Fate Versus Fiction
Discovering your hidden talents and applying
them in the real world.
by Kent & Kyle Healy
TWEENS & TEENS News November 2007
Our favorite three words in the English
language are “make it happen!”
After researching success for almost six years,
we’ve realized an important trend: If
you don’t take action and use what you
know, your life will not improve.
There are a lot of talkers in the world who
constantly make bold claims, such as they
will get good grades, make a ton of money,
be the most popular people at school, build
a successful career and have a positive impact
on their community. However, few people actually
follow through, take action and make the necessary
sacrifices to make their goals the reality.
A familiar phrase comes to mind, “What
people can do is absolutely incredible, but
what people will do is often disappointing.”
All personal achievements start with doing
little things consistently that move you closer
to where you want to be. How do you motivate
yourself to take action? Well, there are many
different ways, but we believe you must first
convince yourself that the sacrifices are
worth the rewards.
Do you want to be in charge of your life and
make your own money? Then why not B.Y.O.B.—
Be Your Own Boss?
Don’t think you have it in you? We’ve
found that entrepreneurship, otherwise known
as being your own boss, is more about attitude
than a skill or profession. It’s an
active decision to look for opportunities
and to turn something out of them. Here’s
what you need to know regarding how to B.Y.O.B.
•Use an existing talent/skill. We all
have unique skills, like drawing portraits,
cooking spaghetti, acing algebra tests and
playing the violin. With a spark of creativity,
you can turn your passion into income. If
you’re good with computers, perhaps
offer to fix people’s technical problems.
If you’re great in various school subjects,
tutor other students. Meanwhile, people who
are great helpers in general might offer to
wash people’s cars, run errands, serve
food and wash dishes at parties or perform
other daily tasks. The possibilities are endless.
•Look out. Entrepreneurs have one thing
in common— they recognize opportunities
and know how to turn problems into possibilities.
Life is too short to look at every difficulty
as a dead end.
A crucial tip is to be professional, research
the best techniques for doing a job, check
liabilities and, when necessary, look into
local government agencies regarding permits
and special requirements.
•Spread the word. Tell everyone what
you’re doing, including people who may
not use your product or service. After all,
each person you tell may know someone who
could use your help. That’s the nature
of networking. Once you do get some business,
ask for referrals. Happy customers are the
best sources of future business.
•Set up a personal schedule. You’ll
get much more done if you outline specific
times of the day when you most efficiently
get down to business, so to speak. There are
only 24 hours in a day. It’s how you
use time that matters.
Keep in mind, your personal effort will determine
your income. Therefore, know the difference
between being “busy” and being
“productive.”
•Be enthusiastic. This is the one ingredient
that almost always ensures someone can flourish
as his or her own boss. After all, enthusiasm
is the fuel for success. Don’t be afraid
to let your passion shine. If you get other
people excited, you will increase your business
and your potential.
We have much to be thankful for in our lives,
especially our parents, who helped us identify
and tap into our talents for success. Our
parents have always supported us by saying,
“If you’re willing to work toward
your goals, then the rewards will come.”
This helped us believe that we could write
a book as teenagers no matter how challenging
the task.
However, to really build the momentum we needed,
we continued to feed ourselves positive information
by reading books, attending seminars and interviewing
every successful person we could. All of this
information and feedback gave us the support
and inspiration we needed to write our book
and come up with our unique ideas and material.
As we’ve discovered, if you do things
for the right reasons, good things will happen.
Like we always say, “Make it happen!”
Kent and Kyle Healy are the authors of
“Cool Stuff” they should teach
in school (Cool Stuff Media, Inc.). For free
downloads and other “Cool Stuff,”
visit the brothers at www.coolstuffmedia.com.
