I remember when I was in college a common theme was the importance of “finding a job” as a measure of success. I followed this model and went to work for the biggest company I could after graduation. It was a typical corporate environment where they spoiled you hard so they could work you even harder. On my way to work the sun would be coming up and on my way home I would see the sun going down sometimes.

I was offered profit sharing once a year and a 2% raise yearly as an “incentive” to work harder. If I really wanted to go for the big promotion, it would require me to to play office politics and attach my lips to the backsides of the nearest managers! This was my existence.

On top of all of this, the biggest threat of corporate America was the constant realization my job could end at anytime and leave my life hanging in the balance. Any threat of an unstable economy or our company stock price lowering and I had to worry about getting cut from the”team” at any time.

Many Americans now are driving to work everyday unsure if their job will be there when they return to work on the next day because of our current economy. The only way I was able to rise above this “rat race” was to change the way I think. If you are in this situation, you also must change the way you think. What you consider as a setback may be an opportunity.

If you begin to think about your current situation as a gateway to free yourself, you will come up with new ideas to create income for yourself. When I realized the source of my income was God and my effort instead of the company, it did not matter where I got the income from. What am I saying?

Although your job situation may have changed, your source has not. God will always provide and your hard work will always be based upon you. Use this as an opportunity to change the means by which you gain income, because the source is consistent. This is my business philosophy. Use these hard economic times to build a great business!