Hi Michael:

I just want to say I find that your blog is very useful to me in my attempt to find the truth of my inner self. Many of the topics you discuss resonate in my search for passion.  I find it ironic that many of the people you quote I follow as well.  My gut said I had to reach to out you particularly since you reside in the Orlando area as well.

I moved to Lake Mary about 8 months from Tulsa, Oklahoma for a new job but was just recently downsized. It was a shock to me since I have enjoyed business success to a fault.  My mindset was always about work, taking no time to enjoy what life has to offer.

Only within the last few months have I had an awakening.  I’ve realized that I’ve been seduced into working for all the wrong reasons instead of something that is part of you, full of enjoyment and passion.

My challenge is unlocking myself and taking that first step forward.  I would appreciate any advice you have for me.  I’m only 35 years old and believe now more than ever that it’s time to change.

Best Regards,

Charlie Gaines

All sorts of ways to do that, and one of my goals here is to expose you to some of those.

Here’s one about a recent college grad who recently completed his quest to try 52 different occupations in a year.

Read about it, think about it.

If you still don’t have a clue about what your life’s work is meant to be, might you try a variation of this?

• Volunteer every Saturday at 52 different places?
• Line up 52 businesses to let you shadow them every Thursday evening?
• Spend every Saturday morning at the library for the next 15 weeks writing up a profile of 15 cool sounding jobs?

You get the idea.  Do it.

Fortune favors those who act.

Fortune especially favors those who act fast. 

So pull the trigger and fire.

Then you’ll know how you should adjust your aim afterwards.

So says Brian Kim, and I think he’s 100 percent spot on.

Sitting on the sidelines keeps you on the sidelines.  Take a step or two, just that, toward your dream job, and then take another next week or next month.  But, keep moving forward.

How may I help you?

My friends over at Common Craft (who do some of the most amazingly “simple” instructional videos I’ve ever seen) have hit a serious home run to deep center field with a piece on the things that have simplified their work-at-home lives.

They’ve given me pause to think about my own life and how I run my businesses.

Really good stuff.  Check ‘er out.

While the offices they show are interesting, I think that what’s more important here is how the entrepreneurs in the story have weaved their lives, careers (dare I say it? — dream jobs), and work spaces into one tapestry.

Check ‘er out.  Good idea fodder.

I wish I would have followed my instincts earlier in my career rather than looking for others’ approval.  While it’s easy for people to be their greatest critics, it took me years to become my own advocate.

Ellen Langas Campbell, President, NouSoma Communications and author of the Girls Know How book series

Source:  Success Magazine

• Brew Master
• Casino Host
• Ice Cream Creator
• Toy Creator
• Video Game Designer
• Comic Book Guru

Check out this interesting article at Yahoo about a few people who’ve created businesses with unique ideas.

You know the scenario: Follow your passion and the money will follow.

Well, there are lots of folks who’ve followed their passions all the way to the poor house.

So, what’s the regular Dream Job Seeker to do?

Scott Allen’s got a really good bit of advice about this over at About.com.

Good stuff; check ‘er out.

So, literally, word spreads — like a virus — about you and your product, usually without you having to do anything.  This is the marketer’s nirvana.  The dream world.

And, I’m pleased to say, I’ve had a recent experience with something going viral.  But, the interesting thing about what I learned is that you cannot plan for something to go viral — it just does.  Oh, I’ve tried to come up with all sorts of clever ideas that I thought would go viral — My goodness, I say to myself, how can others not realize how brilliant I am here? — but none never have.

Until recently, when the whole idea of viralness (yup, that’s a word) never even entered my thoughts.

At InfoSource Learning, we created a product called SimpleAssessment that is designed to test the digital literacy skills of school kids.  Now, this is an important thing these days because the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) statutes from the federal government mandate that kids have these skills by the 8th grade.  Consequently, schools need a way to assess their students.

Enter SimpleAssessment.

We decided to give it away (as a way to introducing ourselves to new customers, who we hoped would buy something else from us later) and our lives have changed dramatically.  We simply can’t keep up with the demand that has been created for SimpleAssessment, and the freebies are now turning into paying customers.

My point is that we didn’t set out to get people passing our offering around; we were simply immersed in trying to create something that we thought we could share with the educational community.  We’ve been creating and selling educational products for over 25 years, and this was one small thing we could do to give back.

And, the dang thing has gone viral on us.

Which got me thinking about what it might take to get your own personal dream job to go viral.

Let me ask you this:  Are you obsessed with finding and having your dream job?  Because, like getting something to go viral, maybe focusing on it too much is not such a good thing.

Here’s an idea for you, then:  Whatever your dream job passion, just start working on it, even if it’s a few hours a week.  Just plug away at it.  Don’t obsess over the fact that it’s not your entire life just yet.  Work at it, sow some seeds, do a little more every day.  Maybe, just maybe, who knows, you might turn around in a few months and find that your work has gone viral and you’re actually working full time in your dream job.