Remember in my last post I said I had a few more Mumpreneur ideas on my drawing board? Well, I was playing around with one of these (was there a market for it? How would I get clients? How long would it take before I got an income from it? And so on). I felt a few sparks of "yes, I could do that" but most of the time it didn't really grab me. I was missing something, then I found a book by Paul and Sarah Edwards, authors of the excellent "Getting Business to Come to You". This book is called "Finding Your Perfect Work" and unlike the usual careers guides that point you towards a job, it specialises in helping you find the right self-employed work for you. (You can get this from Amazon or download it as an ebook from http://middleclasslibrary.com/). Finding your Perfect Work gives three questions not to ask when deciding what work is right for you:
- Don't ask what COULD I do – you'll get lost in a forest of endless possibilities
- Don't ask what SHOULD I do – you'll get lost in a barren desert of unappealing ideas
- Don't ask what's BEST for me to do – you'll get lost in a quagmire of impossible choices
Instead ask "What do I really want to do?" Then I realised I've spent the last eight months going round in circles with the three 'don't' questions. I know exactly were this came from. On the day I decided I couldn't put my daughter in nursery and go back to my full-time job, I decided that my work options were now so limited, I would have to take whatever I could get. Maybe it wasn't a totally conscious decision, but it's been steering my thoughts and actions ever since. Now that I've done some research I'm realising that my options are very different than the ones I had pre-baby, and yes, they probably are more limited, but I have a lot more possibilities than I first thought. With two very small children to care for, I'll need a passion for any business I run. My energy is going to be pretty low at times so I need my natural motivation to be as high as it possibly can be. If my business idea doesn't grab me now, it's not right for me. But what is right for me? So far I've only read chapter 1 of the book, so I'll let you know when I've finished.
I started doing what I really wanted to do as a 21 year old single mum of a 2 year old – and haven’t looked back 🙂
I started doing what I wanted about 12 years ago, leading up to the point where we were finally able to start launching our own business 3-4 years back.
It’s not an easy path, but it IS a rewarding one. 🙂
Thanks for the comments, it’s really good to hear that what I’m trying to do really is possible. Especially from people who have gone out there and done it themselves.
I think you’re right: I love what I do, and that certainly helps me keep going, despite sleepless nights etc! Will link to this from FFW!
Hi,
I think it’s very hard to find work that is really what you want to do that actually pays you any money! My husband would love to watch films all day and write reviews or be a tennis umpire but it’s never going to happen! We started our own business about 5 years ago as we couldn’t stand our previous jobs. That was great for a while – being your own boss etc, but having no holidays and then staff problems etc etc brought that dream to an end. We’re now on our second dream of living in Spain which is going well so far if we can sustain it. I think combining work that you like with a life style that you love is the key!
Cheers, Chloe