When you adopt this philosophy all of external obstacles fade into background and you are left with ideas, thoughts, circumstances and opportunities that focus on work you do want! You are no longer a victim of corporate or economic circumstances.

Where do you start?

1. Stop complaining about all things outside of you that you can’t control. Wasting your time and energy on this takes away from clearly defining and pursuing what you want. The only control you have is how you perceive things. Start noticing how you let these things take your energy and change it today!

2. Define what you want. What does personal and financial freedom look like to you? What does it REALLY look like to you? It’s very important to not think about how you are going to do it, just think about what you want. Remember, if you only desire what is, you can’t create beyond that.

3. Stop being a job seeker, become a “Career Creator”. Define job you want and go out and create it. I had a client who wrote his ideal job description and actually brought it on an interview. He walked away with exact job he described. Another client wrote hers and found exact description posted 2 weeks later.

Start using your power for your own good!

We live in a culture that is more secure in complaining then in taking action. Break mold, take these steps one at a time and see how liberating it is to stop holding yourself back and start heading towards a career that will really satisfy you personally and financially!

Go hi-tech. More and more mystery shopping companies are requiring shoppers to have access to Internet, email and a fax machine. Some shops even require use of a digital camera to capture product placement, signage, cleanliness or other focus points.

Complete all assignments on time. If you absolutely cannot complete an assignment, contact mystery shopping company immediately so they can reschedule assignment. Dependable shoppers get best assignments!

Assignments can be as basic as sitting in parking lot of a fast food restaurant for 20 minutes to document drive-thru service times to taking an all-expense-paid trip to a resort for 2 weeks to document your daily service experiences.

Now that you understand mystery shopping industry a little more clearly, next step is to locate a few top mystery shopping providers and register, remembering that even if a firm doesn’t have a client in your area today, they may next month. Once registered with a company, it would not hurt to call or send an email to express your willingness to shop and to confirm your professionalism and attention to detail. Just make sure that you do not send an email full of typos and grammatical errors – definitely not type of first impression that you want to leave.

Another method for finding potential shopping opportunities and to gather further industry knowledge is by monitoring online mystery shopping message boards and forums. To locate a few, type words like “mystery shopping message board” or “mystery shopping forum” into your favorite browser.

Mystery shopping may not become your next career, but it will provide you with some extra income, free goods, and maybe even a few adventures along way!