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Please arrange a time with my assistant, Laura.

Her e-mail is: LauraKaass@gmail.com

The videos opened my mind to new methods of doing business.

If you want to watch them again, they can be viewed here:

http://www.explorefreedom.com/blog

The Process of Finding a Direction with Confidence

In watching people and myself, it seems that each person must find their own path by going through the process of gaining life experiences, good and bad, and learning from them. Until a person gains enough experiences and forms their own opinions based on those personal experiences, it's hard for them to know their life with any certainty of direction.

Certainty

The number and diversity of experiences needed to gain confidence and certainty is different for each person. Obviously, we would all like to get through the process as quickly as possible, but sometimes things take as long as they take.

Hard Lessons

If there is one thing I've learned in the past year, it's that advice and plans have been the major source of distraction.

Results on Hold

I've worked hard over the last year, even though I don't have much to show for it in terns of a business. Most of the work has been searching, testing, and gaining experience in entrepreneurial ways to earn money. I received some checks, which is nice.

Life Goes On

Starting a business may be at a snail's pace, but my life has been full. A second daughter is on the way and a new home is undergoing a full remodel and will hopefully be finished before the baby arrives.

Seeking a Direction

I have a few hours, off hours, a week to work a personal business. I spend many other hours, mostly driving in the car and reading before bed, learning others stories and thoughts on how they have done well in their chosen home business adventures.

Home Business - Not My First Choice

Frankly, the idea of putting any time into a home business is a bit embarrassing given my background and skill set. Home business is not my first choice, but given that I am only able to work on a personal business during TV and hobby time hours, it was the only option I found.

Independent Distributors

In many home businesses, the business model is one where a company manages almost all aspects of the business. The owner is really simply an independent distributor that can earn commissions on personal sales and sales of the team team they are able to build.

Still Conflicted, Time to Pick One and Run

Even today, after a year of first trying to start my own business, realizing that that's not possible on my own and getting involved in the Home Business area, I am still conflicted on how to proceed. I'll tell you why.

Integrity & Being Authentic

I want to be able to sell something that genuinely adds value and helps families truly get paid for their time investment. Many of the home businesses I've explored have chances of success that I feel are too low for me to support.

Base Costs

A second problem I have is when a home business company requires an expensive auto-ship of products to qualify for the payment plan. Knowing the low success rate, I think these high dollar auto-ship policies are irresponsible and hurt most of the people that participate.

How this Helps You

When I finally do decide which home business to proceed with, you'll be able to know I tried many to find the right one with the greatest opportunity and least number of negatives. Honestly, it's a balance that must be found because all companies have both positive and negatives aspects.

Success In 7 Years

Year one was very slow. I learned a lot about sales processes, marketing funnels, sourcing traffic, and compensation plans. I also learned that you can't rely on one company to be there forever, but you must focus on building a business with one home business company at a time.

Motivation, Focus, and Feelings in a Time of Financial Turmoil

It’s easy to get distracted in times of financial stress.

Disctractions Dominate

Over the last few weeks, I’ve spent a lot more time reading the news. Maybe too much time. I’ve spent this time with full knowledge that reading the news does nothing to help me achieve my individual goals. Ok, maybe understanding what is going on in the financial markets could help one make better financial moves, but given my time horizon—30+ years to retirement—I should be able to set my asset allocation for the year and go fishing.

In times of crisis, in my opinion, focus and persistence feel like the best response. I wish I had proof of this strategy, but I don’t.

Doing What you Say Your Going to Do

I think it’s important to do what you say your going to do. This means you shouldn’t try to do too much. It also means that you need to find a way to stay motivated to persist. I think the best way to do this to remind yourself why you do what you do. For larger goals and commitments, this assumes you know why you’ve decided to do something. It assumes that your life is something more than circumstance and a random walk into the sunset. When you plan to do what you say you’re going to do—that is, build credibility over time that you can make specific things happen—you are more careful about what commitments you make.

In Searh of Trust

I’m not talking about moral commitments here, although that would be an interesting discussion. I am strictly talking about secular matters of money and mortgages, credit cards and contracts. Let’s not forget that the foundation of our financial system is built on trust, or the likelihood that you will do what you say your going to do and repay the money you borrow, show up for work and be compensated for your time, and be a good steward of the assets and environments you manage on behalf of others.

Feelings Matter Less, Priorities and Right Actions Matter More

In times of crisis, priorities matter even more. Your feelings matter even less. Why? The actions and activities that bring results may feel good, or they may not. When you focus on results, how the act of achieving feels matters less than doing what it takes to reach milestones that take you steps closer to achievement. Feelings do matter, I’m just saying that when your focused on results, you need to often rise above your feelings and do the right actions to make progress.

How to overcome the biggest challenge to Success

Success is a challenge because it is undefined.  The challenge of Success is that you must define it in a way that is motivating and inspiring.  If success means everything, is means nothing. 

The value and risk of defining success

By defining success, you will have a clear direction rather than an undefined and unreachable goal.  The risk of defining success is that you are forced to come to terms with where you stand today on the journey.

If your current definition of success is unreachable, you must change it immediately because it is doing untold damage to your life.  You may still have a dream goal, but you must define success separately.

The challenge of success is to define it in a way that will motivate and inspire you. If your current definition of success does not motivate or inspire, change it now.