Enjoy Your Work Better than a Billionaire

Good morning, Live Better than a Billionaire-a-Holics!

Are you feeling motivated this morning? I certainly hope so. I know that I am!

Before getting into the substance of this post, let me remind you of my teaching plans for the rest of this month in the Boston area:

In Brookline, Massachusetts (617-730-2700)

Course V267: Raising Capital for Your New Business on September 20 and 27 (this is the expanded version of my popular course on starting a small business and can save you a fortune in capital costs!)

Course V268: Franchising Opportunities to Start a New Business on September 21 and 28 (this is a new course to help you find the right franchise operation for you) -- This course is almost sold out!

In Newton, Massachusetts (617-559-6999)

B 2172: The 2,000 Percent Solution (creating ways to accomplish 20 times as much with the same time and resources: It's like cloning yourself 20 times! -- see www.2000percentsolution.com for background)

I also offer individual tutorials and seminars on these subjects year around.

Introduction

Does the phrase "enjoyable work" make sense to you?

Imagine for the moment that you were born the heir to a large family business such as the Ford Motor Company. Do you think that you would find work to be a pleasure or a duty in such a situation? Throw in the factor that your business isn't doing well. How would that make you feel?

There's an old expression "from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations" that describes the rapid rise and fall of many wealthy families. A unique individual builds a fortune mostly through pluck and the individual's children dissipate that fortune rather rapidly.

As a non-billionaire, you have an enormous advantage over such a billionaire heir: You can choose your work!

Observations

You've probably heard all of those depressing statistics. People are most likely to die of a heart attack on Monday morning when they return to work. Most people would strongly prefer that their children do different work than they do. Relatively few people look forward to going to work each day. Even fewer relish the day's events at work.

If I asked you what's wrong with your work, I'm sure you could tell me.

A number of years ago, I read a book called Working by Studs Terkel in which he asked people about their work. The differences in who enjoyed the work and who didn't were enormous. Those who were doing something they loved didn't feel like they were working. Those who were doing something they didn't like felt like they were in an unpleasant prison.

Recommendations

Naturally, it's easier to say what you should do than to do it. But we all need a wake-up call from time to time to remind us what we should be working on. Here's a list to help you enjoy your work better than a billionaire:

1. Make a list of what you enjoy doing so much that hours pass while it seems like only minutes have elapsed.

In making this list, you may find bits and pieces of activities. That's fine. My list would include reading a page-turner of a novel. Perhaps that would be on your list too. But my list would also have looking at stock price charts. That one's probably not on your list. Putting this list together will help you know yourself, a great first step in finding work that you will delight in.

2. List the exciting benefits that can come from work.

My list would include learning new things, helping people to improve their lives, and promoting a more peaceful world.

3. Identify what makes work unpleasant for you.

My unpleasant items include having to be in one place with no flexibility whether I was needed then or not, being required to follow directions I didn't agree with, and taking actions that upset people.

4. Start asking people about their work to find out where your ideal conditions exist.

Chances are that there is work that fits your ideal . . . but you don't know about that type of work yet. For example, I've been a strategy consultant for many years and enjoy the work very much. But until I was 24 years old, I didn't even know that there were strategy consultants . . . much less what they did. It was only by asking about different jobs that I found this satisfying one.

5. Find out how to prepare for jobs that seem to fit your preferences.

When I became interested in strategy consulting, I asked someone how you get into that field. I was told that I should apply for a job with The Boston Consulting Group. That was good advice and helped launch my career. It turned out that I had the background that firm needed, but if I didn't I should have then started developing that background. Consider using volunteer work as a way to build your background, your credibility and to begin enjoying your work more.

6. Try out some things that you don't know if you would like or not.

I had never done on-line teaching until two years ago. I saw no reason why I might like it, but when asked by Rushmore to begin teaching I gave it a try. To my pleasant surprise, I found that I loved doing this kind of work and have expanded it rapidly.

Here's a place where volunteer assignments can make a big difference. You can try things out for a few hours and get a sense of what's going on.

If you have spare time from 9 to 5 during the work week, consider asking people if you can "shadow" them for a day or two to get a sense of what they do.

7. If you have work that's reasonably close to your preferences, go for improvements.

What I mean by that is that there may be some flexibility on your employer's part if you can provide some benefit for your employer from making a change. Many of my students have been able to redesign their work to make it more pleasant after pointing out mutual benefits to their supervisors. Perhaps you can too.

8. Consider becoming your own boss.

The boss obviously has to work hard to make a business work, but the boss also has a chance to design things to fit her or his needs. It may be worth the extra work to be able to create ideal work for yourself. Think about it!

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N.B. As you can tell, I'm experimenting with color. Let me know what you like and what I should change about my use of color.

Please let me know what else you would like to learn, and I'll do my best to help in future blog entries.

If you are new to this blog, be sure to check out the updated table of contents entry that I posted on September 14. It will help you find earlier entries that may be of interest. I'll update this table of contents every week or so for your convenience.

August 31 was the most frequently read blog entry to date. Be sure to check it out!

Thanks so much for your support of this blog. I'm delighted that so many tens of thousands of people have made this blog part of their regular reading habit!

If you like this blog, please let others know who might also enjoy it. E-mailing your favorite post to them is a great idea. My post on saving money on heating costs this winter is a good choice. You can find it at http://livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars.blogspot.com/2005_08_30_livebetterthanabillionaireon5dollars_archive.html/.

Thank you to my many friends, students, clients and blog readers who are spreading the good word about this blog.

If you are visiting today because someone invited you, I'm delighted to meet you! Let's stay in touch.

Remember to check out

Live Spiritually Better than a Billionaire at http://livespirituallybetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Be More Successful than a Billionaire at http://bemoresuccessfulthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Mansions Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoymansionsbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/,

Enjoy Football Better than a Billionaire at http://enjoyfootballbetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/ and

Be a World Hero Better than a Billionaire at http://beaworldherobetterthanabillionaire.blogspot.com/.

May God bless you.

Donald W. Mitchell, Your Dream Concierge

Copyright 2005 Donald W. Mitchell