How many times have you heard that phrase, pitch, advertisement, or whatever? Lots, I’m sure. It is used so much because marketers know that staying home and making money is the fondest dream of millions of people. And why not? Did you know that the majority of fatal heart attacks happen at 9 a.m. Monday morning? It’s true. It seems a lot of people would rather die than get back to the old grind after a weekend of freedom. So when someone offers an opportunity or plan for you to take your job and shove it, yet still make enough money to live and pay all your bills, it sounds blissfully irresistible. Of course, bliss and reality are always two different things. Is it really possible to run a business from your own home that is more than a hobby or source of part-time income? Can you get rich working out of your own home? Can you really trade your cubical and necktie for blue jeans and the comfort of your own den? Well, for your information, home-based businesses are one of the fastest growing kinds of enterprises in America today. As this is being written, some 40 million Americans are doing at least some form of work out of their homes, and the numbers are rising rapidly. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, as many as 70 million people will be working out of their homes by the year 2005. Government studies have indicated that as much as 75% of all work done in this country could eventually be moved home. The overwhelming majority of home workers, however, are not exactly getting rich. The average work-at-home American earns less than $15,000 per year. That may not be bad as a supplement to a spouse’s full-time income, but let’s face it, fifteen grand in and of itself is not much better than poverty. As master marketer and author Dr. Jeffrey Lant said: “Frankly, I never saw any benefit to staying home and being poor.” Lant, without so much as a business card, became a work-at-home millionaire, and is a perfect example of what truly can be achieved if you are serious about chucking your day job, staying home, and not settling for peanuts in exchange for your freedom. You can have it all — you can stay home and make as much — and more — money than your current job provides you. In this report, we are going to outline and discuss five key rules on how to work at home and make big bucks, no matter where you live. After these five rules, we’ll talk about the most important aspect of any business, whether it be home-based or a giant factory — cash flow. Starting your own business out of your home is all about attitude and inspiration, but all the attitude in the world won’t help you without money! 1. It Takes Commitment Is it any secret in America that most people detest their jobs? Study after study proves that most people simply dread going to work Monday morning, and they live for the freedom of the weekend. But even that freedom is not pure because we know that it is only temporary. It’s hard to enjoy a Sunday evening when the Monday morning alarm clock is just a few hours away. It makes sense that people hate their jobs. Everyday, there is a lot of butt kissing that needs to be done. There are endless meetings which usually accomplish nothing. There are pointless interruptions, a lot of drifting this way and that, and lot of idiot supervisors who do nothing but waste your time and then dog you for not accomplishing your share of work. There are co-workers you hate, and who would stab you in the back in a minute if it meant a raise for them instead of you. When you work for someone else, you live a regimented life. Your body may not want to get up at 7 a.m., but you have to be at work by 8 a.m. so you lurch out of bed with a head full of sleep. People who choose to work at home are doing more than just escaping the yoke of their master; they have made a deep, firm, life-altering decision which says that health, happiness and prosperity depend vitally on the freedom to work for ourselves, and in doing so in the comfort of the home. We want to really emphasize that fact that to be successful in a work-at-home situation, you have to be nothing less than a fanatic; a zealot, who is utterly committed to making work-at-home not only a successful venture, but a profound commitment for life. You must be convinced that a return to an outside office job would be the equivalent of a spiritual death sentence. Many people hate their office jobs, but they have made an inner compromise with themselves. They have convinced themselves that their job is “not so bad,” pays the bills, and that they can stick out because they have to. If you want to be truly successful at quitting your day job, there cannot be any room for such compromises in your soul. You have to take the attitude that to work any longer at your hateful job is akin to fouling your inner being with a spiritual cancer the will sicken and kill you. 2. Eliminating the Home-Office Mentality To move our work home, however, does not mean we eliminate every single thing about the traditional American office. Rather, we should select what is useful and what is not. It’s a mistake to quit your job and go home with a “home-office” mentality. By this we mean thinking small, and believing that you will automatically sacrifice a decent income in exchange for your freedom. Please! Do not think small! To quote Jeffrey Lant again: “Too many home-based practitioners fail to understand the benefits that accrue because of the professional style they have selected. They focus on the “home” part of the business rather than the “business” portion, and as a result are doomed to small incomes.” Working at home provides many benefits. We can save a lot of time because we don’t need to commute and we have more control over our schedule. We can save a lot of costs because we don’t have the overhead requirements of larger businesses. We can cut our stress — and so have more energy — because we avoid many of the characteristic problems of life in the late 20th-Century office. We must work these advantages to our profit. 3. Your International Headquarters The German philosopher Immanuel Kant said that if you sit at home alone at your empty kitchen table, eventually, the “whole world will come to you.” Well, today you don’t need the great mind of a philosopher to make the entire world come into your living room. What you need is a phone jack. We live in a unique time in history. Satellites, fiber optics, the integrated circuit and other communications miracles means that you can be just about anywhere in the developed world and establish communication with anyone. The telephone, the fax machine, the computer, the modem — all of these are not only affordable by any middle-class citizen; they are the key to eliminating your need to drive a hectic freeway everyday to get to a place of business outside your home. With these devices at our disposal, we should allow ourselves to “think globally.” Too often, home-based businesses focus on the narrowest market, the neighborhood, the county, the city or state. This is fine if you are providing a local service and are content with a certain moderate level of income. But if you want the big bucks, you should not think small. Also, you should not believe that, just because you are home-based, you cannot compete with the big guys. The purpose of any business is to seek assess and seek out every possible market for its products and services, to ascertain whether these markets have the ability to buy these products/services, to determine whether there is sufficient profit in these markets to warrant approaching them, and, once positive assessment has been made, to launch a sustained marketing campaign that gets a significant percentage of this market to purchase the product or service in question. Your home telecommunications machines will not only enable you to do this, but they can also help you overwhelm larger, more cumbersome traditional businesses that are your competition. As a home-based entrepreneur, you will not have all of the disadvantages of your more traditional competitors: no office rent, equipment or expense; no employees to pay salaries and fringe benefits for; no time wasted on meetings, employee problems, paid sick leave, etc. All the money your competitors spend on heating the office and buying furniture could better be spent on the actual marketing itself. As a home-based business, you will be already positioned where the traditional business is currently struggling to move: toward the lowest possible overhead and the greatest possible concentration of dollars on products/service development and product/service marketing. So, a home-based business takes full advantage of three major goals of modern business success: (1) Vastly reduced overhead (2) Easy access to a global market (3) Full advantage of telecommunications. To not have the basic telecommunications toys — computer, modem, fax, and telephones is impossibly stupid. Still, even in this day and age, many of people strongly resist the one element that is undoubtedly the heart and brain of any successful home business — the computer. The computer is so important in fact, we have made it a category all itself. And remember, learning to use a modern computer is easier than learning to drive a car, so you have no excuse not to plunge forward. 4. The Computer You should pay close attention to what computers can do for you in your plans to escape your job and make your work-at-home dreams come true. People who want to run a home business usually have a very small staff — in fact, a staff of one — yourself! The rest of your needs are handled by independent contractors, depending on the kind of business you are in and the services you need. To run a serious, truly global home business, a computer is as necessary as oxygen is to life on earth. Those who try to fool themselves into thinking they will ever make a serious go of their home-based business without a computer are sadly mistaken. Computers give you two primary advantages: (1) They enable you to store large amounts of data and to sort by data field so that you can easily get the information you need. (2) They enable you to develop a pattern document for every situation you’ll ever be in in your business. To run a home-based business successfully, you must anticipate just what situation will emerge and prepare accordingly. A business is based on a characteristic series of situations and a characteristic set of things that happen — or that do not happen. You must be prepared with the proper document for each situation. Once you have established all the protocols, and have experienced all the situations associated with your kind of business, the time will come when running your business is, in large part, a repetition of certain key tasks. Computers are all about handling repetition swiftly and efficiently. But the computer is much more. Today, by connecting a computer to the phone line with a modem, your machine becomes more than a data storage system and repetitive task handler. It becomes a multi-task, multi-level communications processing center that connects you to the globe. Such things as e-mail, on-line services, the Internet, the Web and more can’t help but revolutionize the way business is done. If you do not become a part of it today, you certainly are going to suffer for it greatly in the near future. If there is an effective way to market products on the Internet or any other on-line venue, no one has truly discovered it yet. The only people making money on Internet marketing are the people who are selling the concept of doing it. If you have a product or a service and expect to reach millions of buyers through computer screens, you are sadly mistaken. The Internet is definitely where a lot of innovative things are happening. It’s a great place to exchange ideas, find out what hot, what’s not, and stay on the cutting edge whatever your particular business is. 5. Your Business Hours If you’ve been paying attention to the first four points, you’re well on your way to becoming a successful home-based business owner. Now we don’t want you to blow it by thinking you can keep banker’s hours. The global market is a 24-hour per day market, and a 365-day per year market. Let the others sleep late on Saturdays and take Sundays off. Those times could be your day to move and corner loads of customers that the others miss. You should get up earlier and quit work later. You should be open for business on holidays and be available 24-hours a day either personally or through your answering service. “But wait a minute!” you might be thinking at this point! “I thought that working at home was all about freedom and an end to drudgery. This sounds like nothing but endless work!” Well, here’s the thing. For most of you who quit your regular jobs to go to work for yourself, you’ll discover something magical. You’ll discover that when you are working for yourself, when you are building your own business, a lot of what you does not seem like work at all. The great writer Jane Roberts said, “Inspiration is its own motivator.” Running your own business is all about being inspired 24-hours-a-day. When you stop selling your body and soul to some company or corporation and start giving your energy to yourself, work has a way of turning into inspiration and play. The perfect work for you is that which you don’t think of as work, yet doing it makes money and provides you with the bread and shelter of life. You’ll see what it’s like if you make a true commitment to being self employed, put all your energy into it, and stick with it for the long run. Steve Cownley http://infoblog.net78.net/
Inspired Action occurs when someone acts efficiently and easily, to create a greater result than they normally would have been able to. Have you ever found that you’re in “the zone” in a certain project where you get more done in less time, with less effort than you ever have—and it’s enjoyable?
Then you’ve experienced Inspired Action. This is the way we’re designed to work. And the good news is that we don’t have to wait until we’re inspired to do it.
When I first began working with these ideas, I listened to master teachers who gave me powerful advice. What I learned helped me to harness the power of inspired action easily, every day.
Here are three steps that you can use today to start using Inspired Action:
Inspired Action Step #1: Do One Thing at a Time–This seems awfully mundane, doesn’t it? But used in this new way, it is a powerful thing to practice. This is more of a mind management system than it is a scheduling task. When you’re doing something, do it wholly. This leaves your mind open for being creative. If you’re constantly juggling things in your head, trying to remember to do this or that, you don’t have room for coming up with great ideas. You’re using your brain power in a messy way. This is like using a Porsche to deliver the mail. It’s a waste of a powerful performance machine. Our brains are capable of making incredible associations if we’re not filling them with too much minutia. Therefore, perform one task at a time and you’ll find that you naturally use your brain to spur you on to easy, efficient action.
Inspired Action Step #2: Get Some Rest – This, too, sounds mundane. But I’ve found that when I’m on a roll, creatively and productively, it is short lived unless I take care of the basics. If I’m tired, I can get up at my usual time of 5:00 am, but I’m worthless. And then, I do things that are really not smart—I begin thinking negative thoughts or I talk myself out of following my plans and I make new, ineffective plans.
When I’m well-rested, my brain is able to work well and I find that I have the energy to come up with great ideas and carry them through. The best part of being well-rested is that I have the energy to immediately act upon my inspired ideas. I don’t have to put things off.
Inspired Action Step #3: Take Power Naps – Again, here we are at the basics. I noticed that when I began to act with a well-thought-out schedule, I wouldn’t be able to just go, go, go all day. I was taking such efficient actions that I was accomplishing many tings in a short period of time. When I did this, I got tired right after lunch. So I trained myself to take 15 minute power naps. Soon, I could take a nap immediately when I felt tired, I began to need only that 15 minutes to recover and feel good. Then, I was refreshed and ready to take on the day again.
There are many more tips to being able to reliably use inspired action. But these, combined with making a good schedule and having your goals be clear to you, will go a long way toward using Inspired Action on a daily basis.
Some comfortably well off empty nester baby boomers may obtain the car of their dreams or have an affair as the means to inspire passion.This born and bred New Yorker, who moved to Florida before Mickey Mouse arrived, and whose sanctuary for the last ten years is upon ten acres in the Green Swamp [environmentally protected areas atop aquifers] of Central Florida, did something else instead.A 1954 baby, born in Greenwich Village who got to grow up free to roam in Levittown when kids left the house after two bowls of Capt’n Crunch and as long as they returned home before the sun went down, nobody worried.My childhood dream of growing up to be Brenda Starr, morphed into an adult desire to be a Dorothy Day-the 20th socialist anarchist Roman Catholic who challenged church, state and corporate media – for the 21st century.Inspired by many muses I crossed paths with during my first of five trips to Israel Palestine in June 2005, on July 22, 2005, WAWA was born.WAWA/WeAreWideAwake is a Pro-Bono/FREE Public Service to America. As a civilian journalist who has journeyed five times into Israel Palestine since June 2005, WAWA is dedicated to confronting media and governments that shield the whole truth. We who are wide awake are compelled by the “fierce urgency of Now”[Rev MLK, Jr.] to raise awareness and promote the human dialogue about many of the crucial issues of our day: the state of our Union and in protection of democracy, what life is like for Christians in Israel Palestine in the 21st Century, nuclear weapons, the environment, science, medicine, theology and spirituality.Being inspired by the events of 9/11 to find out WHY did a few-back then it was a few-people in the world hated America so much to target and murder innocent ones-I began to research for answers to questions the media was not asking.Hate that can kill any other, is a deep hate indeed, and I wanted to understand what fueled it. All roads led me to Jerusalem and the troubled bit of real estate we call the Holy Land, which in reality is in pieces; Bantustans.Inspired by my faith as a Christian of the Beatitudes [meaning my manifesto is the Sermon on The Mount+] I wanted to do something positive, and was led to connect with a local interfaith non-political non-profit organization in 2003, the newly founded Olive Trees Foundation for Peace/OTFFP.The OTFFP was envisioned by an American Palestinian and ‘48 refugee from the upper Galilee who made his way to the USA and realized the American dream. After a lucrative career with Top Secret Clearance in the Defense Industry during the Cold War and THAT DAY we call 9/11, Dr. Khaled Diab’s dream of helping his homeland by going PRO was born.PRO seeks Peace and Reconciliation by providing Opportunities for all. The OTFFP PRO dream came into reality when a few committed American Jews, Christians and Muslims got together in Orlando, Fl. and established the 501 3-c Olive Trees Foundation for Peace five years ago. http://www.olivetreesfoundation.org/Inspired by my seven months of Tuesday afternoons listening to the memories of Dr. Diab’s life, I wrote my first historical fiction, KEEP HOPE ALIVE with all proceeds going to help realize the OTFFP dream of blanketing the Holy Land with one million trees on both sides of The Wall.Inspired by a photograph of a little boy of Bethlehem, published first in the Florida Catholic in 2001, and the desire to meet him, I traveled out of the states for the first time along with the first USA OTFFP delegation to Israel Palestine in June 2005. It is that photo of George of Beit Jala, a five minute car ride from the Church of The Nativity in downtown Bethlehem, occupied territory that adorns the WAWA banner.Inspired by the fact that George’s sanctuary was destroyed the night before his photo was taken and the shrapnel was imprinted: MADE IN USA, I vowed I would devote the rest of my life to doing something to help end the occupation and terror little children endure because of adults who choose violence.Inspired by my meetings with the OTFFP’s ‘boots on the ground’ who disseminated the now over 41,000 trees which are deeply rooted at houses of worship, schools and on private property of the neediest of land owners, I journeyed back solo four more times.Inspired by the growing numbers of nonviolent Palestinians, Israelis and internationals who engage in nonviolent acts of civil disobedience in protest of the route of The Wall and 40+ years of military occupation, I published Memoirs of a Nice Irish American ‘Girl’s’ Life in Occupied Territory which is dedicated to the Palestinian Christians with hope that their Exodus will soon cease and the land we call holy will be whole indeed.Inspired by the dream that Reverend Martin Luther King had just days before his assassination when he saw “Israel as one of the greatest outposts of democracy in the world” and as an act of nonviolent civil disobedience, I am holding onto that dream by emailing, phoning and streaming video of Mordechai Vanunu, the whistle blower of Israel’s WMD Program, who has been forbidden to speak to any foreigners ever since his 2004 release from 18 years in jail [most all in solitary] for telling the world that Israel was already nuclear in 1985.Vanunu’s freedom of speech trial began in January 2006 for speaking to foreign media in 2004 and concludes July 8, 2008 in Jerusalem. Israel could put Vanunu back behind bars for six more months, or be inspired to accept the Norwegians offer of asylum http://www.vanunu.org/ for him.Inspired by the lack of spiritual depth and disappointing ending of The Da Vinci Code, KEEP HOPE ALIVE begins with the Nag Hamadi Library and the stages of the soul and ends with a howling wind to USA Christians to wake up to the heretical theology and neo-con ideology, of the Left Behind series.Inspired by Gilda Radner/ Baba Wawa, George Harrison’s opening number at the Concert for Bangladesh/ Wah Wah, the Arabic for a boo-boo/wawa and nonviolent internationals, Israelis and Palestinians who are wide awake and see the way to peace is justice and the way to justice is equal human rights and international law, WAWA: WeAreWideAwake.org is a labor of love in that cause.Inspired by my intimate relationship with Jesus, who was never a Christian, but a social, justice, radical revolutionary Palestinian devout Jewish road warrior who rose up against the corrupt Temple authorities and challenged their job security by teaching the people they did NOT need to pay the priests for ritual baths or sacrificing livestock to be OK with God; for God LOVED them just as they were: sinners, poor, diseased, outcasts, widows, orphans, refugees and prisoners all living under Roman Military Occupation, I offer a new spin on Jesus in KEEP HOPE ALIVE.Might you be inspired by the fact that 2,000 years ago The Cross had NO symbolic religious meaning. When JC said: “Pick up your cross and follow me” everyone understood he was issuing a POLITICAL statement, for the main roads in Jerusalem were lined with crucified agitators, rebels, dissidents and any who disturbed the status quo of the Roman Occupying Forces.
The Beatitudes for the 21st century:
About 2,000 years ago, when Christ was about 33, he hiked up a hill and sat down under an olive tree and began to teach the people;”Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.” In other words: it is those who know their own spiritual poverty, their own limitations and sins honestly and trust God loves them in spite of themselves who already live in the Kingdom of God.How comforted we will all be, when we see, we haven’t got a clue, as to the depth and breadth of pure love and mercy of The Divine Mystery of The Universe. God’s name in ancient Aramaic is Abba which means Daddy as much as Mommy and He/She: The Lord has said, “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not yours.” -Isaiah 55:8 Christ proclaimed more: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The essence of meek is to be patient with ignorance, slow to anger and never hold a grudge. In other words: how happy you will be when you also know humility; when you know yourself, the good and the bad, for both cut through every human heart. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they will be filled.”In other words: how happy you will be when your greatest desire is to do what “God requires, and he has already told you what that is; BE JUST, BE MERCIFUL and walk humbly with your Lord.”-Micah 6:8″Blessed are the merciful, they will be shown mercy.” In other words: how happy you will all be when you choose to return only kindness to your ‘enemy.’ “For with the measure you measure against another, it will be measured back to you.” Christ warns his disciples as he explains the law of karma in Luke 6:27-38. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they see God.”In other words: how happy you will be when you WAKE UP and see God is already within you, within every man, every woman and every child. The Supreme Being is everywhere, the Alpha and Omega, beginning and end. Beyond The Universe -and yet so small; within the heart of every atom. “Blessed are The Peacemakers: THEY shall be called the children of God.” Oh how happy the WORLD will be when we all seek justice and pursue it, for there can be none without the other.”Blessed are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires, theirs is The Kingdom of Heaven.” And one fine day the lion will lie down with The Lamb and man will make war no more and that is the Kingdom of God.
If your financial well being has been shaken by the recent Wall Street fiasco, we have identified three things you can do to recover and flourish. Before we get to those let’s look at what’s driving our economy and impacting your retirement.
America is a country of consumption. The home shopping networks that you see on TV generate billions in revenue even when the economy is tight. The number of people who are home shopping online grows every day. The online shops of this country are providing a service of convenience and savings for all of us.
So what does this have to do with your retirement account evaporating? Opportunity. Simply opportunity. You might do quite well setting up your own online business but before you forge ahead, there are three things you can do to assist you in your quest for success.
Start with these three concepts.
1.Don’t listen to losers.
2.Develop an inspiring motivation for success.
3.Expand your energy.
Don’t Listen to Losers – This is not a judgmental statement about the status of your fellow human being. This is about the practical and realistic point of view.
A tennis professional is not spending his time looking for mediocre people to play just so he can win. He is not challenged by people with lesser skill and he knows that that not only doesn’t help his game it actually hurts his game.
Find people that are successful in their lives and their business and talk with them. You don’t have enough time on this planet to make all the dumb mistakes yourself. Learn from others but choose carefully who you are learning from. Develop an Inspiring Motivation for Success
If your motivation for success is fear, you’re screwed. If your motivation for success is to experience joy and help others, you have a chance! Needing to prove to someone your worthiness is another way to fall flat on your face. The only sustainable motivation must come from your heart. When you see your business plan in terms of purpose and joy you attach meaning that will inspire you and the people you need to build it.
If you are angry, obsessed with the competition, or using any less-than-inspiring tactics to achieve your goals your success will be short lived. Choose to empower yourself with marketing tools, supportive people, and a heart-centered inspiration for achieving your goals.
Expand Your Energy – To enjoy the benefits of money and success you need to be healthy in all areas of your life. It’s not possible to achieve a perfect balance between work and other areas of your life but it is possible to create a rhythm that ebbs and flows to allow you the energy you need to build your business and have a life!
If you work 80 hours a week, eat like crap, and don’t exercise, you might make a lot of money in the short run but your health will catch up with you. Your diet, your downtime, and your relationships are just as important to your long-term success as your sales are.
Everything is energy and once you accept that your awareness will help you to see the opportunities in balance. Eat properly, exercise consistently, get the rest you need and then you will have the energy you need to build that business and create the life you want.
When times get tough and you think your dreams of success are far away, you need some special tools to keep you motivated. I find that posting inspirational quotations on the refrigerator and computer monitor reminds me that no matter what happens, I can keep working toward my dreams. My favorite one is this:
*Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it; Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. (Goethe)
This quote has been with me all my life. It has often kept me going when my dreams and goals seemed too hard to get to or too remote in time. But once started toward those dreams, stepping out boldly to achieve the next level, I have found time and again that the power you need is right there in that process of doing the things you need to do to get the job done. This is true not only for the things you know you are able to do right now, but also for the dreams you have that will stretch your mind and your heart ever upward.Success is never as elusive as we fear. Take that bold first step—–even one small step can move you forward into a new life. There! You have begun it!
In high school, I wanted more than anything to become a teacher. I did everything I could to learn about teaching and volunteered to tutor disadvantaged children in reading on Saturday mornings. I was dedicated. But I was also one of seven children, and while we never lacked for any necessities and my parents did their very best to give us as many advantages as they could, there was not a lot of money available for college educations. When my older brother got into Princeton (as was my mother’s dream), all monetary efforts went there. My older sister lived on campus at Kutztown. I knew early on as number three that if I was going to get to college and live my dream, I would have to do it, for the most part, by myself.
I worked hard in school and received some small scholarships and grants. I worked in the delicatessen of a local A&P food store, clerked at a department store, and worked odd jobs and babysat to put together as much money as I could. I still had to get loans. I commuted. My father gave me his old “puddle jumper” so I could shuttle myself back and forth to work, college, and home. My junior year, my parents lent me the $250.00 I needed to live on campus for one semester, saving me over an hour driving to add some study time to my day. I owed them a great debt of gratitude for teaching me independence, hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. I would never have appreciated my education as much if it had been handed to me.
And I did it. I had a delay of three years between my junior and senior years, but that is a story for another day. After we married and had our first child, my husband (who was in ROTC at Rutgers) and I were sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma. We were far from home, and I still remember how my fingers froze as I hung my husband’s uniforms and the baby’s diapers out to dry in the bitterly cold wind that swept through the plains in winter. We counted out pennies to buy milk for the baby at the end of the month. But we believed in what we were doing and where we were headed. We were blessed. He survived Vietnam as a helicopter pilot, receiving medals for his heroic service. I got my teaching certificate that same year, living at home in New Jersey where I had started out. When we left the military, I taught while my husband went to law school. Later I started law school the same year we added two children to our family. Later still, we had to deal with the aftermath of a serious auto accident, a story for another day. Challenge upon challenge presented itself to us, yet we believed we could do it all.
Time and again I have felt the message that I was not done yet. Those of you who have known adversity as we have–lean times, injury, lost jobs, the nearly unbearable loss of our second child, suicides in the family, all of the painful things life can send, take hope from this. When you have dreams, you are empowered to take bold action to do the things you feel called to do. Your spirit rises up when you need it the most. You will know the deep joy and satisfaction in what you can accomplish. There is the magic of it: whatever life hands you, you can get through to reach success. Inspiration is all around you during hard times. Your mind will be uplifted and your action inspired. Begin it. And keep going no matter what. Your dreams will become your reality.
One of the great privileges of direct selling profession is being able to work from home. But with the freedom of your career, also come the challenges. The sink is full of dishes, your son left his crayons /on your desk, and the laundry is piled up in the corner. A well designed home office help you transition from the role of domestic goddess to high power entrepreneurial executive. Just like Clark Kent changes in the phone booth to become Superman, as you enter your office space, you turn into queen of your home business empire. Instantly your mind shifts from the laundry list of household chores, to strategies for earning that big check next month and enjoying a hard earned Hawaiian vacation.
But how can you plan the perfect workspace; one that keeps you organized, inspires you, and boosts your productivity? Here with some rules of thumb to follow when designing your home office space.
Plan a space that meets your needs.
• Space: Imagine your dream space. You have the freedom to create the space of your dreams Where is it? What items do you need to have in it? Some questions to ask yourself are: what equipment you’ll need, what things you’ll have to store, and how much privacy you’ll need. Do you need to stay close so you can keep an eye on the kids? Do you need a meeting space? Will you have customers or other consultants stopping by?
• Location. Choose a space in your home that best supports those needs. Whether it’s a space bedroom, a corner of the living room, a large closet, an attic or a converted garage; find a room that that has enough space for the equipment and furniture you need.
• Storage. While not every direct seller needs to keep inventory on hand, those that do know that having an organized space to store product is critical. Make sure that space you choose has ample room for shelving and storage. Think about the items you handle on a day to day basis in your business. Now make a list of the items. Do you need a bookshelf or wall holders for catalogs and brochures? With the proper space and containers too keep your office tidy and you’ll have a clutter free, organized work space.
• Furniture. Next it’s time to outfit your work space with a desk, bookcase, and filing cabinets. Today with the boom in home based careers, there is such a variety of office furniture to choose from. Whether it’s a simple desk, an office armoire, or a complete L-shaped unit, make sure you’ll have the desktop space you need to keep key items at your fingertips. Dare to splurge a little on getting yourself a comfortable and ergonomically supportive chair. It’s a back-saving and worthwhile investment.
• Equipment. Plan a spot to put your computer, phone, and fax. Buying an all-in-one printer/scanner/fax machines is a smart choice that saves you desktop space and money!
Put it together it a way that makes sense.
• Placement. Decide What Goes Where. Place key equipment in a way to flows with the way that you work.
• Organization. One great way to stay organized is to create centers for the tasks you frequently perform. For instance you might want to put all your brochures, order forms, and catalogs together in one place. Other “centers” may include a mailing center, a faxing center, and a printing center. Boxes and bins are great for keeping smaller office supplies organized.
• Ergonomics. Place your keyboard, lighting, and monitor at proper heights. By being good to your body, you can function at peak performance without tiring as quickly or getting injured from incorrect positioning.
Create an inspiring atmosphere you’ll love.
• Personalize. Now’s the chance you have been waiting for to create the office of your dreams. Make your office a space that truly inspires you. Little things make such a difference. Choose a paint color that brings you joy. Pamper yourself with treasured photos, candles, and artwork on the wall. Add a touch of romance and a dash of color with a potted plant or vase with flowers on your desk. Finally, having inspirational quotes, a dream map, and visual reminders of your goals can be powerful tools to keep you motivated and on the track to success.
• Clean and tidy. There’s nothing like starting the day with a clean desk. Try to get in the routine of either cleaning your desk at the end of the day, or doing a 5 minute tidy first thing in the morning. By having a place for everything and everything in its place, it’s easy to stay organized and be more efficient.
• Lighting. Don’t skimp on lighting. In addition to creating ambiance in the room, proper lighting keeps you from straining your eyes. In addition to having enough overhead lighting, you’ll also want task lighting. Today there’s a wonderful selection of stylish and functional lamps to choose from.
Start your Dream Office Today!
What are you waiting for? Get a jumpstart on your home office now by taking the following actions in the next 48 hours.
• Walk around your home and visualize your office. What space feels good and inspiring to you? Where can you see yourself spending a lot of time and loving it? Choose the perfect space and clear it out.
• Flip through catalogs and magazines. Clip pictures of furniture, décor, and items you’d like to include in your dream office. By getting crystal clear on the intricate details of your perfect workspace, it makes it easier to spot those items as you come across them.
• Shop around and look for smart buys. Scan the newspapers, store fliers, and online office store coupons for sales and special offers.
Do you find that when you get to the office, your motivation and inspiration for your daily work duties leaves you and you have no enthusiam for your work? Here are some helpful ideas to get you going towards a better work day!
Simple Ideas to find Inspiration at Work
One of the best ways to put yourself in a position to find the neccesary motivation is to make sure you are comfortable. You need to make sure your chair supports your back, your desk is at the right height, and you have an ergonomically correct keyboard and mouse. Repetitive strain injuries have been on the rise for some time now, so speak up and you just might find your employer willing to cooperate. Im sure he would rather adjust the environment rather than deal with a workers compensation claim!
If that is not so – Worst case: bring in your own office supplies or equipment. There’s no reason that your body has to suffer even if your boss is really stingy!
Clean Up and De-Clutter Your Workspace
I find inspiration by getting rid of the clutter on my desk and getting everything back to tidy! A cluttered workspace can zap you of your creativity because you spend more time trying to find things than actually getting your work done.
Look at your workspace objectively and ask yourself: “What absolutely NEEDS to be here?” Remove the things that make you feel claustrophobic, stop hoarding rubbish and toss the things you never use. File or bin anything else as your work items should be filed away in an organizational system that works for you.
Here’s the bottom line: just hold on to the things that are vital for your daily chores or will propell you towards success in your duties! Keeping anything else serves no purpose and adds nothing more than clutter and distraction. Then, all this clutter zaps your motivation and inspiration, so avoid it! Now, if you do this, you will feel so much better! You will be more relaxed and able to think more clearly.
How Can You Create an Inspirational Computing Experience?
Are you in an office? do you spend the majority of your time on a computer? Do you ever clean up your computer? or do you have 72,000 emails sitting around and files you never use saved to your hard drive? Clean out your computer! Delete all your temporary internet files and your computer will run faster and then bring inspiration into your workspace through inspirational wallpapers.
Now, these usually free downloads can be very helpful in inspiring you during that long 8-10 or 12 hours! Try checking out a picture of the Bahamas. I for one, know just how hard it is to stare at a screen all day and remain motivated – its tough. But if you have to stare at it – make it something Inspirational!
You can check out these wallpapers when you are having a hard time getting started, getting motivated, or just finding the inspiration to push forward. Inspirational wallpapers typically contain beautiful landscapes with inspirational quotes or sayings. Sometimes all you need to get going is a gentle push in the right direction, and inspirational wallpapers just might be what the doctor ordered. It really can be that simple!
The great thing about these wallpapers is that they don’t take up any physical space, so there’s no need to worry about clutter. You also can use some of the images and quotes on the wallpaper to create screensavers for your computer. Your computer has the potential to inspire you in so many ways!
Inspiration can often seem impossible to find at work, but you may need to think outside of the box and find ways to get inspired. Keep things simple and don’t let clutter get you down.
A really good idea is to listen to your Ipod or similar – if you can!
Anytime I need aboost – I put on a personal development cd and listen deeply and contently. This is particularly helpful even when I happen to be really down or stressed!
Now , if you are like me, and work from home – it can be really tough to stay on track somedays. If you have tried all of the above only to find you are still missing something, then get up and go for a walk around the block!
After all, this is the main benefit to working for yourself! You can get up and go anytime you want to, especially if its for a quick rejuvenation walk! My block has water on 3 sides – its almost an island. I have the beach on one side, an inlet on the other and a lagoon on the other! I have an extemely pituresque outlook and feel very priveledged!
When you feel down for whatever reason, use self help techniques to find motivation and inspiration at work and have a great day!
If you’ve been a distributor for a multi-level marketing company as long as I have, you’ve probably heard just about every numbers game system there is out there for people to follow. They tell you “the more people you sign up, the more you will make,” and “get three people who get three people who get three people and you will be rich.” If this were true, there would be 95% who succeed and 5% who fail rather than the 95% dropout rate that is taking place today in the Network Marketing industry.
The reason most companies train you to do this is because they know that whether you succeed or fail, some of those people will still hang around to buy products long after you are gone. This works great for them, but it doesn’t really help you build your own business. I mean seriously grow it to the point where you really do become rich. In order to do that it would cost them too much time and money. They would rather you focus on just selling for them and getting their name out to as many people as you can.
Simply enrolling people at random into your organization isn’t what builds it to new heights. What makes the difference is knowing how to select the people you want to work with based on their qualities(Kind of like choosing oranges without bruises, or bananas that aren’t too green) and also your ability to inspire them to new heights. If you could do that with one person, it’s more valuable than signing up 1,000 people who just aren’t ready or willing to do what it takes.
In order to beging the selection process, you first have to have an idea of who you are looking for. You never want to lead with your business first….meaning, stop distributing “work from home” signs and “earn what you’re worth” flyers. The types of people generated from these advertisements aren’t focused on what they would be selling and they’ll quit after a few months if they haven’t found the pot of gold.
Always focus on people who have a want, need or desire for the products you are offering. Talk to them and listen to what they have to say about themselves. If they are willing to what it takes to try your product without focusing on this coupon or that deal, it’s a good indication they are serious. Notice if they make excuses or if they take responsibility for their actions. Are they easy to deal with? Do they complain a lot?
Once they have an emotional attachment to the product after trying it, starting a business around it and succeeding is a lot more probable than someone just looking for extra income. They will have more of a desire to help other people get the kind of results they got, and helping people achieve their goals is probably the most important aspect of network marketing. You have to have the mindset of a leader to understand this, rather than the mindset of a distributor.
Once your customer is enrolled into the business side of your organization, ask them what kind of goals they want to achieve. This will give you a good indication of how to inspire them. Based on what they tell you, start giving them assignements and hold them responsible. Whether it’s a simple task like calling you at a specific time or attending a training call, they need to be accountable for their own business. These small goals will train them to acquire good business habits.
Once they have proved themselves worthy of your time and guidance, give them some more tasks to take them to the next level. Don’t expect them to shoot for the moon, just take it up a notch. Ask them to introduce you in a training call, or give their testimonial on a product that really means something to them. You don’t want them to jump out of their comfort zone and scare themselves out of business, so try to get them to just put one foot forward first.
Promotion is a big part of inspiring people in network marketing. The distributors who achieve goals beyond what they would normally do, usually have a reason for doing it. It’s not that they don’t have the desire on their own, but sometimes we all need a push to get us over the hill, or out of a slump. You must make your promotions attainable though. You want them to stretch just enough to go a little further. Setting the bar too high all the time can make a person feel inadequate if they can never reach it.
If your focus for enrolling prospects into your organization is playing the numbers game instead of inspiring people, your business will spin like a tire stuck in the mud. Your time will be spent filling out paperwork and struggling with people who contantly complain that they aren’t making enough money fast enough. Your enrollment numbers will increase, but your income probably won’t. Which one is more important to you?
I struggled for ten years with my home-based network marketing business until I received the right training. So many people came and went, and I kept sticking it out because I believed in what I was selling. But that was the problem, I was trying to sell products instead of marketing them. When you learn the basics of marketing and develop the mindset of a leader, your business will not only pick up in pace, it will literally explode you out into orbit.
It doesn’t happen from signing up every person you meet. It happens from finding the right people to enroll, and inspiring them to achieve their goals.
Most people think of the almighty dollar when they hear the word success. The more money you make, the more successful you must be, right? It might make sense to think that way if the only thing in life worth any value is money. Sure it’s important, but it’s not the true way to measure success.
There are just as many dissatisfied rich people in the world than there are happy poor people. These “poor” people have found success without focusing on money. Many other people do as well. Success can mean learning how to play an instrument, winning a marathon, or even something as simple as learning how to ride a bike. True success in life comes when you develop beyond where you currently are, no matter where that might be.
Most people hit a wall of frustration in their home-based businesses because they never learn to go beyond their current level of payout. They get a decent check and think that life is going to be a breeze from them then on. All they have to do is sit back and collect the cash month after month. Then what happens? Their check starts to decrease and they can’t figure out why.
Advancing beyond where you currently are in network marketing requires the mindset and attitude of a leader. You have to start shifting the focus away from making money and turn it towards becoming a better person. Personal development is a major piece of the home-business puzzle because it provides inspiration to keep us in motion. Inspiration is the fuel that leaders empower themselves with.
Start keeping a journal to gather information to become more knowledgable. Attend every conference call you can fit into your schedule and really listen and record, then review. If you are not continually learning and applying your knowledge to your business, you’ll never know more than you currently know. Leaders learn and then show their downlines how important it is to learn.
Working on yourself also gives you vision and confidence to put one foot in front of the other and go after your goals. When you become inspired by the possibilities of what can happen in the future, you can inspire others to see theirs and believe in themselves. Not everyone has the ability to use optimism as a motivator. Sometimes they need others to paint the picture for them.
People like to be around others who have confidence. It lifts their spirit and inspires them to work harder. When you shift your focus away from yourself and give others confidence, you actually acquire more through their success. Only leaders know this is an important part of building a business. Just imagine how much of an inspiration you would be if you took each little bit of good that you see in others and collectively applied them all to yourself. People would beg you to work with them.
Protect your reputation by always choosing the high road. Personal development always shifts your thinking toward doing the right things. Show others how to have integrity and respect for themselves and their businesses by example. The way you handle the problems can make or break your success. If something makes you stop and think whether it is right or wrong, chances are good that it is wrong. Always do the right thing, no matter what.
When you put yourself in other people’s shoes, you have a better understanding of where they are coming from. Sometimes circumstances become overwhelming and people hit brick walls with bad times. Working on yourself gives you the ability to show compassion without pampering.
You would not be able to grow a home-based business in network marketing without the help of others. Leaders remember that they are a part of something but not the focus. They are the part that gets things going, but it is the activity of others that gets the job done. When you have a larger-than-life ego, it turns people away. Treat others the way you would want to be treated and keep your focus shifted away from yourself.
Every life form strives to its maximum except for human beings. Trees grow as tall as they possibly can. They don’t have a choice, but humans do. We choose not to grow. If you are stuck in a rut, maybe it is time for you to decide to grow again. Growing means getting the right education on how to be a marketer instead of putting together a plan of action based on outdated techniques you’ve already tried. That means changing your way of thinking to get your business moving.
I spent over ten years trying everything under the sun to get to earn a decent living in my home-based business, and not much happened until I stepped outside of the circle of people and education I was convinced was helping me. I didn’t change my belief in my product, I just learned how to market it properly. Had I not been looking to work on myself I would not have been able to make such a bold step. Not only did it finally get my business moving, but it gave me the confidence to show others how to do it too.
Do you ever wonder why you see the same people up on stage earning all the money, year after year? They say they are doing the same things you are, but they are rich and you are not? How is this possible?
One reason is that they understand the importance of being a leader. They are in business for themselve, not for their upline or the company that provides their products. Their ability to think on their own two feet, make rational decisions and wear about 20 different hats gives others the impression that they know their stuff. They also have firmly grasped the concept of being a leader and how the following 8 characteristics apply to their business.
1. Knowledge
Keep a journal to gather information. You do not need to know everything, but sometimes a few things that you do not know will hurt you. The best way to use knowledge as a business building tool is to attend every conference call you can fit into your schedule. Listen and record, then review. If you are not continually learning and applying your knwledge to your business, how can you expect your downline to do it? Show them how important it is to learn by being a student yourself.
2. Vision
Your ability to see the future is critical to the success of your business. When you have vision, you can put one foot in front of the other and go after your goals. Leaders become inspired by the possibilities of what can happen tomorrow, next week, next month and next year. When you are able to visualize your future, you can inspire others to see theirs. Not everyone has the ability to use optimism as a motivator. Sometimes they need others to paint the picture for them.
3. Faith
Seeing the future and what it has in store for you is one thing, but actually believing it can happen is quite another. When you believe things are possible, you begin to have faith in yourself. When you find faith in yourself, you can then find faith in others. If you live in a constant state of denial, thinking that only good things happen to intelligent or lucky people, you will always be stuck. When you believe in yourself, you get the job done. When you believe in others, they get their job done.
4. Confidence
People like to be around others who have confidence. It lifts their spirit and inspires them to work harder. Leaders know what they have and are confident to acquire more. They also have the ability to help others aquire what they want. When you shift your focus away from yourself and give others confidence, you actually aquire more through their success. Only leaders know this is an important part of building a business.
5. Inspiration
Leaders inspire others of who they can become. Inspiration always comes from someone else first, so always look for the good in a person and absorb it. Everyone has flaws, but it takes a good leader to see the value in a person. Even if it is only one little characteristic. Just imagine how much of an inspiration you would be if you took each little bit of good that you see in others and collectively applied them all to yourself. People would beg you to work with them.
6. Integrity
Protect your reputation by always choosing the high road. Leaders show others how to have integrity and respect for themselves and their businesses by example. Problems always surface when you are trying to grow a business, that is inevitable. The way you handle the problems can make or break your success. If something makes you stop and think whether it is right or wrong, chances are good that it is wrong. Always do the right thing, no matter what.
7. Compassion
When you put yourself in other people’s shoes, you have a better understanding of where they are coming from. Never lose your cool just because someone does not follow your plan or listen to everything you have to say. Sometimes circumstances become overwhelming and a person runs out of options. People hit brick walls and have bad times. Leaders who know how to show compassion without pampering keep their businesses strong. No one can cross back over a bridge that you burned by poor judgement. Always keep the door open.
8. Humility
You would not be able to grow a home-based business in network marketing without the help of others. Leaders remember that they are a part of something but not the focus. They are the part that gets things going, but it is the activity of others that gets the job done. When you have a larger-than-life ego, it turns people away. Treat others the way you would want to be treated and keep your focus shifted away from yourself. Helping others will give you all the satisfaction you need.
The bottom line is that you can not grow a business until you position yourself as a leader, and you cannot be a leader until you have applied these eight characteristics to yourself. This is the mindset that it takes to bring in 20-30 people a week into your business. If you don’t think that is possible, you need to work on your vision, faith and confidence. When you believe it can happen, you start to look for ways to make it happen. This is how I turned my business around and how I inspire others to do the same.
There is no need for a 95% drop-out rate in network marketing. When you stop looking to your upline as the leader of your business and start being the leader of your business, dropping out will become a thing of the past.
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