Here is a very controversial subject which has cost me a lot of friction over the years. In 2002, I went back to school to acquire my MBA because I did not trust that I could be a dentist all my life. After all, what if I took up skydiving, motorcycle racing, bungee jumping, or mountain climbing? (I'm actually scared of heights so ain't no way these will ever happen in this lifetime!) I always wondered what would happen if I could no longer be a dentist and needed a new career. Now, I'm glad that I thought about it and I tell all my clients to consider having options for the future.

As an alternative career, I kept wondering if I could make it to the front page of GQ as a male model (if any of you believe this, can I sell you the Washington Monument?) or as a male stripper (you would not want to see me in a Speedo, believe me) since there was little to no training needed. But seriously folks, after a little soul searching, I realized it would be prudent to have some training just in case something happened and I could no longer do my duties as a dentist. I am glad I went for the MBA because now, in my consulting, I find it incredibly valuable.

First of all, it can never hurt to have more education, but make sure as a young business person that you plan ahead and start thinking of what you could do if you were no longer able to do what you do so well! Let's say you are a veterinarian for example and you are having a good career, then one day the government decides to levy a huge tax that would no longer make it worthwhile to practice (always a possibility). As a young doctor, you are reading this blog, and lo and behold a light goes on in your head and a bulb lights up that says "Learn how to build furniture". So, the next day, being the smart blog reader that you are, you go online and learn all you can about furniture and how to build it. You spend the next five years doing this. Then, six years from now, the taxes have become so onerous (I just love that word) that you call it quits, move to the woods of Maine, and build furniture from now on. And since you have the skills, you also heal deer and moose on the side.

This scenario is not too far off. Ten years ago, next door to my own practice was an Ob-Gyn group. The HMO insurance companies kept lowering their pay scale to these doctors so much that many could not afford their malpractice insurance any longer. One doctor that I knew left to go to New Hampshire to build furniture. Maybe he delivers a baby or two on the side, but he left because the insurance companies changed the game. This is the point, someone else who is not even in your profession might change the game and out you go. So at an early age, think about options.

Another example of this is the Mom and Pop hardware store, and you've heard this a thousand times I am sure - if Home Depot moves in next door, you either sell something else, become really innovative, or just call it quits. If you could foresee this change in advance, maybe you would become a realtor and sell houses to all the new employees coming in. Or perhaps get your contractor's license and help the DIYs (Do It Yourselfers) build their decks and additions to their houses.

Several years ago, I did a talk at George Mason University to the business students on this very concept. Actually, it was in 2003, before the markets went insane and the housing market crashed and burned. At that talk, I discussed the idea that maybe just one career did not make sense. Unfortunately, the director of the business school did not like my words - they were focused on getting students to think of a lifetime career with one company - most often the federal government.....whoops! To this day I wonder why they never invited me back to talk?

In this uncertain economy, and we will get more into economic indicators later, it is wise not to trust any one profession, career, or business too much. You never know when something can change. But wait, you say there is no time to study something new! You are too busy. My response to that is: TV. YUP, one word, two letters - TV - take away the television and you will have plenty of time to study and learn. You will miss the big game on Sunday.....too bad. You will miss the NBA playoffs that go on for a whole week every night.....oh well. But in the end, you will have learned something great and be prepared for the future and what it might bring.

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