Getting paid for working for free

Hi,

Gordon has written for years about how one way to identify what you should be doing as a career is to track what you do for free.

Why?

Because there's always a way to be well paid for the same activities you're willing to do for free.

So I suggest keeping a diary of what you voluntarily do for an entire weekend. Update it every half hour. Then analyze it.

Say one of your entries was "Cooked meal for family." Ask "What kind of person would want to do that?" Answers might be "Someone who enjoys entertaining" or "Someone who enjoys showing off" or "Someone with the ability to assemble desirable products" or "Someone who loves to improve other people's lives." Those answers would describe you, and you may never have thought of yourself like that.

Look for common threads in your descriptions of yourself. If the most common description of yourself that arises is "Someone who enjoys showing off," think of the highest paid venues for "someone who enjoys showing off."

Hope this was useful...

-Boyd