“Outside of the Job Box” Career and Business Idea Consulting for People Who Want to Make a Living Doing What They Love

I'm not talking about waiting for your retirement or winning the lottery.

I'm talking about moving to a far different place than the thank “God-it's-Friday-the-boss-is-driving-me-crazy-there's-got-to-be-more-to-life-than-this life” you're living right now.

Hi. My name is Valerie Young. Up until 1995, I spent seven long years commuting 90 miles a day to my corporate marketing job. (To learn more about how I quit my job and found my life, click here.)

I desperately wanted out. But with a mortgage, a car payment, and all the rest, I felt trapped. For the longest time, I told myself that the biggest thing standing between me and my freedom was money. I was wrong.

By far, THE biggest thing holding me back was my own limited view of what it means to “make a living.”

Every so often I'd come up with a great business idea. But as soon as I got out my calculator, I'd make a crash landing into reality. None of my grand ideas would pay enough to replace my salary.

Money is, of course, a necessity of life. But, like a lot of people, I'd been operating under the mistaken belief that before I could get off the fast track and onto the right path, I had to first find that one thing, that single venture that would generate the same amount of money I was already earning.

Then I made a discovery that changed my life forever.

“You Don’t Need a Job to Make a Living”

It's true! And I'll tell you exactly how to do it. The formula is pretty simple really. Find something you love to do. Then figure out how you can make money doing it.

My first introduction to the idea that you could actually "profit from your passion,” came from “self-bosser” Barbara Winter. Barbara wrote a wonderful book called Making a Living Without a Job.

Barbara is an enthusiastic advocate of the idea of setting up “multiple income streams.” Here's the general idea. Instead of thinking in terms of a single income source, i.e. a “job,” the idea is to come up with several profit centers.

Say you want to make $50,000 a year. Instead of trying to come up with one venture to generate all $50,000, it's actually a lot easier to come up with say, four profit centers each bringing in a little over $250 a week. Double all of those numbers and it still means bringing in just $100 a day. Kind of takes the pressure off, right?

You can even have different income streams at different times of the year. That's what former high school teacher Bob Sadowski, Jr., aka New England Bob, does. Bob is an avid snow mobiler with a passion for vintage cars. So in the winter he runs snow mobiling tours in Quebec. In the summer Bob operates an antique car parts business out of a giant barn on his scenic farm in the rolling hills of western Massachusetts. And not all profit centers involve “work.”

I've heard of people renting out storage space in their garage, basement, or attic, renting their home for movie shoots, boat owners timesharing their boat – even a farming couple, who, lease individual apple trees to city dwellers looking for a country retreat for $195 a year.

And if you have an online business, affiliate programs are a great way to generate “passive income.” But I’m getting ahead of myself.

The point is, there are an endless number of creative ways to make a living. And having several income streams offers the same advantages as diversifying your investments. When one slows down you always have the others!

Living your life in your own way is about choices. It also can mean having the freedom not to choose!

Maybe you’re torn between different callings. You love travel but you also love yoga or knitting. Combine them! I know of a couple of women who are successfully putting on these fabulous yoga and knitting vacations on the coast of Maine, New Mexico, even Tuscany!

That’s the beauty of multiple income streams – you don't have to choose! You make a living creatively combining two, three, or even more passions.

And in the process you will get something you also crave. A life.

It's Been Said That the Only True Success is to Have Lived Life in Your Own Way

What would it be like to live your life in your own way?

I think Joseph Campbell described it best when he said, “If you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living."

Maybe you've been toying with a few ideas but don't really know where to begin.

Or then again, maybe you are lucky enough to know exactly what you'd love to be doing. In fact, your dream is crystal clear. You want to open a motorcycle repair shop or a bed and breakfast, or become a freelance writer, or sell your famous cheesecake on-line, or run fly fishing expeditions to Costa Rica in the winter and a work in your cozy shop on the coast of Maine in the summer...

We can help.

You see, the Outside the Job Box Career and Business Idea Consultants you are about to meet know what they love to do: They love helping people brainstorm creative ways to make a living doing what they love – or other words, turning your interests into income.

But they also are also well-schooled in applying my unique “Life First – Work Second” Approach to Career Change to your life.

For example, take a moment to imagine what you want your life to look like?

What time do you want to get up? What do you want to see when you look out the window… is it the ocean, a skyline, the desert, do you want to see different scenery at different times of the year?

Where to do you want to work? Is it in a cozy home office? Or perhaps you love the idea of working in a studio, a workshop, a kitchen, outdoors, on a stage or in a classroom, or maybe you want a portable business you can do from your laptop literally anywhere in the world. It’s possible you know!

Not only do the individuals you’re about to meet love helping people figure out how to escape the job world, they’re really good at it. Maybe that's because they know that when it comes to changing course and putting yourself on the path to becoming your own boss, there are only two secrets.

And I'm going to tell you exactly what these secrets are...

Secret #1 Make the Mental Shift from “Having a Job” to “Creating a Livelihood”

The first thing is this. You have to, and I mean absolutely have to, be ready, willing, and able to make the tremendously liberating shift in thinking from “having a job” to “creating a livelihood."

As obvious as that may sound, not everyone can do it. At least not right away. Let me tell you a quick story about the challenges – and the rewards – of thinking outside the "job box.” This particular story is also a good illustration of the difference between what a traditional career counselor does and what the “Outside the Job Box” Career and Business Idea Consultants you are about to meet do.

A while back I audited a course on career counseling. The instructor was a very competent and knowledgeable woman named Kate who worked full-time as a career counselor at a nearby college.

As a career counselor, Kate's job involved administering interest and skills assessment instruments, leading workshops on resume writing and interviewing skills, and counseling graduating seniors in their quest to land a job.

I learned a lot about the history of career counseling, the major theories and theorists, and the standard interests and skills assessment instruments. In the end though, I have a feeling that it was the teacher who got the real education.

You see, while the other students would come up with traditional occupational options like accountant, HR manager, or biologist I was forever tossing out creative, non-job alternatives, like spiritual advisor, personal chef, personal shopper, or professional pumpkin carver. Kate would always listen politely, thank me, and then quickly move on. One time in particular stands out. Kate was telling the class how to use the Department of Labor's Occupational Handbook job descriptions to help a job seeker. As she leafed through the huge volume, Kate warned the class that there were also a lot of “wacky” job examples that we could just ignore.

"Like this one,” Kate said with a laugh, “Scuba Diving Suit Repairer. Give me a break.” Everyone laughed. Everyone, that is, except for me.

In fact, I was so excited I practically leapt out of my chair. “You mean, there's such a job as Scuba Diving Suit Repairer? Wow, what a fantastic business for someone who loves to fix things and has always dreamed of living on a tropical island!” Once again, Kate looked bewildered.

Then one day toward the end of the semester, Kate arrived late to class explaining apologetically that she'd been up half the night with her newborn daughter. Maybe it was the fatigue that suddenly made the “unjobbing” light come on, but that day something clicked. It happened during a break. I was telling another student about my plan to work out of my home office offering career advice over the telephone. Kate's head suddenly jerked to attention. “Wait a minute! Are you saying there's a way I can do career counseling from home and be with my daughter?"

Bingo. Kate had lots of questions about launching her dream. And I was all too happy to answer them. Unlike the career counseling world of skills assessments, resumes, and interviews, we were in my territory now.

Secret #2 Open Your Eyes To The Satisfying and Profitable Opportunities That Are Right In Front Of You

If you really want to make a living without a job, the next thing you need to do is stop scanning the employment postings and start scanning the world around you. Why? Because that's where the real opportunities are!

In other words, if you really want to find creative alternatives to having a job, you have to learn to become what I call an “Opportunity Detective." All it takes to be an opportunity analyst is an open mind and the ability to look beyond what you have done (your resume) or what you can do (your current skills) and think instead of what you might really LIKE to do.

There are actually 5 distinct places you can look for business ideas. One is tuning into trends.

For example, hear a news report that the divorce rate is going up? Great opportunity to turn your natural helping skills into a syndicated newspaper column on how to make commitments work. (Don’t worry, these Consultants know all about what you need to do to turn yourself into a “expert!”

Sometimes opportunities come disguised as problems. Middle-school English, drama and speech teacher and self-described complainer, Ellen Phillips built a lucrative sideline exacting justice for others people’s complaints. For a fee, Ellen’s Poison Pen will write a reasoned letter of complaint and follow up with persistent action.

Others are just plain fascinating. Alan Eames, turned his love of beer into his vocation. Called the “Indiana Jones of Beer,” Alan spent years tracing the roots of beer by trekking the Amazon rain forest, which he believes, is the birthplace of brew. He even wrote a book about it: Secret Life of Beer. Today Alan has built a small writing and speaking business around his love of beer.

As Wayne Dyer says, “There is no scarcity of opportunity to make a living at what you love to do, there is only scarcity of resolve to make it happen.” Once you get the hang of it, seeing opportunities is positively habit forming. Fortunately for you, it's also my passion…

So much so that in 2006, I held my very first “Outside the Job Box” Career Expert Training Program. To date, I’ve trained nearly 60 people my unique process to help people live their dreams.

Having personally worked with each one of these the amazing career consultants you are about to meet, I recommend them whole-heartedly.

What led these consultants to this calling was a passionate commitment to helping people like you to create more meaningful, balanced lives working at what you love. Each one has a real gift for seeing how you can take your love for travel or horses or jewelry or working with teens or just about anything… and turn it into a viable business idea.

Why Work With an “Outside the Job” Career and Business Idea Box Consultant?

If you decide to work with one of my experienced Outside the Job Box Career and Business Idea Consultants, there are a few things you need to know.

1) You must be prepared for the possibility that whatever dream you bring to your Consultant, that it will get “upgraded” to what I call a Big Dream. (To learn more about the difference between a dream and a Big Dream, click here.)

Let's say you your dream is to make a living taking photographs. Don't be surprised if by the end of our conversation, you walk away with a plan to make twice what you'd imaged, live by the ocean in the summer and on a tropical island in the winter, and pursue your passion for antiquing to boot!

2) Also make sure that when you call in for your appointment that you have a pad and pen ready. That's because your Outside the Job Box Consultant’s brain is absolutely chock full of resources that they can hardly wait to share. If your Consultant doesn’t already know of a specific resource, they'll find it for you!

In fact, during your session, your Consultant may just hop onto the internet to do a bit of on the spot research. It could be a book or magazine, an industry or professional association, training opportunities, or some other information directly related to helping you achieve your specific dream. That way you can use these resources to start digging for your own personal gold mine of happiness.

3) Yes, you will walk away with great ideas for making money working at what you love. But that's not all. You'll also be getting concrete ideas about how to go from dreaming to doing. You see, as “Business Idea” Consultants, these folks are also really good coming up with creative and low-cost ways to turn your ideas into your livelihood.

For example, thinking of opening a restaurant, bakery, personal chef, or catering business? Want a low-cost way to get some “buzz” going? Why not drop by some hair salons in your area with some free gift certificates for the hair stylists. Or, show up on their busiest day with a couple of plates of free appetizers or muffins for their customers. (Don't forget to bring discount coupons to hand out as well.) This last idea works well with radio hosts as well. Starting a speaking, coaching, consulting or other service industry? Talk to your local bank about their co-sponsoring a noon time or early evening presentation to their customers and guests. You can hold the program right there at the bank. When you send out your press release to the local media be sure to let them know that the bank is the sponsor. That way you'll have a better shot at getting into print.

4) Find a Consultant that’s the right fit for you.

Individual consulting styles, specialties, and consulting session options vary by consultant. I encourage you to read through each consultant description, visit their web sites, and then contact the consultant or consultants who seem like the best fit for you and your unique needs.

I guarantee that working with an Outside the Job Box Career Expert will be the best investment you ever made in yourself and in your dreams.

Affordable, Immediately Useable and Practical Career Advice on How to Make a Living Doing What You Love – Without a Job

I know how tough it can be to make a daytime appointment when you're working 9-to-5 (or is it more like 8-to-late?). For your convenience most of the Outside the Job Box Consultants offer evening and weekend appointments.

The cost and length of consultation varies by consultant. But, in every case, your Consultant is focused entirely on helping you zero in on uncovering ways to make money doing the things that you love.

And, your consultation also comes with a Special Bonus!

When you schedule an appointment with an Outside the Job Box Career and Business Idea Consultant you will automatically receive a free copy of my eBook:

Finding Your True Calling: The Handbook for People Who Still Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up

That's a $19.95 value! To learn more about this life-changing resource click here.

So you get your personal brainstorming and action planning session plus over 100 pages of inspirational and informational stories, tips, and exercises to help you discover your true calling!

In most cases, credit card payments can be spread over a period of two months. You just need to let your Consultant know if you'd like to take advantage of this payment schedule. The important thing is to get moving! After all, this is your life we're talking about here.

Okay, So What's the Next Step?

If you are ready to start acting on your dream of creating a more enjoyable and balanced life doing work you truly love, I encourage you to schedule an appointment with one of the many “Outside the Box” Career Experts who I have personally trained and certified* to use my unique 5-step Changing Course Formula to work one-on-one to help you turn your interests into income.

Here’s a short list of Outside the Job Box Career and Business Idea Consultants who are also currently accepting new clients. Contact them individually for information about rates and availability. Best of all, when you book a session with any one of these gifted consultants, you'll still receive a free copy of my eBook Finding Your True Calling (a $19.95 value).

As you take this – or any – first step on the exciting journey to a new more meaningful, flexible life, remember the wise words of Tom Peters who said, “Unless you are willing to walk out into the unknown, the chances of making a profound difference in your life are pretty slim.” If you’re ready to make a profound difference in your own life – I urge you to schedule your personalized consultation now.

P.S. If you haven’t already be sure to sign up to receive my free twice monthly Changing Course Newsletter. Each issue includes option-expanding articles, practical resources, workshop listings, and inspiration to help you to change course faster. And speaking of fast…

P.P.S. Or if you want to go even faster, join the all new Changing Course Club. When you do, you will automatically receive dozens of life-changing resources, ongoing Tele-classes, and be a part of an online community of people just like you who are ready to fast track their dream of taking control of their life by turning their passions into profits!

*If you naturally think “outside the box,” love to brainstorm, and enjoy helping others learn how you too can train to become an Outside the Job Box Career Expert. Sign up now to receive details of upcoming Teleclasses, live workshops and my new Self-Study program as they become available: sign up for details on my new self-study course