It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (and I Feel Fine…) -R.E.M

I’m not sure why I’ve even bothered writing this blog today. The Apocalypse is supposed to strike at 6 p.m. this evening. Does anyone know if that’s Eastern, Central, Mountain or Pacific time?

Actually, I don’t believe anyone, no matter how spiritual or nutty, can predict the end of the world… but that’s another story for another planet.

What I do know is I’m a glass-half-full-guy… but you might not know it from reading this week’s blog. Optimists like us, not only see the stark realities, but also the possibilities in this world.

Regardless of anyone’s point of view, the glass is what it is — manufactured silicone and water. And no matter which part we choose to focus on — the displaced air or the liquid — doesn’t change the facts. Our perception… that is our choice.

In 1962, one my all-time heroes said this: “We choose to (find a job, start a successful business… just fill in your challenge of choice) in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win.”

JFK set in motion a universe of potential. He wasn’t scared. He accepted the fact that getting something you want is often hard to do.

Since you’re reading this, you know that this past year I have been transforming distressed and neglected Airstreams into comfortable and efficient abodes for people.

Update: Airstreams are now going beyond humble mobile abodes. People are also working out of their trailers — and it’s not a nutty prediction to say that more and more will. Airstreams are much more than a place to eat and sleep. People are now plying their craft and calling in them, as well.

For me, restoring Airstreams continues to be a hobby. As an architect who helps people realize their dreams, Airstream restoration is a thrill. Moving through this discovery process is how I relax.

However, today the shine and shimmer of starting a new business has taken on a dingy tone. Even a problem-solver has to pause at the magnitude of the challenges facing start-ups today.

But know one said it’d be easy. So, let’s take a quick look at where we are today, and where a good idea and an Airstream could take you tomorrow.

News flash: Popular opinion would have you believe that if you were one of the 1.65 million American college graduates last year who are still looking for a job — achem - you are so-o-o-o SCREWED!

While past May and June used to be all about twenty-somethings celebrating years of academic achievement — 2011 is a much different story.

I can still smell the shimmering green polyester Cal Poly gown, and the goosy chill that shot up my spine when I was handed that little black booklet with a piece of beige parchment in it that held my architectural degree. And I can can still hear my proud bleary-eyed mother whispering, “I’m proud of you, Matteo.” And Dad whispering three little words in my ear, as he hugged me: “Get a job.”

The bad news: A May 20, 2011 article by PressTV offers an evern bleaker picture: “This recession has hit young adults particularly hard,” according to Rich Morin, senior editor at the Pew Research Center in DC. So hard that a whopping 85% of college seniors planned to move back home with their parents after graduation last May, according to a poll by Twentysomething Inc., a marketing and research firm based in Philadelphia. That rate has steadily risen from 67% in 2006.

The online post wraps up with the a factoid that blasts your parents’ admonition to go to college clean out of the water. “What is as disturbing is that half the jobs landed by new grads do not even require college degrees.”

The cheery news concludes with this ominous tidbit: “Even if grads cannot find jobs, they still have to pay back their student loans. The average graduate owes about 25,000 dollars. For the first time in history, Americans owe more on student loans than credit cards. With tuition costs sky-rocketing, student loan debt is expected to cross the-trillion-dollar mark this year.”

“Getting a degree used to be a stepping stone to limitless career opportunities. Now…” reports CNNMoney.com, “there’s nowhere for these young adults to go but back to their old bedrooms, curfews and chore charts. Meet the boomerangers.”

Hm-m-m-m. Mom always did make good strawberry waffles.

The good news: It’s always been a American Capitalism truism, and today more than ever: you will have to make your own success.

Whether you’re unemployed or employed-but-under-paid there’s good news for you — if you’re unusually-motivated. As a recent graduate you have proven to yourself that you have a good brain and know how to use it. And if you are living at home, you don’t have much to lose.

“It’s been a long year for these seniors,” says Philip Gardner, who is the director of the Collegiate Employment Research Institute at Michigan State University. In a 2010 Christian Science Monitor article, he says that successful careers will come to those graduates “who bring technical or analytical skills to e-commerce table, and have an entrepreneurial mind-set. If you’re risk-taking … adaptable … and you can communicate [in a diverse workplace], it’s going to go a long way,” says Gardner.

A solution: In today’s deflated economy, the chances of finding a job are daunting. While most of my classmates from the class of 2006 are working in their chosen field, many friends who are graduating this spring are much less hopeful than we were just five years ago. It’s a completely new world out there.

One solution I’m seeing lately is people who are creating their own on-the-go companies. Experienced entrepreneurs agree — this is one of the best times to start your own small business. But today, one of the keys is to start a business that is adaptable, scalable, and economical.

In my next blog I’ll offer seven viable on-the-go small business ventures ideas that are successfully creating bottom-lines and lifestyles worthy of living from the word go.

Catch ya on the other side.