[Daily Knowledge Blast] : Born For This by Chris Guillebeau

Everybody wants to live the dream. Getting paid to do the work we love, without feeling like we are working at all.
There is a job out there for everybody, the only thing that may be holding you back is the outdated career advice that we have all be fed.

Finding the job of your dreams takes a little bit more effort than you would expect as not everything is straightforward and easy to figure out. Jobs develop in peculiar ways, your best bet to finding the career that you have always wanted is to keep experimenting. Careers don't follow strict scripts. Putting all your eggs in one basket and pigeon-holing yourself can lead to unhappiness and stress, causing you to give up the so called 'career path of your dreams' and landing in a tricky situation (I'm there right now, it ain't fun).

If a new opportunity for a job comes your way, seize it. Don't pass up an opportunity, it might be your only one. Nobody says you have to stay in a job, it's perfectly fine for you to flip the script and try something new. The point to take is that all opportunities can lead to something. Just remember that there will always be different options, so if a job doesn't feel right and you aren't happy, change it up!

What makes a dream job?

In your job you need to find the right combination. You should try to find a career path that gives you joy, money and flow. To break them down a bit easier for you to understand, I've wrote below what each one briefly means;

• Joy - Happiness and love, after all you have to find something you will enjoy doing each day otherwise you will just end up miserable.

• Money - Bills. This doesn't need much explanation, everyone needs to make ends meet. So you need a job that will meet your financial needs.

• Flow - This is a psychological term, the feeling when you are truly focused in an activity. Something that is challenging enough to keep you interested, without being too difficult to cause frustration and doubt and not to easy that you get bored and lose interest. I believe this is the most important factor.

Another factor that can determine a dream job is your work and social environment. Do you like to be at the office or would you prefer to be home? Do you like to be around others and work in a team? Do you like to work freely or do you prefer to be managed by others? The list of questions to ask is long and by answering them you will get a better idea of what situation you want to be in. This is how you start to fabricate your ideal situation for work, it's the first step to acquiring the job of your dreams.

There is risks up ahead

Are you being held back by fear and doubt? It's natural. If you've read any of my previous DKB's you'll have a familiarity with uncertainty by now and you'll understand that it's programmed into our brains over the years. The truth is, the thing that'll change this up is risk. Taking more risks. There is nothing to fear with risks, as long as you have a strategy for making them more calculated, reducing your leap of faith mentality.

• Write lists - Get down everything that might go wrong, try to estimate how possible each outcome will be

• Remember your fears are exaggerated - We all exaggerate our fears, by thinking more critically you can squash some of the doubt surrounding your situations

• Prepare for risk - Build a safety net, if you are considering taking a risk, make sure you have a back up plan in place. Try and build a network of supporters who will be there even if your plan falls short

• Second source of income - This one is a bit trickier but if you can put in the time, you can create a different avenue for money coming in so you can take risks without the fear of missing bills

Always on the hustle

Starting up a business is a venture that can put you on the path towards job freedom. Being able to create your own business is the best way to ensure you doing something that is linked to your skills and what you love to do. The problem is people just don't have the time when they are working a 9-5 job.
The truth is, allocating the right focused time and working towards your startup with just an hour a day after work, you can see progress after a few weeks.

The first use of your time should be asking yourself specific questions based around what road you are looking to go down. You want to answer these questions in detail in your allocated hour, ironing out all the if's and buts that are surrounding your venture. Questions like; 'Who are my customers going to be?' 'Where am I going to sell my service or product?' or ''How much is my budget and what am I going to spend the money on?''. It's important to lay down this groundwork, it will give you more clarity and you will benefit from the get go while also paying your bills. Reduce your risk, become certain.

My niche is...

Not set in stone. You don't need to pin yourself to one specific market. After all it is your life and you can decide whatever you want to do. I'm sure you have heard the story of Richard Branson, he didn't pigeon hole himself to his first business venture which was a magazine named Student. What is he doing now? Planes with glass floors, among countless other avenues.

Change is necessary, we have to learn to adapt.

Don't put yourself in a corner. Learn to build an audience so that whatever you decide, you have a strong following of people who are interested in you. This is the key to financial freedom. You can have the greatest ideas in the world but if you don't have a network of people who are willing to pay for your ideas, it isn't going to work.

Have you ever heard of the concept of 1000 True Fans? Lets say you've worked on your network and you have gained a following of 1,000 people that are true fans. These fans will buy anything that you put out. Mugs, t-shirts, bags. The whole web-store. These are your true supporters. You may have 10,000 followers but these 1,000 fans are the crème de la crème, they rock. You've built a strong connection with them.
Now, how much do you need to make a year to be financially free? $50K? $100K?

You know what's next. $50 X 1,000 = $50,000. Can you sell $50 worth of goods to each of your true fans every year?

Also remember the knock on effect of having true fans. They are definitely going to spread the word to their friends.

Daily round up

Taking risks and finding your dream job can seem extremely daunting and following the advice from others is not always your best option. The traditional career choices there for us tend to be strict, inflexible and a one track road doomed to failure. We need to learn to get on our side hustle and begin creating waves for ourselves so we can get up every morning with a big smile on our faces. We all have a choice, how are you choosing to use it?

Drop me a message below if you've built up your own business, let us know how you've hustled your way there. Are you already starting up your own business? Or are you making your dreams possible within the company your already in?
It's not a one size fits all walk of life. Heck, my jeans get more loose everyday.