Life & Work By Design Blog

I was on a chat room board earlier today where a lot of folks were asking how they could earn an income working at home. There are many of us who want to do this for a variety of reasons. Stay at home Moms are the usual suspects, but it might also be that you have a disability that keeps you housebound, you are caring for someone who needs you there, or maybe you just want to quit fighting the traffic. 

Whatever the reason, there are unlimited possibilities today. You can work for someone else fielding phone calls, setting appointments or doing internet research. You can set up your own internet business selling on e-bay or on your own web-site; you can be a ghost writer; a medical transcriptionist; there is no limit to the ideas.

The question most people were asking on the forum was how to figure out which offers and jobs are scams and which are authentic.  Of course you have to do your own research to check up on any offer, but I would suggest that you start with the site www.workingfromhome.com which is the work of Paul and Sarah Edwards. This dynamic couple has produced numerous books for small business owners and self-employed folks, and have a reputation for providing quality information and sound advice. Some time spent studying the resources on their site would be time well spent and you can order their books from my web-site bookstore.

Wow! I have had one of those wonderful AHA moments again. I love it when this happens! All of a sudden, all the forces of the universe come together and something that has been worrying, challenging or puzzling you suddenly comes clear.

From reading elsewhere you know that I had a supreme change of heart about a year ago when I quit what others considered a perfectly good, (actually gravy-train sort of corporate job) because I believed that I was meant to do something much more meaningful in this life. Friends and family thought I was nuts. Then Barbara Winter, my solo-preneur guru, suggested that I become a creative careers consultant. That was a great idea -it fit me very well  and I proceeded to take the certification training with Valerie Young at Changing Course.com and hung out my shingle. But I have been struggling with trying to find just the right corner of the career coaching world to fit into. I just hadn’t defined that special area that really excited me.

Then I read an article by Marc Freedman, author of a book titled, Encore: Finding Work That Matters in the 2^nd Half of Life. AHA!   I have found my special project!

In a nutshell, Mr. Freedman, the founder of Civic Ventures, The Purpose Prize and The Experience Corps, makes the point that this huge group of Boomers who are beginning to retire has the knowledge, experience, energy and resources to make some profound contributions to society both at the local level and around the globe. And, they care about doing something that makes a difference.

It seems that I’m only one of many who want to make a social impact somehow. We want encore careers that combine needed income, a search for personal fulfillment and a desire to make a real impact.”

The article highlights ordinary people like a retired Marine Corps general who transformed a Chicago food bank; a former corporate manager who joined the Peace Corps and ended up staying in Romania to start a non-profit to help the children there; a retired hospital executive who started a program for the homeless in Philadelphia.

I will have much more to say about this in future blogs and articles.I’m going to the book store to buy a copy of the book now. This phenomena which Freedman calls “the biggest transformation of work since the women’s movement” has gotten my attention. I want to play a role in helping my fellow boomers find their talents and gifts and a way to share them with a bigger world.  Read more about Marc Freedman’s projects on his web-site. It is truly inspiring.

Marc Freedman’s Site