Page 88 - Talane Miedaner - Coach Yourself to a New Career_ 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life (2010)

76 COACH YOURSELF TO A NEW CAREER

full-time, she started building her own business in the evenings.
Her goal was to create the best doggie day-care service in Austin,
Texas, called Hip Hounds. Because she was working full-time and
couldn’t be at the business during the day, she had to hire and
train staff and managers right from the start.
Melissa used a business loan to fund the venture the first
year, and after year two, she was making enough money to quit
her day job at the law firm. Melissa was pretty busy during that
period, but having a job helped get her through the toughest two
years—the stage in which most businesses fail due to insufficient
capital, because they just don’t have enough income yet to get off
the ground. Also, she had to delegate right away and set in place
systems to manage her team virtually. Thanks to these accom-
plishments, she can run her doggie day care while sampling the
wines of Napa Valley—another favorite pastime. Melissa’s story is
an outstanding example of what it looks like to orient your entire
life around your top core values!

What Would Your Ideal Day

Look Like?

If you are struggling to create the ideal life, then start with one
ideal day. Write down what that day would look like from the
moment you wake up in the morning to the moment you go to
sleep at night. Be as detailed as possible. One of my clients did this
exercise and realized that he could live
his ideal day right then. When you’re
There must be more done, see if you can expand this descrip-
to life than having tion into a full week of ideal days. Next:
everything. start incorporating as many elements
of your ideal day as you can into your
—MAURICE SENDAK
life right now. If you want to wake up to
a butler coming in with croissants and