Secretly, I was building a business on side. I was coaching people to live their dreams in evenings and weekends. Although my clients were living lives they loved, I couldn't say I was doing same.

Then, I got laid off. I was devastated, confused, and I felt betrayed. But I was one of many who were worried and wondering which direction to take next. Little did I know at time, that this was day I became a full time coach.

They say first year of getting a business off ground is tough, and they're not kidding. Everything you said was someone else's job or another department's responsibility when you were an employee becomes your responsibility when you own your own business. It's overwhelming, confronting, and one of hardest things I've ever done in my life.

Today, I have a thriving coaching practice. And, I have started another coaching company that is beginning to grow. I have never been happier. I owe my success to being able to imagine myself successful, visualizing victory in future. Or, in other words, I took charge on my career.

So, How Can You Take Charge Of Your Career? Follow The Steps Below:

1. Accept Where You Are

Stop blaming world for your predicament and forgive those who caused your situation. (Because it does not serve you.) Most importantly, forgive yourself. Acknowledge where you are today because you know you cannot reach a better tomorrow without this.

2. Decide You Will Win

A couple of days ago I received a letter from them saying that due to economic factors, cost increases, blah, blah, blah they were going to raise my rate by a "modest amount".

Ok, so what do they consider a modest amount? I called them and found out that to them a modest amount was 8-10%; they weren't sure yet.

I don't know if their definition of a "modest amount" struck me wrong or if I was just against paying more for this service, but I took time to look in phone book and find two of their direct competitors.

I called each competitor and got price quotes on exact same service.

As you probably can guess, I found some lower prices (without even mentioning what I was currently paying). And it turned out that both of competitors were priced about same.

I then called my current provider and mentioned that their competitors would give me a price of $500 for same service; $100 less! They said that they would research it and call me back.

I got a call a few hours later saying they wanted to keep my business and would be happy to match their competitor's price. I gave myself a pat on back.

But I started thinking about how my current provider intended to raise my monthly rate by about $50 but ended up cutting their rate by $100. So rather than creating an additional $600 of cash for themselves next year, they are now going to take $1,200 less.