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What can I do that isn't going to get done unless I do it, just because of who I am?
Buckminster Fuller
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| Buon Viaggio Blog |
The theme this month is Richly Resourceful. | |
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What Century Are You Living In?
| Zoe's
about to turn 6 and I've been wondering if she's old enough for me to
tell her about the way cameras used to work. This child of the digital
age isn't going to believe me when I tell her about film, the long wait
between the time we shot a picture and actually got to see what we'd
done.
I was thinking about this pending conversation on a flight
to visit Zoe recently and, as if they'd read my mind, the March issue
of Southwest Airline's Spirit magazine had a fun trip down memory lane
with an article called Last Tech.
There are no
horse and buggies in this piece, but they recalled things like
typewriters, pay phones, gas station attendants, answering machines and
boomboxes-all from the not so distant past.
It was another
reminder that we are living in a time when change is so constant that
it often leaves us breathless. What's so striking is how different
people deal with this rapid evolution in very disparate ways.
One
man I know simply ignores it while opportunities zoom past him. He
reminds me of Edward Arlington Robinson's poem, Miniver Cheevy.
Remember it from high school? Here's a verse:
Miniver cursed the commonplace
And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
He missed the medieval grace
Of iron clothing.
It
isn't just characters from poems and real life individuals who seem to
have one foot in each century. The latest issue of Time magazine showed
up with a cover story titled JOBS: Where They Are.
That may
not sound unusual given the state of employment, but consider this. Two
weeks earlier this same magazine's cover story was 10 Ideas for the
Next 10 Years. My favorite article from that gaze into the years
ahead was the one that declared, "the future of work looks a lot like
unemployment."
The author talks about
the changing world of work and says the future will tend to be
homebased, fueled by a new spirit of individualism that also embraces
self-sufficiency. Sounds like the Joyfully Jobless are about to become
trendy.
Of course, our institutions are often the last to notice
changing times. College students today are increasingly reporting that
they intend to run their own businesses, but are ignoring college
business courses which still seem designed to prepare students for
corporate jobs.
These kids are on to something, but I'm not
so sure about their elders-especially those who are trying to build a
business with tools and attitudes from the previous century. It's a
handicap we don't need, but we may have to confront our own resistance
first.
After all, the highest calling of the Joyfully Jobless
life is to use imagination and innovation to create a near future that
is somehow better than the recent past. While that doesn't mean jumping
on every bandwagon that comes along, it does require keeping up.
There
are modern trailblazers all around us and they are showing us new
possibilities for living and working in the 21st century. Gather and
synthesize ideas from these creative thinkers.
Follow them on Twitter. Read their books. Connect with them in seminars. Make peace with technology.
Or adopt (sans drugs) a motto from the sixties that finally makes sense: Tune In. Turn On. Drop Out.
That may be the best description of how to create the business of your dreams in our not-always-so-brave new world. |
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SPENDTHRIFT, CHEAPSKATE OR THRIFTY ENTREPRENEUR?
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 I've been saying for a long time now that one of the gifts (and challenges) of self-employment is that it forces us to examine our relationship with money. For many of us, it's a lifetime project.
The smartest entrepreneurs I know (and others I have studied), have built their businesses in imaginative and thrifty ways. Paul Hawken, a true entrepreneurial visionary, has come to the same conclusion. In Growing a Business, he writes, "With low overhead, frugal means
and fragile budgets, you can't buy your way out of problems. You have to learn your way out. The creativity and tenacity you have to develop will make it hard for you to be put out of business."
That's the focus of my next teleclass, How to be a Thrifty
Entrepreneur Without Being a Cheapskate. on Monday, April
12. How can you be smart, thrifty and creative in building your business
without be cheap and stodgy? That's what we'll be exploring here along with
showing you practical ways to use your imagination more and your pocketbook
less.
The following week, we'll be going Beyond the $100
Hourwhere we'll explore ideas to help you develop a healthier
relationship with the money aspect of your entrepreneurial life and develop a
relaxed and confident approach to creating a steady cash flow. This is not a
Make Big Money Fast approach, but a thoughtful exploration of incremental
growth. Tuesday, April 20
The series concludes with the ever popular I Hate
Marketingon Thursday, April 22. Since developing ease with marketing is a
big challenge for many new (and not so new) entrepreneurs, this teleclass will
give you ideas for marketing in ways that are both fun and effective.
You'll also receive a nifty discount if you register for two
or more seminars at the same time. And, as always, all teleclasses will be
recorded so you'll receive the audio download whether you can attend in person
or not.
Joyfully Jobless Teleclasses
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YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED
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Pay a visit (or several) to Buon Viaggio blog this month
where the theme is Richly Resourceful. I'll be sharing lots of ideas for
mobilizing the resources you already have.
We've also extended the deadline for joining our Pardnership
Posse until April 10. There are two spots left and if you want to claim one of
them, do it now. Besides having the fun of helping shape our upcoming Jamboree
in Austin, TX, I predict our Posse members are going to find new long-term
friends. Awesome group assembling here.
Pardnership Posse
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Buona fortuna,
Barbara Winter
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