Get Paid to Do What You Love to Do - The Art of Earning a Living Without a Job

...

Do you look forward to going to work every day? Do you enjoy your work so much that you can't imagine doing anything else? If so, don't read any further. But if you've noticed that Monday to Friday the clocks seem to run slower than they do on the weekends, read on to learn how you can get paid to do work you love.

It is generally believed that you have only two choices when it comes to earning your living: you can be an employee of someone else, or you can start a business and have others working for you.

As an employee, you have to perform up to the expectations of others—your bosses. That means working the hours they set, and doing the work they give you, in the way they tell you to do it. In exchange, you get the security of a regular paycheque. Of course, we've all seen in the last few years that there is nothing secure about anyone's paycheque.

Entrepreneurs work on their terms, but that doesn't mean they have it easy. Launching a business requires a commitment of time and money, and may take all of both that the entrepreneur can scrape together. Often, the entrepreneur has not gone from slave to master, but has merely traded one master (the boss) for another (the business).

There is an alternative way of becoming an entrepreneur.  Instead of "entrepreneur" I like to call myself a "solopreneur". Solo-preneuring is a form of self-employment, but it is much more. It enables you to integrate your work and your life so that you feel good about what you do for a living. The Solo-preneur has the best of both worlds—freedom from corporate bondage, without taking on the shackles of responsibility required to run a traditional business. Imagine waking up in the morning excited and happy. And doing work that is so in tune with your talents and interests, that it hardly seems like work to you. That's what Solo-preneurs do.

Solo-preneurs find ways to make money doing the things they enjoy, while minimizing or eliminating the tasks they don't want to do. As a Solo-preneur, you may choose to do only one type of work. Or, you may combine two or more related functions. You may even combine two or more completely unrelated pursuits.

I’ve been a Solo-preneur since 1994, and in that time I have been a seminar presenter, author, publisher, insurance enroller, consultant, mystery shopper, movie extra and more, many at the same time. It's important to remember that there aren't a lot of rules about Solo-preneuring. My main rule is that I do what I enjoy. You can be a Solo-preneur full-time or part-time, or even in your spare time for extra income while you work at a traditional job.

The secret to success is starting small (without a lot of up front expense) and adding new profit centres to build your income. Don't tie your success to one job, one customer, or even one line of work. Be flexible and follow your wishes and dreams. Start one venture, get it rolling, then start another. The time and energy to manage multiple ventures will be there for you, because the work itself will energize you.

Virtually anyone can be a Solo-preneur. The key to your success is having an interest in something and a way to make money with it. Most of us can easily identify our interests, so the next step is to determine how to make money with them. Once you start, the problem will not be coming up with ideas to generate income, it will be finding the time to put them all into action!

What Can You Do?

You have skills and abilities that others do not. We often undervalue the things we know and what we can do, thinking, "If I can do it, anyone can." Well, "anyone" can't. Maybe you are an excellent cook, or a Civil War buff, or you know all about computers. Whatever your knowledge or skills, they are of value to others. All you have to do is figure out how to package and market them.

Ask yourself:

Be open-minded and creative. You may not immediately see how to turn your interest into a profit centre, but try looking at it from a different perspective. If you know how to make the world's best cheesecakes, one option would be to bake and sell your cheesecakes. But how else could you use that skill to generate income? You could write and self-publish a cookbook of cheesecake recipes. Or you could teach a class on making the perfect cheesecake. There are probably many other ways that you could think of once you open your mind to the possibilities.

Get Started Now!

The best time to start is always now. Stop saying that "someday" you will take charge of your life and do what you have always wanted to do. Don't wait for the kids to go to school, or finish school, or move out. Don't wait for the day when you have more money, or more time, or more whatever. And don't think that you are too young or too old, not smart enough, or creative enough, or somehow not good enough to do this. There will always be more to learn and do, so don't wait for everything to be perfect before you start.

How can you get started? An ancient Chinese proverb says, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." Take that single step today. It might be as simple as making a phone call to get more information about something that interests you, or you might sign up for a class, register a business name, create a flyer to promote your services, etc. Just pick a step, do it, then go on to the next step.

Want to know more about Solo-preneuring? This article is excerpted from the manual, Solo-preneuring: The Art of Earning a Living Without a Job, the self-help guide for those who want to escape corporate bondage and find success doing work they love. For more information, go to http://www.idealady.com/solobook.htm.

Copyright 2004 Cathy Stucker, IdeaLady.com