Jim Stroud recently appeared on our RichLife Radio show and he had some great tips, but he was such a wealth of information and had sent us some great information that we wanted to share with you that we got through an off the air interview.

Joshua: How did you get to where you are today?

JIM: It was purely by chance. My initial goal was to be a successful screenwriter / author, but that was not getting me anywhere at the time. I was considering marrying my college sweetheart and it was at her prompting that I should get a “real job” that I switched direction on my career.

The year was 1997 and I had only a passing fancy with the internet. At that point, a friend showed me how to navigate BBS (Bulletin Board Systems aka online forums) to find pictures of bikini clad models, so I thought that was the highlight of what the world wide web could offer. (Not impressed)

In my search for suitable employment, I stumbled across a job posting for an Internet Researcher. The verbiage basically said, “we are seeking people to surf the web all day.” Upon reading this and considering the number of bikini models that I could discover while ”working,” I thought it was a fairly attractive offer. The employer was MCI and the job quite literally changed my life. Using the Internet to find resumes and passive candidates was cutting edge in the states then and I was very fortunate to be on a team that was focused on pioneering that space.

Joshua : Who do you admire most in life? Do you have a person or persons you could point to and say, it was that person that inspired me.

Difficult to say, as I hold several people in esteem but I will give it a go. I count my (late) father as my most adored hero. He impressed upon me the importance of perseverance, self-confidence and imagination. I have always admired the spirit of Josephine Baker who is the one person I would like to travel back in time to meet. She has been a great inspiration to me as well. There is also a long list of fictional characters that have inspired me as well for no other reason than, they help where they can and are not motivated by personal gain. I count among them… The Lone Ranger

Jim, I know from personal experience that you do a LOT of different things. Can you run through a short list?

Principally, I train recruiters on lead generation strategies. I do that with via webinars, a membership website, a printed magazine and an online video series. I also manage an award-winning blog – The Recruiters Lounge and co-host a popular technology podcast called The Friday Traffic Report. In addition to that, I teach job search strategies to various job seeker groups around the city as time allows.

With the economy being what it is today, I imagine people seek your advice a lot on how to find work. I know some in our audience would like to know some of your tips and strategies for finding work. Can you give some insights?

Sure and I will say this as well, the same advice I give job seekers is (more or less) the same advice I would give an entrepreneur seeking clients since they are (pretty much) the same thing. (make sense?)

As a financial advisor, I work with individuals to help them live a full, rich, rewarding, fulfilled life. This, to me, is a true RichLife. However, every day I meet scores of people who are short-circuiting their RichLife. They do this in many and varied ways, but in this article I want to point out three main ones.

Failure to Discover and Live Out Your Purpose

Your life purpose is rooted in the gifting and talents that have been endowed to you. One way to learn your life’s purpose is to ask the question,

“If you could spend your days doing what you love whether or not you received monetary compensation, what would you do?”

The answer to that would most likely reveal valid clues toward what you were put on this earth to do – your life purpose.

The RichLife principle is built upon the concept that we are responsible to invest in and live out our life purpose in the best way possible. Living your purpose is the greatest gift you can give to yourself, to those you love, and to the world at large. This is what God created you to be (and do).

Living a Life Void of Unique Experiences

I enjoy spending time with retirees. I love to hear them tell their stories. I love to see the special looks and the laughter exchanged between a couple as they recall special times from the past. I have come to refer to these special times as unique experiences. I have discovered that as those retirees look back on their lives, they place more store by these unique experiences than they do their bank account.

Unique experiences are important in anyone’s life, but they don’t happen by accident. It takes planning to create special times together. I find that those persons whose lives are on fast forward miss the richness of unique experiences and in the end they are the loser.

Buying In To the Accumulation Theory

We now have an entire generation that has bought into the accumulation theory, when in fact the accumulation theory that is presented in most retirement plans seldom works in reality. The entire premise of accumulation is based on hoarding; hoarding is based on fear. The fear of never having enough. I call it a scarcity mindset. The scarcity mindset shuts down creativity, robs people of their hope, and quenches their dreams.

I see this every day – those who are terrified of living longer than their money will hold out – will never create value in the world. That individual is unproductive, and so is their money. (Unproductive for that person at least – but certainly not for the financial institution holding their funds.)

If the accumulation of money is the sole life focus, many other things will fall by the wayside and suffer from neglect. And, as is often the case, this distortion will cause the money to decrease rather increase.

Summary
These then are three ways in which I have observed that people short-circuit their RichLife:

• Failure to Discover and Live Out Your Purpose
• Living a Life Void of Unique Experiences
• Buying In To the Accumulation Theory

All three are simple to remedy. You can begin those remedies today.

When you think of the word energy in your own personal life, what images come instantly to mind? Is it that drained feeling you experience while driving home from work? Or the frustration at wanting to be involved in activities but are too tired to take on?

That of course is the most common association we have when thinking about energy. However, it’s important to take a closer look at this concept of personal energy.

The truth is, everything in the Universe is composed of energy of one form or another. Believe it or not, this includes your thoughts. According to Quantum Physics, all forms of matter and energy are attracted to that which is of a like vibration. This means you attract what you put your energy and focus on, consciously or unconsciously – whether wanted or unwanted. (This is the basic precept of the Law of Attraction.) This also will play a large role in whether or not you are living out the best form of your RichLife.

So if this is true (and it is) that means you are either creating positive or negative energy through and by your thought patterns. It has been proven – scientifically – that thoughts are energy. They can actually be measured.

All the anger, bitterness and resentment that you feel you have a right to hold on to, is harming only you. It creates and releases more and more negative energy; which, in turn, attracts more negativity to you in all types and varieties, including people and events. Additionally, it’s a proven fact that negative thinking can rob a person of physical energy, as well as contributing to a wide variety of illnesses.

Within the concepts of living the RichLife, stewardship lies at the very foundation. Stewardship simply means you take responsibility of a certain item or area. That being said, how are you doing in the area of stewardship with regard to your thought life?
Why continue to allow the negative energy of damaging thoughts rob you of your RichLife? Take responsibility of your thought life today. It will change your life; and enrich your tomorrows.

After the radio show, Beau and I really wanted more content from Jim, so here’s even more!

Yes, so what would you say are your top 10 tips for job seekers and entrepreneurs?

1. Create a strategy. Job Seekers tend to be be reactive. They begin looking as soon as they are fired or laid off or at the rumor of a layoff. So I say, start job hunting early and never stop. Always be open to hearing opportunities, whether you accept them or not. I was laid off in the last recession of 2002, but I have not had to look for a job since then (thank God) because I keep myself in the public eye of potential employers.
   
   How did you do that?
2. Decided on a path. When Recruiters look at a resume they do not want to think. If they are looking to hire an Accountant, they want to skim over your resume and see Accounting experience relevant to what they are hiring for. I knew earlier on that I was going to stay with Sourcing as a career, so I knew I had to make a name for myself in the field.
3. Established an identity. As someone who researches the internet everyday, I knew how Recruiters use the internet to find resumes, so I made my resume available for ALL recruiters to find for free. Job Seekers do not consider this when they apply for jobs on Monster or CareerBuilder or… wherever, but Job Boards cost money and the more job boards a Recruiter uses, the more expensive it gets. (Sure there are some free job boards out there, but the ones that Recruiters tend towards cost.) So to save money, big companies go to Google and search for free resumes and save a dollar. Smaller search firms that may have access to one or ever no job boards go to Google, do a search and find free resumes. (See the pattern here?) I wanted to place myself in a position where ALL Recruiters could find me for free. So, I created a homepage called Jim Stroud.com and posted my resume there so recruiters can find it with Google or any other search engine. Once I had that set up, I also created a profile on Linkedin which (at the time) was gaining in popularity with Recruiters.
4. Recruit non-competitive allies to assist you. I found people who worked in HR, who understood what I did, but did not compete with me and exchanged leads with them. For example, if I were a Surgeon, I would work alongside nurses and anesthesiologists and medical assistants and.. whatever. If I asked a nurse if she knew of any leads for a Surgeon, chances are her leads would be of more use to me than say… an Architect I just met in a career networking group. I could go into deeper detail with this strategy, but the short version is that I built a team of people with the same goal – to find work. We paid each other with business leads and continued until we were all working.
5. Create a Blog – JobSeekers Revenge and used it as a way to share career information with other job seekers and to promote my skills as well.
6. Recruit the right recruiters to work for You.
7. Every company has an employee referral program. – Locate people in the company and get them to make the referral.  Find people who work in a company (use Linkedin) and convince them to pass your resume along.  If you get hired, they get a bonus. If not, no consequence to them.
8. RESEARCH! I would research startup companies that have just received funding.
9. Target recruiters who focus on my niche.
10. I would look up Associations and ask if they accept free articles for their newsletters. In this way, I could promote my skills to the right people.

If this didn’t work what else might you do?

• Target recruiters who focus on my niche.
• Target recruiters who work or have worked in companies I want to get in
• Convince the recruiter that I have a lot of contacts in the industry and they he should consider networking with me. If he/she cannot place me, then maybe they will place one of my friends and as a result, they may refer more jobs to me out of kindness of quid pro quo.
• I would look up podcasts on Blog Talk Radio and iTunes that speak to my industry.   Ask to be a guest on their show.  Treat the interview like a job interview because I am auditioning my knowledge to everyone listening.
• I would lay groundwork to impress future Hiring Managers. I would look up Associations and ask if they accept free articles for their newsletters. In this way, I could promote my skills to the right people.
• I would look up newspapers, trade publications, magazines, blogs that deal with my industry and look up the names of the reporters and editors and introduce myself as someone with years of experience in that field and suggest that if they ever need a quote from an industry expert in their next article, feel free to call on me.
• When I am mentioned in an article, newsletter, featured on a podcast or a radio, I add all of that to my resume. Now in addition to all of my work history, I have a list of credentials that will (hopefully) impress a recruiter as an above average candidate.
• I would use Google Ads / Facebook Ads to target potential employers. I would run the ad for my resume, or better yet my blog.

Finally, once I was employed, I would be very strategic.

* The first few months to a year I would be focused on doing what I was hired to do and do it very well. I need to do that in order to build confidence.
* The second thing I would do is look at areas where the company is hurting and try to improve it. I would look for or proactively create and manage projects that would have a high impact on the company.
* I would keep every “good job” email I get from my manager and peers.
* The underlying question I would be looking to answer is “What project can I complete that would look good on my resume?”
* Tweak my resume (at least) once a year. Keep it posted online. If anyone asks, I am perfectly happy where I am, but I may know someone that might be a fit for your job. In this way, I am in a position to refuse work and pass it on, which is MUCH better than having to look for it in the first place.

Where is Job Seekers Revenge now?
I sold it to CollegeRecruiter.com. (Yay!)With all that you mentioned about creating a blog and teaming up with people and so on, how long did it take you to get back to work?

How can people contact you?

www.JimStroud.com – All my contact info is there.

This week Beau Henderson and Joshua Jarvis interview Jim Stroud.  Jim is a rockstar in the recruiting and sourcing realm but he’s also an accomplished author and a prolific web-media-phile that has a variety of sites.

Joshua first met Jim when Jim moved to Suwanee, GA.

Jim Stroud produces Social Media Content, train Recruiters and speak on a variety of subjects.

Much of the reason why so many people today live lives that are meager, unfulfilled, and empty has to do with this concept of stewardship.

Stewardship is a term that isn’t heard much these days. While the use of the word seems a little outdated, the concept can be considered timeless. Stewardship can be closely related to responsibility, a concept that never goes out of style. A life based on stewardship, and more specifically taking responsibility, is one of the core principles of living the RichLife.

Those individuals who push through each day at top speed doing as much as is possible, to gain (accumulate) as much as is possible may be missing the key to living a truly RichLife. (A fulfilled life.)

Ask yourself this question: Do you view your talents and physical possessions as something you own and are entitled to? Or as special gifts that have been entrusted to your keeping? The latter describes a person who understands stewardship. Interestingly enough, the root word for stewardship is keeper.

The irresponsible person will not respect their own talents and giftings, nor will they take responsibility to perfect them. That will be true then in most every facet of that person’s life. We see this happening every day in the lives of those around us. People are focused on accumulating a certain amount of money. Or on accumulating a certain number of possessions. Or on simply getting through the month with enough money to make it. Even the thought of stewardship is seldom considered.

Once a person changes his mindset over to a stewardship philosophy, it changes everything. It changes how that person thinks, serves, communicates and produces. That person will be serious about learning his purpose in this life and take the needed steps to live out that purpose.

While stewardship includes money, it definitely is not at the top of the list. It’s a fact that when the principles of stewardship come into play, finances nearly always increase.

Sharon Worsley supports, motivates and inspires individuals and companies to produce exceptional results in their own lives and within their organizations through her unique perspective on life, insights and life experience

As a speaker and personal leadership coach Sharon is firm yet compassionate when necessary, challenging her audiences and clients to do what it takes to attain their goals. The impact is that people make important changes, and accomplish goals that they never imagined they could achieve.

Sharon holds a CSP from the Canadian Professional Sales Association (CPSA), is a member of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) the International Coach Federation (ICF) and Meeting Planners International (MPI).

As a financial advisor I conduct seminars that I call, “Financial Keys to Success.” During that seminar I ask the attendees this very pointed question:

If you had great health, and enjoyed all the normal physical capabilities, and yet you knew you had exactly six months to live – what would you do?

I then make the challenge even more difficult by allowing only sixty seconds for all the attendees to write down at least five things.

Think about it. What would you write?

It’s an interesting thing to watch the faces as they grow serious and intent. People all around the room are furiously writing their answers.

I don’t think it’s any secret what most of the answers are. I’ve never had anyone write down that they would immediately go out and buy a bigger house. Or invest in more stocks. Or ask for a promotion at work.

What do you think is at the top of nearly every list? If you said anything to do with relationships you win the prize.

I then encourage those at my seminar not to wait for a “death sentence” to get started on their list.

Valuable relationships are essential to living the RichLife; and such relationships never happen by accident. Nor should relationship nurturing be postponed.

Have you ever been guilty of saying (or even thinking) “I’ll have more time with my spouse after I retire”? Or “I’ll spend more time with the kids after this business is up and running”?

What if that kind of tomorrow never comes? I challenge you to take a moment and answer the question presented above. What’s at the top of your list?

I have found that the person who lives a fulfilled RichLife doesn’t place relationships on the back burner to simmer until later in life. The RichLife is one where relationships are invested in and tended to on a daily basis. Determine that you will spend quality time with those who mean the most to you. And do it today.

RichLife Radio show featuring Nate Currin with your usual hosts Beau Henderson and Joshua Jarvis.  Nate shares his incredible story of risking everything to follow his passion and becoming an accomplished musician.  Nate also plays a few songs for us to showcase his talent!

Check out our RichLife Radio Show video with Nate Currin playing a tune for us.

Check out the RichLife podcast here below:

This week Beau Henderson & Joshua Jarvis go in-depth sharing their financial expertise & real estate expertise on the show.