What is your job? – Dr. Matt’s Thoughts for July 11, 2007

Whew, Nilly! Is it a scorcher outside today! Don’t worry, folks, I made sure to slather some of that sunblock lotion all over my body before I went outside. There were some places that it was possible the sun would not shine; however, it’s best to be safe.

Talking about being safe got me to thinking about safety and security. I had a conversation yesterday with friends about job security, and having the “security” and “peace of mind” that a full-time job provides, rather than a home-based business, which is often implied as being insecure. (Or is that unsecure?)

I’ve been running my own practice in my apartment / office for some time now, and I will admit that Dr. Matt has had sometime when he’s questioned his sanity and wondered how he was going to buy that next bag of Hint of Lime Tostitos.

Does this mean that working from home is not secure? When I talked to a friend of mine about this, when she talked about her new full-time job, I noticed that her body relaxed, and she breathed deeper. Could it be that the IDEA of a full-time job puts us more at ease, which allows us to get what we need more easily?

We’re so wrapped so often in societal messaging that it’s hard to say what’s what. We’re told full-time employment is more secure, so we stress when that full-time employment is not available, and the stress itself contributes to instability in our lives, thus proving the message we were given. Therefore, on a personal level, it’s hard to prove or disprove which option is best unless we can detach from either outcome and truly not be stressed by whatever comes. Not so easy, is it?

Now that I’m a highly successful author, speaker, and fake doctor, I easily forget those times when I could not fathom how I could thrive with my fake doctorate, especially when all those Joneses out there insist that only doctorates from doctoral programs are valid. I had a radically different idea, and fortunately, because I’m stubborn, I stuck to my guns. I even have my own Myspace page now. (EDIT: My agent says this is actually quite common.)

Anyway, what’s the lesson here? I think the lesson is that we have an amazing capacity to create something from nothing, to shape our lives, our careers, and our relationships around our desires. “How it’s been done” is certainly useful if you want an existing model to work from. I’ll freely admit that there aren’t a lot of guidelines with what one should do with a fake doctorate, and it’s been a lot of work to carve a path for myself. However, the payoff has been wonderful, and doing what I love is 100 times more secure than working for someone else to help pay for what they love. Why is it more secure? Because it’s built around my passion, and I’ll fiercely defend it. If it’s completely dismantled for some reason or by some outside force, I’ll just build it back up again, because it’s what I love. I don’t have to “find” another job. It’s right here. I am the job. I found me.

The same goes for you. There’s nothing wrong with full-time employment, or anything inherently better with home-based businesses. But they aren’t your security. And they aren’t your job. YOU are the job. YOU are your security. Isn’t that nice? You don’t have to look far, do you?

So work hard at your job, because it’s the most important work you’ll ever do. And do you know what? When you are the job, people will start to pay you to do that job. That sounds crazy, but it’s true. Money just flows to where you’ve carved a nice riverbed. Or moneybed, if you will. If you carve it to a full-time job, then it flows to your employer, and then eventually to you. If you carve it to your business, it flows into your business and a little quicker to you (although you have to dig a little deeper). And if you carve it directly to you, the money just flows, naturally, straight to you (and here you must carve as deep as possible, and the deeper you dig, the faster the flow).

As for me, you may not know it but I write each and every one of these messages addressed primarily to me, for the things that I need to know. And because of it, it helps all ya’ll out. And then you buy my books and tapes and attend seminars. All because I am the job. I am the work most worthy of doing. And so are you. But not for me. For you, I mean.

If you want to practice this by first making me the most important work for you, that’s also alright to start. Eventually you should probably switch to you, though. But take your time before switching to you. Especially if you are dating me.

Sincerely,
Dr. Matt*

*Dr. Matt is not a real doctor.