Prepare To Pay Up.

I just read a story on CBS News with this same title and I immediately thought of my son who’s just turned 29.  He’d no desire to go to college but we insisted that he at least got an associate’s degree; so that at least he’d be half way there if he changed his mind.

So off he went to the community college. That’s until our letter box clanged with a notice to say he’d been suspended for lack of attendance!  To put it simply, he was bored. After a “little chat” he later enrolled in a course for recording engineers.  He just ate that up, and “sound” is now his hobby complete with a basement looking something like the nerve center of a nuclear submarine.

He moved on to intern at a recording school and to busing tables in an upscale sushi restaurant to make some cash.  He presented a good attitude and looked around to do other tasks when things were slow.  This got him noticed by the owner, who moved him through the business to later make him General Manager of a new food service venture in the upscale Birmingham area of Metro Detroit.

He’s now married, has a great income and a sporty company car without the $25,000 student loan debt that he might otherwise have.  Even a few of his employees have degrees but are struggling to find opportunities in their chosen careers.

But wait! There’s more! One morning at age 25 he awoke with appendicitis and by the end of the day; there was another $35,000 of possible debt!  Fortunately I was still paying his health insurance.  Lots of kids his age have no such luck, so he could be starting life owing $60,000 at 25!  How do you ever go from there, to middle class?

The point of this story is not to knock college. But as many people have come to realize, the old paradigm of college-career-retirement on a pension, is no longer on the menu of life.

As for myself, I’ve rather dodged the waves of life despite them crashing over my head a few times. Yes, I have been through years of “Monday Morning Blues” but fortunately I have been my own boss for the last twenty or so of my life. But being your own boss is not stress free! believe me. However, the stress is different when you’re in control and can do something about it.

Fortunately there are always options for people with a good attitude and mind set that.  I cannot imagine working in an organization, perhaps for years, and suddenly being laid off. But with the rapid changes we are seeing in all areas of life why not take a look as to how we are perhaps not as limited by time, age, technical ability, money and so on. Be a devil and open the door below, don’t worry, it won’t lock behind you!

Open The Door To A Business & Life You Love