If you do what you love, will the money follow?

It was Marsha Sinetar, back in the 1980’s, who popularized this notion in her book, Do What You Love, the Money Will Follow. Is it always true? Or ever true?

Many people I have coached or spoken with over the course of my career have expressed disillusionment with this idea. They think it means that they think of the most unlikely prospect for earning a living, state their desire, and sit back and wait for it to happen. But that is not the way it works (and I think Marsha would agree!).

At Career Coach Institute, our mantra is to “make work matter.”™ That means that whether we’re a coach or client (a worker in any of thousands of professions), our work meets four criteria: it is (1) fun, (2) meaningful, (3) allows us to contribute our uniqueness, and (4) meets our financial needs.

Sometimes we try to do what we love and the money doesn’t follow. That can be a sign that we haven’t thought creatively enough about it – by combining other skillsets, working in our own business doing that instead of working for someone else, etc. – or that we have chosen a field whose rewards are more psychic and emotional than financial.

Today’s creative workers may have a “portfolio career,” in which they do several different things, some of which pay the bills and some of which are simply for the satisfaction of doing them. There is no law that says our “day job” has to meet all of our emotional AND financial needs – but when we get clear on our Authentic Vocation,™ as we teach it at Career Coach Institute, then BOTH financial and emotional/spiritual needs are met. And it has met the Business Reality test so that it also meets our financial needs.

To find a coach to help you define your Authentic Vocation, visit our coaches directory at http://www.careercoachinstitute.com/coaches-directory.htm

And to learn to coach others to find theirs, visit http://www.careercoachinstitute.com/our-training-program.htm OR plan to attend (or listen to) our live Training Update on the latest trends in coaching, coach training, and creating a more fulfilling future. This forum will occur Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 3 pm Eastern time – register here: http://www.careercoachinstitute.com/forum.htm If you register at this page, you will receive access to the mp3 file of the forum too, along with a special gift, “20 Ways to Double Your Income This Year.”

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