My mission in life is
to inspire others to be happier and take risks to get what
they want in life. I am telling you my story to show that
there are possibilities for how to live your life in ways
you may not have thought of before.
There are three reasons that I become a Lifestyle Entrepreneur 15
years ago:
1. I was in a serious car accident and lived with chronic
pain.
2. I wanted to follow my passion, help people, and make a
difference.
3. I wanted to live: "An extraordinary life!"
For the first three years after the accident, I was in agony every day.
Luckily, a few years after the accident my back got a little
better, so my husband and I decided to do what we called "reverse
retirement."
There were a few things that pushed
us forward into this risky endeavor: we knew that in my later
years I would become more limited in what I could do physically
(when arthritis set into the joints that were injured in the
car accident), we wanted to see the world, and I had always
said I wanted to live an extraordinary life. I also think
the fact that I had faced death pushed both of us to take
more risks to get what we wanted in life.
So we quit our jobs and became Business Consultants.
For five years we traveled five months a year and worked 7 months a year. We had a wonderful
time on two to three month trips to: Slovakia, Paris, China, Australia & New Zealand, Thailand,
Vietnam & Laos, The Netherlands, Greece & Turkey, to name a few.
We slept in beach huts, taught English in China, floated down the Mekong, climbed a glacier, swam with sting rays and sharks,
and kayaked over a city under the sea (it had been banished underwater by an earthquake).
And, we made friends all over the world.
A strange and wonderful phenomenon occurred during this
time: We made more money than we had made while we were working full time.
From then on I knew I wanted to inspire others to stop living a 9 to 5,
2-weeks of vacation-a-year existence. I wanted to let people know that you can break out of the box and live a richer life.
Being a Lifestyle Entrepreneur has let me create an
extraordinary life and follow my passion, and it has given me the flexibility to deal with my chronic pain.
Because I don't have to report into an office, I don't drive to work every day (which hurts my back) and I work at home most
of the time (which allows me to lay down or rest when I need to).
It hasn't been easy being a Lifestyle Entrepreneur.
I may have worked more hours than I would have had I stayed in my Corporate job.
I've worked hard on learning to sell and market myself. And the amount of money
I have coming in, definitely ebbs and flows. But I love my path and wouldn't
trade it for the world. I hope my story inspires you to break out of the box, even in a small way.
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© Donna Schilder, PCC, Life & Business Coach of Glacier Point Solutions, Inc., 2007. Dschilder@aol.com (562)434-7822. You are welcome to “reprint” this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the “about the author” information at the end).
Through coaching, Donna Schilder helps her clients design the life they want to live and build productive businesses. Her Free monthly E-newsletter "Guideposts on the Road to Happiness" is for people who want to live a happier, healthier, and more productive life. Sign up now at www.DonnaSchilder.com.
