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When I talk to groups of people about being self-employed, it seems the older people in the audience may be a bit more afraid than younger folks about being self-employed.
It isn’t just older folks who can’t find jobs but we older ones have had many more years of being in someone else’s employ and may not have any real idea of what we can do or how we can do it.
Or we think we don’t know what to do or how to do it.
Or we may just be plain old scared!
We need to step out of our comfort zones and change our emotional attachment to jobs!
Think about it – you are out of a job because your job had NO emotional attachment to you!
I won’t go into a rant about businesses, outsourcing and greed here [I have another blog for that] but we have learned that if you are an employee, you can be let go at the drop of the proverbial hat.
We used to think that if we found a good job and worked hard, we would be taken care of for life. We’d have that job til we were 65, then we’d have a pension, continued health care coverage and also Social Security benefits.
This is no longer the case. Jobs have been lost, pensions gobbled up in the Wall Street mess and Social Security stuck in the mud.
If you weigh the scary scenarios – you might begin to think that trying your hand at being self-employed is not as scary as depending on a job or the government.
Yes. It can be scary! But it can also be freeing.
Imagine:
- making money from what you already know how to do.
- making money from a hobby you have loved for years
- getting up each day and seeing your income making activity as fun
- letting your creativity having free rein
Then imagine how your emotional self will feel when you earn that first real bit of money! Your self-esteem will sky rocket!!
You don't know what to do? Here's a suggestion:
Start right now and make a list of all the things you are good at.
Just let your brain run free and if you get stuck, ask your friends and family what they see you as good and great at doing.
And stay tuned for what to do with your list.
before trying something that looks potentially scary I ask myself  ‘what is the worst that could happen?’ and usually the worst’s not that bad so I go for it. I wish I’d learnt to ask myself that when I was younger, as there are probably many more things I would have done, But I’m where I am now for a reason, and yes I’m self employed and loving it. I think my biggest fear was getting married and I’ve been doing that for a year now and loving that too. To quote the book ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’ xx
Thank you for that – what great mottos to have for trying something new!! And congrats on the marriage.
Lynn
try this: imagine you are having an elegant dinner party where you are invited 5 famous people. Who are they, what is your relationship to them, and what do you talk about? This might give you a clue as to what you would like your future to hold
 Thanks Joanne – that’s a good idea for getting clues to what one likes or wants!
Lynn