Leave Corporate America Behind

Have you ever thought of leaving the rat race before becoming a rat? I worked in Corporate America many years and I don't believe that everyone becomes a rat as I worked with many good people. Many of those good people are still there; some people are just more suited as followers and working for someone else. I am not. What are you suited to do? Have you ever thought about what it would be like to leave your job and do your own thing? To follow your passion? Do you even have a passion?

In the beginning of my journey I just wanted "out" and to be an "entreprenour". Many can relate to that but may not know where to start. When I started, my corporate job gave me plenty of disposable income to invest. I decided to open a boutique as I enjoyed clothes and it sounded like lots of fun. Location, location, location is what is important in retail. My location was great at first but then construction started and my once great location became a graveyard for small businesses. Next, I heard that leveraging other people 's work was a good thing and so I had this bright idea to open a day spa with a partner. We had several contractors working in our spa and we collected a percentage of what they made. We managed, they worked and we got paid. Not a bad deal. Long story short...good idea, wrong partner. What I learned from my experience was so valuable as I learned how to run a business and I seen first hand the advantages and disadvantages small business owners face. I also learned that my dream and passion wasn't in a boutique or a day spa.

Remember when I asked if you have a passion? I asked that because so many people don't know what they really want to do. Jack Canfield says the way to know what you want is to first ask yourself what you don't want. After my first two experiences, I found out that I don't want to tie up large sums of money in retail, I don't like overhead or employees, I don't want a partners and I don't want to spend time away from my son. That was a good start. With my list I was able to list some criteria for my "final" push toward an entreprenourial lifestyle. Leverage the work of others without overhead or employees and have more time with my son all while getting to have fun working and helping people. Take a minute and think about what you have experienced that you "don't want" and then turn it into what you do want. Gain some clarity. This is a start and know that as you evolve, your list will change. This is the first and most crucial step. If you don't start with what you want, how will you know when you've received it?

Now that you know what you want, go get it. Figure out the shortest path between where you are and where you want to be. For me it was Network Marketing. It isn't for everyone but I came in to the field treating it like a business. I positioned myself to attract people who wanted what I had to offer... so I helped them and a successful business was born. After 10 months, I left the job and have not looked back since then. It did take work and focus. Anyone that tells you it 's easy should probably go to corporate america because they are a rat. Just kidding. I will clarify... it is not easy but it is simple. It just takes you completing step 1 from above with knowing what you want, then focus and use a system to get it. It boils down to giving yourself and your business the respect of treating it just like a business. If you have never had a business before, you want to partner with someone that is already successful so they can show you how to do it. Anyone can, but not everyone will. I believe if you really respect what you're doing and you have clarity of what you want, then the focus will come easy. As for the system... find people who are already doing what you want to do and ask them to share their system. If you are in network marketing like me, there are lots of systems out there. You can use one that is setup from one of your senior partners or you can find many online from other networkers. Regardless of whose system it is... do the due diligence and find out what will work for YOU and if you are in a business of network marketing, your system must be generic enough to be passed down to other generations to duplicate success.

This may seem like an elementary idea but maybe that 's the basics we need to keep in front of us. My son is in 3rd grade and he knows he wants a new game system. He has researched the price and he asks all the time what he can do to make extra money to save up for it. He does the work and he saves the money because he has the clarity of what he wants. He has a system for making more money by asking to complete extra chores while keeping his focus on getting enough money to buy his new system. He is following thru' daily with the action to get him closer to obtaining his goal. I guess you can sum it up that if you really do want to leave your job, you should think like an elementary student. Decide what you want and do everything you can to make it happen.