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"If You Think You Can or Think You Can't, Either Way, You're Right" ~ Henry Ford
Kitty Boitnott, Ph.D., NBCT, RScP
Career Transition & Job Search Coach | Life Strategies, Stress Management, Holistic Life & Sleep Science Coach
Henry Ford famously said, "If you think you can or think you can't, either way, you're right." He was known to be an obstinate individual, but he knew what he wanted. He suffered no fools, and if anyone told him something couldn't be done, he told them to do it anyway. They did. That is the story, at least, of how the 8-cylinder engine came about. He told his engineers to develop one. They told him it was impossible. He kept after them to do it anyway. In spite of their protestations, they eventually figured out how to make it work, and the 8-cylinder engine came about.
You have no doubt heard the story of the first person to run the 4-minute mile. Until he did it, everyone assumed that it was humanly impossible to do. Once he did it, others quickly followed suit. Not only was it possible, but it was within the grasp of serious runners everywhere. So much for it being "impossible."
You may have heard me say recently that I have become a little obsessed with the idea that everyone can have the job or career of their dreams. They just have to believe they can.
Most people don't. That means they stay stuck in mediocre jobs that may or may not pay the bills, but it's what they know.
Many people believe it isn't possible to live the life they want. They dream about it, but they aren't willing or able to do the work that goes into making it happen. You can't just dream your dream job into reality. You have to do something to make it happen.
As I have been considering this idea, I have thought about my dad. (I think about him often, and you have heard me tell you some things about him, but not this.)
My dad was a savant when it came to watches and clocks. He told with relish the story of how when he was only 8 years old, and in the 3rd grade, he traded his prize marble for a broken pocket watch that another kid had.
When he got home from school, he took the broken pocket watch apart, and when he put it back to together again, it worked.
That was the beginning of his love affair with watches and clocks. He became an expert in all things related to watches and clocks...antique clocks, grandfather clocks, mantle clocks...if it was a clock, he could fix it. (He would have hated the new electronic gadgets that we all use today to tell time.)
When I was a little girl, he set up a shop in our house. In the kitchen to be exact. My mother detested that arrangement. She was a compulsive neat freak, and the mess on his desk drove her over the edge. He eventually moved his desk, and all of his work supplies out to the back porch. He enclosed the space and provided it with heat for the winter and air conditioning for the summer months. It became his workshop and his personal refuge.
He ran a small side business that netted a nice bit of extra income that supplemented his day job. People came to the house to drop off their watches or clocks or to pick them up. Sometimes they stayed to shoot the breeze with him while he worked on whatever they had brought him. He loved talking, and he told jokes and stories while he worked.
He was in his element when he worked on those watches and clocks. It was what he was born to do. When you hear about going into a "zone," that was where he went when he was working on a broken watch or clock. The more difficult the repair, the happier he was to fix it.
My mother was a traditionalist. She tolerated his passion for watches and clocks, but she was determined that he treat it only as a hobby. She wanted him to have a "real" job with a set salary and medical benefits. The idea that he might set up his own shop somewhere or start his own business never got off the ground. She wouldn't hear of it. She wasn't going to support it. And in our household as in many households, if mama wasn't happy...
My dad died in an accident when he was only 63 years old. I am sure if I could ask him about regrets, one of them would be never having the courage to set up his own business.
Truth be told, he wasn't meant to work for other people. He was too independent. He did it, though, because that was the practical thing to do.
We are living in a new era today. People are setting up their own businesses every day. True, not everyone is successful, but many are.
This weekend, I offered a webinar training on the 10 steps to the job of your dreams, and in it, I offered some somewhat startling statistics.
The software company Intuit has predicted that by 2020, more than 40% of the American workforce will be freelancers, contractors or temp workers.
By 2022, the number of small and personal businesses will have grown to 7 million, and full time, full benefit jobs will be harder to find.
Most of these small and personal businesses will be web-based or mobile based which means they will be run mostly from home or wherever the owner sets up a computer.
I share those statistics to make the point that we are on the cusp of a new economic era.
We have lived through the Industrial Revolution. We have been living in the Information Age. We are now entering the Creative Age.
Transitions between these economic eras are messy and sometimes difficult at the individual level. It requires retraining. It may require complete retooling.
Those who try to hang on to the past will hurt the most. They will be longing for the past that is gone and will never return.
We often romanticize the "good old days." Instead, it is far more productive to consider embracing the changes that are coming and getting on board rather than be left behind.
If you are considering a job or career change, I urge you to take up the challenge of considering what you want to do instead of what you think you can do or what you can get.
Don't settle. Life is just too short to spend it doing something you don't enjoy.
If you would like to explore what your dream job might look like or how you could make it happen, why don't you set up a complimentary 20-minute Discovery Session? If you are interested, sign up using my calendar link here: https://kittyatcareermakeover.coachesconsole.com/calendar/.
I would love to help you sort through what you need to consider to move from where you are now to where you want to be.
Until next time.
Would you be interested in the Starter Program to the Jumpstart Your Job Search program? It includes 2 video modules, recommended reading, a variety of recommended assessments, and links to a variety of resources that will help you gain the clarity you need as you move ahead in your career. It is a $525 value for $197.
The 2 video tutorials come with 30-days of unlimited email support and one phone consultation.
The value of this program would be $525 if offered separately: Video training = $200; 1 phone consultation = $75; 30-days of unlimited email support = $150 and the bonus program, "Courage: Risks and Rewards" = $100.
There is a 30-day money back guarantee with the caveat that you have to do the work first. If you believe it didn't move your forward, you can ask for a full refund.
If you have been stuck in a job that you no longer love or you feel is going nowhere, this program may be the remedy. Get yourself unstuck and on to the job or career of your dreams.
I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity to change your life by starting a new path right now.
Kitty
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