Thought of the day

Did we get a gift receipt with the stimulus? I'd like to return it for a full refund.

Unemployment

Unemployment is high, very high. As someone who's been affected personally by the poor economy, I can tell you that almost everyone I meet is either unemployed, their spouse is unemployed, their sibling or neighbor or good friend is unemployed. Those who aren't are seemingly unhappy because they've been forced to do 1.5 peoples jobs in order to keep theirs. And no, they're not getting paid more for it.

I don't feel sorry for these people, I am one of them. What I've learned is that I'm going to be done being unemployed after I once again become employed. What I mean is that I have taken a long hard look at my career and how I need to position myself so that I'm not dependent upon other people, the economy and/or client and business issues to keep my job. Of course its unrealistic to think that you can completely insulate yourself from those things but here's how I plan to protect myself as best I can.

Start or purchase a business. Then I control who if anyone gets laid off and rest assured, I'd be the last one to go and I like this option a lot for many reasons. Although it is much easier said than done, poor job markets and economies typically produce more new businesses. Taking risk is much easier when you're not walking away from a good job already.

Make a career adjustment into something that positions me as the person with the client relationships. That translates to an asset that I can bring to my next employer. Forget about non-compete's, they're hard to enforce.

Build a business that pays residuals and have people selling something that you can earn an override on. I like this idea a lot also. Eventually you're earning money for the work of others and you suddenly control much more of your schedule. Additionally, you can make a later career change while maintaining   key accounts or clients.

So what are you doing to secure your future?

2010 Election ad for Obama voters