The Opportunity is Now

Sometimes we imagine that Opportunity is a something that lays somewhere ahead of us or out of our reach. You might even believe it is something that is available to other people and not you.

I like to think of Opportunity as a function of now. Opportunity can only exist when we have a choice. Choices are made in the moment. I know that I can analyze and examine and reexamine what the possibilities are, but ultimately all of that means nothing til I make a choice. Choices can encompass choosing an action, following up on an opportunity, or not doing anything. Whether we choose to be in action or not to be in action, Opportunity exists.

The Opportunity in action is I move something forward that I believe in. The Opportunity in inaction is I get to see the "big picture." In both cases, I have made a choice and that has created the opportunity. I lose that sense of Opportunity when I made a choice out of fear or judgment. In some ways Opportunity is a feeling of hope. Not just following the shiny brass ring, Opportunity is when we believe in ourselves and just choose.

Information Overload

How many of us try to be in the "know?" You begin follow one thread of research and thought and suddenly hours later you are still glued to the computer. Whatever you point of view, there is some blog, research or story that can support it or the opposing view. It is just information overload and you are in the hamster wheel trying to keep up.

Here are a couple of rules of thumb I use when doing research:

• Be clear about what you need or why you are doing the research.
  
• Look at both sides whether it be pros and cons, for or against. Both sides of fence will have something useful.
  
• Know your source. We all have our individual perspective and context. Be clear where your author is coming from.
• Do I need an overview or a detailed perspective?
  
• If you have any doubts, listen to them.
• Let yourself be human and learn from from your "mistakes." Some of the greatest innovations or ideas I have come from first making a "mistake."
  
  

These rules are just a guide or a plan for myself. Sometimes, the easiest way to not be overwhelmed by the internet is to have a general plan. Just knowing where you want to land can give me enough room to not get lost.

When it rains, it pours...

One minute you are sitting at your desk watching the rain come down. For me, it is a stay at home and stay dry kind of day. There is no traffic for me to tackle, just the sound of the rain outside my window.

The next thing I know, I have three teenage boys frantic because their basement lair is filling with water. I have to admit I am used to interruption. I work with looking over my shoulder, but this is one day that I may not get back to whatever idea or project I may have on my plate.

The irony is that I have been "discussing" with my husband that we needed to clear out the extra clutter in the basement. I have been encouraging him to let go of those extra household projects he has not gotten to in the past two years.

Here is a prefect example of why you keeping things for a rainy day may not be the best solution. If you have not touched it in a year, you probably won't need it. When you do, there may be an innovation that makes what you have obsolete. My husband can't bear to just throw things away and i hate to see more stuff just go into the land fill. Here is a perfect opportunity to give to a charity, freecycle: give it away to someone who may need or use the item, or if it is damaged, recycle the items. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

For more info on Freecycling check out their website.

Work at Home Phone Etiquette???

It all started when the phone rang. Thank God for cordless phones but boy can they get you into trouble, or at least an embarrassing situation.

I had to pee so bad – why did I answer the damn phone? Answering the phone is really important when you work at home. My clients are usually so happy to get me on the phone.

I answered … in the bathroom – “Hello Sandy speaking” okay what do I do – where the hell is the mute button. “Hi Sandy its Christy” - oh no why couldn’t be Mary – she would get a good laugh. Sandy can you help me with…… Woops I dropped the phone – “HOLD ON CHRISTY - SO SORRY” … oh no I cannot hold back anymore, damn acoustics in the bathroom.

Found it, lying speaker up next to the toiliet bowl, underneath my legs Just GREAT! “Hi Christy – so what’s going on” … “Sandy Is everything okay” -- “Yes, everything is just fine I am just a little clumsy today – I dropped the phone then knocked over my water bottle, and it almost drenched my phone. So how can I help you…… “?

Isn’t it great when you don’t get a voice mail. You know the one that says “Excuse me, I would love to take your call but I ‘m in the bathroom”.

I recently read an article about how the corded phone is making a comeback – its green, no electricity involved and you don’t have a choice as to where to take the call.

Home Office and Napping Facility

If you must know my pet name is napper head and sometimes snapper head, as my partner affectionately has named me. My whole family takes naps – so its in my genes. I take my naps seriously.

When I first started my current business, I had two women working for me. Well, they use to get such a kick out of the fact that everyday no matter what was going on I would excuse myself from the home office head down the hall to the bedroom for my afternoon siesta. Please tell anyone that calls I am in a meeting. HA!

One day, Leslie my partner decided to reveal my secret. I really take my naps seriously, and actually strip down naked to feel the cool sheets on my toes. Of course, everyone had a laugh on me. The stories started flowing and before long one of my employees revealed that her parents were nudist. No they didn’t just go for a picnic with their nudist friends – they retired at a nudist camp. Hurrah for them. I was so fascinated – since I do sleep in the nude, and basically find clothing so restrictive.

Have you ever thought about how much clothing we wear, and how freeing it is to be without? I learned that day, that when you are a nudist its proper etiquette to carry your towel when visiting. Don’t be surprised, when you see a towel on my office chair, it gets very warm in my office. One thing for sure, I won’t be videoing that day.

The Work at Home eVangelist

Have you ever felt like a gerbil, running around and around on its wheel? That’s exactly what led me to this blog and being the “work at home eVangelist”. I don’t think anyone consciously chooses to run the wheel. Life just happens, and the next thing you know your choices seem limited.

That’s where my story begins. Until 1996 I was caught in the cycle of the 9-5 shuffle, for me the existential gloom. At one point, I had loved my job but after doing the same thing day in and day out, using my talents for corporate gain, I was really over it. Then my company allowed me to work at home. Yahoo! Once I got a taste of it, I was hooked.

Don’t get me wrong, I was grateful to be working at home and getting paid to do so, but soon I realized how bored I was. There had to be a better way to make a living and have the freedom to live my life the way I chose.

Off to the school of entrepreneurship I went. What was I going to do to make money, and have a life where my career was secondary? I didn’t want to work to live. Over a period of time, I tried my hand at several small businesses, soon to learn what I really enjoyed doing is the start up process, being creative, and continuously learning.

Over the last couple of years while running one of my businesses, I have been working on several other projects that I am happy to report fit my idea of the ultimate work/life choice, which is work as little as possible, make a nice living, be able to work anywhere my heart desires, and pay it forward whenever possible. With the support of each other (Dot, Sharon and I) we will make it all is possible. Hello and welcome to our world.

Working Working Working

In the beginning... As many of you know when you begin creating a way to make a living on the internet it can take a while to get things rolling. Especially when you have a big learning curve. That is where we are.

My crew of friends and I have started something we believe to be rather unique and we are very excited about it all. We really are. Our goal is to create a four hour work week with some amazing business meeting in between. It does take some work and time to get to the point where you can kick back and watch it happen.

Until we reach that point we will be involved in Research, Content, Scripting, Blogging, Tweeting, Videoing, Meeting, Recording Website Creation. The list goes on and on. Don't get me wrong most of it is a lot of fun. A lot of laughing and well, enjoying it all as we go. I just wonder sometimes when we will hit the top of the proverbial mountain and begin to roll down hill.

As I am writing this I realize that the journey is actually much more fun than the destination. These are the rantings of my crazy ego looking for something to complain about. Never mind.

Independence Day....

What could Independence day have to do with working at home? I like to think it is freedom, the freedom of choice that may not be available in the workplace.

When looking at work at home as an option, you want to consider the end result. What type of freedom are you looking for? As a work at home mom (WAHM), I am interested in being with my family and playing an active and hands on role in the lives of my children. With teenagers, the active role tends to be sentinel. I like to have them know that I am here for them.

Also, I am a task oriented person. I always hated putting in my time in order to get paid. If I can do an excellent job in less time, why not?

Knowing yourself and evaluating your situation and what your are looking for can save you a lot of bumps and bruises along the way. Here are a couple of questions you can ask yourself:

• What do you value about working for someone else?
• What do you value about working at home?
• What do you value about working for yourself?

This helped me get clear about what I was working for and what each situation had to offer. Within those answers will be something that will inspire you, follow your inspiration. That is when I really take the lid off of what I am doing and reach for the stars.

Finding the gold in discomfort

A fascinating thing happened to me the other day while viewing myself on a potential YouTube video we were creating. First you need to understand that when we get together (the we is Me, Dot and Sandy) we laugh a lot. We usually have no idea where we are going (no agenda) and we end up having so much fun and at some point we catch a creative wave and we end up with something amazing. This happens every time we get together and we get together every week.

So last week we decided to video ourselves working at home and at meetings. You wouldn't know it was a work meeting because as I have said we are having so much fun. We got together to view the video and again we were laughing and amazed that there was actually something worth using on the video.

I was fine while we were together laughing and enjoying myself with every one but on my way home I started to feel more and more uncomfortable. I realized I was really upset by the time I got home and I called Dot to let her know what I was feeling. I became aware that I was subconsciously being extremely critical of how I looked. I was being so mean to myself inside my head that I started feeling abused. I began remembering times when I was embarrassed and humiliated. Out of nowhere these mean memories came crashing in on my world making me feel horrible.

I have a personal practice that I use to clear limiting beliefs and ideas and I started using it right away. It soon became clear to me that I was very used to meanness. I had grown up with a lot of mean people. While I no longer surround myself with mean people I had incorporated the meanness inside myself. It was still there because it was familiar. I believed that I could only improve if I had a mean critical voice telling me how awful I looked. I was keeping myself "comfortable" with meanness.

The truth was that the constant meanness was waring me out physically, mentally and emotionally. I was looking for comfort in food and trying to check out in many ways because I was under a constant un-ending internal criticism. And the love that my friends were continually showing me was nearly impossible for me to take in. Thank goodness I was able to clear these beliefs. I will be for ever grateful to the person who taught me this practice. It has changed and shifted my life in way I could not have imagined.