The Work at Home Millionaire Journey

What exactly does mindfulness mean? To be mindful is to be present in the moment without passing judgment on the moment. Just being. Mindfulness has its roots in Zen Buddhism. So who better than Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh to define mindfulness for us:

One of my favorite quotes is “The present moment holds infinite riches beyond our wildest dreams.” But are we ever in the present moment? Most of us find ourselves constantly occupied with something — other than what’s going on at the present moment. What to have for dinner. How to get the kids everywhere they need to go. How to pay the bills. What to do about your intolerable boss. And on and on.

How can practicing mindfulness help our personal growth journey? Just do it and you’ll see. Mindfulness will calm your thoughts and emotions. It will lessen your anxiety and stress. Mindfulness will improve your relationships, with those you’re close to and those you have a passing encounter with in line at the grocery store.

The practice of mindfulness is being used by health professionals — mental and physical — to cure their patients’ ailments. I’ve read about mindfulness being used to help conditions such as fibromyalgia and other chronic pain. And about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy being used by therapists in cases of depression and anxiety.

The medical and “professional” side of things is beyond my focus on personal development. I mention it because the fact that the practice of mindfulness is expanding into the outer edges of the mainstream illustrates its power.

I have a theory that spending some time every day in mindful meditation will actually make me more productive than endless multi-tasking. Accomplishing more by doing less. Who can argue with that? In time, I’ll let you know whether productive mindfulness is a fact, or just a great sounding theory.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from home with her kids. She has enjoyed the time freedom and financial benefits of working from home for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to success through a positive mental attitude and consistent action. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course designed to provide you the tools to change your life and find home business success.

Filed under: attitude, mindset, personal development, personal growth on June 30th, 2009 | No Comments »

For most of us, multi-tasking is not at all an option. Entrepreneurs, it seems to me, are born multi-taskers. Not only do we accept it as a part of life, we demand it.

I’m incapable of sitting on the couch and watching tv. It may occupy my eyes, but it’s mindless. And what do I do with my hands? Same with talking on the phone. It takes one hand, at most. I usually eat dinner while I clean up the kitchen and talk on the phone or to my kids. I enjoy seeing how much I can accomplish at once.

But last night, on the eve of my son’s first birthday, I thought (for the first time in a long time) about the value of mindfulness. We were snuggling on our big comfy chair in the bedroom as I tried to calm him into sleepiness. My other kids were in the room, vowing to be “quiet,” which to a 4 and 2-year-old actually means a “quiet roar.”

I found myself longing to be alone with just my baby. Longing to have all the time in the world to enjoy his smiles and snuggles, his soft skin and tiny fingers. I didn’t want to do anything during my time with him other than have my time with him.

I often remember something I read in a book by the Zen Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh. What should an enlightened person think while washing the dishes he asks? He should think about washing the dishes, of course. I used to do this, before my life got complicated. I would really focus on the act of washing the dishes. I would consciously keep my mind from wandering elsewhere. It was a surprisingly good feeling.

These days, while I wash the dishes I always have my I-Pod going. I feel like I’m wasting time if I’m not listening to a self improvement or business training program. At the very least, I’m repeating affirmations or practicing visualization.

Ironically, I wonder if I’m not doing a disservice to my personal growth path when I listen to personal growth programs while washing the dishes. Is there personal growth in mindfulness? In being present in the moment? No matter how insignificant that moment might be. Or seem to be.

The answer is yes. Which doesn’t mean I’m advocating or even remotely thinking about giving up multi-tasking. I’m addicted to it. And I believe it often serves me well. I make way more money sitting on the couch watching tv and working on my online business than my fellow man who sits on the couch watching tv with a beer in hand.

But I’m convinced that we need to be more mindful. I’ve heard that you should meditate 30 minutes a day unless you’re really busy. In which case you should meditate 60 minutes. The same principle applies to mindfulness. The more hectic we are, the more we need to be conscious of opportunities to be mindful.

We’ll talk about the ways mindfulness furthers our personal growth path next time.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from home with her kids. She has enjoyed the time freedom and financial benefits of working from home for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to success through a positive mindset and consistent action. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course designed to provide you the tools to change your life and find home business success.

Filed under: attitude, mindset, personal growth, self improvement on June 23rd, 2009 | No Comments »

Since I told you to declutter yesterday as part of your self improvement journey, I feel compelled to give you some idea of HOW to go about that. Having confessed my struggles with this issue, I figured you would laugh if I tried to give you decluttering tips.

Instead, I’ll share with you a couple of resources I’m using to try to kick the clutter habit. These have been most helpful to me. First, here’s a short video from John Tesh:

I love the visualization of things bursting into flames. I’m using that every time I’m tempted to put something where it doesn’t belong. It doesn’t always work yet. But I’m trying to get it into my subconscious mind through repetition.

The second thing that’s been really helpful to me is a blog post that Leo Babauta did on his Zen Habits blog. It’s called A Simple Guide to Keeping Your Counters Clutter-Free

It’s well worth reading the whole post. Here’s what I’ve implemented. At least once a week (baby steps), clear one flat surface. Put back only the things I love. Recycle what I don’t and never will need. Tuck away in a box the things I can’t part with. Write the date on the box. Six months later, anything I haven’t looked for in the box — get rid of.

Slowly this decluttering mission is making a difference to me. I am feeling better just by doing it, although I’m far from done. I’ll let you know how my “inside” feels when I’m done with the outside.

JENNIFER HERNDON works at home with her kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working from home for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to achieve success through a positive mental attitude and consistent action. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

Filed under: self improvement on June 20th, 2009 | No Comments »

“If a cluttered desk is a sign of a cluttered mind, of what, then, is an empty desk?” — Albert Einstein

I was so happy when I ran across this quote several months ago. My desk is so cluttered that I usually work on my couch. There’s no space for my laptop on my desk.

I’ve struggled with clutter from the day I got my first apartment on my own. And now, Albert Einstein suggests not only that it’s okay, but that my desk should be cluttered. I tried to rejoice in this news.

But ultimately, I couldn’t. Because although my entire house (with the minor exceptions of my dining room and a bedroom, both of which are never used) suffers from clutter, I am not at all at peace with it.

My life is pretty hectic. And 99% of the time, I choose playing with my kids over cleaning my house. I’m comfortable with this decision, but not comfortable with the state of my house. My home office bugs me so much that it’s become more of a storage room than a work space. Feng Shui experts could make a career out of me.

Why can’t I be at peace with my cluttered house? Because I think the snappy little saying is actually true. A cluttered house is the sign of a cluttered mind. In fact, I know this. Because when I reach my bursting point — or when my ultra-organized sister comes to visit — and I de-clutter like a woman on a mission, I feel SO much better after I’m done.

I enjoy being in my house or sitting in my office in a way I never realized that I didn’t enjoy it amidst all the clutter. When my house is neat, I feel good. I don’t know how else to describe it. I feel good about myself. I feel more productive. I feel like I’m setting a good example for my kids. And, because a decluttered house is such a big task for me, I feel like I’ve really accomplished something.

When I have a big project with a deadline, or am especially busy with a hundred different tasks, the urge to organize usually hits me the hardest. I’ve considered that decluttering may just be my way of procrastinating at work. But I think that really, I have a hard time organizing my mind to accomplish a big task at work when I’m surrounded by disorganization. It’s completely psychological.

So I’ve concluded that while Einstein’s quote is “cute,” it’s not something to live by. It’s not an “empty” desk or house I’m looking for, but an “organized” one. Because an organized desk is the sign of an organized mind. And that’s a good thing.

If you’ve been through my success course, you know I require that you work at least 30 minutes a day on self improvement. And yes, your 30 minutes can occasionally be satisfied by creating some empty space on your counter tops. Because it will make you feel good and happy. And that’s self improvement.

JENNIFER HERNDON works at home with her kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial rewards of working from home for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to success through a positive mindset and consistent action. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

Filed under: self improvement on June 20th, 2009 | No Comments »

I have had a rough week. I lost my cell phone. I never imagined how inconvenient that would be. And I’m double mad about it because I’m 99% sure it’s somewhere in my house.

I’ve been trying to feel grateful for the fact that my house is big enough that I can search it for four days without finding my phone. But, it’s been frustrating.

I’ve wasted a lot of time obsessively looking for my phone. And, I get a lot of work done in the car on my phone, so I’m really feeling behind this week.

You can imagine how I struggled to maintain my positive attitude when it took me the good part of the day to get a new phone. I’ll spare you the details, but I will share that it was my good fortune to be needing a new phone at a time when my service provider’s entire network was down for seven hours.

I, and my three tired toddlers, had been waiting in the store (for the third time today) for about 45 minutes when it happened. You see, I had been looking for the lesson in my predicament, as I always do. What greater benefit was going to come from my adversity here?

I was starting to think I’d finally been proven wrong. Maybe the only purpose behind my experience here was to torture me.

Just then, three people walked into the store together. The very nice and patient employee behind the counter was helping a couple with a new phone. He explained to the newcomers that he would be with them just as soon as he helped me.

Loudly and with profanity, the young man demanded that he was next. Although obviously I had been in the store longer than he had, he reasoned that he was in line and I wasn’t. It was a small store. Clearly I was just hanging out, trying to keep my kids from destroying the place, and waiting.

For a moment, my reaction was to walk up to the guy and punch him for being such an idiot. But then I thought to myself, “wow, what kind of a life must this guy have?” How unhappy must he be? And why? What’s going on or has gone on with him to make him so abrasive and uncaring? He could really use some of my personal development training, I thought.

This guy made me feel grateful that I have a good life. And that, although I work daily on self improvement, my “self” is pretty good.

Sometimes we’re so busy trying to improve ourselves that we forget to take time out to pat ourselves on the back. It’s important to give yourself credit for being a good person. I rarely do this. I’m pretty hard on myself. I think most of us are.

If I hadn’t ended up in that store, I wouldn’t have encountered this poor guy, and wouldn’t have taken the time out today to realize that my “self” is pretty good just the way it is. Another thing to be grateful for.

JENNIFER HERNDON works at home with her kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of home business ownership for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to achieve success through a positive mental attitude and consistent action. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps today for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

Filed under: attitude, gratitude, personal development, personal growth, self improvement on June 17th, 2009 | No Comments »

My 4-year-old and I have our best discussions laying in bed at night. Last night she was being a little hard on herself about something. I told her to remember that she can do anything she wants to do in life. “No I can’t,” she replies, “Lots of times when I say I want to go somewhere you tell me we have to go somewhere else.”

Well, how could I argue with that? I tried to remind her that through persistence she generally gets what she wants, eventually. I think she’d already decided I was wrong about life.

Our conversation got me thinking about how to raise my kids with the unwavering belief that they can have and do whatever they want in life. It also gave me some insight into why most people never succeed (or even try) as home business owners.

I make a conscious effort not to say “no” to my kids a lot. Especially my 1-year-old and 2-year-old. At those ages, everything they do seems to be destructive and/or dangerous. But I think there has to be a life-long consequence of hearing “no, you can’t do what you want” over and over again throughout the first few years of your life.

The flip side to this is that we are responsible for protecting our kids as they grow up. We have to teach them “no” you can’t cross the street without looking for cars. And “no” it’s not okay to eat Lucky Charms and Snickers for every meal.

Part of the challenge of parenting is to keep your children safe and healthy, teach them to do the same for themselves, and at the same time empower them to believe that the world is theirs. You can do this by giving them choices, as appropriate, and letting them make a bad decision now and then.

I’ve let my child leave without a coat when she clearly needed one. And secretly tucked it in the trunk so she’d have it when she realized it really was cold. I try to let her chose between healthy food choices, even if it means extra work for me. I even let her make a bad food choice now and then. Because I really want her to feel like she has control over her life. From the very beginning.

So much of the world focuses on telling people — not just children — that their life is not their own. You have to do what you’re told. Get good grades. Do well on standardized tests. Get a college degree. Get a “good” job. And spend the rest of your life doing what someone else tells you to do. It’s like childhood all over again.

I want my children to grow up “unemployable.” With the ability to turn their passions into their work. To work when they want. To vacation when they want. To attain whatever income level they want.

The biggest obstacle most home business owners face is getting the right mindset. If we raise our kids with that mindset, we can eliminate so much of the struggle, and make their path to success that much easier.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from home with her kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial rewards of home business ownership for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to achieve success through positive mindset and consistent action. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

Filed under: mindset, successful home business, work at home moms on June 16th, 2009 | No Comments »

It makes sense that, as home business owners, we would look outside ourselves for someone to hold us accountable. It’s hard to motivate yourself through all of the struggles of growing a successful online business.

Initially, my circle of influence consisted of toddlers and people who couldn’t see beyond the eternal struggle of the 9-5. If only I had someone who shared my vision, I thought. We could keep each other accountable. We could, in a sense, be each others’ boss.

My next excuse for not holding myself accountable was that I just couldn’t find the right person. The person I clicked with enough to motivate me to success.

As my business started to require more of my time, I began to realize that (1) I would never get to the next level if I just kept doing whatever I could to “get by” every day, and (2) I had an obligation to my growing list to fulfill the promises I made to them.

Here’s what I figured out after a lot of self-examination. The reason I couldn’t find anyone to keep me accountable was that I was the only one that could keep me accountable. And if I had the right mindset, then I would force myself to be accountable to me.

No outside person was going to motivate me to sit down at midnight and write an article to drive traffic to my website. The only thing that is capable of giving me this kind of push is MY burning desire to succeed.

Yes, it’s “fun” to talk with other like-minded people about your goals and the joys of meeting them, the frustrations of falling short. But the bottom line is that if you don’t want it bad enough to force yourself to do what it takes, then surely no one else will want it bad enough for you. And besides, how could someone else force you to take the actions you need to take?

Once you come to grips with having to go this alone, you need to figure out how to make yourself accountable in your home business. If you haven’t developed your burning desire yet, stop now and figure it out.

Once you’ve got your burning desire, the second key to self-accountability is simple. You’ve got to write it down. This made a huge difference for me. I went from randomly trying to accomplish as much as I could everyday, to writing down what I had to do each day and each week.

Writing it all down pulled me into reality. Yes, I was doing a lot. But for where I wanted to go, I realized that I wasn’t doing near enough. Now, when I look at my checklist for today, and it’s three checks short of complete, it’s my burning desire that moves me to take the action necessary to make those last three checks.

No one is going to check your boxes for you. And it’s impossible to be truly accountable in your head. So get your mindset right, get out your pen and paper, and be your own boss. Isn’t that the reason you started your home business?

JENNIFER HERNDON works at home with her kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial rewards of working from home for over 11 years. Need help organizing your accountability plan? Check out Zig Ziglar’s Performance Planner. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course and start turning yourself and your business around today.

Filed under: self improvement, successful home business on June 13th, 2009 | No Comments »

Things will change for you when you learn to be accountable to yourself. For most of us, this takes a lot of work. We live our whole lives being accountable to others. As kids, we’re accountable to our parents and then our teachers.

When we graduate into adulthood, we become accountable to our boss. We get our work done so that we can keep our jobs. We’re driven by an external stimulus. How many of us get something done before its deadline or due date? Okay, there are a couple of you out there. But still, you are driven by the fact that someone other than you is requiring you to complete your task by a certain time.

This is a big part of the reason most people who start a work from home business fail. Most everyone starts their work from home business while still working full time for someone else. The problem this creates is that you don’t have to do what it takes to succeed.

Whether your family eats isn’t dependent on your business. You know you need to set up your website, and your autoresponder, and your traffic generation methods. But no one’s giving you a deadline to do any of these things. In fact, no one’s requiring that you ever do any of these things. And so usually, you don’t.

To combat this eternal “I’ll get to that tomorrow,” I was advised to join a mastermind group when I first started out. Being accountable is much easier, I was told, if you have a group of people to be accountable to.

In the spirit of Napoleon Hill’s advice in Think and Grow Rich, the modern day mastermind group usually consists of a group of dedicated entrepreneurs who exchange ideas. Another function of the mastermind group is often to share your goals with each other and hold each other accountable for achieving those goals.

It’s a great concept, and I’m not at all knocking the benefit of the mastermind group. But, for the purpose of being accountable, they don’t solve the problem. Here’s why.

The problem is we need a boss and a deadline. Your mastermind group isn’t your boss. And, if you don’t meet your self-imposed deadline, there’s no consequence. Of course, the intended consequence is that you must admit to your peers that you’ve failed. If all goes right, to avoid that embarrassment, you’ll dutifully meet your goals.

The truth, however, is that if you can’t motivate yourself to take action, then a group of people you generally don’t even know that well can’t possibly motivate you to the success you’re looking for.

If you’re not doing what you need to, you’re either lying to yourself, making excuses, or failing to see what you need to do. You’re going to pass these same lies, excuses and ignorance onto your mastermind group.

Your mastermind group can’t help you here. You’ve got to learn to be accountable to yourself. There’s no shortcut or way around it. I’ll tell you how I learned self-accountability tomorrow.

JENNIFER HERNDON works at home with her kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial rewards of working from home for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to success through a positive mindset and consistent action. Become accountable for your own success by starting your one year success plan today. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

Filed under: Goal Setting, successful home business on June 11th, 2009 | No Comments »

As a home business owner, it’s so easy to get caught up. Whether you’re just starting a home business or have a massive online empire. There are always challenges. Some days I say, with near complete sincerity, that I’d rather work at McDonald’s.

I ran across this cool two minute video that I’m going to keep for a quick shot of inspiration on those days. It’s a reminder that anything is possible. And that, as entrepreneurs we do a great service to the world. It’s important to remind yourself that you’re great once in awhile!

It’s really an advertisement for a phone service for entrepreneurs. It’s very well done. (And brilliant advertising.) Hope you enjoy it.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from home with her kids. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial rewards of working at home for over 11 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to achieve success through a positive mindset and consistent action. Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

Filed under: attitude, successful home business on June 9th, 2009 | No Comments »

I struggle somedays with what I know is right for my children and what they want to do.  And I wonder why those two things aren’t congruent more often.  Why can’t an oreo cookie be good for you and green beans be full of artificial ingredients and flavors?

I raise my children differently than what I see happening in the world around me.  I feel confident about my parenting decisions.  When I’m tempted to give in to something I know I shouldn’t compromise on, I often think about a story I heard from Dr. Ben Carson.  Dr. Carson is a famous surgeon and all- around good guy.  He remembers his mom making him read books and write book reports while the other kids were outside playing.  She wanted to make sure he had a better life than she had.

Of course Dr. Carson now sees a value in what his mom did that was impossible to realize as a child.  I hope for the same results with my kids.

A part of trying to do right by our children is teaching them the value of personal growth.  But when do you start and what do you teach?

The answer is that it’s never too early to start.  We teach our toddlers to share, not bite, not hit, to be kind to their fellow toddlers.  And instead of worrying about whether Johnny can read and write in Kindergarden, we should be worrying about whether we’ve instilled in him a respect for the environment, his peers, and his elders.

What we need to concentrate on is whether Johnny is becoming a nice kid.  Jim Rohn says we should work harder on ourselves than on our jobs.  This applies to our children too.  They should be working harder on themselves than on their calculus.

I don’t see our kids working at all on themselves.  Where I live, it’s all about schools maintaining accreditation and teaching kids how to take standardized tests.  Most parents are too busy working and trying to get by to really make a difference.

Something needs to change.  As a society, we need to take more responsibility for our children and their future.

My 4-year-old wanted to go to the mall on Saturday night.  We have a “kid friendly” mall and she likes to do rides and play in the toy store.

There was a big sign at the mall entrance announcing the parental escort policy, which requires children 16 and under to be accompanied by an adult.  Apparently we aren’t even teaching our kids how to act in public.

The behavior of the teenage crowd indicated that the policy was necessary and perhaps didn’t go far enough.  One young man ran straight into my stroller due to his inattention.  Instead of apologizing, he turned the other direction and continued his conversation with his friends without ever looking at us.

My mall experience confirmed a sad truth I’ve known for quite some time.  Our children aren’t failing personal growth.  Because no one’s teaching it.  If they had to take a test on it, they would surely fail.  Which is our fault, and which needs to change.

JENNIFER HERNDON works at home with her kids.  She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working from home for over 11 years.  Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to success through a positive mental attitude and consistent action.  Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

Filed under: personal development, personal growth on June 8th, 2009 | No Comments »