When I find myself in times of trouble...

[Henry Bingaman]

...Steve Pavlina comes to me.
Speaking words of wisdom,
"Live like me."

Hey everyone,
Henry here. I found stevepavlina.com about a year ago when my dad forwarded me a funny little article called "10 reasons you should never get a job."

Of course he sent it to me a few months after I got my first "real" job out of college so I just chuckled and bookmarked the page.

But something about the idea resonated with me. My degree is in Creative writing and my goal all along has been to not have a job. I want to sell my words for a living. Even when I chose a job, I chose a job that would allow for the most freedom. I became a flight attendant and I certainly didn't do it for the money (2008 earning coming in at just under $20,000).

But something still wasn't right. I was still working for an enormous corporation where even my direct supervisor doesn't know my name.

They wouldn't notice if I was gone.

I started revisiting the site, checking out his newer posts and searching back through his older posts.

Even when I didn't agree, I found them intellectually stimulating and all truly in the spirit of personal-development.

A few months ago, when I started getting really tired of being so utterly disposable in my job, I decided to follow the Ready, Fire, Aim approach to success and started a blog and shortly after that a creative writing website.

It's been a rush and I've really gotten into it. In fact, I'm in the process of transitioning out of the work world and into the life that I really want to live. By the end of April, I'm going to be working as a full-time freelance writer- thanks in a large part to some motivating articles on this site.

I'll never regret my time in the airline industry. I've visited most countries in western Europe, and a few countries in Asia, South America, and the Middle East. I also learned a lot about serving other people.

Never underestimate the power of good service. I recently had a passenger on a flight to Japan that remembered me from a trip 6 months before. He told me that I had made his whole business trip better because I "beat the pants off" his expectations.

A great lesson in creating value... one I hope to carry into my jobless years.

Anyway. I just wanted to introduce myself to the rest of the Steve-fans. I hope I can get involved in some productive dialogue here.

I realize this was kind of long for an introduction so thanks for getting this far.

Hopefully I'll see you in the Forum,

Henry Bingaman