I've been talking and writing about people doing what they love and creating a business from that for a lot of years now - more than a decade.
When I first started, I got my share of puzzled looks. People seemed to like what I had to say, but there wasn't yet a mainstream awareness of these ideas. I got my NLP facilitator certification at that time, long before "life coaching" had become popular, and before so many people became disillusioned with corporate life and needed support in learning more about themselves and what they really want to experience and uniquely express in their lives and in their careers.
Over those years, I've explored various ways to follow my own passion and be paid for it. My highest value is freedom, and I've found ways to be self-employed, use my talents, and work with awesome people that I have respected and enjoyed, while continuing to learn and grow and work from pretty much anywhere I've chosen to be in the world.
It hasn't always been easy, and I've made my share of mistakes (the story of pretty much every successful enterepreneur ever), but it was more important for me to be free and live life on my own terms than to ever work for someone else again.
For a long time, it was a fairly isolated road. Then I realized there were more and more people just like me, who've been on this kind of path for a lot of years already, doing their best to be true to themselves and the vision that kept pulling them forward even when it was challenging to stay the course.
Now we've got people leaving corporate life in droves, and scores of authors and speakers and trainers and coaches and entrepreneurs who've made the transition from high-paying, high-powered corporate jobs successfully, and whose knowledge, experience and practical skills have been sought out, and for which they are paid handsomely.
We've never been taught the first thing about how to actually navigate a rapidly changing world where a college degree and a title after your name doesn't guarantee anything anymore, and what kind of lessons will need to be learned when navigating your own course.
Now we've got books like:
- Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Enterpreneur, by Pam Slim
- Career Renegade: How to Make Great Money Doing What You Love, by Jonathan Fields
- Why Now is the Time to Crush It: Cash in on Your Passion, by Gary Vaynerchuk
- The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World by Chris Guillebeau
And we've got blogs like:
- The Middle Finger Project: Bye Bye Corporate. Hello Entrepreneur, by Ashley Ambirge http://www.themiddlefingerproject.org/
- Alexis Neely: Life, Business and the Pursuit of Truth
http://www.alexismartinneely.com/
- Danielle LaPorte: White Hot Truth
http://whitehottruth.com
- Marie Forleo: Where Women Entrepreneurs Live Rich, Happy and Hot
http://marieforleo.com/
These are just a few, there are so many more. And what's amazing about these authors and coaches and bloggers is that many are serious business people leading an entire movement of thousands, and tens of thousands, and, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of people - huge followings - while getting some serious media coverage.
When I first started, I got my share of puzzled looks. People seemed to like what I had to say, but there wasn't yet a mainstream awareness of these ideas. I got my NLP facilitator certification at that time, long before "life coaching" had become popular, and before so many people became disillusioned with corporate life and needed support in learning more about themselves and what they really want to experience and uniquely express in their lives and in their careers.
Over those years, I've explored various ways to follow my own passion and be paid for it. My highest value is freedom, and I've found ways to be self-employed, use my talents, and work with awesome people that I have respected and enjoyed, while continuing to learn and grow and work from pretty much anywhere I've chosen to be in the world.
It hasn't always been easy, and I've made my share of mistakes (the story of pretty much every successful enterepreneur ever), but it was more important for me to be free and live life on my own terms than to ever work for someone else again.
For a long time, it was a fairly isolated road. Then I realized there were more and more people just like me, who've been on this kind of path for a lot of years already, doing their best to be true to themselves and the vision that kept pulling them forward even when it was challenging to stay the course.
Now we've got people leaving corporate life in droves, and scores of authors and speakers and trainers and coaches and entrepreneurs who've made the transition from high-paying, high-powered corporate jobs successfully, and whose knowledge, experience and practical skills have been sought out, and for which they are paid handsomely.
We've never been taught the first thing about how to actually navigate a rapidly changing world where a college degree and a title after your name doesn't guarantee anything anymore, and what kind of lessons will need to be learned when navigating your own course.
Now we've got books like:
- Escape from Cubicle Nation: From Corporate Prisoner to Thriving Enterpreneur, by Pam Slim
- Career Renegade: How to Make Great Money Doing What You Love, by Jonathan Fields
- Why Now is the Time to Crush It: Cash in on Your Passion, by Gary Vaynerchuk
- The Art of Non-Conformity: Set Your Own Rules, Live the Life You Want, and Change the World by Chris Guillebeau
And we've got blogs like:
- The Middle Finger Project: Bye Bye Corporate. Hello Entrepreneur, by Ashley Ambirge http://www.themiddlefingerproject.org/
- Alexis Neely: Life, Business and the Pursuit of Truth
http://www.alexismartinneely.com/
- Danielle LaPorte: White Hot Truth
http://whitehottruth.com
- Marie Forleo: Where Women Entrepreneurs Live Rich, Happy and Hot
http://marieforleo.com/
These are just a few, there are so many more. And what's amazing about these authors and coaches and bloggers is that many are serious business people leading an entire movement of thousands, and tens of thousands, and, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of people - huge followings - while getting some serious media coverage.
Many others do not come from corporate backgrounds, but have also successfully navigated the transition from traditional 9-5 work to creating something original and valuable to the world and uniquely suited to them, while making a significant, positive impact on others in a way that changes lives.
There are no barriers anymore for anyone who wants to carve their own path, make a difference in the world AND make a great living from it. Technology has removed all barriers to entry. You've got something to say? Start a blog. It's practically free, and you can positively influence a huge number of people with your message. If you're saying something that strikes a chord with people, the word will spread. Sometimes incredibly fast.
Something's been shifting and changing for a bunch of years now, but there's something different about 2011. I feel like there's some kind of critical mass happening, and some extraordinary things are poised to occur in this arena of the new and rapidly evolving relationship between work and money...how we can love our work, design it to suit who we are at the deepest levels and the kind of lifestyle we want, impact people powerfully with it, and be financially well-supported at the same time.
I'll be doing some cool new things in 2011 because it's finally time. I don't get quizzical looks anymore like I used to when I talk about the topics that I'm most passionate about. There are enough people now that the vision I've held for quite a few years already can finally start to manifest. There are more people than ever to play with in this arena and technology is helping us find each other. Everything is lining up in its right timing.
There are no barriers anymore for anyone who wants to carve their own path, make a difference in the world AND make a great living from it. Technology has removed all barriers to entry. You've got something to say? Start a blog. It's practically free, and you can positively influence a huge number of people with your message. If you're saying something that strikes a chord with people, the word will spread. Sometimes incredibly fast.
Something's been shifting and changing for a bunch of years now, but there's something different about 2011. I feel like there's some kind of critical mass happening, and some extraordinary things are poised to occur in this arena of the new and rapidly evolving relationship between work and money...how we can love our work, design it to suit who we are at the deepest levels and the kind of lifestyle we want, impact people powerfully with it, and be financially well-supported at the same time.
I'll be doing some cool new things in 2011 because it's finally time. I don't get quizzical looks anymore like I used to when I talk about the topics that I'm most passionate about. There are enough people now that the vision I've held for quite a few years already can finally start to manifest. There are more people than ever to play with in this arena and technology is helping us find each other. Everything is lining up in its right timing.
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