Dec 22 2008
Blog #3: Do What You Know
Although I encourage chasing your dreams and living them every day, it is important to not ignore bills to be paid, rent that is due, or desirable spending/saving money on hand. Sometimes you do what you have to to get by, including taking jobs you are less than passionate about.
Some of my least favorites:
Fast food in Orlando, FL (Wearing a dress and bonnet in the kitchen should be enough to explain why I loathed this job, but it’s not that bad in the grand scheme of things. The area manager picked favorites and made it difficult to uphold our job responsibilities. When I got hurt on the job she denied me my right to visit health services. It went downhill from there)
Gas station in Buffalo, NY (I had amazing co-workers but that bullet-proof glass scared me. There was a reason for it and I didn’t want to meet him or her)
Convenience store in Hamburg, NY (Part of night time duties included retrieving bakery items from the freezer. I passed out in there one night and it took my co-workers over 30 minutes to find me. Though my manager made sure I was alright it was not a place I got excited about each day to get to)
Gift shop in Denver, CO (I was trained and utilized as a supervisor but was denied such pay. Managers were either absent or unhelpful in any and all situations. Plus the shirts were awful!)
Getting a job is always difficult, but it’s even more difficult when you’ve already quit your last one, or have never had a job before. It’s always feels more desperate when you don’t have a source of income already and you are frantically searching for one. Many people get caught up looking for a work-from-home job and find themselves victim of scams. Not all work-from-home jobs are like this (see http://onlinewritingincome.today.com http://ebayselling.today.com/ and other today.com blogs) but it is important to not fall for any old scam.
If you’re interested in working from home as a secondary income or you can’t work a regular full or part time job outside of your home, telecommunicating might also be worth looking into (see also: http://telcommuting.today.com/).
This is a hard time for us financially right now as our economy isn’t what we’d like it to be. More and more people are getting laid off before these holidays and even more are left without holiday bonuses or means to get through these holidays without too much debt. Holiday parties for companies and families alike are being cancelled.
If you’re looking for some other means to generate income these holidays, or just in general, be sure to look at some of the blogs I’ve already mentioned for legit offers out there that are readily available. If you’re looking for something more creative, here are a few more ideas.
Much like professors tell writers to “Write what you know”, I’m telling you to Do What You Know.
Are you talented with a needle? If sewing is something you do well, perhaps offer to stitch up new things or make repairs on the old. Put up flyers around your neighborhood or apartment complex and chat it up with your friends and family. You can make toys, blankets, jackets anything.
Do you love scrapbooking or other crafts? Make your holiday gifts this year. See if your friends or family want you to make something for someone else as well.
If you’re used to or up for physical labor, offer to shovel your neighbors’ driveways during the winter. Pour down salt on the ice you can’t get up and include the cost in your fee. If you get lot’s of snow regularly, help dig out your neighbor’s cars. You might want to do this just to be neighborly, but it would be okay to accept a tip from the grateful car owner as well.
Also along the lines of being neighborly, if you know someone who can’t get to the store easily, offer to go for them. Ask if it would be okay to have a tip included, as well as an appropriate fee for gas used if you drive.
If you love to paint, you can do more than paint your gifts this year. Paint on regular paper to make wrapping paper. Paint envelopes to make them more festive, and sell them for a decent price. You can sell painted gift boxes or water bottles. You could even reuse the boxes or water bottles for a Green effect (reduce, reuse, recycle, all that good stuff).
You may still need to take a loathsome job to make it by, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little bit of your passion in your income. Do what you know.
