Today, I spoke with Jonathan Fields, who is an author, blogger and much more. He just launched his new blog based on his “Career Renegade” book today, in addition to an incredible new eBook called “The Fire Fly Manifesto.” The purpose of this interview is to inspire you to start doing work you love, instead of being part of the status quo, dreading each day of work. We’re not saying to quit your job, but we are telling you (begging you) to get on a career path, where you are happy AND make money. It will take time, but the effort is worth it in the end.
Studies show that 75%-90% of Americans are dissatisfied with their work lives. Why does this happen?
That’s a mighty big question, and there are a host of day-to-day reasons, from conflicts with people to tasks, processes and settings that don’t jive with who we are.
But, in the end, it comes down to the fact that the vast majority of people are hired in jobs that summarily empty their souls, while shelving any number of other pursuits that would not only fill their bank accounts, but allow them to come alive.
Too many people have been lulled into believing that life is all about sacrifice and suffering, giving up what matters most in the name of being a grown up. We’ve been told that, with rare exception, passion and prosperity are mutually exclusive pursuits. What a crock!
Simple truth—passion, purpose and fulfillment matter, they make us come alive at work and at play. They make work worth doing. And, pursued the right way, they can be had along with prosperity. In fact, changes in technology over the last 3 – 5 years has made this more possible for more people than ever before.
Your book is called the “Career Renegade,” which is an awesome title. Can you explain the anatomy of a career renegade and a few examples of renegades you’ve met?
“Sure, a Career Renegade is someone who deliberately crafts his or her livelihood around the life they want to live.”
They lead with passion, they take risks in the name of creating opportunities for fulfillment, passion and meaning and, often, seek to have a greater impact on the world around them.
And, one other thing. Career Renegades don’t just do what they love and hope or pray that the money will follow. They lead with passion, then make the money follow. They figure out how to earn as much as they need to live well in the world, however they define that. It’s not always easy and it’s not always fast, but, there’s almost always a way, if you’re motivated and informed.
Dr. Joe Alban is a great example of a gradual evolution. He left a 20 year practice as an orthopedic surgeon in Orange Country, California to become a coffee farmer in Kona, Hawaii. If you’ve ever had Kona Joe coffee, you’re drinking his product. It literally took the entire 20 years to complete the transition, but Joe and his wife are loving life now.
They live on the island of their dreams, they’ve built a company that’s growing like wildfire, out-earning Joe’s medical practice and Joe is able to create something that impacts peoples’ lives every day. He looks forward to working every day and, unlike the life of a surgeon, the pace of life is so much more enjoyable and less stressful, he can easily keep going for as long as he desires.
In my case, the journey from hedge-fund lawyer to wellness-industry entrepreneur unfolded a lot faster. When I first left the law, I went from making six-figures to earning $12 an hour as a personal trainer. That was a bit of a blow to my ego. But, I knew it was coming, so I planned for it, saved enough to get me through and immersed myself in learning the health and fitness business. Within a short time, I’d built my own facility, I was not only earning a great living again, but loving what I did. I was touching lives on a much more tangible level and enjoying the control that entrepreneurship gave me.
Since then, I’ve actually changed paths a number of times, launching one of NYC’s top-rated yoga centers, becoming a blogger, author, speaker, marketer and copywriter. And, there’s a lot more on tap for 2009. For me, what brings it all together is the opportunity to constantly create, build my own work culture, have an impact on peoples’ lives and earn enough to live well in the world and support my family.
Is it always easy? Of course not, but it’s so worth it. I’m no longer chasing a carrot that, in the end, I have no interest in eating.
My book is loaded with a lot more amazing case studies, strategies and approaches. In fact, finding and interviewing these folks was one of the best parts of researching and writing this book.
Most people decide to take the long-road in their careers to make more money, at the expense of their passion. I believe that if stick to what you love, you will end up make 10x more money in the future than you would at that “other job.” What is your opinion?
I’d love to say it’s that easy, but I don’t believe it is. Fact is, I know plenty of people that earn between 6 and 8 figures doing things they have little passion for. Granted, every day they work eats them up inside, they dread each morning. But I don’t believe it would be that easy to earn 10 times what they make now by doing what they love.
I think the more realistic way to look at it is that if you turn loose the same work ethic, skills and ability that’s let you succeed in a job you hate on a career you love, it is very possible to live well in the world and earn a great living…however you define it.
The biggest challenge to your argument comes when your talking about people whose passion leads to a field where a path to prosperity isn’t readily apparent, like the arts, writing or teaching. In those cases, you often need to get innovative and potentially leverage technology and business formats to figure out ways to earn far more than the average artist or teacher earns. In my book, I actually share a number of case studies and in-depth strategies that reveal specific Career Renegade paths to success for teachers, writers and artists.
How does a career renegade use technology to succeed? What are 3-5 tips you have on how to use technology, mainly social media, to get ahead?
Reality is, the mass proliferation of broadband access, search technology and social media has made becoming a Career Renegade possible on a level that simply didn’t exist even 3 – 5 years ago. The challenge is no longer lack of opportunity, but knowledge of how to discover, create and tap opportunity.
- Tip #1 – Mine organic search (google, google trends, google insights and other more specialized tools) to (a) refine your passion-driven career vision (b) determine whether a hungry enough market exists, and (c) discover gaps that can be exploited in serving your market.
- Tip #2 – Tap Blogging, micro-blogging and social media to platform build. Anyone can launch a blog in a matter of minutes and establish a social media profile that will allow them to publicly demonstrate mastery in the area of their expertise. This is a game changer, because it opens up a worldwide market and allows you to brand yourself as a known expert in a remarkably short period of time…provided you know what you’re talking about! If you don’t, it can just as easily brand you a scammer or spammer.
- Tip #3 – Leverage the internet to build your knowledge base. If you’ve been a maven in the area of your passion for years or decades, chances are you already have much of the knowledge needed to establish yourself as a public expert and turn that expertise into income. If not, there is now a wealth of information, educational programs and trainings available in nearly every area imaginable that’ll allow you to learn what you need to know lightning fast and, often, for free.
- Tip #4 – Find Rabbis and mentors through social networking. Spend time understanding the culture of the various online social hubs, then reach out to people you’d love to have as mentors. Big piece of advice, though, always give more than you get. And, give BEFORE you get. It’s not only smart business, it’s just plain good Karma, too.
When I talk about personal branding, I tell everyone to become the #1 person at what they do to a certain audience. I’m sure you agree that being the go-to-person really pays off. What strategies do you have for becoming this go-to-person?
My comments above pretty much address this, but one thing I’d also do when you are considering leveraging blogging and social media is to decide what “framework” best suits the type of expertise you are looking to establish. So, ask whether you want to be known as a “primary source” of information or “thought leader,” a valued “aggregator,” an “editor/funnel” or something else. This decision will affect the way you build your online platform.
For example, if you are looking to become the “thought leader,” you might want to focus on longer, more in depth, resource, strategy and information-packed blog posts. If you are aggregating, you might focus more on capturing and summarizing every relevant bit of information in the area of your passion.
Then, take a step further and blend new and old media strategies to play off of each other and accelerate your march to become a known expert and a force in the area of your passion, then turn that expertise in economic opportunity.
In the end, too, it’s important to remember to add value to whatever field, conversation or community you decide to enter.
It’s not enough to have something to say, you’ve got to have something people genuinely want to hear.
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Jonathan Fields is the author of Career Renegade: How To Make A Great Living Doing What You Love. He is a giddy dad, husband, New Yorker, multi-time health & fitness industry entrepreneur, recovering S.E.C./mega-firm hedge-fund lawyer, slightly-warped, unusually-stretchy, spiritually-inclined, obsessed with creation, direct-response copywriter, small-biz and online marketing-maven, speaker, entrepreneur-coach, yoga-teacher, columnist, author, once-a-decade hook-rug savant, pro-blogger and career renegade™ gone wild.
