I work at/from home, and because of that my routine varies from that of the typical office or factory worker. I usually start my workday at 9 AM. By 8:59 I have finished breakfast, spent 30 to 45 minutes reading business articles in my favorite magazines, and now it is time to go to work. I go to the kitchen, pour another cup of coffee, and walk down the stairs to my basement office. Total commute time: 31 seconds. I run what some people call a micro-business. Daniel Pink, in

One thing I’ve noticed over the last 16 years is that there are times when I have found myself creating misery in my work without actually realizing it. Like many business people I would start out each month with my legal pad freshly filled with notes containing ideas and goals to be accomplished within a particular time frame. I believed that if I succeeded in accomplishing my goals, I would be happy with my business and my life. The tragedy is that we set ourselves up from

I remember waiting for five o'clock on Friday. It did not matter if it was when I was a factory worker waiting to ‘punch out’, or sitting at a desk waiting for the clock to strike five, I lived for the weekend. The problem was; the weekend was never long enough! Saturdays were often spent doing projects; and for our family, Sundays meant going to church in the morning, a leisurely lunch with family, and some social time with friends or neighbors on Sunday afternoon. And then

I’ve been asked to re-post this by several of my subscribers. The latest employment figures showed that about three-quarters of the jobs created were part-time (30 hours per week or less). Now, more than ever, your financial success may depend on whether or not YOU control your earning potential. ‘Successful and unsuccessful people do not vary greatly in their abilities. They vary in their desires to reach their potential.’ - John Maxwell I often ask people: ‘Why do yo

It was a Monday evening. I was at home when one of my route supervisors called, he and his crew had gone to one of their scheduled cleaning jobs and found the building totally vacant. He wanted to know if I knew anything about it, and if so, why hadn’t I informed him? I was as surprised as he was. I called the phone number for the office and got a recording telling me that that office was closed and that I could contact another office in the nearby city. I had an emergency ph

I hate to admit it, but I’m not a go-getter. In fact the old saying “My get up and go got up and went.” holds true for me. I do manage to get things done, so I’m not a hopeless procrastinator – but I push the limits! Procrastination is so prevalent that there are dozens of proverbs and axioms penned about it. Many self-improvement books and articles have been written on the topic, too. There are reasons we procrastinate. A few causes are: We dislike doing things we’re require

When I began my cleaning business, I had to develop an advertising plan to allow me to show a clear point of difference between the service I was offering and that of my competitors. In any business, having a unique selling proposition is crucial in marketing and will make any marketing campaign you have much more effective. It can also keep you away from the need to discount your services. Dan Miller, author of No More Dreaded Mondays, defines it this way: What will you be d

Earlier this week, I joined a group of guys in helping a neighbor move. It was late in the day, the weather was hot; and a couple of the guys had not had a chance to shower before meeting with us.They were not aware of the body odor, but everyone else was! Fortunately, a shower when returning home would solve the problem. Here is a question: have you ever met someone and were immediately turned off by bad breath or body odor? While it may not be as obvious, the odor of a bad

A few years ago a biologist and researcher came up with a term he called “the adjacent possible.” It’s a complex theory but here’s a simple way to look at it. Think of being in a house that magically expands with every door you open. You walk into a room and see three more doors leading out. Once you open one of those doors you enter another room with another three doors leading to yet new rooms. Keep opening doors and eventually you’ll realize you’re in an expanding pal