This week I’ll be in Milwaukee and Columbus, then flying over to London for the first international stop of the new tour.

I hope to see many of you on the road! Dates and schedule here.

***

Previous Updates in this Series:

Convergence
Skill Transformation
Report from the Road

Today I want to share the most important lesson of The $100 Startup.

The central message of the book is that the skills (and the money) you already have are all you need. You don’t need an MBA. You don’t need to beg the bank for money. You don’t need to write a 60-page business plan that no one will ever read.

To start a business, you just need a product or service, a group of people willing to buy it, and a way to get paid. That’s it! Focus on these three things exclusively.

As quickly as possible, get the first sale. Aim to do this within 30 days of conceiving of your idea. Then, pursue a process of continuous improvement to tweak your way to the bank (more on this later).

There is no consulting school. If you want to help people with a specific problem, go ahead and set up shop. (See the Instant Consultant Plan.)

We become comfortable with change by taking action to change. (See this article and a lesson on bulldozers for more.)

One of my favorite stories from the book comes from Lexington, South Carolina. On my first book tour, 18 months ago, I stopped by the Jamestown Coffee Shop. It was a great place and reminded me a lot of some of my favorite shops in the Pacific Northwest…. which wasn’t surprising once I heard the story. Here’s some background on how Jamestown Coffee came to be:

From his home base in Seattle, James Kirk used to build and manage computer data centers around the country. But in an act of conviction that took less than six months from idea to execution, he packed up a 2006 Mustang and left Seattle for South Carolina, on a mission to start an authentic coffee shop in the land of biscuits and iced tea. Once he made the decision, he says, all other options were closed:

“There was one moment very early on where I realized, this is what I want to do, and this is what I am going to do. And that was that. Decision made. I’ll figure the rest out.”

As we’ll see, James later got serious about making a real plan, but the more important step was the decision to proceed. Ready or not, he was heading for a major change, and it couldn’t come soon enough. A few short months later, Jamestown Coffee opened for business in Lexington, South Carolina. James and his new staff had worked ten-hour days for several weeks to prepare for the opening. But there it was—a ribbon to be cut, the mayor on hand to welcome the business to the community, and a line of customers eager to sample the wares. The day had come at last, and there was no looking back.

Later in the book I discuss more about the coffee shop. Along the way, James made numerous adjustments. He did in fact do a fair amount of planning. But as noted, the most important thing was to go. Decision made.

Let James Kirk’s story serve as a reminder to you. It all begins with an active decision, followed by action. Will you make your own decision to act?

Lastly, a Note on Urgency

I write a lot about legacy projects, and what I believe is a core need to focus on what we’ll make with the our lives. The related theme to this is urgency, the need to seize the day and make our time count for something.

I’m on the road again now, meeting with fun people every night and hearing good stories of change.

It challenges me. I don’t get every talk right, and I’m tweaking as I go. There are a few things I wished I had done differently in setting up the tour.

But I made the decision, and I’m moving forward. Another day, another city. In the down time I work on other projects, always making a little progress at a time and thinking about the next thing. It’s fun, it’s worth it, and what else would I do? That’s right, nothing.

What decision to act can you make right now?

Tell us here.

###

*It’s official: The $100 Startup is an Instant National Bestseller. Thanks for your support!

The Kindle version is now available in the U.S. and Canada, and the UK/Commonwealth version launches on Thursday, May 24.

This week: Chapel Hill, Atlanta, Miami, Houston, and Denver.

Tour dates and cities here.

And have I mentioned… THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT! I’m extremely grateful.

***

Continuing the theme of lessons learned, today let’s talk about skills.

In short, no matter what you think, you have them. Not only do you have general skills, you have skills that are marketable. You are good at something that can be parlayed into a business model.

The thing is, these skills may be different than you first realize. They may need to be reworked or repositioned somehow. But the central premise is:

If you’re good at one thing, you’re good at something else. Often the “something else” is where you’ll find the business model.

For example…

In London, Kat Alder was a waitress with good communication skills—her customers were always complimenting her and giving her good tips. She was good at providing recommendations and gently upselling them in a way they were happy about. Then someone said, “You know, you’d be really good at P.R.”

Kat was originally from Germany and wasn’t even sure that P.R. stood for Public Relations. After she was let go from another temporary job at the BBC, she thought back on the conversation. She still didn’t know much about the P.R. industry, but she landed her first client within a month and figured it out. Four years later, her firm employs five people and operates in London, Berlin, New York, and China.

If you’re a teacher, you’re also good at crowd control and discipline. You’re good at lesson planning (teachers don’t have much time to prepare) and you’re good at staying on track. You’re probably also good at seeing the long-term, since the best teachers incorporate an arc in their teaching; what you learn now is related to broader principles that you learn over time.

Similarly, if you’re an engineer, you’re a good problem solver. You’re good at analytical thinking and creating solutions. Brandon Pearce built a multiple six-figure business providing a solution to music teachers who were busy teaching and not as good at running their business.

The point is that sometimes you have to look beyond the obvious—but you already have the skills.

I also wrote about this last month in a post that wasn’t sent by email. Here’s how Scott Adams, creator of the Dilbert comic strip, puts it:

I succeeded as a cartoonist with negligible art talent, some basic writing skills, an ordinary sense of humor and a bit of experience in the business world. The “Dilbert” comic is a combination of all four skills. The world has plenty of better artists, smarter writers, funnier humorists and more experienced business people. The rare part is that each of those modest skills is collected in one person. That’s how value is created.

***

One more thing: if you aren’t sure what skills you have that could be marketable, focus on the questions people ask you. Everyone’s an expert at something, and you may discover your specific skills by understanding what other people already see in you.

That’s it for today… I’m now back on the road to Chapel Hill and beyond.

Wherever you are, have a great week!

###

The $100 Startup is just $14 at Amazon.com. You can also pick up or request the book at your favorite local bookstore.

Lots of people are asking about the Kindle version. It’s been experiencing a glitch that causes it to disappear from the listing, but should be back soon.

Image: James

The book is out, and I’m on the road!

The launch party in New York was extremely fun. Last night I was in Boston at the Harvard Coop, and tonight I’m heading down to Washington, DC.

We’re hitting a new city almost every day for the next four weeks. Tour dates here.

And by the way… THANKS FOR YOUR HELP! It’s going very well so far, and we hope to keep it going for a long time.

Order Here on Amazon
Order Here on BN.com
Order from Your Local Bookstore

***

Over the next month, I’ll be sharing some of the lessons I learned in spending time with all the “unexpected entrepreneurs” profiled in the book. These won’t be promotional posts; I’ll be sharing real lessons and helpful information you can use in your own pursuit of freedom.

One of the first things I looked at was the question of the follow-your-passion model.

Many people talked about building a business based on a hobby or passion. However, others cautioned that “follow your passion” is more complicated than it first appears.

The key is that you can’t be passionate about just anything; instead you need to be passionate about something that other people are willing to spend money on. Here’s how I described it in the book:

As we’ll examine it, convergence represents the intersection between something you especially like to do or are good at doing (preferably both), and what other people are also interested in. The easiest way to understand convergence is: the overlapping space between what you care about and what other people are willing to spend money on.

Not everything that you are passionate about or skilled in is interesting to the rest of the world—and not everything is marketable. I can be very passionate about eating pizza, but no one is going to pay me to do it. Likewise, any particular person won’t be able to provide a solution to every problem or be interesting to everyone. But in the overlap between the two circles, where passion or skill meets usefulness, a microbusiness built on freedom and value can thrive.

***

The lesson of convergence can be seen in almost every case study in the book, and indeed, in almost every successful business. In Reno, Nevada, Mignon Fogarty created the QD Network, best known for her signature show Grammar Girl. The show was a huge hit almost from the beginning, spawning a line of books, related programs, and non-stop media attention.

But before she was Grammar Girl, Mignon pursued a similar idea in an unsuccessful attempt to build popularity through podcasting. Here’s how she tells the story:

“Before I launched the successful Grammar Girl podcast, I was the host of a science podcast called Absolute Science. I loved doing that show and I was passionate about it. I actually put more effort into promoting that show than I did for the Grammar Girl podcast, and although Absolute Science was well-received, after doing it for nearly a year it was clear that the show was never going to make enough money to make it worth the time required to produce it.”

Mignon changed course, trading science for grammar. The answer wasn’t to abandon her passion altogether, but rather to make sure she connected the right passion with the right audience.

“Absolute Science”: Passion… but not enough audience

“Grammar Girl”: Passion… and a substantial audience

In India, Purna Duggirala found a way to create spreadsheet tools (It’s now a six-figure business).

In Kansas City, Marianne Cascone co-founded Bon Bon Cupcakes, a children’s clothing firm.

In the U.K., Jonathan Pincas founded the Tapas Lunch Company, based on importing food from his partner’s native Spain. They later relocated to Spain and run the business back and forth between the two countries. A love for Spanish food and culture combined with a desire from the marketplace in Britain to get more authentic goods.

The examples go on and on, and the key point is: find convergence! This is the first and most important predictor of success in any business or freedom plan.

The link between passion and value is how you’ll change the world.

Question: Have you found convergence? How are you looking for it?

Tell us here.

###

Image: Tera!

Greetings from midtown Manhattan, where a large amount of coffee is about to be consumed in a corner room at the Doubletree hotel.

Today is the day.

After three years of research and writing, it’s finally here.

The $100 Startup is going out to the world!

Hundreds of people from all over the world have helped in the making of this book. It’s their story of freedom and your blueprint for change.

The central message of the book is:

If you want to create more freedom and security for yourself through a “very small” business, the skills and the money you have are all you need. Don’t wait!

You can pick up the book from any major bookseller:

• Amazon
• B&N
• Chapters/Indigo
• 800-CEO-Read
• Books-a-Million
• Your Local Bookstore

We had a couple of pre-order promotions already, so for now I’ll just mention one thing. Publishing is a strange industry with a lot of quirks. One of these quirks is that the success of your book depends a great deal on what happens during the first two weeks.

If you’d like to help—and if you’re interested in the book—now is the time. I do most of my work for free and don’t accept donations or sponsorship on AONC. I’d like this book to do well, so for once I’ll say: if you’ve been waiting to pick it up, now is the best time.

If you have a blog or website (of any kind), I’d be extremely grateful for your links and reviews as you read the book over the next month. I owe you cupcakes and gratitude.

The Tour Begins Tonight!

The world’s first 7-continent book tour begins tonight with the official launch here in NYC. We’ll be at Housing Works (130 Crosby Street) at 7pm. Everyone is welcome. AONC events are not “readings” and I usually talk for 20 minutes or less. The rest of the time is Q&A and informal hanging out with fun people.

Sign up for an upcoming location over here. (Yes, tickets are FREE!)

Thanks so much for being part of this. The goal for this book is to help thousands of people quit their jobs and find freedom by making something valuable that improves the state of the world.

As I said yesterday, whatever success we’ve had thus far comes from the support of you, the readers. The same is true of this book, and I hope it makes a strong connection with your own journey.

Onwards and upwards!

P.S. No comments today, but you can head back to yesterday’s post if you’d like to chime in.

###

Greetings from East 42nd Street in New York City.

I’m here to begin a new journey as The $100 Startup goes out to the world tomorrow. Here are a few notes on the early beginnings.

***

It all started back in 2009. I had established the blog and began a new way of life: writing for a living. Or mostly, writing because it was what I wanted to do more than anything else.

I was traveling a lot, working my way through the middle part of going everywhere. I wrote posts and created products, adapting as I went along.

Not everything I wrote was amazing; not everything I published was a mega-hit. I made some mistakes.

But I kept learning, asking questions, trying different things.

A couple of things helped, and the best thing was that I met people. Introvert that I am, I learned to host meetups and connect with readers as I went on the road. This made a huge difference. I suddenly realized that it wasn’t just faceless people out there on the other side of the screen—they were real people with fascinating lives.

It was no longer just about my own little blog or quest to see the world; in many cases these people had their own quests and big projects. They were doing exciting things of their own.

I went back and regrouped, determined to learn more about them.

Among others, many of these people were what I called unexpected or accidental entrepreneurs—those who had created freedom for themselves by following their passion and creating something valuable. Most of them didn’t have MBAs or any real business training; they just did found a way to craft a business model around something they loved.

Since I had always worked for myself, I was intrigued with their stories. I collected a couple dozen of them of them and created a product called the Empire Building Kit.

J.D. Roth and I launched EBK on board the Amtrak Empire Builder train, selling $100,000 in copies on day one as we rolled along through North Dakota. Then we closed it for a month and did another $100,000 the next day it was open. It was clear we had a hit, but more important, it was clear that people were eager to learn about a specific way to create their own escape plan.

***

My first book, The Art of Non-Conformity, came out that September. I went on the road to all fifty states and all ten provinces in Canada, meeting more readers and hearing more stories at every stop.

There was James in South Carolina, who had packed up from Seattle and drove a Mustang “down south” to open an authentic coffee bar in the land of iced tea and biscuits.

There was Bernard from Croatia, who answered my survey questions from a beach in Thailand while working for clients in the U.S.

In California, Brett Kelly told me about making $120,000 from an ebook. The money was great, of course, but what it represented was even better: It allowed his wife Joana to quit her second job. Brett now works at home and the ebook continues to sell by the bucketload, at least $300/day in largely passive income.

Most of these people had started on their own, without a lot of money, but in a few cases, they needed money and found a creative way to get it. Emma in Hong Kong couldn’t get a bank loan for a business, so she asked for a car loan instead. She used the money to start the business and repaid it early. (There never was a car.)

Shannon Oakey told me about going to her community bank to ask for a loan. She had all her finances in order and had supported the bank for many years, but they still turned her down. Shannon decided to do it herself through a Kickstarter campaign. She got more money than she needed and mailed a printout of the result, with a lollipop wrapped up inside, to the loan officer who turned her down.

The stories went on and on, and I began paying closer attention, asking for details and filing away various notes. Then I realized the obvious: this needs to be a book.

***

While I was in the middle of the first book tour, I drove from North Dakota to South Dakota. We were in the final negotiations for what would become The $100 Startup, and I had to make a choice between competing offers. I talked to my great literary agent on the phone, made a decision, and that was it—the deal was done.

I pulled over in Brookings, South Dakota and made a stop at the “Choco Latte” coffee shop. I ordered an Americano (“no choco, please”) and felt a rush of relief as I settled down to relax for the first time in a while.

This feels great, I remember thinking. Now I just need to write the book.

Fast forward to last year. I rearranged my travel schedule to be home for three whole months, a world record. We began a comprehensive research study, looking for people who would fit our model of “unexpected entrepreneurs.”

The respondents had to be able to talk about money in specific terms. How much did they make? How did expenses compare to income? What was the initial startup investment? What went right—and wrong—along the way?

Most important, what could the rest of us learn from these people? What were their secrets?

From a pool of more than 1,500 respondents, I chose the top 100 for further interviews. I made phone calls to Thailand, Dublin, London, and elsewhere. I wrote and received email after email. After a month, we had thousands of pages of data in Google Docs, Evernote, and scattered around various hard drives.

And then I wrote. 1,000 words a day for 90 days—not all consecutive, but almost every day. (This is how you write a book. The basic process is pretty simple.)

And then we edited. Wow. Talk about process. The whole manuscript was rewritten three times. Entire chapters were discarded. It was painful but worth it, all in pursuit of something that would be both inspiring AND useful to those who wanted to create their own independence and freedom.

Fast forward another six months. After returning from the Sudan, I spent the entire month of April at home in Portland. I got up at 6am and went to Crossfit with J.D. He drove while I made various notes about the launch plan, MacBook sitting on my knees. Back at home, I made breakfast and answered more emails.

Then I settled into a daily 5-hour routine. Every day, I did back-to-back media interviews of various kinds and wrote all sorts of guest posts, Q&A features, and op-eds, all set to go out over the next two weeks.

I did this every day, six days a week. On Sundays I went for a long run and to brunch with Jolie, but then I got back into the written interviews in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, Wes Wages was traveling the country, visiting New York, South Carolina, Oregon, and California to document some of the people in the book. The initial results were compiled into a great book trailer (240,000 views so far!) that featured several of the inspiring stories from the book.

Finally, the day came—yesterday. I got on a plane and flew to New York, capital of planet earth and a place I love dearly. I’ve been going on walks, seeing friends, going out to dinner, and getting ready.

Tomorrow morning I’ll go for a run in Central Park, and tomorrow night we’ll begin the tour.

Tomorrow, Tomorrow

I thought I’d share the backstory behind this project for those who were curious, but make no mistake—the book isn’t about me at all.

This is truly a revolution, friends. The best is yet to come, and The $100 Startup is just one part of the story. The rest of the story is up to you.

The goal of the book is to share these case studies and teach readers to do this too. One of the best things I hear is when someone quits their job to go it alone. I’d like to hear it a lot more often, and I think this book will help.

It’s not a self-help guide, it’s a blueprint for change and action. It’s a mission to connect the twin concepts of freedom and value. You create value by helping people, and you can earn a good living for yourself.

I’ve done everything I can to make the book a success, but now it’s up to the rest of the world.

See you tomorrow?

###

*The $100 Startup debuts tomorrow—look for it online or ask for it at our favorite bookstore. Tour dates and cities are here—all tickets are free. There may also be cupcakes!

Image: See-ming Lee

If you’re trying to figure out what you’re good at, or trying to start a business for the first time, there’s a simple strategy that will help.

Start by listening.

Pay attention to what people ask you about. Chances are, there’s something you’re good at that other people want to learn.

Gary Leff, profiled in my upcoming book, never knew that people would pay money for him to manage their Frequent Flyer accounts… but at least once a day, he books an award for someone and earns a $250 fee.

Brett Kelly, also in the book, wasn’t sure that people would pay to learn how to use a software program that was free… but as he listened, he kept hearing the same questions over and over. He put together a comprehensive solution that contained all the answers, and now earns more than $150,000 a year from this “side project.”

There are business models and opportunities all around you.

Pay attention!

###

*Don’t be a stranger: Join the AONC community of 30,000 fans on Facebook, or circle me up on Google+.

*Next week we’ll launch The $100 Startup and I’ll be on the road to 20+ cities. I hope to see you somewhere! Until then, check out the official video trailer.

Image: Highersights

We all know there is a problem in focusing entirely on the end result.

When you reach the end, what comes next? What if the end wasn’t what you really wanted?

That’s why you have to love the milestones along the way, reminders that you appreciate what you’re doing and that it’s all for a good cause.

But there’s also a problem in focusing entirely on process. Working strictly on process takes you away from the big picture can lead you astray. Besides, it’s OK to have goals, right?

The third way is to love the act of creation itself.

When you love the act of making things, of bringing something to life, you’ll find that it loves you back.

No matter what, you’ll encounter setbacks and experience disappointments. But when you encounter them, your response is to keep creating. Use the setbacks for greater good.

Write your 1,000 words, paint your painting, build your business, lead your team—whatever you do. Focus on the act of making things.

The act of creation is where joy and effort intersect.

See you all next week for the debut of The $100 Startup book trailer, the road to NYC, and more.

###

Image: Amie

A long time ago, I was a jazz musician. I listened to Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans. I loved what they had done for the jazz world, and for the joy of music in general.

If only I practiced or memorized enough, I thought, I might not be an original, but I could at least reproduce what they had done. (At least in this case, I decided, individuality is overrated. If I could be like one of them, I’d be happy.)

But no matter how much I practiced, I could never be Monk. There was something about the technique, the choice of notes, phrases, and syncopation that couldn’t be imitated. I got the feeling that even if the imitation was perfect—mine certainly wasn’t—something would be missing.

***

A good artist, regardless of their profession, does something that is useful, enjoyable, or otherwise beneficial to other people. Sometimes we think we have to be very good at one thing—and indeed, that’s often how ends up… eventually.

But value is a combination of skills and deliverables that make your work unique. A quote from Scott Adams illustrates this principle well:

It’s unlikely that any average student can develop a world-class skill in one particular area. But it’s easy to learn how to do several different things fairly well.

I succeeded as a cartoonist with negligible art talent, some basic writing skills, an ordinary sense of humor and a bit of experience in the business world. The “Dilbert” comic is a combination of all four skills. The world has plenty of better artists, smarter writers, funnier humorists and more experienced business people. The rare part is that each of those modest skills is collected in one person. That’s how value is created.

Like Adams, I feel the same way in my current career—many people do each aspect of my work better than I do. I learned early on that I’m not a good travel writer, so I left that for other people. I don’t want to hire people or outsource undesired tasks. I also don’t offer coaching or consulting at all. I try to do a good job on the projects I pursue, but there are many left by the wayside as I move to other things.

The times when I’ve tried to improve various undeveloped skills usually result in only modest gains—like trying to be Thelonious Monk. In fact, more often than not it results in frustration as I force myself to attempt something for which I have no talent or aptitude.

It’s funny, if you make a list of all the things you don’t do well, you may wonder how you’ve even made it this far. But those things don’t matter—as Adams says, you can be average or even mediocre in many ways as long as you craft everything together in a way that gives other people something to care about.

The danger of imitation is not that you’ll completely fail; it’s that you’ll succeed a little. You’ll get by and do OK—but getting by and doing OK does not produce real value. Even if it were possible to be a perfect imitation, the combination of skills that results in your own contribution is so much better.

There’s only one Monk, only one Scott Adams, only one of you and me.

###

Image: Exquisitur

The Olympics are in London this year, but in the U.S. we’re gearing up for our own non-stop spectator sport. It’s a lot like a reality show, complete with advertising and corporate sponsorship. Many candidates enter, but only one remains when it’s over.

At the end, one competitor will win by a slim margin. The next four years will be spent fighting about what happened, all the while building up to the next installment in 2016.

The competitors belong to different clubs with marginally different beliefs, but they all share the same commitment to “restoring the American dream.”

Notably, they all talk about “creating jobs for the American people,” which is a strange promise to make. They will “fight for jobs and stand up to China,” refusing to back down until the land of liberty returns to a place and time that never actually existed.

It’s all very surreal. Regardless of their politics, how does any government leader go about creating jobs? Spoiler: aside from directly paying people to work, there isn’t much they can do.

In some ways the candidates make these promises because they are expected to. They have to show strength and confidence. If the electorate is concerned with unemployment, a candidate for higher office has to sound like he has a plan.

But I also think that many of us are attracted to any kind of rhetoric that promises a solution. (Never mind how illogical or impossible the solution may be.)

When something goes wrong, we just want someone, anyone, to fix it for us.

In the U.S. and elsewhere, real unemployment remains high. Many people are only marginally employed, working part-time or far away from the field for which they trained. How do we get out of this mess? Well, we probably won’t get out of anything. But you can get out of it yourself, and you can do so by creating your own career independence.

It’s a two-step plan:

Step 1. Stop waiting for someone else to solve the problem.

Step 2. Take responsibility and do something entirely different.

Where I live in Oregon, hundreds of people routinely apply for entry-level jobs that pay less than $15 an hour with no benefits. Many of them have college degrees. It’s not unusual to meet a barista or bus driver with a master’s degree.

I don’t think the answer for these people is just try harder. I don’t believe that polishing their resumes and sending out more applications will help them, at least not most of them.

I also don’t think it’s their fault, at least not collectively, and the solution can’t just be to “make more jobs,” even if someone could do such a thing by issuing an edict.

If you really want to make a job, your best bet is to make your own. My upcoming book, The $100 Startup, tells the story of how people from many different backgrounds forged their own career. Everyone in the book found a way to earn at least $50,000 a year (many earned much more) by using the skills they already had in a creative way.

The goal of the book is help people create their own freedom and independence by following the lessons of the case studies. I’ll be sharing more about it as we get closer to the launch on May 8th, but for now, think about this question of security. Here are a few definitions of the word:

1. Freedom from risk or danger; safety.
2. Freedom from doubt, anxiety, or fear; confidence.
3. Something that gives or assures safety.

When it comes to career independence, you can find security in any number of ways. You could, for example, become so indispensable that your employer agrees to adjust your job to suit your preferences. Or you could work in a field that is actually useful and in demand, such as medicine.

Or you can find a way to create a job that doesn’t currently exist, focusing on what you already know how to do that will also be valued by other people. That’s mostly what we focus on over at World Domination HQ.

But no matter how you get it done, no one else will do it for you.

How about you—where do you find your security?

Feel free to share your belief or experience in the comments.

I’m traveling in the Sudan this week, and will post up as many responses as I can.

###

*My friends at Charity: Water are beginning a new campaign today. If you’re wondering how to make a real difference with a global problem, join me in giving up your next birthday.

Image: POD

Are you happy in your job?

This fun resource—a one-page, “career cheat sheet”—from Sarah K. Peck can help you think through the question in a structured way.

Sarah published this chart last month and has received a strong reaction. Here’s what she had to say about it:

I’ve spent time with a wide range of folks – people in start-ups, people in recently established businesses, people in small companies, and people in large companies. This question comes up a lot, yet you can’t seem to figure out whether or not to stay or go. Whether to try something new. If it’s possible to fix something that’s an existing problem.

The response I’m getting from 40- and 50- year olds is especially interesting. My parents’ generation really responded so well. My dad, for example, said: You know, I really didn’t love my job for a while, but after reviewing this sheet I realized how thankful and grateful I am for my job, and how much my job challenges me and intrigues me. Sure, I’m tired on a daily basis, but I’m not bored.

I love that a reflection sheet like this can actually help us remember how much we like what we already have. It’s not necessarily about finding out that you hate your job, but that you might find out that you like your job after all!

Also, it’s nice to have a rubric to bounce ideas off of. It’s hard to just answer the question “Should I quit?” because you don’t have any frame from which to guide the argument. It’s easier to have a list of questions to provoke you and help you think through what might be important or what matters to you.

I’m heading to Austin this weekend, and then out to see the world on my final big trip before I go on the road for book tour #2. Before leaving, I asked Sarah a few questions about the career cheat sheet.

Q. How did the cheat sheet come about?

On a particularly frustrating day about two years ago, I sat down and asked myself, “What, exactly, am I not liking about this current situation?” I ended up with a long list of things that I hated about my job, from the fact that I was sitting all day, to not having enough interaction with others, to not being challenged on the projects that I was working on. I struggle a lot with figuring out whether or I’m doing work that’s right for me and how to make the most of my current situation. There are a lot of times when I’m not content with what I’m doing, and I’m itching to figure out how to make it better.

Once I made this list, I realized that about half of the things on it were things I could fix myself within a relatively short time frame (from a day to a few weeks). I set a timer and went on a walk every two hours. I made a habit of talking to people. I asked for harder projects, even though it seemed counter-intuitive. I was honest with my boss. Turns out he didn’t want me to be bored and unhappy as much as I didn’t want to be bored and unhappy!

I shared the list with a few close friends and family, and ended up having several honest, open conversations—it turned out that they were struggling, too. One of my friends didn’t know whether or not to leave his job. We asked ourselves, “What is most important about staying–or leaving–your current job? What is it that you need to get from your job?”

I scratched out a diagram that I pinned up on my wall at home—the one that you see in the worksheet.

Today, when I’m going through particularly frustrating weeks, I can use this as a check-in to see if what I’m experiencing is endemic to the job, or more a current symptom of the specific project I’m working on. It helps me touch base with what’s most important about the work that I’m doing.

Q. How can people change if they are unhappy?

I think people need to take a lot more responsibility for their own happiness. I have a few quotes in my (infamous) notebooks to remind me of this. First, it’s okay to be happy. Second, happy takes a lot of work. People sometimes think that a state of happiness is something to be achieved, reached, or is somehow something that will be handed to them. I am guilty of this all the time! I have to remind myself, “Sarah, if today didn’t work out so well, you’re going to have to try something new tomorrow and see if you can get different results.” Most everyone I know that is successful or has a joy for living has done some serious work on themselves, on their relationships, on their jobs.

So what does this mean? Start asking the hard questions. Be specific. What is it that you don’t like? What would it take to change that aspect? Sometimes it’s really hard, and I get it. Some of us have to spend a few years working our asses off to pay off debts, or to dig ourselves out of a whole, or struggle to learn a new skill, or go through a process to change. None of this is easy.

But who said happy is easy. Those are two entirely different words. What’s worth doing is not always what’s the most appealing thing to do in the present, but it’s worth it. People need to be courageous and brave. It’s not easy to say what we’re thinking and feeling. It’s not easy to admit where we are struggling. But if you don’t take the effort and courage to change your situation, blaming your job or external factors won’t help.

I also think people need to be gracious and gentle and kind to themselves. Recognize that things change over time if you put in the work. Realize that today is not indicative of all days. Reward yourself for the small changes. When you go to work and say, “I’m going to take a long lunch break and go for a run, even though I’m worried what other people will think of me, I’m going to commit to myself and my happiness and do it anyways,” — be really joyful in the fact that you did it. It’s a lot harder than it sounds.

Sometimes, just by speaking up, you can surprise yourself. After running several times during the middle of the day, I had several colleagues come up to me and say “I really want to do that, too.” We’re now looking at building showers in our building so that more people can do this. And to think I was afraid of what people would think!

Q. Are you better suited as an employee or independent worker?

A. You know, I’m really excited that I can answer yes to that question. It’s an evolving answer, one that changes as my goals expand and grow. I feel like I’ve gotten to a place where I’m really excited about what I’m doing, and how I’m doing it. I think the projects I’m working on are valuable and meaningful, and I’m learning a tremendous amount in a compressed time frame because I asked for more and more responsibility repeatedly and created several hard, challenging projects to tackle in the last year. Was I terrified? Absolutely. Did I have huge, momentous weeks of self-doubt and fear? Of course. Those moments weren’t necessarily my happiest, not by any stretch. But happiness isn’t an island that you arrive at, sipping margaritas indefinitely for the rest of your life. To me, it’s about building a set of skills, tools, relationships, projects and a body of work that you can grow over time Sort of like an investment–you have to build up the elements that make you happy over time. For me, I’ve learned that the rewards of engaging, challenging work and growth, and my loyal and committed relationships are what make me very happy.

In terms of work: I think one of my biggest challenges is that I am fiercely independent, and the idea of sitting at a desk and doing the same thing day in and day out sounds dreadful to me. I am lucky to have struck a balance and found a firm that is willing to entertain my way of doing things, and my need to run and move and roam in the world. I often slip out, run for two hours, return, and work late in the office in the evenings when I’m more settled. When I’m itching to move, telling me to sit at a desk is like asking a puppy not to play. I can’t do it.

My friend Shane says it well: “it’s really just a game. Learn how to play it.” Sometimes we take our current situation so seriously. I think we should be more playful about how we work. I like to test all of the boundaries of what is considered “normal” and see what I can get away with (Can I work on top of a mountain for 8 hours? Let’s try it!). Each time, I’m not trying to fit into someone’s ‘how” mode of operation; rather, I’m trying to accomplish an objective and do great work. Sometimes, I discover better ways of working, and end up doing even better work over time.

I don’t know what the future holds for my work life, and where my projects will take me. But I do know that I enjoy trying new things and figuring it out along the way.

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My thanks to Sarah for sharing this fun resource and answering the questions. You can also download a big JPEG of the cheat sheet for your own use.

And here’s a question for you –>

Question: What do you like and dislike about your current job?

Feel free to share your answer with the rest of our group.

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*Thanks for all the input on the tour for The $100 Startup! For those in Austin, I’ll be debuting the book at the SXSW Interactive Festival on Monday at 5:00pm. Drop by Convention Center Ballroom G if you’re around.