Got Life? Choosing the Life You Love

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Taking Care of Business

I was in Trader Joe’s yesterday. Just picking up  a bottle of wine, some cheese and crackers, a little fruit.

Going through the checkout, I saw one of my favorite store employees, a young guy who is generally offering samples of French cheese and crackers on the weekends. Nice guy.

Today, he was my checkout person.  I slid my  debit card through the reader and I let out a long sigh and said,  “yahoo it’s Friday!”.  He smiled at me and said, “actually it’s my “Tuesday” today.”  “I’m sorry”  I replied, feeling bad that he didn’t have a weekend to  look forward to – to unwind, relax a bit – whatever.  But he said to me “don’t be sorry – I am happy to be earning a living“.  “Right you are”, I  said.

We take so much for granted.  I just assumed that the young guy would resent working for minimum wage at a friendly little grocery store, passing up the opportunity to let loose a little on the weekend.

Then…

I certainly wasn’t thinking about earning a living when I was in my 20s – but I probably should have been.  I came from a privileged background where my parents felt it was far more important that I pursue an education than work, so that’s exactly what I did.  I went to a prestigious graduate school and got an M.A.  in Translation and Intercultural Communication (what is that, anyway?).

The summer I graduated,  I left for a vacation in Greece with some friends and ended up staying for a year teaching English.  A lot of fun but not necessarily oozing with ambition.  I had lofty  ideas of eventually returning home and translating great literature, or vital information for the United Nations.

As always, reality plays out your life somewhat differently.  I came home to the U.S. a couple of years later, only to discover that translation was a business like any other.  From labelling on a package of CornNuts to heavy training manuals for Caterpillar, translators were cranking out translations for agencies that sold a variety of linguistic services.  None of it was very sexy.

I, who had scoffed at the notion of business school and business altogether, ended up in Marketing and Sales at an advertising agency in Chicago. Armed with reasonably polished manners and the ability to respond intelligently in almost any given situation I navigated my way through a business life for which I had not been prepared at all.

Then I ran my own translation agency for 9 years and an entrepreneur was born. To this day, in spite of the challenges and struggles, those were the happiest days of my career.

And Now…

I’m thinking that young man at Trader Joes is pretty smart. Not because he is going to make his career there but because, in this tenuous economy he is taking care to make sure he is working. He’ll choose the life he loves. He’s just taking care of business right now.

As for me, I have gone full circle! I have returned to an entreprenurial life.  It’s a life I love.  I’m blogging with the help of a viral blogging platform.

I joined the Empower Network. I earn  100% commissions. I work as little or as much as I want. And I have ongoing access to the best training and best experts in the internet space.

Ask me!  I’d love to tell you more.

Got Life?

…..until now.

The truth is that he is luck to have a job.  He is lucky to be earning a living when so many aren’t.  And there was something refreshingly honest about hearing it come out of the mouth of a “young, good looking, I look-like-I’d-rather-be-surfing” dude.  I applaud him.

It’s a different time.

It’s a different time for me as well.  I am no longer driven to pursue the “big jobs” in the corporate gladiator’s arena where your character comes second, or even third to your reputation and hard work is rewarded by extra hours and a 14% yearly bonus – maybe.

I have chosen to join the Empower Network where my earning potential is unfathomably higher than I ever dreamed of in previous jobs, where I learn something new EVERYday.  Where the greater team I am privilieged to work with, collaborates, supports and encourages.  And best of all, my earnings are not dependent the team I can build and mentor, not on me besting anyone else out of a job.

Listen to this audio given to the team  guests on Memorial Day last week.