The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) annual survey predicts the UK economy will shed at least 600,000 jobs in 2009.

Hodgson of the Conference board of Canada said more Canadians say they are financially worse off today than six months ago and expect to be even worse off six months from now.

From all of these reports you can see that the current market situation is affecting many countries around the world.

I firmly believe that we need to stop relying on big business to provide for our financial future and depend more upon ourselves. Big business is about profits and the bottom line; people are on the wrong side of the balance sheet. We are considered to be liabilities rather than the assets that we really are.

When you commute to your “slave-camp job” each day, take a look at the faces of the people around you. Do they look happy and excited about going to work? Are people smiling and laughing? Most likely not! In too many cases people are so scared to go to work they are having heart attacks. I have read in many articles that one of the busiest times for emergency wards is Monday morning. Is this your future? Would you love to be able to quit your day job and build a business from home? Many of us are so caught in the rat-race that we are not aware of the many possibilities that exist other than the old “9 – 5, Monday to Friday”.

There are seven actions you can take to be able to Quit Your Day Job:

1) INVEST in preparation – There are many classes you can attend (both in person and/or on-line) and books to read. Get out there and do some research. What would you do with your life if you didn't have to go to work? Create a back-up plan just in case you are the next person to receive that dreaded pink slip.

“The future depends upon what we do in the present” Ghandi

2) Focus – once you know what your back-up plan is being focused on it is critical. So many times the small everyday tasks can take us right off course. Then one day you will wake up and ask yourself “where did the time go?” Surround yourself with things that remind you of your back-up plan: notes, pictures, books, CD's, anything that works for you. Personally I have my back-up plans written out on flip chart paper and strategically placed around our house.

3) Intensity – once you have your path set you will need to “crank it up”. There are so many negative influences out there right now; you can easily be taken off-course. You must become intense about your own future, because if you don't, who will?

4) Knowing you have the right to own your own future

5) You must own the right equipment – One of my most beneficial action steps was to hire a coach; I chose John DiLemme. He has a time-tested process for success that I am able to deliver to my entire team. We all know that the best way to succeed in any task is to obtain mentorship and/or guidance from those who have done what we want to do. Whether you follow someone from afar or pay for one-on-one personal coaching is a choice that only you can make.

A wise man learns by the mistakes of others, a fool by his own.

Latin Proverb

6) Maintenance – you need to be constantly looking at what you are doing on a daily basis. Are your activities bringing you closer to your goals or farther away? Set time aside each day to review what you have done and set your tasks and activities for the following day. This is a sure way of ensuring that your activities will allow you to achieve the life of your dreams.

In absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia.

Author Unknown

7) Persistence – life is about the journey. You would not quit in the first year of your University Degree program because you did not have your degree yet. You know you have to persevere for the full four years in order to obtain that degree. Do you give your dreams and financial future the same persistence? Too many people are expecting riches to fall in their laps. Don't be one of those people.

Winning isn't everything, but wanting to win is.

Vince Lombardi

Pre-play your future – not re-play your past.