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Take Tough Times as a Gift.

Scrounging through lean periods can be the key to your business success.

How do you make ends meet when you have no steady salary? If you’re like I was when I first opened my business, I had no source of income. There were many months when my family and I honestly had no clue how we were going to make it. My ego suffered terribly. I could not sleep properly and developed symptoms of stress.

So I learned to double up and scrounge. I grabbed opportunities and ran with them, even when it had nothing to do with my career goals, even when I thought it did not pay me what I was worth, and even if it looked small and insignificant. When I said Yes, all kinds of doors opened up.

What if you are offered a chance to do something and you feel it does not fit into your career plans? Go for it. Life is one big adventure, and you will find out what you can do and how much people will appreciate it.

In the lean times I had no choice but to scrounge. I linked up with some recruiters and worked as a “temp” during the day. This ensured I could pay my rent and eat. We always managed somehow, thanks to my recruiting friends. They always had some place to put me, and paid me immediately.

Sometimes I would be working as a temp while also working on a contract for my own business. My client would call and leave a message on my voice mail, and I would call them during a coffee break. They had no idea where I was, and didn’t care. All they cared about was getting good service, knowing they were getting their money’s worth. If there were meetings, I would simply make sure it was okay with my employer du jour and there was never a problem. And I would do most of my written tasks in the evening or on weekends.

It was like living a double life. But what did it matter? You do what you have to do. By day, stuff envelopes for a trust company on Wellington Street at $12 per hour. By night, develop an entire form letter package of 100 letters for a national bank for $15,000. The day job takes a week and ensures you get fed next week. The night job is a step towards financial independence, even though it takes three months to complete.

The first time I found myself “temping,” my recruiter found me a little job working for a small non-profit organization that provides arts opportunities for inner-city kids. My job was to help insert names and phone numbers into her new database. Not exactly the ideal job for a communications consultant. It pulled in $10 per hour while my professional job pulled in $60.

Jane already had a writer for her guides and course catalogs, but they weren’t sitting in her office plunking away at her Macintosh and saving her time and bringing her coffee from across the street. And she probably didn’t enjoy conversation with them too much either. She and I engaged in silly banter that had both of us doubled over with laughter. Why wouldn’t she hire me? All I had to do was tell her what I do for a living. True to my broader experience, she actually tried to think up ways to use me.

Within one month she had hired me to completely revise and design her organization’s catalog of courses. Years later when I was still providing services for the Angels, I turned around and hired her to help me with one of my projects. She then asked me to help her with some consulting projects she was working on for a hospital. It’s always a pleasure to work with her because of her skill and knowledge as an organizer and director.

While you double up and scrounge, never lose sight of your vision, your expertise, your specialty, your value. Never compromise your professional ideals. Move with the assurance that your destiny and visions are already yours, and your chief joy is watching them come true.

With Jane, for instance, I was working under her direction as a temporary assistant. Entering name after name on her database and occasionally answering her phone, I paid careful attention to the task at hand as if drafting legislation for Congress, applying the same ideals of excellent customer service and top quality work that I would as a consultant. At the end of the day I put on my consultant hat and she worked under my direction. We sat down and discussed the catalog she had to print, and how we would revise the next year’s version.

When you act as if you’re already there, you’re not faking it. You’re simply being yourself and taking full ownership of success before it has materialized. When you do this, people will admire and respect you. Be prepared for this, and don’t reject it when it comes. It may astonish you.

While working on-site one day for another client, I felt exhausted. It was boring, and hardly maximized my skills, but I desperately needed the money and the client. It was my only active project for the entire quarter, and I hardly had two pennies to rub together. I had called our landlord that morning to ask for a couple more days of grace.

Was my desperation obvious to my client? Apparently not. While I was working in a small room, one of the employees walked in. Closing the door behind her, she acted humble and nervous as she proceeded to whisper her qualifications and ask if she could become a member of my team.

I listened carefully. She was working very hard to impress me. I knew how much she admired her current manager, and how devoted she was to her job. I also knew how good she was. In a few short weeks, she had taught me volumes about training and technical details. She was a master of her art, and a lot of fun to work with. In her large corporation she had a full-time salary and benefits.

“Laurie, I was wondering if your company has any openings.”

You might say this was one of life’s little staged comedies. It was a phenomenal ego boost. She had associated my professionalism and confidence with business success, and wanted to be a part of it.

“Ha ha! Me? You want a job with me? You’ve got to be kidding! I can’t even pay myself!”

No, I didn’t say that. I responded with full appreciation. “I’m honored, Petra. Truly honored. You are the best in your field, and you consider me to be a worthy colleague. That makes me feel like a million bucks. I wish I had a full-time salary and benefits for you, but I could never give you the stability you have with this firm, and you deserve it. With my company, you’d be living on the wire. Not many people can deal with that.”

Her face clouded over. She was truly disappointed. I, for one, left the office that afternoon with a new skip in my step. Little did I know it was simply the portent of future success.

Scrounging for your meal is not the key to success. That’s the key to survival. The key to success is staying open to opportunities, like the one with Jane. Look at every new relationship a gateway. Stay open. Watch and learn. Engage people. Ask questions and listen carefully. Get to know people. Share jokes and meals. Buy them a coffee and a muffin. Let them buy you a coffee and a muffin, and respond to their needs. Never close any doors.

What happens if, one rainy Sunday in March, somebody calls you out of the blue and offers you the kind of position you’ve been waiting for? What happens if you meet someone who happens to know someone who thinks they want to talk to you? What happens if you see an ad in the paper that seems to be written just for you?

Because it is going to happen.

You have a choice. You can dismiss it as nonsense and repeat, “Oh, that’s just a dream,” or you can grab it.

If you grab it, you’re grabbing what’s already yours. That’s what visions are: windows to your own destiny. And when the path in the road widens, and a gate opens to get you closer to its manifestation, you want to be ready for it. Don’t be afraid of it: it’s all yours.

If you are offered an opportunity, what is your response? Do any of these sound familiar?

“Oh, I would love to do that for you. It comes so naturally to me, and I am so good at it. But I couldn’t accept money for it. I couldn’t do it for a living.”

Why not?

“Oh, you know, it’s too risky.”

Compared to what?

“Oh, I don’t know. I wouldn’t know where to start.”

Start with your first customer.

“But I wouldn’t know what to charge them.”

What would you pay for the same job?

“I don’t know.”

Could you find out?

“I suppose I could, but — well — I just don’t feel right accepting money for something that comes so easy.”

That’s what making a living is all about.

And on it goes. What is it that makes us hedge around looking for reasons not to do something we love? And not to make a living of it?

If it comes easy to you, if it’s your talent and your passion, hobby, pastime: never give up. Sure, take something in a pinch to tide you over. Even accept a job you hate, just so you can survive. Do whatcha gotta do, but consider everything a step on the path towards true fulfillment.

Never lose sight of that elusive picture, that fleeting glimpse of yourself in all your glory. Strut your stuff and grab the gold.

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