Being that we live in a free enterprise system, the system cannot fail you. You can only fail yourself. But I am in the wrong for saying that.  People say stupid things to me like, you have a Republican message on a Democratic platform. Uhh, I am not in the business of politics. I am not in the business of religion. I am in the business of building a better livelihood (personally and professionally) for myself and others around me. And that is exactly why I work with teenagers  because they TOTALLY get that. 

The access to information and opportunities are there for those who want them and choose to go get them. That is what they need to learn- simply how to access the information and opportunities and then go leverage them to their benefit. You don’t need a job that barely pays a living wage to do that.

Anyway, here are Shonika’s Sure Fire Stimulus Funding Tips to ensure whether you are an employer or employee YOU HAVE IT LAST!

1. Live your life by design not by default. I believe it was Robert Kiyosaki who said that. But essentially it means, don’t settle and don’t throw yourself in the air like a bunch of confetti, lots of little shredded paper flying every which way. If the first thing or opportunity that comes along doesn’t seem to be a good match for you wait. Take your time and look for opportunities (jobs, consulting, training, etc) that align with your long term vision. Choose what you are passionate about even if you don’t fully have the skill set developed. Your purpose and passion will always take you the furthest.

2. Build Your Network Align with other strategic partners and individuals (now not later) who are working complimentary to you.  Write down what things are missing from your network and invite credible and trustworthy people into your network so that you can ALL pool your assets and resources. It’s who you know that will get you in the door and it’s what you know that will keep you inside (See #1).

3.  Realize the Power of Giving. Give, Serve, Share….whatever you call it. And I don’t just mean in a charitable sense. I mean being open and authentic with people. When you hold back valuable information and opportunities, what you have to lose is insignificant in comparison in to what you have to gain by putting it out there. Your intellectual property and life experiences hold value. So I am not saying give up your “secret sauce”. I am saying put it out there that you have a recipe and ask people to help you produce, manufacture and market it. Use the folks in your network (See #2) to help manifest your dream.

4. Ask better questions. Instead of saying “you didn’t know” take a little time to research what you are getting into. Think through the possible outcomes and your growth potential in the future.  Ask specific questions to make sure this is an ideal match for you. Ask questions about the organization’s path they are walking, their vision, what resources they have in place, the key people in their network, the partnerships they have, where their funding comes from and find out what some of their clients are up to. If they give you broken and somewhat superficial answers then you know that the organization that is not concerned about the details now certainly won’t be concerned about them later.

5. Manifest Your Destiny and Take Ownership of it. Dream of what you want and build the energy around it. A large part of being able to attract these things is telling yourself what you want and envisioning this. Why must you do this? A lot of people call it “law of attraction” but the concept is you are building self-awareness and keeping it centered in your conscious mind. If it is on the forefront you are most likely to be able to see opportunities directly related to evolving that dream whether it is in general conversation or an article that you read etc. When it is on your radar you will be more in tuned and see other roads leading to your destination that you may not have seen before.

So that’s a “RAP” …play on words….(See Recovery Action Plan). If you get a job or contract related to stimulus funding, let us know. We would love to do a case study on it and see how we can support you to repurposing that opportunity and keeping it going  and growing long after the funding has run out.

Until next time,

Keep it real and keep it moving.