I believe that you have a choice. You can make a living or you can make a fortune. It all depends on what type of work you decide to do!
I’ve found that there are 2 kinds of work.
Normal work
The first type of work, is normal work: This is what the vast majority of people do. It’s where you work hard doing a job or running a business. You try hard to keep your clients happy and you always seek to over deliver.
If you get this right, you can make a good living from it.
Work that matters
The second type of work, is work that matters: This is what a tiny minority of people do. It’s where you work hard doing work, which makes a real difference. You know you’re doing work that matters, when you would happily do it for free. You enjoy it. Your clients love it. You believe it matters. You are passionate about it.
If you get it right, you can make a fortune.
For example:
- The web designer who works with people largely because he needs the money, even though the projects fail to inspire him, and his client is a pain to work with, is doing work. However, the web designer who works with clients she had picks, on projects that excite her and allow her to demonstrate her abilities, is doing work that matters.
- The marketing consultant who pesters people at networking events for leads and will work on anything for anyone, is doing work. The marketing person who hand picks their clients from the constant stream of people who want to work with them, working on exciting projects for great people, is doing work that matters.
The people at the top of every profession, are selective regarding who they work with and what they work on. They have figured out that when you work with great people, on projects you are passionate about, you produce your best, most valuable work. The most valuable work attracts the highest fees.
The people who provide average services to average clients, are usually just happy to be making money. Their decisions on who to work with are often based on financial necessity, rather than whether a project sounds inspiring or not. As a result, their work seldom inspires them, so they end up in a loop of working on uninspiring projects with average clients. Uninspiring work attracts the lowest fees.
The solution?
Do what my clients do: We decide what type of work truly inspires them, then we develop a strategy where they attract inquiries from people, who value that kind of inspirational work. I recommend you do the same. It changes everything.
It makes no sense for you to struggle to make a living working hard, when you can make a fortune doing work that matters. It’s your choice.