This discussion is right up my alley as an entrepreneur and I feel that I have lead a personally fulfilling successful life and look forward to the second half of my life living new adventures as Melissa, from a new angle.
What I am NOT going to talk about is idea for jobs and businesses. You all know your personal strengths and weaknesses. You know where your passions and skills lay within you. You know the kinds of jobs and interests that can get you out of bed in the morning.
I truly believe that most of what paralyzes us is the FEAR OF THE JUDGMENT OF THE PEOPLE WHO "CARE" THE MOST FOR US. We are afraid of what our friends, parents, coworkers, and peer groups think of us. When we share ideas with them they care about us and want to help often but they also fear for us and don't want us to take risks. If you don't get over this you will never even leave the house!
I am only 38 and in those years I have lived a truly magical life. I have done far more in those years than most people will do in 80. The reason is that I have an incredible curiosity and drive to try new things and I know that most people can't even comprehend what I am talking about doing so their feedback has minimal importance.
Now here is the thing, it is not money that is important.....it is your PERSONAL DRIVE..... My parents got me through high-school and I went to college on an athletic scholarship. When I got out I basically had no money and lived in an apartment with my future wife who was also in school. From there I built my career in business rising to near the top of a large corporation only to step out and into my own businesses. There have been bumps and hurdles along the way but the biggest one was finally having to deal with my GID and start transition. Now that those issues are behind me I am so much more optimistic. I have posted in other threads about work and business and what I did but in this one I want to share a couple of stories.
Story #1 - When I was 14 years old I bought a book on how to build wooden strip canoes. These are beautiful hand made canoes that are worth thousands of dollars but are true works of art. I must have read the book from cover to cover a hundred times learning (on paper) how to cut, drill, glue, mold, fiberglass, trim, weave cane, etc. My parents don't know how to swing a hammer and I knew no one that could help me. I desperately wanted to make the canoe so what did I do? I worked a part time job until I could buy a simple inexpensive saw, I bought some lumber, and I built it. Before I could drive a car I built a fiberglass laminated wooden strip whitewater canoe that was capable of withstanding rapids that would destroy most canoes of the time (I have another story that proves it, unfortunately...lol) The point of this story is where do you start? You just pick a place and start it. No one could help me so I thought to myself, what are the next steps I would need to take to make this happen and I chose one. When I drug the canoe out of the shed at a family get together everyone's jaws dropped. They could not fathom such a thing, from a kid. But why not?
Story #2 - My wife and were living in a 900sf new construction starter home. She was ready to start a family and wanted a larger home. We found a beautiful 150 year old southern farmhouse with a large wrap-around porch. It was like something out of "Southern Living" magazine. It was a dream house. The problem? The land was going to be turned into a neighborhood and the house demolished. So we bought the house cheap, cut it into "road size" pieces, moved it to two acres we bought, jacked it up in the air, dug out under it and build a full basement, ripped the roof off and added another level, and now we live in that house which will be close to 5,000 sf. with our kids and continue to work together on building, adding on, and making it our dream home. The cost? $200K! Yep, and guess how much I knew about how to do this before I started? Not much. I taught myself electrical, plumbing, masonry work, lead paint abatement, septic system design, roofing, structural engineering, etc. I bought inexpensive CAD programs to walk the "experts" at the planning and permitting commissions through the project. I directed the contractors and engineers on what I wanted done and how to do it where I could not afford the time or labor. But here is the key, EVERYONE told me I was crazy, that it could not be done, that I was nuts, that I would loose everything. I did not listed to them because none of them knew how to imagine this kind of project into existence, they did not have enough imagination to see it finished. You don't need to know how to do it all, just where to take the first step and the courage to do it. Side note: Both my wife and I noticed that many of our work colleagues got jealous over the house and most had upgraded within 12 months. But they had to sack themselves with HUGE mortgages to get a house far smaller and on less land. And honestly do I care? Nope, it's just a house to me, the family within it is what is important and I would be just as happy in my 900 sf house.
The point of this case though is that most people want to take the easy road, to say they did something with little effort. The real fruit in life is only to be given to those that wish to climb the tree and not be satisfied with what falls to the ground. If you ever study the biographies of successful people you will find that they worked very very hard to get their success. Even Lady Gaga and Madonna had to ignore a tremendous amount of negative feedback before they were "discovered".
So, I challenge you to make a list of things you want to do - 5 items. And next to each write a few actions that could be taken on each. then choose one action from one item........ and do it....... that is where it all starts......one action will change your life....
