The Home Business Boom- How to Work at Home Without Losing Your Mind
August 6, 2009
How to Create a Sacred Space to Perform at Your Peak:
One of the biggest struggles of working from home is creating a space to perform at your peak. Ringing phones, you’ve got mail, kids tugging at your leg, laundry piling up, dog barking to go out…sometimes it seems you’ll never get anything done. How will you ever raise your kids and be able to provide for them with your home business if you never get your work done? Here are seven tips to help guide your way to getting things done:
Working At Home: How to Create a Sacred Space to Perform at Your Peak
1. Set Goals and create rewards for achieving them. You should have personal and work goals for yourself, but it is crucial to also set goals with your family. Give everyone equal input and have a family vote if you can. Let them know what the benefits are to them when the goals are achieved. The sooner mommy gets her work done the sooner we go to __(insert reward here)__. I am an advocate of quality time goals. This is what your kids truly desire. You might even find your kids want to make a contribution to your mission when they realize they play an important part in it.
2. Determine your prime focus work hours. By now you have probably figured out what the best time of day is to dig in and work without interruption. Now you need to carve out and set aside that time and space in advance on a regular basis. This means you have a clear start time and stop time. Knowing that you have this block of time already reserved for your work allows you be fully present when you are with your kids because you know you have already carved out an created a sacred time for your work.
3. Arrange for a sitter or loved one to watch your kids during this time. If your trusted friends are also working at home, you can swap babysitting time. If your next door neighbor takes your kids in the morning, you can take her kids in the afternoon and make it an even trade. You will have the peace of mind that your kids are safe and nearby in case of emergency and that they are in good hands.
4. Make a declaration: put a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door and close it, turn off the phone and let others know that you are in the sacred work zone. Make it fun, let your kids make the sign saying something like “Mommy’s Work Space, Employees Only.” Remember you must treat that time as sacred if you want others to treat it as such. If people see you doing laundry, socializing, watching tv or surfing the net during that time, you are violating that space and inviting others to do the same. Clarify what a real emergency is so that everyone understands what is urgent and what can wait until you are finished.
5. Carve out a space. What area of your home will be command central aka your workspace? Locate a quiet, private place and rope it off so that the kids understand when you’re in it, you mean business. If you can find a room with a door, even better so you can close it… and lock it. Gasp! Disclaimer: you only lock the door if you have some sort of responsible babysitter or childcare arrangement. Your kids can be in the house but you have to have the peace of mind of knowing that they are in good hands, safe and sound. If you must, you can set a time on the hour to peak out, stretch your legs and check in with what’s happening outside. But be sure it’s an official check in, reassure the kids that you are near and retreat back to your work space.
6. Protect Your Work Space. For some reason when you work from home, people treat your time like a hobby. They assume if you’re at home, you must be free to socialize and entertain when they drop by unannounced. When your kids, friends, spouse or neighbors disrupt this space, you have a responsibility and duty to protect it. Gently remind them by saying, “I am working on my/our dreams.” If you allow interruptions, you encourage more of it so be sure to draw a clear line in the sand and honor it. Never reward behavior that you don’t want more of. Trust me on this, if you let it go, it will arise again.
7. Before You Begin Your Work, Know Your Priorities for that Time. To keep myself laser focused during my work time, I created a productivity theory called The Priority Principle. This means not only do you create an action list, but you also determine your order of priority in advance and then complete the action plan in order. Without priorities, you are doomed to do what feels convenient instead of doing what is important and necessary. Often the order in which you do things makes all the difference in the world. Think of baking a cake. What if you put in half of the ingredients, put it in the oven to bake, then put in the remainder and mix it. It doesn’t work. Create your winning recipe in advance and then follow it.
While initially it was not easy to transition into working at home like a pro, I made progress and saw the results quickly. I can tell you first hand if you do not treat your endeavor like a million dollar business, it won’t perform like one. Once I got clear and drew my line in the sand, I went on to generate over $ 26 million dollars in business from home and I’m still going strong.
Be consistent and be clear about your Goals and what you want to accomplish. Knowing this and knowing that you have a sacred time and space carved out will help you perform at your peak and be more productive. Creating and honoring your boundaries is the key to having more fun and getting more done. You will be a better parent and your kids will enjoy being around you even more when they feel they are supporting you.
Live Your Dreams.
Jill Koenig
Want to know how to Achieve your Goals at Turbo speed? Get your FREE 60 minute “Jump Start Your Goals” instant mp3 audio and Goal Setting Workbook at http://www.TheGoalGuru.com
Jill Koenig is “The Goal Guru” A Self Made Millionaire and America’s Top Goal Coach
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Solving the Time Crunch for Entrepreneurs
May 5, 2009
All businesses, no matter the size, require various departments to function; Sales and Marketing,Reception, Human Resources, Accounting, Administration, Technology, Facilities, and Customer Service; these are vital aspects to any business and require someone to do this type of work.
Kathy at TimeOnTaskVa.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
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VIP Access: Earn Six Figures with Teleseminars
December 3, 2008
How to Create your own Financial Bailout
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re more than
aware that America (and several other countries) are in the
midst of a recession.
I am being inundated with requests from the media asking
questions about how people can stay up during these
challenging, uncertain times.
I will share with you a few of the strategies that work for
me and those who triumph over circumstance at will.
1. Control the inputs of what you’re allowing into your
brain. For example, when you first wake up in the morning,
are you turning on the tv or radio news, which is 90%
negative? You may as well as punch yourself in the stomach
because that is how you will feel the rest of the day. Instead,
begin your day by inputting something positive, encouraging,
motivational or educational. I have done this for the past
15+ years and it gives me the boost I need for whatever
comes my way. The world’s outer economic climate may not be
within your direct control, but your own attitude, outlook,
emotional and mental climate ARE.
2. Set some new Goals or recommit to old ones. This gives
you something positive of your own choosing to focus on
throughout the day. Then really go after them. Do something
every single day. Notice I didn’t say to wait until the
economy improves to go after them, I mean right now, today.
The millionaires of next month, next year and beyond are laying
their foundation today, now. If you wait until the economy
rebounds, you’re only delaying your own success and growth.
Besides giving yourself the daily spark of going after your
dreams, you will put yourself in the best possible position
for the future as well. Opportunities exist today that are
ripe for the picking because much of the population is frozen
in fear. Don’t be one of them. Give yourself every advantage
by taking decisive action every day to advance your Goals.
Winners planting seeds now will reap the greatest rewards
today, tomorrow and beyond.
3. If you are one of the many who are paralyzed by fear,
hire a coach to hold your hand and guide you through it. Even
today in this economic climate, dreams are being born,
businesses are being started, growth is happening and A LOT of
money is being made. You were given 24 hours today. How much
of your time did you invest in making your life better?
Take charge. Empower yourself and go after what you want.
Don’t wait for a handout or a bailout, create your own destiny.
Napoleon Hill taught me “You become what you think about.”
For some of you, now is your test. How bad do you want it?
Think about your Goals, Dreams and Ambitions. Focus on
what you want, it’s a lot more empowering than being helpless
and worrying about what might or might not happen. Create what
you want in your life. Don’t shrink in the face of challenge,
rise up to meet it and conquer it.
Now is the time to invest in yourself. Now is the time to
decide what really matters in life and as Rock Balboa says,
“Go for it!”
4. Invest in yourself. If you have ever dreamed of starting
a business in the area of your passion, or if you already own
a business and want a solid road map for exponentially growing
it in any climate, I have a great training for you.
DotComPreneur.com is co-sponsoring a very special teleseminar
with a Mystery Millionaire who went from slaving his life
away at a NY Madison Ave Advertising agency to following his
dreams, now earning Millions of dollars per year. Just a
few years ago, his wife was unhappy with his long hours at the
office among other things. Having no safety net, he left his
high paying job, moved across the country and set out to live
life on his own terms, taking control of his own destiny. He
started a home business, and now working mostly from his telephone,
has turned his expertise and passion into a $ Multi Million
dollar a year income. He sets his own hours, has tons of time
with his family and in my humble opinion, lives a very admirable
life. He is positively impacting the world in powerful ways.
Oh, and he’s also one of MY coaches. I hired him to help lead
GoalGuru.com into 2009 and beyond.
I hope you will join us Thursday here:
http://www.TeleseminarRoadmap.com
Don’t worry if you cannot make it live, a recording will be
made available to all registered guests.
See you Thursday
http://www.TeleseminarRoadmap.com
If you want a bigger life, if you want a bigger income, more
certainty, more financial security, set bigger Goals and
surround yourself with others who are actively doing it.
http://www.TeleseminarRoadmap.com
Live Your Dreams,
Jill Koenig
Founder of http://www.DotComPreneur.com
ps. I have personally utilized teleseminars to generate more than $ 25 million dollars in sales
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Tony Robbins Lawsuit Against Stephen Pierce
April 25, 2008
The biggest news story in the internet marketing world this week is not a million dollar product launch, a new tool or system that will revolutionize your business. It was the lawsuit heard ’round the world. TMZ (yes TMZ the Hollywood gossip site) broke the news of a lawsuit filed by personal development giant Tony Robbins against internet marketer Stephen Pierce.
Stephen Pierce was recently invited to teach internet marketing at Robbins’ Wealth Mastery event in Australia.
As an attendee of many of Tony’s events, (you call him Tony when you immerse yourself in his teachings), before entering the venue, I was required to sign a waiver and promise that I will not record the event.
Robbins lawsuit claims Pierce illegally taped and later sold video DVDs of his internet marketing presentation from Tony’s event. Robbins attorneys also allege that Pierce claimed in advertisements that he was Tony Robbins’ Wealth Coach, and implied that Robbins endorsed Pierce. To complicate matters, the lawsuit states that Pierce advised his students to skip Robbins $ 8,000 event and buy Pierce’s bootleg video instead. Ouch.
You can view the actual details of the lawsuit that was filed here http://www.aolcdn.com/tmz_documents/0424_tony_robbins_wm.pdf
On Pierce’s blog, he quickly posted his interpretation of the series of events leading up to this and was surprised when the lawsuit was filed. Pierce stated that he had been in communication with Robbins people, had been given permission to record the video, and had complied long ago with their requests. Pierce even went as far as to say he had copies of all of the email communications during this time period, calling it a misunderstanding, which should at least clarify some of what went on here.
Asking me to pick sides would be like asking me which of my two brothers I love more. I have tremendous respect for both Pierce and Robbins and I am watching with great interest.
I hope these two power house DotComPreneurs sort this out and reach an amicable settlement, and make nice again outside of the court system. Tony Robbins has been on both sides of lawsuits, as plaintiff and defendant -a losing defendant in 1998 against Wade Cook and winner in his lawsuit against a Canadian tabloid that blamed him for breaking up a marriage.
While there are many lessons we can extract from this ordeal, one of the obvious lessons in this for you and I and everyone surrounding the internet marketing world is… it is imperative that you get all permissions detailed in writing when you interview subjects, use photographs, sell products others participate in, record video or audio, claim affiliations, utilize testimonials, use or sell interviews with others.
The more successful you become, and the more people on your team, the more opportunity there will be for miscommunication and misunderstanding.
Many a friendship and reputation have been destroyed through misunderstandings that could have been avoided by clarifying the details in advance in writing with thorough legal contracts.
In other words, cover your a**
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Problem Solving the DotComPreneur Way
September 27, 2007
You Don’t Have to Get It Right … You Just Have to Get It Going!
A very big problem for many dotcompreneurs is getting lost in all the details and failing to take action! Sometimes we spend so much time focused on making everything just perfect that we don’t actually make any real progress. Instead, we get caught up in trying to figure something out or make something better or fix one little minor issue. We get so overwhelmed with everything there is to do and everything there is to know that we don’t actually accomplish anything!
Lee and Sachi LeFever are co-founders of a company called Common Craft, which makes short videos to explain complex things in plain English. Lee recently shared a very important insight about problem-solving on his blog:
When we got started with the Common Craft show, it would have been easy to feel overwhelmed. We were stepping into the world of video production and in that world there is a lot to know. Looking back - we had something very valuable on our side: ignorance. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. Had we done all the research and tried really hard to make videos the “right” way from the start, I don’t think we would have been as successful.
So what can we learn from fellow Dotcompreneurs, Lee and Sachi LeFever? Here’s a short list:
- Don’t get caught up in the details.
- Your first attempt at something doesn’t have to be perfect!
- Some things you just have to learn as you go.
- Focus on the big picture, and don’t let the little things hold you back.
- Solve problems when they need to be solved!
PS> The Common Craft Show features some really incredible, short videos (2-3 minutes each) about social bookmarking, social networking, Wikis, and RSS Feeds … all topics that every dotcompreneur should be familiar with!
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