PLAYING FOR A LIVING VS. WORKING FOR A LIVING

Fourteen years ago today, 6/5/09 was my last day of work as an employee. It was a Friday. I was a salesperson and had been blessed up to that point with having had a successful sales career including being the top salesperson for four separate companies in four different industries in addition to being the top salesperson in the world for an international consulting company with over 350 salespeople in 15 countries.

Prior to getting into sales, I was a professional pianist in the NY/NJ area. Shortly after getting married in 1994, I got into sales as I couldn't find any other work and I knew being a pianist wouldn't support my soon to be growing family. Sales was terrifying to me and a sex change would have been more in my comfort zone.

I quickly realized that I didn't need clever closing lines or ninja sales moves and that my natural habit of taking a deep, sincere interest in others was the best sales skill I'd ever need. Ironically, it's not so much of a sales skill, as it is more of a life skill which will enable you to succeed at a higher level in whatever line of work you do. And so, as I mentioned, I pretty quickly created a successful corporate sales career.

But after ten years in corporate sales, I was becoming more and more frustrated with the corporate BS among other things. And I was realizing that although I was succeeding in sales, I was really a pianist and creative person at heart. Not that you can't be creative in sales - it actually helps a lot - but I felt more and more that I was missing a certain part of my life. And I started looking for a way out of corporate sales.

Through an interesting chain of events, I started doing some public speaking. Public speaking is when you speak in public. For free. My public speaking quickly evolved into professional speaking. Professional speaking is when you speak in public. For money. And as my speaking biz grew, I started to see a light at the end of the tunnel and realized that perhaps there was a way out of my sales career. And on 6/5/09, I was done with work. And what an amazing fourteen years it’s been since then.

Perhaps I should give you my definition of work. Work is getting up at a time you don't wanna get up, to go somewhere you don't wanna go, to do something you don't wanna do, with some people you don't wanna see, for too little money. So on 6/5/09, I stopped working. I don't say that I'm retired, I say that I now play for a living. Because I do. BTW - the irony of the fact that we say "playing piano for a living" and not "working piano for a living" isn't lost on me.

Perhaps I should give you my definition of playing for a living, which you can probably already guess is the opposite of working for a living. Playing for a living is getting up at a time you do wanna get up, to go somewhere you do wanna go, to do something you do wanna do, with some people you do wanna see, for alotta money. There are worse ways to live. I speak from experience.

So, if you're working for a living, I hope it hurts. I hope it hurts like hell. I'm not saying this to be mean, it's actually a very kind thing that I'm saying to you. We have a way of tolerating things that don't hurt that much. Have you noticed? BTW - never complain about what you tolerate. I'd love for you to live the life you are meant to live. And if you're having a miserable experience of life, I can assure you that you're not living the life you are meant to live. You have unique abilities, gifts, and talents which were given to you for you to be of service to others. The key is to figure out what that's about.

You can live the life of your dreams. Literally. I wish that for you. You're a beautiful, divine creation of God designed for greatness and you deserve the desires of your heart. If you'd ever like to discuss this, I'd love to chat about it with you. If nothing else, I'll remind you just how amazing you are. Because you really are. And yes, I have a firm grasp of the obvious. God bless. ツ #lifeisbeautiful

Kevin Knebl, CMEC?is an International Speaker, Author, Trainer and Massive Success Coach? whose clients include individuals and small, medium and Fortune 500 companies. He's an in-demand, leading authority on Success, Social Selling, Relationship Marketing, LinkedIn and Twitter with a healthy dose of Inspiration, Transformational Insight, and Humor blended in for good measure for conferences, conventions, company trainings, and many other events.

Kevin is the coauthor of "The Social Media Sales Revolution: The New Rules for Finding Customers, Building Relationships, and Closing More Sales Through Online Networking" (McGraw-Hill). Kevin is also a contributing author of "Learn Marketing with Social Media in Seven Days" (Wiley).

If you have read this far, you may just want to call him to say hello. He's very positive and encouraging. Like....way positive and encouraging. Besides, you must be looking for something to do if you're reading the fine print.

To book Kevin Knebl, or to just say hello, please call 719-650-7659 or visit him online at?www.kevinknebl.com . Also, please feel free to subscribe to his newsletter. There's alotta great stuff in there.