The Perfect Home Based Business

 

I’m the first to admit – I’ve been blessed.  Most people look at my life and would gladly trade.  Well, at least the career part. 

 

I have been fortunate enough to have worked for several different companies over a period of over 10 years where I have been able to work from home.  These have been great, independent sales oriented positions with huge income potential and all the flexibility you could imagine a corporate job could come with. 

 

I have to warn you though – working from home is not for everyone.  I had to learn to train my neighbors that just because I was at home – didn’t mean that I could baby sit their kids.  HELLO, it is still a job.  And the way I always saw it – was that I had to be extra diligent so as to give absolutely no reason for anyone to ever question what I did all day.

 

So, I rarely ever took lunches – throwing a Lean Pocket in the microwave doesn’t really count.  I rolled out of bed, hugged my puppies, grabbed some coffee and walked 10 feet to my office.  I was there by 6:00 AM most mornings.  I probably spend a good 90% of my evenings with my laptop attached to me working.  I’d get a shower late in the day or early evening when I realized I couldn’t move from sitting at my computer non stop for hours.

 

On the days I traveled I had my wireless modem and Palm so I was always connected.  Maybe most people wouldn’t be so obsessive but – that is how it was for me.  So, here I was with THE WORLDS BEST JOB, making 6 figures, loving hanging with my puppy girls and completely MISERABLE.

 

I wanted out so bad – I had fantasies of working for a fast food restaurant.  Maybe I was never really serious about that but I did think of “simplifying” my life.  Working less hours in a less stressful job.  Of course, I quickly come back to reality about the less money part – I like money.  I like to earn a lot of money.  I am really really good at spending money.

 

So, I started searching for something of my own.  A Home Based Business or a franchise.  Something I could at least say was mine after 80 hours a week.  I actually got really excited about a franchise – the growth was phenomenal, the company was ranked top of all new franchises.  Then I visualized my life if I ran this business.  I realized I would be selling this product one customer at a time – day in/day out just like I am now.  Only now I would be starting from the bottom.  Zero income – zero benefits.  Hmmm, maybe I would keep looking.

 

I knew that I wanted something more and you know when you are ready for the opportunity – it appears.  I found something that not only inspired me but something that made me rethink everything about my life.  I know that sounds crazy – I am as analytical as it gets.  I was majoring in Organic Chemistry in college. 

 

I began to see the opportunity and real potential within me that I never even dared to dream about before.  So, here I am. 

 

http://www.fitnesshealthandwealth.com

I GOT LUCKY!

The first thing I am going to have to tell you right up front is that I didn’t know how to find a legitimate home based business.  I got lucky.  No other way to put it.  Well, except for the fact that I don’t really believe in luck.

 

I was searching and while I was searching I was heavy into personal development.  I have always had this deep desire to grow; emotionally, mentally and spiritually –  I had to be moving in a positive direction.  If I didn’t keep learning – on purpose – I felt this horrible stress and anxiety like I was missing out on something. 

 

I think we all have a need that is born inside of us to continue to develop.  I don’t think that a lot of people realize that some of the frustrations they feel with every day life is all about needing to grow. 

 

Anyway, I think that when we are searching and keeping ourselves open to new learning and new opportunities good things come to us.  I really believe good things come our way all the time – but we just aren’t looking and expecting so we don’t even notice.

 

Have you ever heard the saying that you can’t see something that you don’t know?  You know what I mean, right?  Like when you buy a new car and all of the sudden you see your model everywhere; and yesterday you never even noticed them.

 

You have to know what it is you are looking for to see it – even if it is right in front of you.

 

So, I knew I was looking; I knew some of the key factors I wanted:

·       Self Employed

·       Enough income opportunity to retire from the corporate job with at least 25% more money than I was making in the corporate world.  (25% more was to make up for great benefits I received at the “JOB”).

·       Freedom

o      This took on all kinds of meaning for me:

§       From someone else’s time table

·       My boss sending out a notice at 4:00 PM on Thursday evening about a mandatory meeting for the following morning – two hours away from me.

·       The freedom to choose the people I would work with.  Choose the colleagues and the customers

§       From my alarm clock

§       From work!  Freedom to enjoy life.           

o      I don’t know if you can relate to this one but I never did anything but work.  I had moved 800 miles from “home” and hadn’t made a single good friend in 9 years.

o      When I would travel to visit my family (there was never time to visit my friends) I would always have work with me.  My laptop and palm were always on.  I could never stay long – a few days here or there.

 

·       Security

o      There were plenty of re-organizations and downsizing going on all around me – even within my own organization.  There was no real security working for a big company.  And working for a small company was no safer.  The big guys (like my company) came in and bought the little guys or drove them out of business.  I just won an account from a local supplier this week that is probably going to put this guy out of business.  The account meant half of his revenue.

o      So, next – how about some PEACE

 

·       Peace of Mind

o      I wanted to know that what I did for a living would help other people rather than just help me.  I wanted to be a part of something that was about helping others while I helped myself.

 

 

So, I had some idea of what I was looking for – no idea if I was dreaming – I have always believed in “bigger” “better” ways of doing things.  I have always felt like integrity and compassion could be an integral part of the business world – I just frankly didn’t have the power or authority to make changes at the companies I worked for.

 

The place I found is full of the most brilliant, giving and open people you could imagine.  They are all about success – for anyone who is willing to learn and work.  They want those things I mentioned above as much for me as I do.  And they know how to get there and are willing to share. 

 

http://www.fitnesshealthandwealth.com

AT 42 YEARS OLD I'VE FINALLY PUT IT ALL TOGETHER.

 

• How many different times have you TRIED?
• How many different programs have you bought?
• How much closer are you to your dreams?

 

Purpose Driven, Live Life on Purpose, Dream Bigger, GOALS, Power, Self Improvement, Get Rich Quick, Money Making Ideas, Inspiration, Prosperity, Build your Business, overcome self doubt and fear, Limiting Beliefs, Leverage, Make money work for you, re-programming.  PROVEN!  GUARANTEED!

 

How many of these “mantra’s” do you recognize?  How many have you actually invested time, faith and money in?  How well have they worked for you?

 

I can stand toe to toe with anyone and hold my own in the battle over who wasted the most money…yeah, you think that didn’t work – you should hear about … Or, yeah “I tried that one too - that one cost me $xxx!!”

 

Now, I will talk to you later about how much I believe in self development – so don’t get me wrong; I am not knocking any of these programs.  I just know how easy it is for us to give up and believe that every dream is just a dream and all of these “how to” programs are just about making the author rich. 

 

I know because I’ve had those thoughts – the self doubt; the belief that these programs are nothing more than schemes for getting my money.   Or maybe I am just a dreamer and I don’t really have what it takes.  I guess you would have to come to the conclusion that you are not smart enough, not tough enough.  Other people are doing it – I have met them.  Why not me?  Am I destined to be mediocre?  Is success some super secret formula that I will just never fully get?

 

I think that everything I have done, all the searching and learning have prepared me for this moment in time.  I can’t say that I feel like I am any “sharper” or “savvier”.  I am sure I have accumulated more knowledge and I have gotten tougher.  I used to cry if my boss looked at my funny.  Now I don’t worry about what others think of me. 

 

I’ve found that needing approval from others does nothing but limit your true potential.  Even, especially well meaning loved ones.  They don’t know what you are capable of.  While they try to “protect” you they really just put limits and doubt where faith and dreams lived.

 

No one knows what your destiny is except you and your God.  I am talking to myself here more than anyone.  I spent so many years afraid of doing anything wrong.  If self doubt isn’t an issue for you – you are worlds ahead of most.

If you are like I was – and you hear voices inside your own head that continue to tell you why you can’t do something…take it from me.  It is so empowering to finally choose to believe in your own dreams and silence the voices that tell you why you can’t.

 

I had a Fitness Coach that teaches that Fear and Faith can not reside in the same place.  You have one or the other.  Where faith resides – fear can not and visa/versa.

 

Choose to believe in yourself and your dreams.  Next, believe that you have arrived at this site at this time for a reason. 

 

http://www.fitnesshealthandwealth.com

 

 

 

Why Can't I Get Motivated?

Have you ever asked yourself this question?

I know a lot of readers are athletes and professionals who have conquered this mountain – but for the rest of us, the ones who haven’t quite made it yet.

 

Why can’t we keep a New Years Resolution for more than 2 weeks?  Why can’t we loose that 20 pounds?  Why can’t you motivate your kids to clean their room?

 

There is something about motivation that no one has ever told you before.  You can not motivate anyone to do anything!  Motivation is not about willpower!   Motivation has to come from inside of you.  But how? Where?

 

Remember the Sean Connery movie, Entrapment?  The World Bank that Mac and Gin robbed is located inside The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  What if I offered you $100 to walk across a plank 4” wide suspended between the two buildings?  That’s 88 stories, 452 miles or 1,483 feet high? Not those cables that Mac and Gin walked across – heck, I worked for Outward Bound – even I could do that.  Just a piece of wood – about the size of a balance beam.

 

Would you do it?  No safety net!

 

What if I offered you $1000? Or even a $100,000? What if your life depended on it? What if your child’s life depended on it?

 

Now that is Powerful Motivation!  The secret to motivation depends on how important the consequences or results are to you.  If you can figure out the reasons, the real heart of why you want a thing – you will not fail to achieve it.

 

Think about why you might want to weigh that certain weight?  Do you really have some attachment to that number?  Is it the 145 lbs that you are in love with?  Probably not to many people really relate to a number.  They don’t want to be a number – they want to be fit, have energy, look good.  But that still isn’t it.  Why do you want to be fit?  What benefits does that bring you.  Dig until you get to the real reason behind the desire and there is your motivation.

 

Motivation is the reason you get up early; and it is the reason you don’t quit when you hit a road block.  Motivation is the driving force behind your success.  Goals are important.  What is critical is that you know why you want to reach a goal. 

 

Fran

 

http://www.fitnesshealthandwealth.com

 

 

What you Believe is your Reality

What you believe is your Reality

 

Have you ever heard the 100^th Monkey Story?

 

This is an exciting theory about how a belief or knowing becomes reality once a certain critical mass has a particular knowledge.  Remember that this can work for the greater good but it can also impact society in a negative way.  Consider this theory as we discuss the importance of what we believe about disease and healing and what we believe about our own abilities and potential.

 

      The 100th Monkey

A story about social change.

By Ken Keyes Jr.

The Japanese monkey, Macaca Fuscata, had been observed in the wild for a period of over 30 years.

In 1952, on the island of Koshima, scientists were providing monkeys with sweet potatoes dropped in the sand. The monkey liked the taste of the raw sweet potatoes, but they found the dirt unpleasant.

An 18-month-old female named Imo found she could solve the problem by washing the potatoes in a nearby stream. She taught this trick to her mother. Her playmates also learned this new way and they taught their mothers too.

This cultural innovation was gradually picked up by various monkeys before the eyes of the scientists. Between 1952 and 1958 all the young monkeys learned to wash the sandy sweet potatoes to make them more palatable. Only the adults who imitated their children learned this social improvement. Other adults kept eating the dirty sweet potatoes.

Then something startling took place. In the autumn of 1958, a certain number of Koshima monkeys were washing sweet potatoes -- the exact number is not known. Let us suppose that when the sun rose one morning there were 99 monkeys on Koshima Island who had learned to wash their sweet potatoes. Let's further suppose that later that morning, the hundredth monkey learned to wash potatoes.

THEN IT HAPPENED! 

By that evening almost everyone in the tribe was washing sweet potatoes before eating them. The added energy of this hundredth monkey somehow created an ideological breakthrough!

But notice: A most surprising thing observed by these scientists was that the habit of washing sweet potatoes then jumped over the sea...Colonies of monkeys on other islands and the mainland troop of monkeys at Takasakiyama began washing their sweet potatoes.

Thus, when a certain critical number achieves an awareness, this new awareness may be communicated from mind to mind.

Although the exact number may vary, this Hundredth Monkey Phenomenon means that when only a limited number of people know of a new way, it may remain the conscious property of these people.

But there is a point at which if only one more person tunes-in to a new awareness, a field is strengthened so that this awareness is picked up by almost everyone!

From the book "The Hundredth Monkey" by Ken Keyes, Jr. 
The book is not copyrighted and the material may be reproduced in whole or in part.

Read the whole book.

Fran

http://www.fitnesshealthandwealth.com