What will you do? Is it time to make your move?

Is it time to make your move?  Are you ready?  Do you have a plan?  Have you gone over your plan with a fine-toothed comb to make sure that your chances for success are reasonable?

What are you talking about Bob?  What move?

Well, I am talking about taking your career into your own hands.  Most who are reading this article work for somebody else.  They have a job.  They may even hate their job, but it brings in money.  Some who read this have no job, nor do they have any other source of income, they are unemployed.  There is a lot of that going around these days, unfortunately.

So, the move I am talking about is taking responsibility for your own living, instead of relying on somebody who “gave you a job.”  Make your own job.  Create your own work.  Is it easy?  No, it’s not.  Nothing that is worthwhile in life is easy.  In the long run, though, it is rewarding and worth the hard times that you must endure making it happen.  Believe me, I know, because I did it.

If you currently have a job, you are lucky.  You can continue working while you build up your own way to make a living.  You can keep your income rolling while you plan, and begin to implement that plan.  On the other hand, if you are currently working, you also have a bit of a disadvantage.  Fear.  Yes, fear is something that will hold you back, and create a disadvantage in your life.

What do I mean about fear holding you back?  Well, if you currently have a job, no matter how much you want to create something of your own, no matter how much success you can build up before quitting your job, you will always fear to quit, and that will hold you back from doing it.  It is not easy to walk away from a guaranteed income, even if the guarantee is not forever.  If somebody is providing you an income in exchange for your efforts that you give to them, it will never be easy to walk away and forge your own path.

If you are unemployed, you have a bit of a built-in advantage.  It sounds strange to say that being unemployed can be an advantage, but in a way, it can.  You see, you may not be hungry yet, but you fear that the day is coming when you won’t have food or a house to live in.  You fear that you soon will not be able to keep your family living a good life.  That fear is not holding you back, as fear holds back the person who has a job.  No, for the person who needs an income, but has no job, his fear will drive him to succeed.  You know that you have to work fast to make money to keep your family living a decent life.

Basically, if you have no job, you have a few different choices:

1.  Accept help from others.  Maybe this would be unemployment benefits or other government benefits.  Those run out after time, though.  Maybe this means accepting help from family or friends.  That’s great, but friends and family may tire of helping you over time.
2. Go find a job.  These days, finding a job may not be so easy.  Lots of people are looking for jobs, but many companies are still reducing their workforce.
3. Start your own business.  I know, you are thinking that you don’t have a big pile of money, and that is what you need to start your own business.  These days, that is not the case.  You can start a business with $100 or even less!  I have started businesses for $100 that have earned me over $1,000,000 over the past 10 years.  Not a bad investment, huh?  You can do it too, but only if you try.

What if you are working already?  Doesn’t that mean that you should just keep working and making that income?  Well, I don’t think so.  I always remember something that a mentor of mine told me back when I was 15 years old.  He said:

Bob, you will never reach your full potential if you are working for somebody else.

He was right.  As long as you are working for an employer, they will always put limits on what you can do.  Even if you are the CEO of a company, the board or the stockholders can limit what you can do.  If you are working for yourself, only you can decide what those limits are.  That means that you are at the height of your potential.

These days, unemployment is high.  A lot of companies are even announcing that they plan to reduce their workforce further.  Things may get worse before they get better.  So, is it time to make your move?  If you are already out of work, it’s definitely time to get your own thing going.  If you have a job right now, there is no better time to get moving.  Firstly, you can’t know for sure how much longer you will continue to have a job.  Secondly, you will always be best off if you can create your own work.

Just do it!