How do you Spend your Time?
How do you spend your day? What goal did you achieve today? Did you set a goal? Did you sacrifice something small today so that you might acquire something more significant in the future? Each journey begins with one small step and each success is an accumulation of small, achievable, goals. If self-employment is the goal you would like to achieve, then you must start with small steps, make goals to achieve each day and take your future into your own hands. Many feel that an education and good rehab or community resources can help pave a path toward a successful career. For some, this may be true. There others who feel restless living within the confines of another's dream and long to reach out for their own.While rehab counselors, community organizations, friends, and family can assist in providing funds for education and help you acquire the skills necessary to live your daily life, travel safely in your environment, learn to effectively use your computer and much more, they cannot "give" you a dream. Successful self-employment is beyond the reach of many but, for those with the drive, determination, and willingness to sacrifice, it can be a reality.
Every day you hear of those who have "given up" on employment. Rejection from
the mainstream has resulted in an overpowering feeling of defeat. Falling back
on Social Security and spending your days on the Internet playing games,
chatting on email lists or in text and voice chat rooms, and socializing with
others who share those same feelings of defeat can be a comfortable cocoon.
These environments can shelter you from the reality of your life. They can help
you avoid the pain that awaits beyond your own front door; however, while they
may insulate you from the pain of rejection, they also serve to insulate you
from the self-confidence and satisfaction derived from working to achieve a goal
that burns in your heart and refuses to be extinguished.
Even a tiny spark can be ignited into a fire if you take the time to nourish it.
Small steps can turn into large journeys. Your first step may be to look at how
you spend your time each day. How much time you spend doing the following? Make
a chart and be honest with yourself.
- Reading email for socialization and conversation
- Chatting in text or voice chat rooms with others for socialization
- Playing computer games
- Browsing the net for entertainment purposes
- Spending time on other social or recreational activities
If you find that a majority of your day is spent in such activities yet you still have a burning desire to become self-sufficient and self-supporting, it is possible to readjust your lifestyle and your thinking toward the future instead of living in the moment.
If you feel that desire within you to achieve something beyond what is currently within your reach, it is time to re-assess your goals, your lifestyle and those with whom you associate. Bursting free of a cocoon can be painful but, if you are to achieve your dreams, it may be necessary to survive a bit of pain on the road to the ultimate satisfaction of success.
Small steps are easy and it is nice that you can choose which steps you will take. Perhaps setting a goal of spending an equal amount of time pursuing your goals as you do pursuing pleasurable activities: for every hour you spend on a chat site, spend one hour writing an outline for a training course; for every hour you spend reading email and writing friends, spend one hour exploring an application with which you would like to become more familiar; for every hour you spend downloading music or browsing the Internet for pleasure, spend an hour learning the finer points of accessing the Internet exploring the Boolean language of search engines, learning the screen-reader specific hot keys of the browser, etc
Each day should be seen as a new opportunity to learn more about your chosen profession, to improve your skills, make contacts with those who can help further your career and to create yet more small, achievable, goals. As you begin to share your vision of your future with others, you will find a variety of responses. This can be the most painful part of the process. You may find it necessary to assess the value of some individuals in your life. They may be perfectly pleasant people but, rather than supporting your efforts and offering encouragement, they may speak in defeatist tones, warning you of ultimate failure. They may try and tug you back into the comfort of the cocoon. You may find it necessary to leave those individuals behind and seek a new circle of friends who share your goals and understand your desire to succeed. While it may be tempting to listen to those who warn you of the pitfalls ahead, you must keep your immediate goal in mind and start to plan your next step toward your future.
You won't have your own thriving business within a few weeks of startup but, you can have the beginnings of a foundation in place that will allow you to provide training to those in need of service. Start small by determining the type of training you would like to provide (i.e. telephone, on-line, in person) and preparing the following:
- A cover letter to present to potential clients, rehab agencies, and employers
- A number of well-defined outlines for the courses you would like to teach
- Syllabi for the classes you would like to teach.
- A flyer advertising your services
- A list of contacts to whom you can send your advertisement
The above items will allow you to begin advertising your services. Your knowledge of the Internet will allow you to search for contacts to whom you can mail your flyer and/or cover letter. The cost of postage as of this writing is 37 cents for a first class letter. Invest $37.00 into 100 stamps and send off 100 flyers to rehab agencies, colleges, universities and organizations serving the blind. If you have difficulty absorbing the expense of the $37.00, look at your lifestyle and determine where you can make a sacrifice here and there. Perhaps you can cut back on a luxury here or there (i.e. cigarettes, movies rentals, pizza delivery) for one month and save the $37.00.
As I said above, it is the small sacrifices you make today that will allow you to reap the rewards of tomorrow. We have all been in a situation where we have had to make choices. You can choose to move toward a better future by making small changes in your lifestyle today. It is time to prioritize.
You can expect small returns off the first 100 letters you send but, continue to send letters to new contacts every month. Make a goal of 25 letters a week. If you get a response of one or two students per month, that is an excellent return and a foundation upon which you can build. Provide the best quality training you can and you will find satisfied students will refer others in your direction. Your reputation will build and, before you know it, you will find yourself moving toward independence.
Your reputation and your presence on the Internet can serve you well. If you learn the basics of HTML, you can create your own web page to which you can refer those interested in acquiring training. As your reputation starts to grow, it is important that you, once again, assess your contacts and the places you frequent on the Internet. Do you seek out those who can benefit you personally and professionally? Do you participate on mailing lists that are reputable in nature and carry yourself in a professional and respectable manner on the sites and in the chat rooms you frequent? Again, difficult choices may have to be made. You may have to sacrifice some of the "fun" aspects of your Internet life in order to achieve the level of respectability and professionalism commensurate with your position in the training community.
You can start toward your new and independent future today. Take that first small step. Evaluate your lifestyle and start to work toward those small, achievable goals. Adopt the mannerisms and personality that you would like others to see when they look at you. The more you "live" the life of a skilled and confident professional, the more comfortable you will become in the role.
An old adage speaks of each day being an empty palate upon which you can paint the picture of your day. Take each new day and seize it. Set aside a part of each day to work toward your independence. Leave those who preach dependence and defeat behind you and live the life that you have always dreamed of and deserve. It won't be easy, it will be a slow and deliberate process. There will be days where nothing seems to go right and days where nothing can go wrong. Self-employment is a roller coaster ride that will take your breath away, scare the heck out of you and, at the same time, be one of the most rewarding and thrilling experiences of your life. But it is up to you to take that first step. So once again, the question remains.. what do you do with your time?