"The biggest mistake people make in life is not making a living doing what they most enjoy." So said Malcolm Forbes, founder ofForbesmagazine.

It is the worst of times, it is the best of times

It may be of time of harsh economic conditions and high unemployment, but there is no better time than now to reinventing yourself, doing what you most enjoy, and making a midlife career change.  Go into business for yourself, just as Michelle did, as you will see in the story below. You owe it to yourself.

Making a midlife career change

Here are six of my favorite strategies for making a midlife career change, turning your life around, and developing your own online business.

Overcome your fears and take measured risksas you transition slowly from your current situation, whether it be a salaried employee or a freelance worker, to building your online business; start slowly and let your business develop organically;

Be assertiveand discover a new sense of purpose and direction at this juncture in your life; stop dilly-dallying in doing what others have been telling you what to do; overcome your tendency to take the easy road;

Build on your core passionsinto your online business as well as your core values and strengths; you are probably better at writing and expressing yourself than you think;

Use your networkof friendships built over the years to support your efforts, including former colleagues, friends and even your family;

Use your creativityin implementing an online business model based on sound principles for planning, building, marketing and hosting your site; learn about the best resources that are available for assisting you;

Learnfrom successful online businesses; find out how others have achieved success using the right approach and tools.

A case study in building a remarkable online business: Michelle's story

She was once just a "hair cutter" as one of her clients called her.  Now she runs three successful websites.

For five years, she ran her hair-stylist business from home, building a large clientele and working in the evenings when her husband took care of the children.  Then, at a workshop she learned about "passive income" and "Internet marketing."  She did not know quite what that meant, but she soon learned that it was possible to earn more money that way than dealing with clients one by one.

She knew she had a lot of knowledge about hair styling, so she thought of writing a book.  But she soon learned that having a book published is no easy task - which I also know from personal experience having co-authored nine textbooks. She also thought of putting together an newsletter online, but after some dabbling she gave that up because she lacked the experience and resources to carry it through.

She found the right all-inclusive e-commerce building program for her – the same one, in fact, I use. It took her a while to come up with the money to buy the program.  Once implemented, it gave her the breakthrough that she was looking for.  Within a year her first site ( / ) was ranked in the top 1% of sites on the Internet and was receiving up to 1500 visitors per day.

Motivating words from Michelle

"I know longer work from home in the evenings and my income is constantly growing.  Right now, it is double what I was making was standing behind a chair . . . I do what needs to be done the most at any given time and the nature of web site building is such that I stop to take a break at any point and carry on when time allows.  I can work in my pajamas and fuzzy slippers and switch from work mode to mommy/caretaker to silly dance partner whenever the mood strikes."

Bravo Michelle.