to be all those things never went away. We just pretended it did. 

Find your inner kid and ask him/her what would you like to be when you grow up and don't worry about the "how" or the "why". Just relax without limits and write down all that comes to mind, select tools to help you flesh out your ideas and then go be happy doing what you always wanted to do. You don't have to grow up and live a life less than is ideal if you don't want to. Please share what you want to be when you grow up with the community and inspire others.

Be Do Have!

Entrepreneur vs. Employee....which one are you?

So many of us have followed the tradional life path: graduate from highschool, go to college and graduate then find a "good" job and then settle into life's ebb and flow. There is nothing wrong with that unless you are an entrepreneurial type then that scenario could be very suffocating. It all works out seemingly fine until you get to the "working for other people" portion. So how do you know which situation works best for you. Let's do some analysis shall we.......

Entrepreneurs love & thrive on:

• constant change
• being in control of their own time
• building relationships with people
• working without constraints or limitations

Employees love & thrive on:

• Stabilitiy
• Structure
• Having a leader give them direction to carry out tasks
• Being acknowledged for their efforts

The contrast between the two are pretty stark and knowing which one you are will help you to be happy in your career and your life because in my opinion it all affects the other. Another note. You can have elements of both in your personality and that is cool too. This can lead you to finding a company to work for that champions the entrepreneurial spirit and creates a work environment that supports that. Think Zappos or Apple. And if that is true then it will help you tailor your career plans to go work for companies that are serious about workplace entrepreneurial culture versus just having it as a line within their mission statement. 

Entrepreneur Only

But if you are truly a lone wolf and like working in that fashion then nothing will satisfy you but being the captain of your own ship. You will not be happy until you go create something that has your personal stamp on it. 

It pays to do some soul searching and figure this out about yourself so that you can move ahead in your career. Take a moment to think about which title best desribes you and share your comments below. 

Be Do Have!

It's O.k. to be AFRAID!

Are you tired of being sick and tired? Are you afraid to do anything that would shake up your comfortable "lifestyle" that you have created? Are you happy with how you spend your hours each day or are you watching the clock waiting for the day to be over so you can go do your "side hustle"? Well read on future entrepreneur.

Just in case you didn't notice there is a new world out there filled with people just like you who got fed up with the 9-5 norm. These inspiring minds decided that life would be a bit more interesting if they were able to be their own boss and put their stamp on the world. I have listened to many podcast on John Lee Duma's show Entrepreneur On Fire and the one theme that seems to be the common thread is how each guest has overcome their fear of pursuing their dream as an entrepreneur and how happy they are that they felt the fear but did it anyway. They all are everyday normal joes and janes that took a look at themselves and said I want more and went out to accomplish that. Are you tired enough to make a change? Be Do Have!

Are You a Dreamer?

Being a dreamer in and of itself is not a bad thing. Hey you have to start somewhere right? But a dream with no movement attached to it equals complacency. According to Shondra Rhimes the creator of popular shows such as Scandal & Grey's Anatomy being a doer is how you make your "dreams" come to fruition. In the commencement speech she gave to the Dartmouth Class of 2014 she explained how just dreaming and not taking action led her to living in her sister's basement. It wasn't until she took tangible steps toward what she wanted that her world changed and the life she "dreamed" of came to light and probably went beyond her wildest dreams. So how do you get from where you are right now to where you would like to be in your career? Get fired up and take action right now. Not later after your favorite show is done. Not after you have met your friends for happy hour to talk about how much you hate your job. Right now is a good time to get started.  Some ways that I took action was to read Dan Miller's book 48days to the work you love, created a financial budget using the principles in Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace Classes and started listening to 8 podcast per day (this is the truth) that helped me to develop my mind as an entrepreneur and leader. Do you have other ideas on how you can take action today to turn your dreams into your reality? Be Do Have!

What's Love Got to Do With It!

Do you wake up in a cold sweat panic on Sunday nights because you know that Monday is gonna bring the pain of going to a job and doing work that you don't like? Well if so read on....

So the facts are the facts. We all need money to eat, sleep well and have peace of mind. But the type of work we do and the level of satisfaction we get from it is equally important. According to the late Steve Jobs he stated, "You have got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, And the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." We all know how well that worked out for him. So give it a try. Stop telling yourself what you can't do or what you have to do and start telling yourself what you can do and what you would like to do.  Be Do Have!

No Guts No Glory!

The term no guts no glory seems like a popular thing to say when you're trying to perservere but you're running out of steam. What does it REALLY mean? In my opinion it means to continue running the marathon even when you feel your legs are going to give out or doing one more thing toward your goal even when you feel like you are going to fall out. In the end if you don't push yourself beyond your comfort zone you are almost guaranteed to never move beyond where you are right now. The choice is always your own. Be Do Have!