Allison Maslan, author of Blast Off, shares how to discover your dream career even when you have no idea what it is. She covers overcoming fear, practical steps to start a business while keeping your job, and strategies from her coaching experience for finding meaningful work.
Are you still searching for your dream career and wondering how to find it? Or maybe you're just even trying to get a job altogether? Do you know that 87% of Americans actually hate their job? That's a very high percentage. Well, this morning we're talking to the author of A Blast Off. Her name is Alison Maslin, and she has some tips on how you can find and achieve your dream career. It's great to have you here with us, and thank you. Thank you today.
Thanks for having me.
It seems like, you know, we dream big, and when we're young, we think of that job that we want to have, and then it gets to the point where you're just wanting to have a job, period.
Right.
How is it that you define what your dream career is to be and what's realistic?
Well, you know, we often jump into a job out of college, out of default. We pick something maybe that our parents told us to do or we think that's going to make us a lot of money. And then years go by and we realize that that's not fulfilling to us. And what's really important is to find a career that passionate about that has meaning to you. And in my book, Blast Off, I really help people break through that obstacle of figuring out what that could be, because that's one of the hardest things to do, is to figure out what is it that I would love to do. And so I have a process in the book called the Dream Career Questionnaire. It's just one portion of it, and it really brings out, you know, what are your hobbies? What do you love doing? What did you love doing as a kid? What are movies that you like to go to, things that really draw out your personal. And then we help you match a career to that so it's not just something that you're good at or that makes money, but that you'll love so that you'll put the energy and effort into it so it will succeed.
How many people hold themselves back from switching careers or going after that dream career because of fear?
Oh, my gosh. That's probably the biggest thing that holds people back. And, you know, everybody has fear. But those that reach their dreams are willing to face their fear and walk through it. And a lot of people that come to me for coaching and really why I wrote the book is to help people to break through that fear, find their purpose, live it, and make a good living at it, too. For instance, I had a woman who worked for an HR company in corporate, and she really wanted a Business where she'd have more freedom so she could spend more time with her child. And so what her passion was was fitness. And she also loved working with kids. So I helped her create a company called Life Fitness for me. And she does fitness training for prenatal women and for children. So now she's living her passion and she loves it.
You know, there may be a lot of people who are watching who have ideas and they think, I'd love to start this kind of a company, or I have a passion in this field and I'd like to be able to do something with it. They have a job right now where it's steady income and they may be afraid to lose it. What's your advice to somebody who has a job currently? They're making some money and they feel comfortable getting that paycheck, but really they're not happy and they have an idea of doing something else.
Exactly. Well, I tell people, first of all, don't jump off a bridge. Let's create a new bridge to a new path to something that you'll love. You know, definitely go for it. Don't let that fear of security hold you back. But what I help people do is to create, build something on the side while they stay in their job and as it starts to grow, take their job to part time. And then once the business starts really flourishing and they're making enough money to cover, at least cover their expenses every month, they then they can let the job go.
How much money do you think you need to start up your business on the side or something else that you're interested in to go after your dream career?
Well, I mean, there are some businesses that you can start with no money. You know, a lot of people think that you have to have a lot of financing, but if you have a service business and it's just your time and energy or your consulting, you can begin making an hourly rate, you know, right away. And there's, you know, with the Internet now and technology, you can market through social networking for free.
Yes. Is that key too? You mentioned that social networking and the Internet are really. I mean, we see them everywhere, and it seems that every company has some kind of a website or they're on Facebook or Twitter or whatever it may be. Is that a must if you're starting a business?
I think so. And it really depends on what type of business that you have. Now I'm all over there with my book Blast off. But people can buy it all over the world. So it depends on, you know, where you're going to target, and you might be targeting more locally, but it's a great way for you to be out there and connect with your potential customers.
Okay, so in this book, you're going to take people through steps. Not only does it help people find out what that dream career may be.
Yes. It helps them figure out what the dream career could be, what their passion is, and then it helps them create a clear vision so they have a direction to know where they're headed. They have confidence in that. And then I help them break it down into baby steps. So this makes it easy so they know exactly what to do every single day. Because we often get very overwhelmed with this big goal that we have and then we don't do it. But, you know, if you write one page a day, you could write a novel in a year.
Okay, well, you're going to be doing a talk and book signing.
Yes.
So if anybody has any questions, my guess is you'd be more than happy to help. It's going to be over at the Barnes and Noble in Westlake, which is in Crocker park tonight at 7pm Alison Maslin. The book is called Blast Off. And thanks so much for being on the show.
Thank you. Thank you very much.
All right, stay with us. We'll be right back with much more of Good Company.
