JumpTO… Not FROM…
Time for a short New Year’s rant…
Hate your job? Life passing you by? Frustrated, and just want to escape? But no thoughts or plans on what to do next? Waste of energy!
Better to have an idea or two in mind. Something to move TO, not FROM. Rather than wallow in misery, time to explore some options. A challenge for 2014…
Time to ask three critical questions:
- What COULD I do? What talents and experience might have value to others?
- What SHOULD I do? Would I enjoy it? Can I make a living at it?
- And WHAT do I need to do to get there?
Regarding the last, NO, you don’t need to go back to school for another degree. (Unless it is necessary, like to become the doctor you always wanted to be.) Too often, this is just a cop out for making the hard decisions on what to do next. See this post.
And NO, you don’t need to become a consultant. Although if you are reading my blog, I assume there is at least some curiosity about the subject. But the world today is full of possibilities and opportunities – more so than any time in history. Just explore them.
If you are unsure about what to do next, visit fellow Arizona blogger Pam Slim at EscapeFromCubicleNation. Full disclosure – I’m a big fan of Pam – unlike too many Internet charlatans, Pam is the real thing. She has also walked the walk.
Read her blog and buy her books. If you still want help to sort things out, she also offers personal coaching services, with an emphasis on small business.
If you are interested in starting/running a small consulting practice, stick around here. More to come in 2014, as I share more ideas and information based on thirty years experience as an independent consultant.
Finally, this is why I named my blog Jump-TO-Consulting. I wanted to focus on what it takes to get there. Still damn glad I made my own Jump-TO so many years ago!
Thus ends the rant. What are YOUR options for 2014? Jump-TO ???
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Hi again, Daryl
Let me know if you need some ideas about how to sell consulting. After 24 years, I should know something by now.
You are right…advertising is pretty much useless…as well as trade shows. Not much “there” there. Gotta pick up the phone and call.
Say, do you have any idea how many people are following your blog?
I have a good friend, who has been an EE a couple years longer than I, who recently got laid off. He called me up and said “At this point, i want to be a consulting EE.” Great! I drove up to the cities twice to see him and give him pointers. Tried to help him find his first customer (the freebie one) and how to network and find more and, most importantly, how to book them! But, as he started searching monster or LInkedin or something, he ran across a job that he thought he could do. He sent in a resume and they hired him…as an employee. Dammit! Lost one! LOL
Happy New Year!
John
Good motivation, my friend! Looking forward to more insights over coffee next week.