Today is the first day of the rest of your life. Make it count

Recently I read a sad but interesting story about how so many people go to their graves with their music still in them. In other words they never realised their full potential or developed their unique gifts to contribute and share with the world. And it got me thinking. To begin with, if I were to look back over my schooling (and I'm not attributing blame here), discussing and preparing for life ahead never got a mention.

I accept schooling prepares students by following a certain curriculum, to prepare for further education. But somewhere in between these two places decisions need to be made to form a direction in life.

For some, a clear path is immediately evident, but for others (the majority) more thought is required. Again at no particular point was the subject of one's future discussed, or any of the milestones along the way come to that, like marriage, children, savings (heaven forbid!), a pension, career advancement or increasing one's value (by the way, I recommend Earl Nightingale's program 'Lead The Field' which will save you years of work.)

Who Needs Experience

To make matters worse and to provide some form of evidence here, we often hear about the increasing numbers of young people who leave further education with few chances of work. The often fall prey to any old job which pays because they don't have the experience for the job they really want. The paradox is one where the job in question requires the applicant to have experience where no experience is possible without the job.

It might be a better idea to decide what one wants from life first. Then develop a plan around how best to achieve it. Again, doesn't get a mention. What we see all too often are talented young people with desire and aspiration who settle for any job to gain 'experience' even though the 'job' often doesn't match their God given talents or aspirations. It's right here that the soft furrow of a future rut develops! 

How Many Careers Have You Had So Far?

It's common for most of us to pass through at least seven (yes, seven) different careers during our working lives - not jobs, careers! Is this a good sign do you think? I mean, we do change over time - our goals, our aspirations. Are we then a square peg in a round hole for most of our working lives? (refer back to my first point at the beginning of this article) And what do we do? We complain. How do I know all this? Because this was me.

How Happy Are You

Let me ask you a question; How many people do you know or at least think there are, who are unhappy in their work? Let me put it another way; how many people do you know who are happy in their work? I can't think of more than a few. Can you? 

Maybe this accounts for the startling results from a recent Harris Poll which states that 72% of American households are considering starting a home based business.

For more on this click on this link and watch this short video which explains why we should be pursuing a career which brings us joy.
 
Nowadays it's easy to set our sights a little low, especially with today's social pressures, unemployment etc, as it appears to be easier than holding out for the work we want right? But what about those God given talents each of us possess - you know, the ones which keep reminding us gently in the background about what we should be doing. 

Responsibility - That Word Again

Isn't it about time we sat up and took notice and responsibility for the results which are now our lives? Allow me to quote the great George Zalucki:

"If you do not take responsibility for being alive, if you do not take responsibility for developing the gifts that you have, if you do not take responsibility for contributing to the rest of humanity, in each of those areas to the degree that you do not take responsibility, to that degree you shall trade off the quality of your life." 

Wow. Read that again just to be sure you've got it. Now if we take a good, hard look at our own lives we find, in some cases, that we have indeed sold ourselves short and aimed far below that which we should have. But there is a silver lining to this story.

Are You One of The 224 Million?

If we go back to the 72% of Americans looking to start their own business survey, let's look in more detail at those numbers; it shows us that from a population of over 311 million (July 2011), approx 224 million people are unhappy with their current work. Wow. More importantly, that same number want to do something about it - and that's just the USA! That's the good news. People are waking up and saying "Enough is enough, I want to make a difference and develop the gifts that I have and reap the benefits of the seeds I have sown." Amen to that. 

Like-Minded People Support

But what do you do if you happen to be one of the 224 million looking to start your own work from home business? I've found the best place to start without question is within a community of like-minded individuals supporting each other to succeed. In those early days, a support network is vital - ask any coach. These are people who all started from the same point and learned the skills necessary to build a real business according to their skills, their talents and their abilities - not someone else's idea of success.

Discover the bad news and the good news before you consider any type of home based business to give yourself the best chance of success.

After all, the clock is ticking!