Here I Am, Stuck in the Middle With You

Bills to the left of you, paycheck to the right, here I am, stuck in the middle with you… OK, so I changed the song a little. Have you ever had a time when you stacked up the bills (lots of them) and the single check that’s meant to cover them and, despite your best efforts, there is just not enough income? Me too. What is the solution? Consider getting another job or two, online or work from home business, real estate, hobby, Craigslist or eBay?

Try another solution instead. You can still go back to those other options later, if you like. Think of and list your talents… do you cook like a chef, knit fast and easily, read or write exceptionally well, twitter, market, do graphic design, shop, do spiritual healing or feng shui? What is your transferable skill set from your work or business? What are your marketable hobbies? What are you passionate about that could be another way to earn income?

Now here’s the game. Add up the bills so you have an exact number then subtract your income to figure out the money gap needed to pay them all (sigh of relief). Then look at your list of marketable skills and talents. Take each one and figure out how, with that single skill or talent, you can make the extra money you need. At the end of the exercise, if you have a list of 10, you will have generated strategies for earning or generating 10 times the amount you need. Why bother, you ask? In a serious and perhaps unnerving moment, this game incites your natural resourcefulness that fear might have shut down. I have negotiated my way out of a lot of tight spots this way. Try it for yourself and let me know how it works for you.