The Grandest Prize - by William T. Card

I received an email today from a website that sends inspirational quotes and such, and when I opened it up I found this poem that speaks of something we can all relate to.   It’s about striving for worthy goals in life, especially the ones that make you stretch.  

The Grandest Prize

In summing up the things to praise,
For what they do for me,
There’s one to which I give first place,
Whose virtues plain I see.
I pay it well-earned tribute,
For it to me doth teach
Life’s greatest, noblest lesson,
‘Tis the prize beyond my reach.

It dares me come and take it,
It says to me, “You know
By struggle and by effort
Your strength and skill will grow;
I’ll not surrender tamely,
Tho’ you wheedle and beseech,
But if you toil you’ll win me,
Tho’ now beyond your reach.”

And I have found that always
Whene’er I use my skill,
My muscle and intelligence,
My energy and will,
I’m always sure to win it,
And sweet beyond all speech
Is the rapture of the capture
Of the prize once out of reach.

-William T. Card

About Me, why did I choose to become an Entrepreneur?

January of 2008 found me contemplating life very seriously as I was on the tail end of a vicious fight against Lyme disease that debilitated me for years, reducing me to a wheel chair for most of that time and now that I was 90% back, it was time to do something to help out towards our future as my husband had carried the ball the whole time I was ill.  Having always worked with my husband in his company, I already knew a regular job was not going to work at all as there is no way I could be paid enough and because I still work for my husband, there are times that I travel with him  and a boss would not be impressed with me flitting here and there as needed!  On top of that, my husband would be needing to retire in about 10 years or less and we weren't anywhere near prepared for that so although I wasn't sure what I needed, I started searching anyway.

Looking through our local paper my eyes fell upon a particular ad and it read that I could work from home using my home computer and phone in my own hours, and something was already feeling good about that!  After watching the video on a website, I became even more excited and filled out the request for more information, then promptly forgot about it moments later.  The very next day I received a phone call from a lady who brought me through all of the information at no cost, pressure or risk to me. Once I said "YES" to Your Freedom Project, I was more than excited about starting my own business,  doing everything I was taught to get it up and running and while I was still learning what to do, I was also doing it and I became a director in 3 months.

In being so busy working on two important priorities in my life (my health and my business), I wasn't watching the points or the trackers or anything like that so I was quite surprised to find out through my trainers that I had qualified for the Mayan Riviera trip and in fact I could bring a third person if I wanted to.  It was in that moment that I truly understood Dr. Shaklee's quote:  "The more you share with others, the more your share becomes"  because for me, it's always been about my team and their success, and they are a huge part of the reason that I chose to go to the Vegas convention.  I knew that two of my directors were going to be recognized and there was no way I wanted to miss that and what a great reason to go and meet them in person as well as some of their team members.

Once we were in Vegas and had checked into the MGM Grand, Charlie and I went to the VIP section to pick up our registration packages and it wasn't until then that I realized I was being recognized in not one but two catagories:  Rank Advancement and Net Gain 1st Generation.  It meant I'd have to be in a seperate parade across the Grand Ballroom Stage than my team would be but  I really enjoyed the fact that I could sit back and cherish the moment when both directors crossed the stage and talk about tears of joy and in my eyes, I was so proud of them!  On the last night of the conference those of us who were in the Two Star catagory and above were recognized on the same big beautiful stage where we were actually introduced by name and got to shake hands with Roger Barnett, and wow was that a humbling moment.  I would not have gotten to experience that if it wasn't for the Freedom Project and all the fabulous leaders and coaches along the way as well as having an incredible team that like me, are still here. In crossing the stage, it was all of the above mentioned and everyone involved that I was representing and I am so very grateful for that honor. 

If you're finding yourself at some sort of a crossroad in your life where maybe you want more time freedom, wishing to stay home with your children, more income, you hate your futureless job, you want a better future or maybe you're just looking for something fun and productive to do at home, then this just might be your answer.  Won't you check it out today for free?     www.BossFree123.com

What's this "law of attraction" about and how do we achieve that?

Lee M. Jenkins Personal and Professional Development Coach, wrote this and I had to share it with you: Love everything that happens to you. It is one of the secrets to working the law of attraction. Love every minute of the day and make it a real part of your life. Get used to this new way of feeling and it will lift you to the next dimension, the place where you should be in order to work the law of attraction. Love your car, your house, the trees and the flowers. Love the birds and appreciate the beautiful sounds they make. Love your friends and love your neighbors. Love ...

Love everything that happens to you. It is one of the secrets to working the law of attraction. Love every minute of the day and make it a real part of your life. Get used to this new way of feeling and it will lift you to the next dimension, the place where you should be in order to work the law of attraction. Love your car, your house, the trees and the flowers. Love the birds and appreciate the beautiful sounds they make. Love your friends and love your neighbors. Love is a state of mind. You can just decide to do it, and when you do, you will find that love bounces back to you, and with it the ability for you to work wonders with your mind. Throw away all you past attitudes and beliefs. Start loving everything that exists in this world. They are here for a reason and they are subjected to the same laws and conditions of existence as you do. Develop the disposition of a loving heart and you will emit a stronger vibration to the universe for your desires. The light that shines in your aura is conditioned by the qualities of your character. The better and purer you are, the greater the light and depending on its brilliance is whether or not you can work wonders. Be patient and be courageous. Be regular in your meditation before you go to bed and when you wake up early in the morning. Be calm and loving no matter what obstacles you may be facing. Love is the factor that opens any door and you need to cultivate love everyday in order to reach that higher dimension where the law of attraction is working from. If you look at people who have had the greatest achievements with the law of attraction people like Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Oprah, Richard Branson etc, they have this aura with them that emanates love whenever they appear. They praise, they educate, they give and they advice, all attributes of people with a loving heart. Their disposition brings them to a higher plane where success just breeds more success. You must cultivate a strong loving heart to reach this higher plane and purity in your disposition. People who are full of envy, vengeance, and selfishness just clog up their minds which result in weak manifestations when they try to send their thoughts to the universe. Let people try hard to hurt you by any means and use the strength of your character to avoid getting angry. When you manage to overcome any attempt to topple your character which you have built solidly on love, you are at a better position to work the magic in your mind and put the law of attraction to your advantage. With a loving heart, you are striving on purity. Purity of character sends a stronger vibration to the universe and the law of attraction works better for people who have reached this state of being.

Is your Mental Attitude Holding You Back?

Ever notice that the most successful people have strong positive attitudes?  They're what I like to call "mentally strong" and some people are born and raised that way, others need to learn to develop a PMA (positive mental attitude).  Mentally strong people have healthy habits. They manage their emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in ways that set them up for success in life. Check out these things that mentally strong people don’t do so that you too can become more mentally strong.

1. They don’t waste time feeling sorry for themselves
Mentally strong people don’t sit around feeling sorry about their circumstances or how others have treated them. Instead, they take responsibility for their role in life and understand that life isn't always easy or fair.  Sure, have the occasional pity party but DO NOT stay there!  Put on the big girl/boy panties and figure out how to get out of the problem and into the solution.

2. They don’t give away their power
They don’t allow others to control them, and they don’t give someone else power over them. They don’t say things like, “My boss makes me feel bad,” because they understand that they are in control over their own emotions and they have a choice in how they respond.  People can only make you feel bad IF you allow them to....make that choice.

3. They don’t shy away from change
Mentally strong people don’t try to avoid change. Instead, they welcome positive change and are willing to be flexible. They understand that change is inevitable and believe in their abilities to adapt. I know, the older we get the harder that is to do as we become pretty set in our ways BUT in order to move forward, we need to embrace change.

4. They don’t waste energy on things they can’t control
You won’t hear a mentally strong person complaining over lost luggage or traffic jams. Instead, they focus on what they can control in their lives. They recognize that sometimes, the only thing they can control is their attitude.  One of my favorite expressions in circumstances like this is "It is what it is....." and I move on....kind of like the Serenity Prayer.

5. They don’t worry about pleasing everyone
Mentally strong people recognize that they don’t need to please everyone all the time, it's not possible. They’re not afraid to say no or speak up when necessary because that's part of what doing right by others and ourselves. They strive to be kind and fair, but can handle other people being upset if they didn't make them happy.

6. They don’t fear taking calculated risks
They don’t take reckless or foolish risks, but don’t mind taking calculated risks. Mentally strong people spend time weighing the risks and benefits, pros and cons, before making a big decision with eyes wide open and they’re fully informed of the potential downsides before they take action.

7. They don’t dwell on the past
Mentally strong people don’t waste time dwelling on the past and wishing things could be different because the past can not be changed. They acknowledge their past and can say what they've learned from it, the lessons that were included in that package called the past. However, they don’t constantly relive bad experiences or fantasize about the glory days either. Instead, they live for the present and plan for the future. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery and today is the present....enjoy that gift!

8. They don’t make the same mistakes over and over
Mentally strong people accept responsibility for their behavior and learn from their past mistakes. As a result, they don’t keep repeating those mistakes over and over. Instead, they move on and make better decisions in the future.  If you're making the same mistakes over and over, maybe it's time to sit down and figure out what the lesson is that you're needing to learn.

9. They don’t resent other people’s success
Mentally strong people can appreciate and celebrate other people’s success in life. They don’t grow jealous or feel cheated when others surpass them. Instead, they recognize that success comes with hard work, and they are willing to work hard for their own chance at success and in fact are willing to learn from those who have that success.

10. They don’t give up after the first failure
Mentally strong people don’t view failure as a reason to give up (unless it was skydiving). Instead, they use failure as an opportunity to learn from, to grow and improve. They are willing to keep trying until they get it right.  

11. They don’t fear alone time
Mentally strong people can tolerate being alone and they don’t fear silence. They aren’t afraid to be alone with their thoughts and they can use downtime to be productive. They enjoy their own company and aren't dependent on others for companionship and entertainment all the time but instead can be happy alone because they are comfortable in their own skin and have inner peace and trust that everything is as it should be.  

12. They don’t feel the world owes them anything
Mentally strong people don’t feel "entitled" to things in life like it's just automatically owed to them. They weren’t born with a mentality that others would take care of them or that the world must give them something. Instead, they look for opportunities based on their own merits.

13. They don’t expect immediate results
Whether they are working on improving their health or getting a new business off the ground, mentally strong people don’t expect immediate results.  Instead, they apply their skills and time to the best of their ability and understand that real change takes time....sometimes lots of time.  

Source: Life Hack via Endo Riot

What do you do when you don't feel motivated?

It happens to all of us at some point or other, we just wake up lacking the energy to do anything. Not wanting to get out of bed, not wanting to stay in it either. That's normal. That's the stuff of life, so to speak. What is not normal though is getting entangled with lack of energy, lack of drive, lack of motivation. What is not normal is to continuously talk yourself into the act of not doing anything. But what do you do when all the drive inside of you are purged out? Maybe you can begin with the following 4 recommendations.

Think of the worst-case scenario - We have all been told that envisioning success is a good motivator. Now, why not do the exact opposite? Why not envision a future that is bleak, hopeless and stripped off all happiness and success. Why not envision yourself living eternally in a rut where sense of accomplishment and a tiny hope are nonexistent?

Scary, right? Very few people realize that they possess a one-way ticket towards this very vision. Now what you want to do is to get off your butt and work your way out of the train wreck you are heading towards. Turn your life around and work for a goal. Now, that is getting motivated!

Set a date for change and commit to it - Change must come to everyone of us. Sometimes it is forced upon us, sometimes we choose when it will happen, sometimes we just hit a crossroad in our lives and know that SOMETHING has to change. It's always much more preferable to have control over the change that can take us over and if the change you are seeking requires a specific date on the calendar, then set it. Make a huge, red circle around the date and stick with it. Let this serve as a motivator to start doing the things you should have done weeks, months or years ago. Let this chosen date serve as the new beginning of your life.

Break the routine - When you're doing the same thing every day, sooner or later, the energy that you once had will drain out. No matter how passionate you were with your work, project, or goal when you were just beginning, you will suffer from lack of motivation once your body senses that it is doing the same thing day in, day out.

Don’t be afraid to break the routine once in a while. Quit work for a full day. Stop doing your routine for a week. Take a month-long vacation. Take on a new hobby for a year. These can help energize you and rekindle your drive. And while you're taking your break from your routine, don’t lose the faith that you will have the same kind of energy you once had by the time you get back to work.

Don’t lose sight of your goals - It is easy to lose your focus when there is too much distraction around. Whether it's the kids, clutter at your work area, Twitter or Facebook, you will find that these simple things remind you of other things that can drive your concentration away from the task at hand. To prevent yourself from killing your own motivation, always try to stick with your goals and shut out whatever it is that it trying to reduce it.

Face Book Fan Pages

With today's media options, you have so many more options to have yourself seen.  I promote my business mainly through newspaper articles  but lately I started (with some help) a Face Book Fan Page.  Have any of you ever thought of something like that?  The more people who "like" your page, the more people you can keep updated as to the exciting things that are happening in your business!

The advantages to that is that maybe they're watching to see if you're succeeding, and the more good news you can share about your business without spamming the wall, the more attractive your business becomes to them, so why not spread your great opportunity to more people!  Feel free to look at mine at mine as an example:
http://www.facebook.com/BossFree123/app_208195102528120    and feel free to "like" it!

Stay tuned for more......

"I don't want to spend money to make money"

I'm always suprised when I hear the argument that "I don't want to spend money to make money" because that's what you're doing when you go to work at a regular J.O.B. so that argument seriously makes no sense.  Not sure what I mean?

Let me ask you, when you have a J.O.B. that you have to travel to and from on a daily basis, how do you get there?  Right, you either drive or take a bus, maybe you car pool to save a few bucks or if you're really lucky you can walk to work, but most people can't as their job is too far away from home.  Let's say you drive to work.  How much is your gas expense on a monthly basis?  $200?  $300?  $500 or more?  I know in my husband's business where he's a soul proprietor, his fuel expense is an average of $600 - $800 a month but he can write it off as a business expense.  At a regular J.O.B., can you write off your fuel?  Probably not.

Ok, a lot of jobs require a certain dress code so there's another expense and yes, you can argue that we need to buy clothes anyway...that's true, but would you really wear those same work clothes to go to a social event?  Depending on what your clothes are, probably not and I'm referring to coveralls, work boots, waitress aprons, hard hats, nursing scrubs and those sorts of job related clothes.

How about rising costs of daycare?  If I had a nickel for every time that a parent told me that daycare was too expensive, I'd be making twice as much as I do now!  

There's a lot of other smaller incidentals that we can chalk up to the expense of going to work but the bottom line is that we have to spend money to make money no matter how you cut it.

I had one guy visit my site who suggested that he shouldn't have to pay to start an online business and that the company should just deduct from his pay what his start up costs were once he started making money.  I thought that was very interesting and decided to explore that with him and so I asked him; if he were to start up a business in the physical, would he have to rent, lease or purchases a building or some office space?  and he agreed that yes he would have to, which led me to ask him if he would have to have some kind of supplies and/or inventory in that space to operate his business and of course he agreed.  I think you can guess where this line of questioning was going but in the end, I asked him if he felt that all of those start up costs should be waived because as he put it, he shouldn't have to pay to start a business and therefore, once he started earning an income, everyone who pitched in by supplying all of those things to him at no cost could then deduct that from his earnings.  He got the picture.

You can not start any kind of a business for free, be it online or in the physical and if anyone out there tries to tell you differently, I hope you're able to have a long hard look at their offer before making any kind of a commitment because it is simply not possible.  Common sense says so doesn't it?

I'm not saying you have to invest thousands and thousands of dollars, I didn't but one thing I want people to think of is that once they've found the right business for themselves that they're willing to invest in, they need to view it as investing in themselves as they're really actually investing in their future, and that future will invest back into them whereas the boss from a J.O.B. won't.