I’m writing this post with the Backyardigans playing on the Mac next to my PC.  Not on for me – it’s on for the four little four year olds falling asleep (hopefully) behind me.  Yep, I’m hosting a mosh pit style sleepover with the whole gaggle of great nieces and nephews – children of my sister’s daughter.

In the unexpected fashion of most family crisis’, something came up suddenly and I’ve been spending a lot of time with the kids this week.  Their stay at home dad had to check into the hospital for IV antibiotics when a wound on his leg took an ugly turn.

Thankfully – the drugs did the trick and he’s home tonight convalescing in his own living room instead of finishing out the seven day stay the doctor’s originally wanted.  To give him peace to get back to 100% – the kids get to hang out with me and my sister for the weekend.  I love this of course because I can never get enough of them!

As if a serious health scare wasn’t enough to throw this family into distress, try adding the croup to all four little ones, keeping most of them out of the first week of school, and finding the much loved family dog has suddenly passed away the first night that hubby is in the hospital.  I’m so glad I could go and just be there for my niece.

Do you know what happiness it gives me to have the sort of business that lets me do that?  With a bit of finesse and a few tough choices – I was able to clear my plate for the rest of the week and hold down the child front.

Those choices did make me realize something my business and the direction I’ve let it take this year. The first thing I realized right away is that I have been letting my time get client heavy.

I have income from a variety of sources and many are passive in nature – meaning that I did the hard work in the past and enjoy income from it today.   This is key to me being able to drop everything and go where I’m needed.  Some of my income is from providing my time to others over at Freshnets and some of my time is required to manage my blog network over at Mom’s Talk Network.

When my niece called Tuesday night to explain their situation and ask for help, I felt panic. I recently started volunteering at the local women and children’s homeless shelter on Tuesdays so my Wednesdays are pretty packed on the calendar.  I scanned appointments and projects and groaned inwardly – rescheduling all of these and pushing back a few deadlines – this is going to annoy my clients who expected to see things finished this week.

I would never consider saying no – these kids always comes first.  But I’d never felt business guilt about it before and that is what brought about a ‘loud and clear’ attitude adjustment for me.

Just because time is abundant lately and I’m enjoying myself serving client, letting my time be overtaken by client projects is irresponsible.

I made a decision right then – the projects I hadn’t started yet would not be delayed.  Instead I released the clients, refunded retainers and gave them a referral to another respected provider.  I felt fifty pounds of weight lift off my mind.  Next I emailed clients with open projects and made arrangements to delay action until the following week.   Everyone was understanding and gracious, thank goodness!

I had time for these projects – plenty of time.  I wasn’t overbooking myself by any means.  It still wasn’t smart for me to do.

From now on I’m going to be more vigilant over my calendar.  Empty space must not equal saying yes to another client project.  Instead, if I’m going to work those hours – they will be devoted to building future income.  I’m hiring an Assistant Blog Editor to help run Mom’s Talk Network , this is a decision I’d made before this attitude adjustment and I’m doubly committed to making it work now.  I’m going to outsource more at Freshnets and keep my own involvement on the project management level.  To do anything else is foolish and wasteful.

Life and business should be purposeful, not aimless.  You never know when life will go into a tailspin and business will have to take a back seat.  If you haven’t worked to build in margin and a variety of income streams, you’re going to have added stress and limited choices.

I’m glad this little crisis is short lived, so long as nothing changes, things will be back to normal for me on Monday.  It easily could have gone in a different, longer direction.

I’ve got five sweet reasons (finally sleeping) to take this seriously.  Before this, it was my own son and after this (hopefully) it will be my own grandchildren.  Not to mention all of other other precious people in my life I’d gladly drop everything for.

What reason do you have to work smarter?

There’s no doubt that Social Media changed the way we do business on the net.  There are so many good reasons to be involved and interactive.  It’s tough to strike a good balance with it though – especially when you work online like I do.

I realized recently that my work day was over-peppered with social pauses.  I couldn’t seem to resist staying in touch, whether that be Facebook, Twitter and Google+ or a visit to a news site to see if ‘anything is happening’.

I’m addicted to input – bit sized bits of it.  I need it.  Well, no I don’t.  I want it. It distracts me from what I’m doing that I don’t really want to do.  It pacifies me so I don’t have to think about things I don’t want to think about.

I’m also addicted to attention.  I’ve NEVER been the kind of person who needs a lot of attention, so where did this come from?

When you’re active in social media, you get accustomed to people reacting to you.  This constant feedback is like crack – you get used to it.  You want some more.  And some more.

I didn’t realize how often I went for a fix until recently and when my eyes were opened it reminded me of something.

In my twenties, I was a smoker.  I worked full time for a large company and we were allowed to take ‘smoke breaks’.  The frequency of these breaks weren’t usually monitored unless you pushed it – so I found myself thinking about it.  Is it time for a break? Is it too soon for another break? Will my supervise notice if I head out for another break?  Man, it’s been forever since I took a break. 

I see the same thing here and it’s time for another social media break!  I’m checking out of my networks for the rest of August.  Hopefully it will boost my focus and shake the social media monkey off my back.

36 Hour Update

I don’t miss it.  (Yet) Instead of puttering and chatting with friends when I finish something I’m working on, I go to my to do list and see what needs my attention next.  This led to me getting one of my products submitted for the Kindle – something I’ve procrastinated about for a very long time.

Sixth Day Update

I’ve ‘cheated’ the tiniest bit to communicate with a private, non-business group on Facebook over the weekend when I wasn’t working anyways.  I am starting to feel ‘out of touch’ in a way.  This morning I really want to start my day puttering around my networks – but I’ll steel myself to pick a project to focus on instead.

60 Hours To Go Update

It has been harder to resist the desire to engage with personal friends and family on Facebook but easier to stay away from everything and everyone else. I don’t know anything about anyone and it feels great!  My mind is clear and focused.

I can hardly believe all that I’ve accomplished.  I put another book on Kindle and completely revamped one of my popular courses.  I’ve written curriculum for Solo Masterminds and I’ve gotten another resource ready for release as well.

The Fast is Over!

My ‘social media alone time’ is over and I’m ready to rejoin virtual society.

During this time, I focused more attention on my membership site and mailing list members and this is a very good thing. As great as it is to spend time with a large circle of people, my best time should always be spent with those who have sought me out in a more exclusive way – by subscribing to my list and ultimately by investing in my membership.  I’ll be more focused and less aimless with my time on social media sites from now on. I’ll post less nonsense and look to provide more value – so that those who follow me will want to subscribe to my list and join my membership!

What have I learned most from just staying away from social media?  That I don’t need to be ‘in the know’ all the time.  Whatever may have been buzzing through my streams in the last two weeks, I survived without it.

Two Weeks After the Fast

In case you’re wondering, I’m going great.  I have not returned to my old ways.  There is no social media monkey on my back.  I’m enjoying the time I do spend but more importantly, enjoying the time I don’t even think about it.

At least four different people mentioned to me this week that they are afraid of ‘trying’ something in business.  They fear failure of course.

Trying and failing is part of life – for we humans and for the animal kingdom.

Trying is the same as practice and practice makes perfect.

So what should you try today?

It’s entirely possible that you’re operating from a disadvantage, but it doesn’t need to stop you from pursuing your interests and dreams.

I was definitely operating at a disadvantage when I first began to work at home on the internet.   Paying for a domain and hosting account was a challenge. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing.  Everything had to be a do it yourself project which meant hours scouring the internet for how to advice and more hours spent stumbling my way through mistakes and frustrations.  Nothing came easy.  Everything I learned, I learned the hard way.

For that, I’m so glad.

Was I glad for it back then?  Heck no!

But today, I look back and choose to see it all as a wonderful gift.  I am a graduate of the ‘Internet Marketing School of Hard Knocks’.

Are you operating from a disadvantage right now?

• Are you working with a negative budget?
• Do you feel like you know no one and no one knows you??
• Do you know that you don’t know is more than you do know?

Don’t worry, you’re just a freshman in my aforementioned Alma Mater

So don’t whine about what you don’t have and don’t gripe about what you wish you had.  Just get moving.

I started out offering my meager graphic design skills $5 and $10 a time.  My hourly rate probably averaged about $2.50 – but I gained experience and made friends that helped me get where I am today.

Do you have a skill that you can bootstrap into similar benefits?

Most people do, but a few don’t.  If you don’t like to write, type, talk, be social, do math or have a knack for graphics – you’re probably not cut out for business on the internet and may want to choose a different school than mine

If you do like to do those things, chances are you can leverage them to get where you want to be.

Do you ever find it difficult to ask questions?  I do.

I had several questions I planned to ask my doctor a couple of weeks ago. Once I was sitting in the office I partially blanked and mostly chickened out.  I didn’t ask the questions I meant to and I could kick myself for it.

I’m not the only one.  I see people hold back all the time.

In live business webinars, where questions are welcomed and wise advice stands at the ready – it’s always a small percentage who step up to ask a question.

Why is that?

Are we afraid of sounding naive?

Are we trying to look more experienced than we are?

Either way, we’ve got to break out of it.

I’m spit balling another big change in my world.

I’ve moved five times in the last five years – and find that I like it.  Well, I don’t like the act of moving – but I like a changing scenery.  (I haven’t always been that way, I did own a home for over ten years.)

What if I could have the changing scenery I enjoy and not need a moving truck every year or so?

I’m considering the idea of living in an RV.

I’ve been turned to the idea by Tynan, a self employed programmer who lives full time in a smallish RV.  (Watch this video to see a complete tour.)

As I watched and read several great posts on his blog, I wondered – could I do that?

• Could I live in a super small space?
• Would I feel comfortable sleeping in an RV 365 days a year?
• Would managing a home on wheels be too overwhelming?
• Would I miss having a full home?
• Would I love the freedom to travel around?

I need to mention I’ve never slept one night in an RV and haven’t ‘camped’ in any way since I was a teenager.

I’m not heading to the RV dealership today – don’t worry that I’m going to jump into anything too fast.

This is something I’m going to keep exploring though.  I’d love to give it a fun test run if nothing else.

What do you think?  Could I be a vagabond or am I too attached to a big home office desk, my own washer and driver and a private garage?

Update, September 2011

I’ve given this a lot of thought and dream time.  I do see at least a summer or two spent on the road in an RV, but I realize I would not like it long term.  I’m going to be educating myself about RVs for now and keeping an eye out for my perfect fit.

If you know who you are, you won’t worry about what other people think.

If you know who you are, you’ll never be jealous.

If you know who you are, you’ll be inspired by the success of others.

If you know who you are, you’ll learn from your past.

If you know who you are, you’ll be motivated by your future.

If you know who you are, you’ll embrace your gifts.

If you know who you are, you will pursue your dreams without shame.

I’ve been diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. A big scary word to say that my metabolism is on hyper-drive.

It’s actually a relief to know it – it puts a name to the problems I’ve been having over the past months.

Half the day I’m exhausted, half the night I can’t sleep and most of the time I’m literally vibrating inside.

It started with the leg weakness, I thought I must have gained weight over the summer – but everyone was telling me I looked like I was losing weight.  I finally stepped on a scale and found I’d lost 40 pounds in three months – without trying.

In the time since then, I’ve joined the gym, restarted Weight Watchers and lost another 21 pounds.

I’d love to embrace this revved up metabolism, the weight loss is sure fun -  but unfortunately, all of the other symptoms have rocked my world in a negative way.

It’s hard to work when your body is trembling all the way to your finger tips and your brain is in a fog of anxiety. It has been a rough couple of months to say the least.

Now that I know what I’m dealing with, I am ready to fight it!

Hyperthyroidism is treatable but I don’t like the sound of the treatments that most recommend.   I’m leaning towards trying some natural remedies first. To begin, I have to drop caffeine and reduce sugars in my diet which will be challenging for me. I’m also going to check out some herbs that help to calm the thyroid.

I have to cut sources of stress in my life – which probably means trimming off the side projects I’ve been running in my business.   I’m thinking about selling the design leg of my business as providing services is the most stressful thing I do online.  It is a great source of income though, something I can rev up at will when I need extra dough, so it’s a big decision for me.

I have to say I am so glad for passive income and residual affiliate commission.  With so much down time for me this year, I’ve relied on these streams of income a great deal.  If I had ever relied on hourly income for my living, I’d be in a big trouble right now.

Something for all entrepreneurs to think about.  Are you building a business that can sustain you through hard times?  If you’re not sure – don’t waste anymore time – dig in and find ways to add passive and residual income over the next few years

You won’t regret it!

Update, September 2011

I saw an Endocrinologist in August and started what I call an absolute miracle drug.  I won’t go into details but say that I feel great!  My strength is coming back and I feel like myself again.  Special thanks to everyone who prayed for me and took the time to encourage me.  I appreciate it more than you know.

There are so many people, situations and things that I’m thankful for, do you mind if I share a few with you – in no particular order?

• I’m grateful that it didn’t snow during my move this past weekend.  The idea of driving a Uhaul down the highway in blowing snow was freaking me out.
• I’m grateful for my son, Sean.  He makes me proud.
• I’m grateful for my new place.  It’s just right for me.  Two bedrooms, clean basement, garage, nice neighborhood – close to family.
• I’m grateful for my health.  Especially so this week after taking a worried trip to the ER and spending the next 20 hours going through tests on my heart.  (Heart’s just great by the way.)
• I’m grateful for my sister, Beckie.
• I’m grateful for my niece, Tracy, her husband Gabe and their five sweet kids, Macey, Max, Brody, Piper and Willow. They make my heart smile.
• I’m grateful for my VA, Tishia Lee.  She’s been faithful for nearly five years now.  I can’t imagine my business without her.
• I’m grateful for marketer friends and partners, past and present – like Alice Seba, Lynette Chandler & Nicole Dean. They have helped me build a business that gives me freedom.
• I’m grateful for my customers and clients, you have trusted me and that is such a blessing.
• I’m grateful that 2011 stretches out before us all with promise and opportunity.

Happy Thanksgiving

A disturbing email came in from one of my VA Interns today.  Her finances are in turmoil and ends don’t meet.  She has come to the realization that they may not be able to pay the bill for their internet access – effectively cutting her off from the internship.

I felt her frustration through the words in her email.  I remember what it is like to be desperate to change your circumstances but continually run into road blocks. I know the heavy weight that financial lack lays on your heart.  Been there and done that.

What advice do I offer her?

Of course I want to see them pay the internet bill at all costs – it is the one way that she can obtain training that will open up a new stream of income for their family. A family can turn to a number of organizations for help with groceries in most communities – but there are no charities for the continuation of internet access.

Do you agree?