I like to engage in debate on current issues such as health, money and politics. So often I am met with personal attacks and disbelief in the way I see the world. I’m ok with that. I know that I think differently. I usually understand where another person is coming from and I agree that if I had the same circumstances, I would probably react in the same way.

I believe that we are all creators of our own experience. When I am not experiencing the outcome that I desire and I have a different viewpoint from someone who is experiencing what I want then I think it is worth seeing if I can change my viewpoint.

I had a friend on facebook state:

I know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t admit your wrong even if scientifically proven. Once you decide the sky is red, you don’t sway from your position.

Sometimes I like to analyze the negative things people say to me to see where the grain of truth is. Sometimes it is about me, other times it was about them.

I believe that things change. What was true yesterday doesn’t always have to be true today.

Allow me to show you exhibit A. I took this picture myself and the sky is RED. 🙂

The post The Sky is not Blue appeared first on Work @ Home RockStar.

After a while, I started going to open mics and before I knew it I was getting offered to play paid gigs.  I couldn’t believe it, and to be completely honest, I still can’t.  I don’t consider myself to be all that good really, I just really love it.  I have so much fun playing for other people.

The interesting thing is that the more I learn and the more I play, the more I realize how much I don’t know yet.  The more I realize how much I don’t know, the more self-conscious I get.

To this day, I still get a little pit in my stomach when a “real musician” walks into one of my gigs.  I keep wondering if they are noticing all the mistakes and cheats that I do.

In life and in business, they say that your only opponent is in the mirror.

Being a musician really makes this clear to me.

It is absolutely impossible to please everyone.  Afterall, there are very popular artists out there that have extreme talent, but I just don’t care for the music itself.  I appreciate it, but I wouldn’t listen to it on my own time.  So that being said, it is only logical that there are people that regardless of what they think of me, won’t care for what I do… and that’s ok.

Every time I hear a negative remark about me, I have a choice.  I can chose to believe it or not…  Funny thing is every time I hear a positive remark about me, I also can chose to believe it or not.   At times, the self talk gets pretty bad.  I wonder if those who say they like what I do are just saying that to be nice.  I wonder if those who are bad mouthing me are “telling the truth” whole those who are supporting me are just humoring me.

I started thinking about how all this applies to business.  Have you ever had an idea that you wanted to implement?  Initially, you get some support and then all of a sudden someone shoots you down… then it doesn’t matter how many people supported you, you decide to believe the hater?

Support is so important in getting a business idea off the ground… Perhaps the key is to make a conscious choice to believe those who are supporting your idea as if they are the ones telling the truth and those who are unsupportive are the ones who are just not seeing eye to eye.

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I remember one time my friend was teaching me a couple new chords, I took the guitar and played it as close as I could… He said, “That works!” Those words were magic. I knew it wasn’t exactly what he played but he said it worked. I respected him, and his ear, a lot and so if it was good enough for him, it was good enough for me.

I played that guitar at least 5 hours a day… and I’ll tell you that after a few months, I thought I sounded pretty good. It’s funny because I have lots of video of me playing throughout the years and every time I look back, I feel embarrassed for myself.

I was thinking about it and had a bit of an epiphany. If the reason why I was inspired to continue is because I “thought” I was good enough… What if I thought I was bad?

Well… I never really got into playing lead guitar… I became discouraged much quicker. It is much harder to play individual notes than it is to strum chords. There are lots of “cheats” you can do while playing chords, and not a whole lot of wiggle room with playing lead.

Think about the gap between what you think sounds good (taste) and what you can actually do (talent). When you think of it, if you have very specific taste, then it is going to take you a very long time to build the talent in order to satisfy that taste.

I wonder if the people with the best ear are the ones who become discouraged faster?

I’ve heard a term used by entrepreneurs… “Ignorance on fire is better than knowledge on ice”.

I think the point of that quote is to say that it is better to do something than to do nothing. Sometimes people get so focused on being perfect that it paralyzes them. Learning an instrument is an excellent example of how not playing because you know what you “should” sound like is counter productive.

Practice makes perfect. If you want to be good at something you must be willing to be bad at it for a while until you get better.

Just get started! 🙂

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Think of all of the “sayings” that we hear everyday about money.  How many of them are positive?  Not many.  Most of them paint money as dirty and those who have a lot of money as evil, dishonest or unethical.  Why are we being taught through generations to dislike money and those who aim to acquire it?

The full quote is from the Bible and it is;

“But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.” – Timothy 6:10

Let’s take some time to dissect the quote.  We can start with this part which is very different from what people are saying.

“for the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil”

What is “Love”? It is probably the most powerful force on earth. People live for it, die for it and will do anything in their power for whatever they truly love. So if you feel this strongly about money then it is the number one priority. You can imagine that would lead to all sorts of evil, temptation and foolish and harmful desires.

Money is a tool. It is a resource. It to be respected but not loved. In today’s world, we do need money but that doesn’t mean we have to love it. Money is exchanged for value and if you are focused on bringing value to people then you will be paid in money.

I believe that the lack of money is probably more harmful than the love of money. Since we need money in order to buy the resources to live, like food and shelter, if you lack money, that will lead to all sorts of evil in order to acquire the things that you need.

It is time we stop encouraging an unhealthy relationship with a vital tool such as money and we start encouraging people to respect it and accept it for what it is.

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So why do these people usually fail to get started?

There are two scenarios that play out with this type of person.  Either they never get started.  They are waiting for the stars to line up so that they can “give it their all”… which will never happen or they do actually get started but after a couple days of ignoring all of their other commitments, family, sleep and food, they burn out and quit.

This can be avoided by setting the proper expectations.

What does it mean to give 100%.  First of all, that comment doesn’t even make any logical sense.  No one can give 100% of their time and effort to any one thing.  We all need to sleep, eat, use the washroom, etc.  We all need family time, and relaxing time.  So right off the bat, either that statement is a lie in order to put off making a decision or it is simply a lot of talk.

I think that time, just like money, is a resource.  It needs to be budgeted wisely in order to be productive.  If you want to start a home business to build an extra income, why not dedicate a few hours a week to your new venture… and then give it 100% during the scheduled time.  This means do the activities that are required of you.  Every company will have “road map” to success.   Take this seriously.  The road map is like a recipe for success.  If you follow the recipe you can expect similar results… if you change the recipe, you are on your own!

Quit waiting for the “right time” and just get started!

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We live in the information age. Anything you could possibly want to know is available at your fingertips. All you have to do is Google it.

If that is true, then that means we all have the information available to us to be rich and healthy. So why are the rich getting richer and why is our health getting worse?

Unfortunately, it is just as easy to find the information about how to be broke and unhealthy as it is to find the information on how to be rich and healthy. Here’s the kicker. Most of us are looking for the wrong information. We are looking for information to justify the position that we find ourselves in, rather than looking for the information about how to get better.

Several years ago I took an Online Marketing course. I learned how to optimize web pages and video so that they get more hits. Guess what the best tip is to get people to watch your videos and articles? It is to put “Scam” in the title.

For example, when people hear about a new program that will help them lose weight, get healthy and make money. This sounds like something that is way too good to be true. Since most people are skeptical by nature, they will want to make sure that they aren’t getting ripped off. They tend to assume that the “positive testimonials” are just people trying to sell it for their own personal gain. So when a person goes to Google to search it, the first thing they normally look for is whether it is a scam or not.

Since marketers know this, they will position competitive products with keywords of “scam”. Interestingly enough, some people will post positive information under the title “Is this thing a scam”. Many people don’t even bother to read the article they just see “scam” and immediately write it off.

So what are YOU looking for? If there are people out there living healthy and wealthy, wouldn’t it make sense to focus on learning from them?

Just some food for thought. 🙂

The post Seek and ye shall find appeared first on Work @ Home RockStar.

How many of us continue to put ourselves in situations where we are over our head after we finish school? My guess is, not many. I suspect that this is why many people aren’t growing.

“Growth is the only guarantee that tomorrow will get better” – John C. Maxwell

So many people wish that their problems were smaller, when really we should be working on making ourselves bigger than our problems.

The question is, how can we get in over our head and avoid total disaster.

We all have a “gift zone” and a “comfort zone”. When we are out of our gift zone and also out of our comfort zone then it will lead to catastrophe. However, when we are in our gift zone as well as in our comfort zone it leads to coasting. We cannot grow if we are comfortable.

Sometime people will attend an event or read an inspiring story and they decide to take a risk and do something different. However, they may be a little too ambitious and they step out of their “gift zone”. Since they are unable to do what they are setting out to do, they become discouraged and go back to what they know. The problem was not that they were uncomfortable, it was that they were not gifted in the area that they ventured to.

The key to growth is being out of your comfort zone but staying in your gift zone. Take risks and do things that you can do but are not comfortable doing. That is when you get creative. That is when you solve problems. That is when you grow.

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“The very poor live day-to-day, the poor live week-to-week, the middle class live month-to-month, the wealthy live year-to-year and the very wealthy live decade-to-decade” – Kyle Pacetti

Wow. I can’t stop thinking about how true this is. Imagine how this can affect the decisions we make. I’ve been everywhere from poor to very ‘comfortable’… I can attest to this. When money is tight you can’t even see beyond the week or the month and you make decisions accordingly. When things are going very well then you can plan out a year in advance. I would love to get to the point where I can plan out decades in advance.

I started to really think about this in terms of mindset and ethics. Think of someone who is very poor and living day-to-day. If someone struggles to get through the day and someone leaves a $20 bill unattended on the table do they take it? I’m sure we all know someone who would. I suspect they would have a way to justify to themselves as well… Perhaps saying that if the roles were reversed, the other person would do the same. Maybe they would justify by saying they need it more. On the other hand, what if this person were wealthy? Would they take it? I highly doubt it…

There was another successful speaker that spoke of the fact that she gets to change lives for a living. The money is really just a bonus. I totally understand. I believe that we all need to make a living and so why not earn your living by doing something with the purpose and intention of helping others. However, at the same time I looked around the room and saw that some people were rolling their eyes.

Why is it that some people think that it’s all about the money?

I believe that our current circumstances shape how we perceive the intent of other people. If things are rough in your life and someone approaches you with a way to help you that has a dollar figure attached to it, you might immediately become skeptical and defensive. What’s more is that you don’t have to be homeless to be in a bad situation. Maybe there is some uncertainty in your job… any time fear creeps in you will potentially react in a negative way to people who are trying to help.

Bottom line is that, it is okay to be skeptical. There are certainly people out there trying to scam you.  However, there are also so many people out there who want to help you. Just learn to ask the right questions. It is important to find out what the “win-win” situation is. If you can be clear on what each of you gain from the deal then you can make a better decision on whether you should move forward.

The post Are you living Day to Day? appeared first on Work @ Home RockStar.

It’s 11pm and I’ve just had a totally unproductive day. It seems like I just keep getting pulled in so many directions that it is hard to get anything done. I’ve spent the last 20 minutes planning my day tomorrow and I hope that I can get my things done.

Sound familiar? For me this cycle repeats daily.

‘We are constantly being tugged on from a thousand different directions, so your ability to be productive & ultimately achieve your big hairy audacious goals has more to do with all the things you DON’T do versus the things you do. Doing MORE is not the answer. Doing less is. Saying “no” to more things so you can say “yes” to the right things is the key to taking you more efficiently & expeditiously toward your goals.’ – Darren Hardy

I get this. I just don’t always know how to  it. I know I’m being too nice. As soon as someone needs me I cave. What is worse is that today, technology has made me way too accessible. People can get ahold of me by text, phone, facebook, email, twitter… The list goes on and on. It seems that everyone’s priorities are SO urgent and my priorities pale in comparison. Not to mention the guilt trip I get if I do happen to say “no”.

I attended a leadership conference a couple months ago that spoke about “being your own boss”. The only ‘job’ of a boss is to make sure the work gets done. To be completely honest, I have done a very bad job at being my own boss. 

We need to take more responsibility for advancing our own lives forward… Which means being the boss. Otherwise, we let other people and other circumstances take over.

‘If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you will fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.’ – Jim Rohn

Picture this. You were at work, the boss gave you a serious deadline and a friend asked you for a favor what would you do? I bet you would say; “I’m so sorry, I can’t, my boss is on my back about getting this work done.”

So why is it easier to say no when there is a “boss” telling us what to do?

I had an ‘a-ha’ moment. I know that I have a hard time saying no and taking the “blame” for disappointing a friend. When I have a “boss” then it is not my fault. So I decided. Why not implement my own boss? It sounds crazy but if you adopt the mindset of an employee then you can blame the boss all you want. When someone pulls you in a direction other than the one that your ‘boss’ has defined for you, then blame the boss.

Here’s how I did it. I put the “boss” hat on and I define all the goals and tasks for the day. My “employee” self has no choice but to finish what is on the list. I also add 1 more “miscellaneous” task to my schedule. When I am asked for a favor I simply say “I need to check my schedule, just send me a quick text/email to remind me.” I never drop what I’m doing to take care of the favor. I simply finish what I’m doing and then take care of the miscellaneous task.

So I ask you this.  Are you ready to be the boss?

The post Who’s the Boss? appeared first on Work @ Home RockStar.

As we ring in the New Year, some people are setting New Years Resolutions, while others have lost faith.  They feel discouraged due to their lack of follow through on last year’s resolutions.

Let’s face it, most resolutions are merely a wish list.  People talk about losing weight, quitting smoking or making more money but they have no plan in order to make that happen.  Obviously, with no real goals or plans they are destined to fail.  However, what about the people who are serious?

For serious people who set real goals but still fail, maybe this will help you.

For the last few years, most of my goals have been dependent on other people. I had goals to grow my business to a certain income or to increase my presence as an artist by landing gigs in specific bars. The problem is that those goals depend on me convincing other people to do something.  As we know, other people are unpredictable. So when things don’t work out as expected, what happens? I become discouraged and set another “lesser” goal. Of course, this does not make me feel confident and productive.

A goal is an action that you take that is only dependent on you. Otherwise, it is a desired outcome.

That means that my desired outcome was to increase the profit of my business. The actual goal would be to make 20 prospecting calls per day. If you rely on statistics, then by accomplishing your real daily activity goal, you will likely hit your desired outcome. However, the important thing is that you do the best you can to hit your activity goal.

In sports, you rarely hear professionals talking about how they are going to win the game. Typically, you hear them say that they will “go out there and perform at their personal best”. This is a goal. If they end up losing the game, there is no reason for them to feel bad about themselves as long as they performed at their personal best. The desired outcome is out of their control but the activity goal is completely within their control.

I found this new way of looking at goals to be very liberating. I can now focus only on what I can do in order to move forward and reach my potential. When I set an activity goal and I do my best but still fail to achieve my desired outcome, then I know that I have to increase my activity.  However, if I fail to take the action then I have only myself to blame.  There are no excuses.  By setting goals that I can control and by taking action to the best of my ability, then I will hit more of my desired outcomes and feel better and more productive regardless of the outcome.

Something to think about!

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