NEW YORK--Corporate layoffs. Outsourcing. Automation. Downsizing. Paycuts. These are all fancy words for the same phenomenon: Americans are losing their jobs. What will the newly jobless do to secure their future? Walt F.J. Goodridge, a New York-based career coach, and speaker known as the "Passion Prophet", may have the answer: America may have to return to an economic model that existed over 100 years ago!

"Before the Industrial Revolution, 80% of the population were entrepreneurs," Goodridge explains. "You either worked the land you lived on, or had a skill that you bartered or sold to survive. It was only with mechanization and industry, which required labor in factories, that people moved away from being self-sufficient, to working for someone else."

In the face of changing economic realities and disillusionment, many people are questioning the ways they currently make money and seek to create additional incomes. But, instead of getting more jobs or opening franchises, many are looking inward and asking, "What am I good at?" "What's my passion?" Indeed, traffic and orders have increased on Goodridge's www.PassionProfit.com website, which offers books, workshops and courses for people seeking to discover, develop and profit from their passions. His unique formula is based on the philosophy that everyone has a passion, and every passion can be turned into profit.

"Today's trends are all pointing to a move back to the way things were," Goodridge prophesizes. "As the corporate landscape becomes more uncertain, people will need viable options for increasing their streams of income just to survive....[continued in Lifestyle Page 23]

  A Changing Landscape

In a recent cover story article in Business Week Magazine, it was reported that as a result of a shrinking labor market (the people available to be hired), greater opportunities and global competition, companies are being forced to find ways to get the job done without paying employees more. Hence, a new pool of workers is being wooed to their positions with stock options, bonuses and other performance-based perks rather than big salaries. These incentives are all ways to compensate exceptional employees without incurring fixed costs which might cripple the company in the event of an economic downturn. If the economy gets shaky and employers have to cut corners, it's easier to stop paying bonuses than it is to reduce a person's "locked in" salary. The companies save money, and still get the job done. Among the other tactics companies are using to keep their costs down are: insisting on longer hours without overtime pay; laying off higher paid employees; hiring temporary workers and immigrants; and forcing higher productivity out of its existing workforce. One hotel operator reportedly places dirty laundry behind the front desk so that check-in clerks can wash the linen in their down time. [Business Week. Dec '99] The latest predictions for our workers' economic future suggest that the social security benefits that we've been led to believe will be there to take care of us in our golden years, won't be there when we retire. Inflation, the soaring national debt, and global competition have made this a very different playing field than that on which your parents played. There is growing concern that if current trends continue, there simply will not be any money available to pay social security benefits to future generations. All this leads to a more unstable future for you if you are an employee. And while you're not guaranteed the big bucks if you jump out on your own, you'll at least be wise to have a plan B, C, D and E in the works as your own insurance policy. I always remind people who seem committed to big companies to their own detriment that these companies make decisions based on their own bottom lines, and nothing else. Your bills, your children and your devotion and loyalty have no place to be entered on your employer's balance sheet. The landscape is changing and you need to prepare for what may happen.

  Are You Living A Lie

In our society, we are told to go to school, get good grades, graduate, get a good job, get married, have children, buy a home, work for a company for 40 years, and somehow, slowly but surely, we will rise to higher and higher levels of prosperity and happiness. Burke Hedges, in his book, Who Stole The American Dream, which persuasively promotes the merits of Network Marketing as an alternative paradigm of success, explores the disillusionment that comes with the discovery that the American Dream of success is a misconception that holds no promise for the future.

The truth, as more people are beginning to realize, is that the rules of the game have changed. What may have worked well for previous generations, is now a recipe for disaster when applied to the unique economic reality of present-day society. No longer can the average person rely on the security of working for a large corporation. No longer can a single income comfortably support the average family. The truth is 97% of working people will retire broke and dependent on family, friends and/or the federal government for survival. The truth is more and more retirees are having to get jobs just to survive.

In addition to the economic lie that most of us are living, there is also the lie of self-actualization that has been fed to us. We are taught that our primary concern when it comes to choosing a profession should be that of practicality. After all, we are told, we have bills to pay, and responsibilities that require a stable income with benefits. We are led to believe that artistic pursuits will never be able to provide that income. As a result, we spend our working days--our productive years--engaged in activities for which we have no passion. We mistakenly think that we can find happiness despite this misguided pursuit. The truth is that the pursuit of practicality has never led the searching soul to happiness. Honest expression is the cornerstone of happiness.

For many years, John, a successful stock broker, lived a vicarious existence through his friend Steven, a painter who, though always struggling, was determined not to compromise his passion. John would occasionally lend Steven money to help him pay his rent, or to buy supplies. As a child, John himself had developed an interest in art and had even won a few awards for it in high school. His father, however, discouraged him from pursuing an artistic career, and even refused to pay for John's college education unless he pursued a degree in business. As a result, John's opinion of his talent waned. He started to believe less and less that what he created could have any value such that people would pay him for it. Meanwhile, he amassed an expensive collection of beautiful art that adorned his home. It was years before he developed the courage, with Steven's urging, to actually try his own hand at painting again. Slowly, John got back into his art and, with Steve's help, has even sold a few pieces....for money!

We are taught the lie that there is less monetary value in our creative expression than there is in other "more practical" activities. And that's simply not true..... MORE