Someone in my feed posted about privilege. They mentioned that they had encouraged a friend to take more risks in his career. To which the friend responded, I am supporting my wife, my kids, my parents, and a sibling. If I mess up we are out on the street.
This is something we always have to keep in mind when encouraging people to take risks. Not everyone is in the privileged position of being able to afford to take risks.
Good news though!!! We can help!!! Those of us who are in a position to do so can help reduce the risk for our friends/family members who might want to try to explore a different livelihood. A lot of time, the livelihoods people want in their hearts are better for the planet and their community than whatever they’re doing right now for steady money.
Therefore, by helping these people, we are helping communities and the planet also, in addition to helping our friends.
Those of us who are in a position to do so could, for example, help a friend or family member pay off student loans or medical debt. Give a friend a free or super inexpensive place to live in our houses. (Some people have extra rooms or even entire extra houses that are usually not occupied.) And we can help them pay for training for their desired occupation. Or, if it’s a self-worth issue rather than a training issue, we can help them access that type of support, therapy, and so on.
You could buy them a book or a consulting session about how to transition to entrepreneurship. Or (and) maybe a session with an alternative finance coach.
There are no guarantees in life, even with the so-called “safe and reliable” occupations. Jobs can disappear anytime. We can offer encouragement and support in various ways so that a person can explore more meaningful paths without unnecessarily risking their family’s security. We only go around once, at least in this lifetime. Everyone deserves the chance to explore and be able to do meaningful work.
Don’t have any extra money or other surplus material resources to help? No problem! There are many other ways you can help a friend spring themselves from the rat-race treadmill.
We can use our social connections to introduce our friend to someone who’s working in their target occupation. Someone they could talk to in order to get some inside information and tips.
We can also offer them any professional services of our own that might help their business. For example, are you good at Web design? Publicity? Bookkeeping? Merchandising? Writing ad copy? Whatever your skills are, you might be surprised at how useful they could be to your friend, family member, community member who’s trying to launch a regenerative community business.
And we can point our friend or family member to free websites, YouTube or TikTok videos, and other free resources relevant to their quest.
On that note, I recommend Mike’s platforms, Laura’s platforms, Eric’s platforms, and (when they or you are able/ready to invest $40), the book we co-authored, Growing FREE (Financially Resilient and Economically Empowered).