September begins the new Academic year and is a time associated by many with new beginnings, so let’s start at the beginning with 4 Magic Words Beginning with ‘A’

1. Attitude.

Attitude is everything, even whether we live or die when faced with serious illness can have a lot to do with attitude, so it’s a good starting point when looking for a job or starting your own business.

Attitude is a good starting point because attitude shapes your actions and beliefs about how your actions will work …or not. Attitude is about belief, you need to believe that what you want, be it a job or your own business or a qualification will happen, not might or could but will.

You also need to believe that you are worthy of it and have a right to it. This is going into some pretty deep psychology because it concerns reasons and influences that may have you believing it is not for you, you are not worthy, and this involves influences such as peer pressure, family background and self-esteem.

I got my first job by one of the most traditional methods of all used for generations of school leavers, my mother. I had wanted to be a teacher and for years imagined myself with proud parents as I went off to university. However, it dawned on me through my school years as I grew and became far more aware of my background, that this was not going to happen for me.

My mother made it clear to me that she stayed with my father only as long I was attending compulsory school and that she wanted me independent. She herself born in 1927, had won a scholarship to grammar school but with her mother unable to afford the uniform, she was unable to take it up. I often wonder why children in her position were even made to sit for an exam that someone must have known would only set them up to failure and disappointment. She later wanted to be a hairdresser, but yet again her mother was unable to afford to pay for her training and so she followed the same path as many young 14-year-old girls of her era, she left what was called Wandsworth Central school and went to work in an office, bitterly resentful and terrified of the bombs from the blitz falling down around her as she did so …it’s difficult to imagine that only two years before she had been seen as a child and evacuated to the country, but in those days children from poorer families , which was most of the families my mother grew up with, grew up fast and work started at fourteen.

Apart from my mother desperately wanting me financially off her hands and no longer the responsibility of her and my father, from whom she wanted a divorce but felt that she had to stay with him as long as I was of school age, while every day she reminded me of it and made me pay for it emotionally and physically, she also was of a very firm opinion that what was good enough for her was good enough and indeed going to be the same for me .When I came home from school one day announcing as I did my homework, that I was going to go to university , my mother beat it out of me and accused me of jumping out of my class and being a lily livered lizard afraid to go to work and hiding in school . …That did a lot for my ambition as you might imagine.


2. Ask.

If you don’t ask, you don’t get goes the saying, yet so many say that they cannot ask for anything and feel uncomfortable doing so. It is especially important to be able to benefit from asking for help from those who can help you!!

A lot of people insist they do not know how to ask for help, or say I don’t like asking, but plenty of other people became experts themselves by asking !!!, you have a choice, either give up or ask for help. You can be pretty sure that you will not be the first person asking for the advice you need, so you need not feel daft and today so much help and advice about job hunting and starting businesses is available all over the internet and also from organisations such as job clubs.




3. Action.

Once you have your mind set in the right attitude and all the help and advice you need, the next step is to get going, get started. One of the main reasons that people do not get going with their plans is fear of failure and the what if ‘s of failure. Another reason, particularly when planning to start a business or to study can be security and money. My mother probably did not intend to be deliberately spiteful when she beat out of me my plans to get to university, it was just essential to her that I was financially self-sufficient as soon as possible and that was her goal for me.

I have written before about having a plan B where your career is concerned and always being sure to have something you can fall back on, especially a hobby maybe or something that can be turned into a home business if you become unable to work outside of the home due to health reasons.



Useful Google searches are:

Hobbies that make money ~
http://www.pluckmyfeet.com/hobbies-that-make-money/
http://www.goodfinancialcents.com/hobbies-that-make-money

List of micro job sites ~

Micro jobs are very useful to begin with when building up a freelance business because they are small jobs that can be done quickly and earn small amounts of money that build up while you are building your reputation and business.

https://jobmob.co.il/blog/micro-freelance-marketplaces/
http://wvve.blogspot.co.uk/p/blog-page_9857.html
http://list.ly/list/5Qt-23-micro-job-sites-to-earn-money
http://microsjobs.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/micro-job-websites-list.html
http://microsjobs.blogspot.co.uk/
http://genuineejobs.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/list-of-genuine-micro-job-sites.html
http://communityclerks.com/micro-job-sites/#.VsHNfNDOgwg
http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/list-of-the-best-crowdsourcing-websites-and-pay-per-task-sites
http://freelancewayoflife.com/micro-task-websites/
http://99businessideas.com/top-money-making-microjob-type-sites-beginners-guide/
http://www.fillmymoneybox.com/make-money-online-micro-job-websites/
https://www.techmesto.com/earn-money-by-doing-micro-jobs-online/
http://celebratebeingawoman.com/httpwp-mep3u0ul-4m/

A term that has become better known in recent years is Side hustles ~ A side hustle is a way to make some extra cash that allows you flexibility to pursue what you're most interested in. It can also be your true passion – a chance to delve into fashion, travel or whatever it is you care about the most without quitting your day job. ( www.entrepreneur.com/slideshow/230431)

http://www.sidehustlenation.com/ideas/
http://www.moneypeach.com/the-top-68-side-hustles-add-some-more-money-to-your-life/
http://onecentatatime.com/101-ways-to-earn-extra-money-from-side-hustle/
http://www.doughroller.net/earn-extra-income/side-hustle-ideas/
http://www.slideshare.net/NickLoper/79-sidehustles
http://30streams.com/80-side-hustle-business-ideas-you-can-start-today/
http://julliengordon.com/50-side-hustles-you-can-start-pretty-quickly-for-50-or-less
http://thecollegeinvestor.com/14608/make-money-fast-side-hustling/

http://brokegirlrich.com/114-side-hustles-ways-make-money/

4. Ability ~ Maybe you have been in the same job for many years and now either because of a loss of that job or for health reasons you need to make a change but do not have the skills for e.g. working online. In most places when there have been cuts to education budgets, the budget to have the most severe cuts has been adult education, but there are several resources for useful free online courses if your skills need an update ~

https://alison.com/
https://www.futurelearn.com/
http://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses
https://www.coursera.org/
http://www.derby.ac.uk/online/free-courses
https://www.open2study.com/courses
http://www.reed.co.uk/courses/free
http://www.academy-cube.com/topic/information-technology/?gclid=CJ-EmqH4-coCFQoHwwodnqUNjw
**** https://www.vision2learn.net/****
I have gained a Level 2 Equality and Diversity qualification through Vision2learn

https://www.reading.ac.uk/15/Study/study-moocs.aspx
http://www.openculture.com/freeonlinecourses
http://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/free-online-learning.page
http://creativeskillset.org/who_we_help/creative_professionals/free_online_courses
http://www.digitalbusinessacademyuk.com/free-online-business-course
http://www.leeds.ac.uk/info/130503/online_courses
https://www.foundationonline.org.uk/course/index.php?categoryid=2

So, there you have it, four words, starting at the beginning with A, that can help to change your life for the better ~

Valerie Hedges