Thank God It's Monday!

By Dan Miller
48days.com

CBN.com – This week I received a coaching request from a gentleman who has been an auditor, fighter pilot, stock trader, missionary, and pastor. He has made and lost his first million and at age 42, is trying to find God’s will for his life. His real goal – to be “a profitable Good Samaritan.” What an exciting starting point for finding his vocation and calling! And it often takes about that much time to begin to get the needed insight and clarity. Don’t resist the journey.

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity." —Martin Luther King, Jr.

Need to kick-start your New Year? Check out our creative thinker package.

TGIM: Thank God It's Monday!

The initial feedback from No More Mondays readers has been extremely exciting. People are remembering ideas they’ve had over the years and realizing they can ACT on those ideas.

I just got off another radio interview (had 18 scheduled today, Monday, Jan 21st) where the host said it sounded like we were returning to the kind of Mom and Pop businesses he remembered growing up. In many ways that’s true – and I hope that’s a positive possibility, where it’s not hoping the corporation survives to keep those paychecks coming and that your 25 years of loyalty are valued by the newest stockholders, but rather where you are compensated for providing a product or service that people want and where they are eager to pay you what it’s worth. This is the new No More Mondays work world.

Here’s a piece from the first review on Amazon: "It is one thing to find a book positively loaded with solid, up-to-date information as Miller's book, it is another to find one as compulsively readable as No More Mondays. Filled with wonderful stories, and powerful anecdotes, this book delivers a motivational jolt."

If this is the year you are really going to take charge of your work and career – you’re tired of being exhausted and broke at the end of the week; you love Fridays and dread Mondays – now is your time to break that cycle. Put yourself in the driver’s seat and start benefiting from the talent, productivity, and self-motivation you know you have.

GPS Winner: What's Your Idea?

In the three weeks prior to Christmas, we ran some product specials. We also announced that we would select at random a winner of a Garmin GPS – like the one I got recently. Our winner was Jason Creel, a young man I’ve never met, but I asked if he would share a little about himself. Here’s his response:

"Thanks. This is great. I'm bad with directions, so a GPS will certainly help. As for my background info: I am 27 and live in Montgomery, AL. I did very well in high school and college. I traveled a lot and worked many jobs, none of them good, before deciding that I am not a fit for the traditional employee model. So recently, I decided to start my own business. That decision was heavily influenced by reading both '48 Days to the Work You Love' and '48 Days to Creative Income.' In October I started my own lawn company called Blue Chip Lawns. I am trusting in your advice that ideas are a dime a dozen but that marketing is the key. So far, only two months into my business, things are going well. I have secured one large account and am working on another. I also have several key relationships with people who have strengths in the areas I am weak. I have a small business mentor as well as a lawn care mentor. I have good relationships with realtors committed to sending customers my way. I have what I feel is a good marketing plan. I am certainly motivated and love the idea of working for myself both for the freedom and potential success. So, in short, I've not exactly made my first million yet, but I'm encouraged by the way things have started and I expect to have a big first year. Thanks Dan. I love your books and enjoy passing them around to my just-out-of-college friends who are frustrated with their dead-end jobs. I also love the different mindset I have now that I work for myself and I don't have to dread Monday mornings any longer."

Sounds to me like Jason is a great example of someone who looked for some helpful information, created a plan, and took action. Congratulations, Jason. Maybe you could use that GPS on your lawnmower to map out the new labyrinth I want here on our property. ( I actually know that they use a GPS and a lawnmower to create the massive corn maze at Rippavilla Plantation.)

48 Days Online Radio Show

Thanks for the variety of interesting questions you are submitting each week. As you know, I then scan through and answer as many as possible in each week’s 48-Minute podcast. If you could please keep your questions to about 50 words they are much more likely to make it into the lineup!

Just click on this e-mail link and you can ask about resumes, interviewing, at-home business or finding your purpose in life: AskDan@48Days.com.

If you click on the 48 Days Podcast Player here you can listen to this week’s broadcast immediately—no downloading—no wait.

Humor: Sounds Fair to Me

A feisty 70-year-old woman had to call a furnace repairman. After a quick inspection, the man put some oil into the motor and handed her a $70 bill for labor.

"Labor charges!" she exclaimed. "It only took you five minutes."

The repairman explained that his company had a minimum one-hour charge on every house call.

"Well, I want my remaining 55 minutes of labor," the lady responded, and she handed him a rake. The repairman spent the next 55 minutes in her yard bagging leaves.

48 Days Featured Businesses

Promote Your Business Here
I receive many, many requests from people who would like me to promote their book, product, or service to our readers. For seven years I have resisted doing that. However, many of them in fact are products that would benefit our 48 Days readers. So beginning now, for 2008, I am going to open the door, just a crack, to allow four businesses each week to be promoted here and on the 48 Days Online Radio broadcast. The business has to be related to what we are already doing – no lingerie or shampoos please. You can submit your request here: 48 Days Promotion.

YTB: Your Travel Biz
Bernie and Debbie Swartzendruber purchased 48 Days To Creative Income more than three years ago and have been 48 Days subscribers since. Just nine months ago they embarked on their dream to be business owners and keep Bernie at home to be that dad he wanted to be to their four children. The travel industry is growing 23% faster than the global economy, and YTB Travel is one of the fastest growing travel agencies in the country, offering great travel services and an incredible business opportunity that can be run from your kitchen table. If you are seeking self-employment and enjoy the idea of being involved in exciting travel, contact Bernie and Debbie for more information. Their Web site is www.swartzport.com, or you can e-mail them directly at berniedebbie@aol.com.

48 Days Seminars
We’ve discovered that many of our champions for the 48 Days Seminars are people who currently are in transition themselves. So if you find that you’ve been laid off, fired, or are just looking for a better opportunity, how would you like to earn the complete Seminar package? If you can introduce this to your company, church, or community group, get 10 people to join you, and then turn the DVD on each week, we’ll give you the Leaders Guide and your own Participant Package free ($649). Just send an e-mail with your name and contact information to our National Seminar Director, Alan Thomas, at seminars@48days.com. You can also listen to a 48-minute overview that explains the basic details. Just two weeks ago, one of our subscribers started a Sunday school for his church and had 15 sign ups. The church has only 200 members, so that's 7.5% of the congregation! People are so hungry for career fulfillment.

Free Book
Several years ago I picked up a copy of The Joy of Not Working by Ernie Zelinski that I’ve gone back to time and time again. It’s a delightful little book that has now been published in 17 languages. This week I got a note from Ernie offering to give our 48 Days readers a free copy of his new ebook, 1001 Best Things Ever Said About Work. This is the ultimate book of quotations about work for the professional speaker, journalist, author, career advisor, life coach, and connoisseur of great quotations.

Could you be the next President?
The most popular product in the 48 Days arsenal continues to be the Computerized Personality Report. Before you begin seeking a better job or self-employment, you need to be sure you are pursuing opportunities that match your personality style and will fulfill and reward you for a lifetime!

Dan Miller is the bestselling author of 48 Days To The Work You Love and a renowned Life Coach specializing in career fulfillment. His weekly newsletter reaches 70,000 subscribers. Dan’s articles are featured here at CBN every Tuesday, and you can find out more about Dan at www.48days.com.