I’m working but I don’t feel that fulfillment thing…

Is it enough to make money – or should we really expect more from our work? It is unrealistic to expect that sense of meaning, purpose, and fulfillment that I talk about here week after week?

Episode #890 May 05, 2023

Hi, this is Dan Miller – and yes you’re listening to the 48 Days Radio show – where each week we take 48 minutes to dive into real-life questions about finding your passion, deciding what kind of life you want to live – and then finding or creating work that allows you to show up every day, excited to be able to do something that is meaningful, fulfilling – and profitable. This is where normal, indecision and ambiguity come to die. Welcome to the 48 Days Radio Show.

Thank you for being a listener of this podcast. I love hearing from you and being allowed to think through the questions we all have about finding or creating work that matters, for people who care.

Questions:

With the birth of my first child should I explore being a Mompreneur rather than look for another corporate job?

As a brand new mom, you’ve entered a new, very important season of your life. Clearly, this is a great time to take a fresh look at your life and decide what you want your life to look like three years from now. Do you want to be a present mom? Or are you okay having someone else be the primary caregiver for your child? Do you find the idea of working from home by yourself appealing or do you enjoy going to an office every day? Do you have an idea of what you would pursue if you did something on your own? Are you a visionary? Are you someone who’s comfortable managing yourself and taking action? The opportunities for you to create income are endless, so you can have the best of both worlds. I recommend you take a fresh look at your skills and abilities, your personality traits, how you relate to other people, what kind of environment you are most comfortable in, and your values dreams, and passions. Look for patterns you see when you are in your zone, when it feels like this is what I was born for. Then list 20 things you could do from home. Filter those through what you know about yourself, then narrow them down to three or four best ideas. Do a little bit more research. Choose one and take action. You can be generating new profit and real income 30 days from now. But also create healthy boundaries around how much time you can spend on your business. Grow that business. Enjoy the rewards of that and enjoy at the same time your new role as a mommy. Don’t let your past determine your future. Draw at line in the sand and take a fresh look at where you want to be three years from now. Make decisions based on that. We sold a book titled Mompreneur a few years ago. That’s what prompted one of our products, the 48 Low and No Cost Business Ideas was originally created to help moms who wanted to stay at home, see ways they could generate income.

I somehow feel blessed to be able to take care of my 2 kids while doing a side job at home, but I don’t feel that fulfillment thing.

I would encourage you to be very specific about who you want to help and what kind of trouble or problem you can help them address, then become known as the expert in that arena. It could be moms of two kids who don’t know how to plan healthy at-home meals, or women who are 35 years old, who are always feeling fatigued. Be very specific then clarify your product or service, and make it clear how what you offer them will help improve their lives.

Failure ended my career and in my view has done “irreversible damage”.

Take a look at the book written by Dr. Thomas Stanley, The Millionaire Next Door. He describes in there the characteristics of people who ultimately ended up extremely successful. For one thing, the average GPA of all the millionaires that he interviewed, was 2.7. If you really look inward, you can come up with an idea that is uniquely you and knock it out of the park in terms of your financial success. That’s been the exact path for a whole lot of millionaires that have been profiled out there. I think you’re looking too microscopically at this one approach: go to college, get a degree, get a job at a company. Well, that isn’t working for you. That’s okay. I don’t think that it’s created irreversible damage. Take an internal look at your unique skills and abilities, your personality traits, your values, dreams and passions. Those are going to help you come up with your unique direction that you can go on. There are plenty of people who are thriving and prospering who are doing things not based on the college degree that they got, or even their attempt to get one.

Quotation:

[click_to_tweet tweet=”‘The search for money alone will always be self-defeating.” Dan Miller @48daysteam” quote=”“Work must provide the opportunity for spiritual and personal growth as well as financial success. The irony is that if it does not provide all three, there will be a natural pressure to keep the financial rewards low. The search for money alone will always be self-defeating.” Dan Miller”]

I’ve spent a lot of time with clients who have earned a lot of money but are not being fulfilled. A lot of people, because they had the academic ability, end up with designations behind their name, like MD, Ph.D., DDS, or JD, Just because they had the academic ability, they get invited to fancy graduate schools, and they keep going, There has to be more than just the ability to do something. There has to be more than just the money that comes as a result of doing something. If you’re doing something just because you have the ability, you can get burned out doing that if there’s no passion involved, so it’s a balancing process where you want harmony between passion, talent, and money. That’s when you are truly fulfilled.