"You must always keep in mind that a path is only a path; if you feel you should not follow it, you must not stay with it under any conditions."
This is the beginning of one of the great lessons Carlos Castaneda learns in his 1968 classic anthropological allegory, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (New York: Ballantine Books, 1968). Castaneda is about 18 months into his experiences with the enigmatic Mexican sorcerer when he asks the great master about choosing a path. Don Juan continues with these powerful, carefully chosen words:
To have such clarity you must lead a disciplined life. Only then will you know that any path is only a path, and there is no affront, to oneself or others, in dropping it if that is what your heart tells you to do.
But your decision to keep on the path or to leave it must be free of fear or ambition. I warn you. Look at every path closely and deliberately. Try it as many times as you think necessary. Then ask yourself, and yourself alone, one question. This question is one that only a very old man asks. My benefactor told me about it once when I was young and my blood was too vigorous for me to understand it. Now I do understand it. I will tell you what it is: Does this path have a heart?
All paths are the same: They lead nowhere. They are paths going through the bush, or into the bush. In my own life I could say I have traveled long, long paths, but I am not anywhere. My benefactor's question has meaning now. Does this path have a heart? If it does, the path is good; if it doesn't, it is of no use. Both paths lead nowhere; but one has a heart, the other doesn't. One makes for a joyful journey; as long as you follow it, you are one with it. The other will make you curse your life. One makes you strong; the other weakens you.
There are many lessons in these words, but let's consider the most basic one: Learn to listen to your heart. If you can begin to notice your feelings more carefully and regularly, following them will come naturally.
Another wise person once said about life and marriage, "A person has to ask, 'Where am I going? And who will go with me?' If you ask them in the wrong order, you will be in big trouble." The same goes for choosing a career path. In this case, it's the "What would I love to do" question and another: How can I make the best living? If you answer the second one first, expect a disastrous result.
Let Skills Adapt to Love
Assuming you're working on doing something you really love, you should focus on the transferability of your functional skills. Ron Evans was long-time publisher of Byte magazine, the influential computer publication. Now he runs a consulting and business development practice focused on Asia and the Pacific Rim. Where's the connection? He'd spent his last five years at Byte developing the Asian markets in both circulation and advertising. He could imagine striking the same kinds of deals in a variety of businesses. Further, he has a life-long interest in Eastern cultures. Suddenly his move seemed not such a stretch after all. He loves it.
Sometimes it's the function you love, and the content isn't crucial: "You don't really have to know anything about ice cream to open a Baskin-Robbins," says Miami careers writer Gary Grappo. "But you do have to have the right soft skills: How to train, manage and motivate staff, for example."
Okay, What Are My Options?
You've chosen an area to work in that you really love, have taken an inventory of your transferable skills and identified a couple of strengths to pursue. Where shall we find the market for these skills?
One immediate possibility is to consider applying them in a different way for your current or recent employer. Tracy Steyer relocated to Rogers, Arkansas, from Minneapolis when her husband landed a job at Wal-Mart's corporate headquarters. But she didn't want to give up her job at an executive search firm, so she proposed taking her work with her: opening an office at home in Rogers and doing most of her work by phone from there, traveling occasionally to meet with clients and candidates. Her boss agreed and they established a working agreement; a year later, everybody's still happy. You can call Terry at her Minneapolis number and segue to Arkansas without a hitch.
Gary Grappo had another kind of deal: Until recently, he worked two weeks a month for Scanticon, a hotel and conference property development group based in Princeton, NJ. The other two weeks he wrote books at his home in Florida. It wasn't a rigid schedule-he could swap days-but it provided a framework in which he could turn on and turn off his full-time commitment and live guilt-free half-time, which is more than most of us get to do!
If, however, you're making a complete break with your previous job, you have even more interesting opportunities to consider! Ronnie Lessam, in the book, Getting Into Self-Employment (Toronto, Management Education and Development, 1984), defines seven approaches to self-employment:
- Turning a hobby into a business. For this, you need longstanding passion for your product or service. The springboard is usually personal connections.
- Becoming a consultant. This requires specialized knowledge and gets rolling through professional contacts. The ability and willingness to sell are essential here.
- Acquiring an existing business. Managerial and marketing skills are critical. Financial resources are the trigger.
- Buying a franchise. This one depends most on organizational ability. Again, financial resources put the plans in motion.
- Creating a business of your own. Now we're talking a highly enterprising spirit. The key to action is a clearly identified marketplace.
- Matching personal and market potential. This depends entirely on your personal knowledge and individual potential.
- Developing your vision. For the highly creative and charismatic individual, this approach to self-employment is usually aimed at an economic or social need or potential.
