Dreams Conclusion

"What was the point of all that verbiage you typed?" you might wonder. I am trying to tell anyone who will listen to (or read, for that matter) me if you can visualize yourself in another situation - one that you absolutely long for - that you will more than likely be able to achieve that particular desire.

But be warned. Striving toward that goal is not for the doubtful or the weak of heart. It takes a lot of courage; it takes lots of work; it requires an enormous amount of passion. However, it is probably one of the more simpler parts of life. By that I mean, there is nothing magical or secretive in attaining a goal. It is merely a matter of taking steps and continuing to take those steps until you have reached your goal, your dream or fantasy.

How did I manage to land in a job as art director? How did I manage to be successful in obtaining house cleaning clients? All I did was this: Get myself known. I didn't just one day decide that I wanted to art direct a magazine then land the job the next. No, no... I called the production manager of the magazine once or twice a month. I sent letters to him. You might say that I pestered the heck out of him until I got what I wanted.

Once I finally was hired, I was scared to death as thoughts of failure at the job crept into my brain. But I didn't quit. I worked hard at learning the computer and how to lay out a magazine. Apparently, my hard work was recognized because it wasn't too long before the head of the layout department asked me if I would like to design magazines. I made more money than I ever dreamed of making. It didn't make me rich by any stretch of the word but I was paid a wage befitting the title.

But the desire to own my a company grew as years passed. So strong was the desire that I found myself planning to make the jump. Again, I persisted in getting myself known. It all began with the first classified I responded to. The old retired professor hired me and immediately gave me the key to her one hundred-plus-year-old house. I worked hard. I dusted and scrubbed every corner of that old two story home. I left nothing unturned.

In the mean time, I walked up and down the streets inserting fliers touting my new business into doors of residential homes. I watched the classifieds for people advertising a need or want for a house cleaner. I didn't know at the time the old lady's neighbor asked about me. She gave me a an outstanding reference.

I now had two clients. The second referred me to her niece. Three clients... I answered a classified for a home in the country. I now had four customers. The second client referred me to her son. Now five clients... A man two streets over from me responded to my flier. That made six clients.

Just from getting myself known and showing that I could do an outstanding job, could do the job better than anybody else, I was able to land six customers. This enabled me to increase my pricing to anyone new who wanted to hire me. Some clients gave me raises, some didn't. Most everyone gave me bonuses but some didn't.

But it wasn't so much the money that made me a success as it was landing and retaining customers. Fortunately for me, there was a market for house cleaners in this city. This proved not to be true for the pet sitting business nor for customized candy wrappers business. Now that I'm out of the house cleaning business with no prospects for being hired by a company (which I wouldn't want anyway), I'm going to build up my portfolio of custom designed candy wrappers then get myself known in the smaller surrounding cities.

I've spent a life time getting myself known. This should be easy!