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Issue 146 |
August 3, 2006 |
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Prefer the text version? Change Your Subscription
Changing Course is dedicated to helping you: ~Live Life on Purpose ~Work at What You Love ~Follow Your Own Road | |
Inside Today's Issue Are Successful People Really Luckier? You Bet They Are Free Online Success Seminar Offer |
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Recreation and Creation
Recreation means to
"re-create." And that’s exactly what I’ll be doing the last two weeks of
August while lounging on the banks of a peaceful lake in New Hampshire.
Lisa, on the other hand, will be spending summer’s end a little differently
but far more importantly. Mid-August, Lisa will be experiencing the final
push as it were in the creation of her first child – a baby girl. I know you
all join me in wishing soon to be new parents Lisa and Mark well.
So have a
great rest of the summer and (or for my friends south of the equator,
winter) and look for the next issue of Changing Course in early September! |
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Opportunity Knocks
Are Successful People Really
Luckier?
By Valerie Young When Stephen Fofanoff and Chris Warnock needed a Chief Financial Officer (CFO) willing to work on an equity basis to help them take their fledging design consulting business, A Designer’s Eye (ADesignersEye.com), to the next level, they came up with a novel approach – they advertised on Craig’s List (CraigsList.com). Nearly three dozen people responded. The applicant they decided to go with is a former CFO for a major corporation who left to start his own highly successful software business. With his own company in maintenance mode, the guy was just looking for a challenge. This guy didn’t need the money. But what would compel all of the other applicants to line up to work for free? Because by helping Chris and Stephen locate investors and otherwise handle the financial aspects of rolling out a national franchise, these enterprising CFOs hope to ultimately be rewarded with a future share of company profits. In other words, instead of investing money they’re investing their time. I first heard this story at the Work at What You Love workshop in Ventura where Stephen spoke as part of our Inspired Entrepreneurs panel. Seeking people to help you grow your business on an equity basis is interesting in and of itself. But I was equally fascinated that they thought to advertise for a CFO on Craig’s List. I thought it was simply brilliant. Apparently though, not everyone looked at it this way. One of the participants remarked on her evaluation that she didn’t find Stephen’s talk as beneficial as the other panelist’s because in her words, he "got lucky." Serendipity emerged as a theme once again the following month at the Madison workshop. This time though, it was the panelist himself who described his success in terms of "luck." Despite a life-long love for magic, Tom Krzystof (TKMagic.com) followed the conventional career path by working for major companies like Mediatech and FedEx while continuing to pursue his passion for magic on the side. This included spending two and a half years leaving his day job to perform magic at a local restaurant. One day a patron approached him about doing some work for Chef Boyardee. Tom was indifferent about the travel involved so he says he decided to turn the offer down by by requesting what he thought to be an exorbitantly high fee. Much to his surprise, the food exec thought it was a great deal and so off Tom went on a grueling, but highly profitable, multi-city tour. Whenever Tom talked about this turning point in his magic career he’d say "after the Chef Boyardee deal fell in my lap." While most of the attendees nodded in agreement, I knew something else was going on. I knew because I, too, got "lucky." When I first started publishing the pre-internet version of Changing Course in 1995 it was a hardcopy publication. Subscribers paid $29 for six issues that arrived via the good old U.S. Postal Service. The newsletter was eight pages long and took a fair amount of work to put together. I’d attracted a few hundred subscribers but certainly not enough to pay the bills. I was close to folding the newsletter when suddenly I was flooded with orders. In three days I made $5,000. At $29 per subscription that’s a lot of subscriptions! What’s Luck Got to Do, Got to Do With It? What was going on here!? I learned from a customer who phoned in his subscription that I was somehow featured on MSN.com. MSN!? Wow! How did I end up on MSN? By the time I logged onto this mega site, the link was gone. It was a mystery. Then the next month, the same thing happened, but this time I jumped onto MSN.com where I saw a link that said "Work at what you love." Imagine my surprise when the link led to an article I’d submitted two years earlier to CareerBuilder.com. When readers got to the end of the article, they found a link to my website and ultimately the order page. The CareerBuilder connection came about as a result of a letter I wrote to an editor. I pointed out that some of their readers may be interested in career paths other than the traditional job route and volunteered to provide some articles. Since I wasn’t asking to be paid, he said sure. At first I was diligent about sending in articles once a month. As things got busy in my own work life, my submissions trailed off to whenever I got around to it. In the meantime, and totally unbeknownst to me, CareerBuilder had partnered with MSN. So I called the editor and suggested a more formal arrangement. On top of selling a ton of subscriptions, he agreed to pay me $400 for a monthly article. I was getting paid to market my own newsletter! Sweet. About a year later though, MSN dropped CareerBuilder and partnered instead with Monster.com. Someone bought CareerBuilder and fired most of their staff. The party was over, but it was great while it lasted and gave me the financial foundation I needed to keep going. When I’d tell friends the story of how the MSN/CareerBuilder partnership totally transformed my business they’d always say the same thing – "you’re so lucky." That got me thinking. Are people who work at what they love just somehow luckier than the rest of us? Or might something else be happing here? During Tom’s stint in the restaurant business he also picked up five other corporate clients. I talked to Stephen today and I’m not at liberty to share the latest news but suffice it to say if things work out, it will be BIG. (I’ll keep you posted.) So how did Tom really land the Chef Boyardee gig and his five corporate clients, or Stephen and Chris get their CFO, or I profit from the CareerBuilder/MSN deal? In each case, success came down not to luck but to three simple things: Being willing to invest time into honing our respective crafts, taking the initiative, and opening our mouths to ask for what we wanted. Is there a certain amount of luck involved in any success? Of course there is. But those who look at other people’s success and think "they’re so lucky" tend to see only the "luck." What they’re saying is "You’re so lucky," but what they’re thinking is, "Sure that happened for him, but it will never happen for me." They’re basically equating the odds of their own success with those of hitting the lottery. And when you frame success as all about luck, like the lottery, your chances of achieving it are slim to none. Over the years, I’ve found some wonderful quotes on the role of luck in success. So I’ll leave you with some wise words from people who I can only imagine at one time or another heard their own successes chalked up as a fluke. Jean Cocteau wisely observed that "We must believe in luck. For how else can we explain the success of those we don’t like?" Sam Goldwyn quipped, "The harder I work, the luckier I get." Similarly, Dr. Armand Hammer remarked that "When I work fourteen hours a day, seven days a week, I get lucky." But perhaps Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best when he wrote, "Shallow men believe in luck. Strong men believe in cause and effect." Your dreams are too important to leave unattended. So what are you waiting for? Go create some luck! About the Author Outside the job box expert, Valerie Young, abandoned her corporate cubicle to become the Dreamer in Residence at ChangingCourse.com offering resources to help you discover your life mission and live it. Her career change tips have been cited in Kiplinger's, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today Weekend, Woman's Day, and elsewhere and on-line at MSN, CareerBuilder, and iVillage.com. An expert on the Impostor Syndrome, Valerie has spoken on the topic of How to Feel as Bright and Capable as Everyone Seems to Think You Are to such diverse organizations as Daimler Chrysler, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, Harvard, and American Women in Radio and Television. Find more articles written by Valerie at ChangingCourse.com/articles/ |
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You are where you are today because you've chosen to be there. ~ Harry Browne |
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Free Ticket to Upcoming Online Success Blueprint Workshop
This limited time opportunity (now through
Friday, August 4th) offers a free workshop spot (a $2,997 value)
to anyone who purchases Alexandria Brown's (aka "the Ezine Queen") new
internet success coaching program,
The program is designed specifically for
coaches, speakers, writers and other solo-entrepreneurs who want to learn
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time off. Again, this is a limited time offer with a deadline of Friday,
August 4th. Learn more at
ChangingCourse.com/recommends/blueprint |
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All endings are also beginnings. We just don't know it at the time. ~ Mitch Albom |
"Gold
Mastermind." (If you don't know her, Alexandria is a well known and highly
successful player in the world of internet marketing.) |
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The Changing Course Newsletter
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All About Your Subscription You're welcome to forward this newsletter in its entirety to other dreamers. If someone sent this to you, don't depend on your friend for this great information. Get your complimentary subscription at ChangingCourse.com/ezine.htm Please do not reply to this message. Subscribe or Change Your Address: ChangingCourse.com/ezine.htm Previous Issues: ChangingCourse.com/archives |
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It is not the brains that matter most, but that which guides them - the character, the heart, generous qualities, progressive ideas. ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky |
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Do You Have the "Achievie-Jeebies?"
By Dr. Ange Dibenedetto Susan was finally ready to act on her dream of starting an interior decorating business. The soon-to-be-retired school teacher enrolled in my Courage to Succeed coaching program to help her "go professional" at the decorating work she had been doing informally for years. One of her first steps in the program was creating a portfolio of photographs of design work she had done for friends, family and even some small businesses. There was no doubt to anyone who saw the photographs or who worked with Susan that she was a gifted designer who could transform any space and do it on a budget. Susan was full of enthusiasm as she shared her business plans in our coaching sessions. However, as her plans got closer to becoming reality, I began to notice signs of trouble. For instance, she confessed that twice she had driven to the printer to order business cards and then returned home without going in or even getting out of her car. Then she said she kept "forgetting" to return a call from the president of a local women's business group who wanted her to speak at an upcoming meeting. Yet I knew that Susan had been cultivating this opportunity for months - we had even gone over her speech together! When I pointed out an emerging pattern in these events, Susan began to talk about her feelings. "I know I'm great at decorating," she said, "but something in me freaks out when it's time to announce my plans to the world." Then she began to laugh. " Do you know I even wondered if I should spend a whole $30 on business cards! I don't know what I thought I would do - hand out little scraps of paper with my name scrawled on them?" What was going on with Susan? She had a common case of what I call the "achievie-jeebies." A second cousin to the "heebie-jeebies," the "achievie-jeebies" is that sudden panic that can grip us when we start to take practical steps toward our dreams. Even a seemingly minor act like ordering business cards can set off the "aj's" because it is a symbol of our ambition, our belief in our self and our willingness to "blow our own horn." Like many of the women I work with who are entrepreneurs or self-employed, Susan was comfortable doing professional level work on an informal basis for friends, family and neighbors. But when it came time to tell the world – and herself - that she was a professional, then the "achievie-jeebies" kicked in. To be a successful entrepreneur you have to believe in yourself passionately – and publicly. This can cause a conflict with women who have been encouraged to put their own needs and wants second to others. Most of the women entrepreneurs I've worked with have struggled with moments of uncertainly, self-doubt and even panic at times. But 99% of them have learned to take risks, to invest in themselves and well, to blow their own horn. The good news is that the achievie-jeebies are curable. Here are three things you can do when they strike. 1. Face your fear and accept it. You should EXPECT to be occasionally terrified as you take on new challenges. In fact if you're not afraid once in a while, then you're probably not making much progress. Fear, risk and success are not incompatible. In fact they are quite chummy. 2. Keep your eyes on the prize. Take time to reconnect with the passion that got you started on this journey. Was it the freedom of being your own boss? The opportunity to help others with your unique skills? The joy of doing something you love? Whatever it is, keeping connected to it will give you the energy to resist those achievie-jeebies. 3. Take a courage step every single day. A "courage step" is any action that is slightly difficult for you – it could be starting your business plan, writing a press release or calling a prospective customer. If you do something daily that frightens you – even just a tiny bit - you'll train that "courage muscle" to take on risks you can't even imagine. For instance, Susie scheduled her talk for the women's business group far enough in advance so that she would have plenty of lead-time to practice in front of friends. And she made an appointment just to talk to the printer before committing to ordering her business cards. Like most of my clients, she found that a daily courage "workout" builds confidence and helps deal with those less frequent but still inevitable achievie-jeebies. So look before you leap, but do leap, at least a little, every single day. About the Author
Dr. Ange
DiBenedetto of Amherst has over 20 years experience as a coach and
therapist. To learn more about the Courage to Succeed program and phone or
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One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. ~ Jack Penn |
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Northampton Workshop Update Renowned Romance Writer to Speak at Workshop Think that being a published author is something that happens to other people? That's what Kathryn Johnson thought… that is until it happened to her. Or more accurately, until she made it happen. To date Kathryn (aka Kathryn Jensen, K.M. Kimball, Nicole Davidson) has seen more than 40 of her novels published by major U.S. publishers including Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Silhouette, Avon Books and Ballantine. Her books (written under several pseudonyms) have been translated into foreign languages and are as popular in Argentina, Japan, and Italy as they are in the U.S. I'm thrilled that Kathryn has agreed to join our Inspired Entrepreneurs Panel. For one, she is living proof that success doesn't happen overnight – but it does happen. Her many "pre-changing course" jobs included working in a bank, a department store, a hospital and finally as a teacher in a private school. But, she says, all she ever really wanted to do was write books. Having no clue how to begin a career as a novelist, and two young children to care for, she enrolled in a distance course offered by the Long Ridge Writers Group (BreakIntoPrint.com/T1419). Armed with the tools she took away from her assignments, she honed what she refers to as her "admittedly flimsy writing and marketing skills" and attacked the publishing world. After reaching the "other side" Kathryn decided she wanted to reach back. So, in addition to her own prolific writing career, Kathryn is now a writing instructor with the Long Ridge Writers Group where she tutors other aspiring writers to success. In addition she runs her own writer's mentoring business called Write By You. If you are surrounded by unsupportive friends and family who offer only lame warnings about the struggling writer's life, you may want to tell them about the life Kathryn's efforts have afforded her. Kathryn tells me that in sharp contrast to her old employee days, she now enjoys a one-minute commute that takes her from her kitchen to her home-office. That is except during the summer when she and her husband spend as much time as possible on, Purr, their 32-foot vintage Pearson sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay. Then she sits in the cockpit with her laptop and types another chapter. Doesn't sound like too much of a struggle to me!
Kathryn's next novels, the "Affairs of State"
trilogy, will be published in June, July and August of 2007 by Silhouette
Books. You can learn more about Kathryn at
KathrynJensen.com and
WriteByYou.com. To read my review of "Break into Print," the
instructor-assisted self-study course that launched Kathryn's career, visit
ChangingCourse.com/longridge.htm
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I don't think the mile has really been tapped yet. There's still time to come off. But you can only do it by being courageous and going fast at the start. ~ Sebastian Coe |
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Work at What You Love:
Discover How to Replace Your Job With Work You Really Love… and Gain the Freedom, Flexibility and Quality of Life You Deserve
Join "Outside the Job Box" expert Valerie Young and Barbara Winter, best-selling author of Making a Living Without a Job for what promises to be an extraordinary two days – filled with energy, enthusiasm, wisdom...and practical, life-changing know-how.
August 11-12, 2006
Take advantage of the Special Early Registration price and
save $50 click here
ChangingCourse.com/workshop.htm |
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Do what you feel in your heart to be right.
You'll be criticized anyway. |
Find out how you can escape the
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"I value independently spending time on something that's important to me. If you boil it all down, I get to manage my own destiny. I get to do what I want to do and surround myself with the things I love." ~ Forty-year-old Amy Butler, Amy Butler Design Fabrics, Granville, Ohio
In the business world, there are tortoises and there are hares. I’m a tortoise: fine-tuning and taking steady steps. ~ Vicki Mote Bodwell, founder of The Warm Biscuit Bedding Co., New York, New York. |
Break into Print as a Freelance Author or Writer Do you love to write but have never really honed your craft? Do you want to enjoy the freedom and flexibility of a freelance author or writer? Do you find it hard to discipline yourself to complete one of the many articles or books you have floating around in your head? What if there was a writing program that has such a track record of success that it actually promises graduates they will complete at least two manuscripts suitable for submission to an editor by the time they finish the program? A program that not only taught you technique and matched you with a writing tutor who gave you line-by-line feedback of your writing but also handed you the tools and the know-how you need to break into print. Interested? I was. The Long Ridge Writer's Group has been helping people with a passion for writing to break into print for over 30 years. Scroll up to the Northampton Workshop Update for a success story from a former student. Learn more at BreakIntoPrint.com/T1419 Marketing Your Own Self-Help Book Mark Victor Hansen, who co-wrote the astoundingly successful Chicken Soup for the Soul series, walks you step-by-step through his method for writing and marketing a best-selling self-help book. Hansen and a group of highly successful colleagues in the publishing, self-publishing, PR, marketing, and internet world teach you their insider secrets to writing, publishing, and promoting your own best-seller. From infomercials to one-day seminars to book-signings to coaching programs and more, Hansen reveals the strategies he relies on to create businesses that make millions. I can tell you from personal experience that if you are serious about learning how to write and sell a best-selling self-help book, this program is a wise investment. Learn more about this program at ChangingCourse.com/cmd.php?ad=215014 Calling All Writers and Artists
Kristen Fischer is writing a book
about creatively
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