My current coaching clients are all in the process of becoming self employed. They’re excited (and so am I). And they’re thinking about how to creatively make money doing what they love. Are you considering becoming a “free agent?” If so, here are some questions to ask yourself:
What topics/subjects really interest me?
How could I be paid to inform people about this interest?
How could I be paid to provide people with a service related to this interest?
How could I be paid to perform this interest for other people?
How could I be paid to create products related to this interest?
How could I be paid to assist people who are focused on this interest?
How could I be paid to learn more about this interest?
You may find that you have several interests. And if that’s the case you may want to pursue more than one. Imagine if you could live 5 different lives and in each you get to go deeply into different interests. Here’s my list (you can have more or less than 5 if you like!): I’d be a writer, traveler/tour guide, teacher, sex therapist, and singer. How can you indulge in all your interests in one lifetime? You can pursue your interests sequentially –doing one a time for a period of time. You can do some of them simultaneously. You may work on them in alternate blocks of time -6 months a year on one, 6 months on another. And, sometimes you can combine interests. For example, I may choose to combine my love of travel with writing and be paid for travel articles.
I’ve noticed that my clients tend to focus on their “options” and that these options are limited by their previous experience. Instead, I invite you to ask “What is possible?” You may want to have this conversation with another person to help expand your “possibility” thinking. Please know that you absolutely can earn money by providing value –not time.
As you begin this exploration, fear will most likely creep in. The best antidote for that is to remind yourself that you can only live one day at a time. Don’t try to forecast too far out in the future. You can take a step today towards fulfilling work and that step may lead you to a very unexpected, exciting place that you could never have foreseen. Just keep taking steps and moving forward.
If you’d like to do some of your exploration with a supportive group, join me for a gifted teleworkshop Noble Purpose: Igniting Extraordinary Passion for Life and Work. It will change your life. Register here:
www.authenticlifeinstitute.com/noblepurpose.htm
Ann Ronan, founder of Authentic Life Institute, a virtual community that reaches people internationally, has successfully guided hundreds of professionals through career changes – providing direction, clarity, confidence and caring as they work through the sometimes bewildering process of career transition. Her clients include professionals wanting to make a satisfying career change, solo-entrepreneurs wanting to grow their businesses, and organizations who wish to retain their most valuable resource – their employees.
She holds a doctorate degree in Adult Education and completed Master Career Coach training through the Career Coach Institute. She is a former staff member of Brown University in Providence, RI and current faculty member of Loma Linda University in Southern California. Ann co-authored When Work Isn’t Working: Spirituality in the Workplace 101 and Work as a Spiritual Path and has been a featured speaker at hundreds of local, regional and national conferences, as well as a guest on numerous television and radio shows.