Unemployment Is the Universe's Way of Telling You to Try Something New

I recently did an electronic interview with www.asylum.com about my book Career Success Without a Real Job

There were 9 questions:

Here is Question #1:

Let's say Mr. X just got fired from the job he's had for six years. Right now the unemployment rate is at a whopping 9.5%. What's the silver lining for Mr. X here? What do you tell him so that doesn't think life is hopeless?

And here is my answer to Question #1:

Here are a few things Mr. X should consider:

(a) In the Chinese language, "crisis" and "opportunity" are the same characters. So substitute "opportunity" for "problem". When I got fired from my job over 28 years ago, it was very traumatic. But it was the best thing that ever happened to me. There are many other people who got fired and say the same thing. My getting canned was an opportunity to do something else. I wouldn't have the freedom and the success I have today if I hadn't gotten fired.

(b) Orson Scott Card said that "Unemployment is capitalism's way of getting you to plant a garden." So, in the midst of it all — don’t freak out just because you got laid off or fired. Sell the produce from your garden. Career experts say getting laid off can be nerve- racking, but it can also be a chance for reinvention. With careful planning and a clear head, you can use the period of adjustment to create a career in a new field and develop new skills.

(c) If you find yourself unemployed, a recession is a great time to create your own job or start one of many businesses to help the economy. This is a time to finally shut up about how much you know and show the world with action that you really know something that can make a difference in this world. Isn’t this the kind of bravado that Americans are supposed to be known for?

(d) Read my e-book 101 Reasons to love a Recession. It can be downloaded for free at these links:

http://www.real-success.ca/free_ebooks.html

101 Reasons to Love a Recession E-book

End: Here are some 5 telltale signs that you need to read Career Success Without a Real Job

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if your retirement plan is "to bide my time 'til I'm 90; then marry Sharon Stone."

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if you think that you have technical skills "that will take the bosses breath away.”

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if you say “I need money because I have bills to pay and I would like to have a life, go out partying, please my young wife with gifts, and have a menu entrée consisting of more than soup.”

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if you think that you should be hired because your twin brother / sister has a college degree.

You just may have to read Career Success Without a Real Job if your main career objective is that you “would like to work for a company that is very lax when it comes to tardiness.”

Retirement - What Does Joe Do All Day?

I received this e-mail today about The World's Best Retirement Book: The content proves that early retirement is achieveable and that one does not need a job in retirement to be happy.

----- Original Message -----
From: Maryjo B.
To: vip-books (at) telus (dot) net
Sent: Saturday, June 27, 2009 7:39 AM
Subject: comments on How To Retire Happy, Wild and Free

Dear Ernie,

I'm only a third into your book but had to write and tell you what a chord you've struck with me. My fiance and I live in Sarasota, FL - we moved here several years ago from the cold north - Wisconsin. We are in our early 50's - Joe is totally retired - he worked hard for many years both with a business he owned and buying a bunch of condo's in the 80's, paying them all off, renting them out, and ultimately selling all of them just before the real estate crash. So now he's living the "Life of Riley." His passion is kiteboarding and any day there is wind you'll find him indulging in his passion on one of the many beautiful beaches we have here. Many of our friends don't "get" how he is retired and I am constantly being asked, "What does Joe DO all day?" We laugh about that question - he is constantly on the go - he buys and sells a ton of stuff on Craigslist, probably spends 2-3 hours every morning on the computer. He works hard to stay fit - he walks (we take hour long walks together most days), bikes, and of course goes kiteboarding. He has always been a very frugal guy which allows him to live this lifestyle even though he's earning practically zip on his investments.

My story is that I'm still working full-time, but with a plan to retire at least to part-time in 3 years when I'll be 55. A divorce 10 years ago and the recent stock market crash slowed my down but I've managed to pay off my mortgage, I have no debt, own my car, and have a really good job so I'm salting away a good chunk of change every month. I've always been kind of a "middle of the road" spender - not a spendthrift, but not always wise about how I spent money either. Joe has taught me alot of his frugal ways. I also recently read "Your Money or Your Life" and am now tracking every penny I spend and make to see where it all goes. Hopefully the real estate market will go back up one of these years, then Joe and I plan to sell the houses we each own individually and buy a small place together to save on expenses. He is originally from Canada and our hope is to get a small place there as well to spend part of the summers - perhaps a mobile home.

Anyway, I just wanted to tell you I wholeheartedly agree with your life philosophy. I talk to so many people who say, "Oh, I could never retire, what would I do all day?" I feel sorry for those people because they have, as you say, defined themselves by their job. I never bought into the "workaholic" mentality and have always maintained a healthy work/life balance - but I look around at the corporate offices I've worked in and know I am in the minority. Oh well - that's ok by me! I've got my "what I will do in retirement" list all made out and can't wait to get started!

Keep up the inspirational writing - the world needs you!

Maryjo B.
Sarasota, FL

Here are some resources to help you retire happy, wild, and free.

Where to Retire

Retirement Jobs and Retirement Businesses

Health in Retirement

Fun Things to Do in Retirement

Saving for Retirement

Retirement Letters from the Happily Retired

Top-10 Retirement Activities

101 Retirement Resources

Latest Retirement News Not All That Rosy

Here is the latest retirement news, some of which may not be all that rosy to retirees:

• A Retirement Plan That's Guaranteed to Fail Motley Fool. If you're among the third of Americans expecting Social Security to deliver a big part of your retirement income, you're planning for a lifestyle somewhere
  
• Can You Afford to Retire ... Ever? Mark Iwry, a leading retirement-plan expert who recently co-authored the automatic IRA plan in the Obama administration's 2010 budget proposal
  
• Is your pension plan safe? BloggingStocks - USA We should note that there are two kinds of popular pension plans. First we have the "defined benefit" (DB) plan where the benefit on retirement is ...

NO MONEY TO PURSUE YOUR GOALS? "Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that." — Norman Vincent Peale

Here are some resources to help you retire happy, wild, and free.

The Four Secrets To Career Success In A Jobless Recovery It's a well-worn adage, but it's also a truism: Those who fail to plan are essentially just planning to fail. Have a plan to keep your life on track while ...

13 Retirement Jobs for Retirees:

Sample retirement letters for the retired or soon-to-be retired man, woman, teacher, school principal, nurse, military person, soldier, policeman, firefighter, pastor, letter carrier,

Don't let weeds grow around your dreams and aspirations.

• Honolulu at Sunset:

Below are the contents of an e-mail I sent to my friends today:



My recent 5-day trip to New York was a real blast — and profitable at the same time.



At Book Expo 2009, I hooked up with several distributors and pretty well decided on which distributor I want to rock with. I intend to go back to New York next year for Book Expo again.

At the Author 101 University one-day seminar, held before Expo, there were two speakers that really impressed me.

The best speaker was a guy by the name of Brendon Burchard who is a master of creating sponsorships for his projects.

Brendon Burchard has already raised $510,000 in sponsorships for his next book.

Brendon inspired me to start working toward my getting an annual winter holiday in Hawaii sponsored by some organization.

So, it's Hawaii, here I come. The question is: Who Will Have the Privilege of Sponsoring My Trip?

Some of you will think this is unreasonable. Keep in mind that I had the following two sponsorships in the last year that came to me without any marketing on my part:

• The National Turkish Society on Quality (KalDer) last November flew me to Istanbul first class, put me up in the Ritz-Carlton in an executive suite for 3 nights, and had me speak for one hour about The Joy of Not Working . This was the trip of my life given that the total cost of this trip to The National Turkish Society on Quality was over $20,000 and I even got paid $3,000 to speak for the hour.
  


• Allstate Financial in Northbrook, Illinois last year purchased 3,750 copies of my book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free with the Allstate name on it to give to its clients. Nice tidy profit of about $10,000.

So, I am inviting you to dream big as well.

Remember that a guy was able to trade a paper clip for a house on eBay.

One last note: Don't let weeds — particularly negative people — grow around your dreams and aspirations.

Ernie Zelinski
Author of the Bestseller How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free
(Over 100,000 copies sold and published in 7 foreign languages)
and the International Bestseller The Joy of Not Working
(Over 225,000 copies sold and published in 17 languages)

Early Retirement a Fantasy for Most Americans Except for Mr. Weirdo

Here are some interesting facts about American retirees and their mortgages which reflect why early retirement is a fantasy for most Americans:

• A report by AARP found that 25.5 million American seniors ages 50 and older have a mortgage.
  


• Thirty-six percent of American workers ages 55 and older say the total value of their household's savings and investments — excluding the value of their primary home and any defined benefit plans — is less than $25,000, according to the Employee Benefit Research Institute.


• More than 600,000 American home-owning seniors are delinquent or in foreclosure, according to AARP.

Here is the link to a story about a guy who calls himself Mr. Weirdo in which my retirement book How to Retire Happy, Wild, and Free was mentioned:

Early Retirement Interview with Mr. Weirdo:

Did you know that the term " Teacher Retirement Poems " is searched more in search engines such as google than " retirement planning "or "retirement" itself?