Is it Possible to Break Free From Corporate America?

Unless you've been living in a cave somewhere, you can't help but hear about the present climate of economic uncertainty and unrest that currently exists.

It's been about 7 years since we have seen something like this occur and with it comes (the usual doom and gloom) predicable reports of corporate downsizing, freezes on income, and the rise of inflation, etc. What's different this time around is that we have unprecedented events occurring in the Real Estate and Financial markets. How far down all this will drive the economy nobody really knows for sure.

In addition to the current economic conditions, company to employee and employee to company loyalty has greatly diminished. The corporate environment resembles a battlefield where warfare is a daily reality for many of us. We find people acting in ways and doing things at the office towards others that for many seem very uncharacteristic of the person they are outside of the job (when with their family and friends). Yes, corporate politics aren't anything new and have always been a reality of the workplace.

What kind of pressure and stress does living this type of duality on a daily basis really put on a person? Driving the freeways in most of the major U.S. cities during rush hour traffic should give you a clue. People are tense out there. It's no mystery why healthcare premiums are sky high. Living this way day in and day out couldn't help but have a drastic effect on the general health and well being (both mentally and physically) of our society as a whole. What if there's another way to live?

Could the employment model for the American Dream, as we've known it for the past 60 years be gradually changing? Could a shift or evolution towards a new living and earning model be in process right now (both in consciousness and technology)?

Today ordinary people from all over the world are transcending from working for an employer to self-employment. Many of these start-up businesses are succeeding due to the wide range of opportunities that are now made available by the continued advances in Technology and the World Wide Web. As a result, many have been able to create a living and even wealth for themselves from home. They dictate when, how and even where they work. According to a U.S. Census Bureau News article (released September 27, 2006), Almost half (49 percent) of the nation's businesses are operated from home, and more than 6-in-10 owners used their own money to start the business, according to new U.S. Census Bureau reports on characteristics of businesses and business owners.

The challenge of taking on this new mindset is that you'll be up against a mass consensus and infrastructure created from our societies' major belief systems set in place over 60 years ago as to how one earns a living - Get educated, go to work for a good company for 30 years and then retire. We've known for the past two decades that working for one company for 30 years is in most cases extinct. Many people these days can't even afford to retire.

"True entrepreneurship is both internal and external. It's a dual path of development (many times from the inside out). Some believe it's possible to dismantle the old core belief systems and rebuild new ones to accommodate and propel us into creating the vehicle to fulfill this new model of living for ourselves"... The teacher will appear when the student is ready.

We must be prepared internally for this reality to take place externally. Again, this involves changing our core belief systems and preparing our minds for this transition from the old to the new while building the external vehicle to achieve it. The two must go hand in hand.