please us. Why not decorate your mind (your internal reality) in ways
that please you? In ways that move you ahead, in ways that make your
work more meaningful than merely making money, in ways that bring
forth personal resources that you may not be aware of at this point?
We go beyond materialism in this book. Money can’t buy happi-
ness. The paradox is that poverty surely produces unhappiness,
anxiety, and dissatisfaction.
But we cover more than your personal psychology and mind-set.
After reading this book, you will understand the fundamental struc-
tural changes that have occurred in the economy that have de-
stroyed the once-common expectation that working for someone
else offers the possibility of improving your standard of living and
gaining financial security.
Earning the income you want from work you love: yes, that’s
what you’ll learn to do in this book. Although it may seem a distant
dream to you now, you will learn how to identify and then prosper
at work that is an expression of your true purpose.
We have taught courses about earning the income you want from
work you love in many parts of the world for quite some time. From
this experience, we can anticipate some of the hesitations that you
may have in using this material. Your mind may be saying something
like “I never thought of myself as an entrepreneur or a business
owner, so aren’t I just lying to myself by using this book?” This is an im-
portant question. Entrepreneurship is natural and instinctive. Most
kids do not have to be told about earning money, and many sponta-
neously open lemonade stands. What you are really doing by using
this material is returning to your instinctive method of earning an in-
come. We know it is a lie that you must rely on a single source or a job
for income. It is a big mistake to leave the decision of how much you
are worth to a corporate or institutional bureaucracy. Most jobholders
do not think about it this way, but in today’s job market, you are leav-
ing even the decision of whetheryou get paid to your employer.
People who earn lots of money from work they do not enjoy expe-
rience dissatisfaction because the money is never enough. They may
face credit card problems from attempts to find in consumption the
satisfaction missing at work. Yet people who enjoy their work but who
earn so little that they are continually beset by financial problems
sooner or later find that the problems overwhelm the enjoyment.
Work you love obviously possesses the potential of providing far
greater intangible rewards, such as joy in doing and the satisfaction
of contribution. Unless you are blessed with a trust fund to pay your2 Introductionccc_laut_intro_1-10.qxd 7/8/04 12:22 PM Page 2