But more likely, a hospital?  Or a Department of Revenue office?  (Where you’ve just been lucky enough to pull number “99″ and look up to see that they are now serving number “36.”)

What do all of these places have in common?  They are generally all very “low energy” places.  People are grumpy, unpleasant, downright mean.

This can be said of almost any place where either

(1) there’s a long line,

(2) most people are physically or mentally not well, and/or

(3) people are being asked to part with their money without getting anything they really want in return.

The collective energy in these places is so low that you could come in having just won the lottery and leave depressed and angry.

But I have discovered a way to change all this.

To make everyone happy.  Or at least everyone you come in contact with.  And that’s all that really matters, right?

The secret is to simply . . . smile.  You’ll be amazed at what looking someone in the eye, smiling at her, and saying “thank you” will do for a person’s attitude and behavior.

Think about your life experiences.

From restaurants to gas stations to grocery stores, the employees are universally indifferent towards us customers, at best.

My usual experience with those in the “customer service” arena is that the entire encounter could occur without any words being exchanged.  I have to think that most business owners would be horrified by the number of their employees that don’t even say “thank you” to the customers.

And, for the most part, who cares?

Do you need to walk away from picking up your order at the local Chinese joint feeling all warm and fuzzy?

Probably not.  But, we have a lot of these individually insignificant encounters throughout our day.

And, at the end of the day, it feels better to have connected positively with the world.  It raises your energy level and that of everyone around you.

And, if you want to get something done, creating a positive interaction with the person who can make it happen is essential.

When I showed up at my gate at 3:24 for my 3:25 flight the other day, I knew it was going to take a lot of smiling to get the agent to re-open the door and let me on.  She was not happy to see me.

So I smiled a lot, thanked her a lot, and got on the plane.  By the end of our two minute conversation, she was actually smiling back.

Of course, some people are more challenging than others.  And I’ve found that it helps to assume that everyone is facing something tragic.

When I’m tempted to be nasty back to someone who’s “on the job,” I first tell myself — “I’d be grumpy too if I had to come here every day for just over minimum wage.”

I then run through some possible reason for such unpleasantness.

Maybe their partner just broke up with them.

Maybe a family member is critically ill.

Maybe the bank is foreclosing on their house.  Yeah, that must be it.

The point is, you don’t know what anyone else is dealing with.  Assume they really need your smile and your support today.

And ultimately, on the off chance that you don’t change the world, you’ll always feel better having smiled than having bought into someone else’s negative energy.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at  home mom with three fabulous kids.  She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 12 years.  Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Discover why personal growth is the foundation to your business and personal success in Jennifer’s free mini-course, Seven Simple Success Steps.  Get started today.

As a result I’ve been focusing a lot of my personal development efforts lately on raising my spiritual energy.  For me this involves seeing all people as being part of God.

Whatever your spiritual beliefs, becoming a nicer, gentler, more compassionate person is essential to your personal growth.  And the airport is a great place to practice this.

I’m at the airport about once a month.  There’s a personal growth opportunity about once a second at the airport.

The “old” me would say that the majority of the people that work at the airport and come to the airport to catch a plane are crazy.  Or mean.  Or seriously miserable.  And for some, all three.

Now I just view all of these people as beautiful souls put along my path to bring me valuable lessons.  (Most days, anyway . . .)  Without these fine folks, how could I work on my own enlightenment?

While at the airport, however, I often wonder — do only perpetually unhappy people go to the airport?  Or does the airport for some reason bring out the worst in otherwise fabulous people?

We’ll get to that.  For now, the point is that, if practice makes perfect, you can become the likes of Ghandi or Mother Theresa just by spending a few hours at the airport on a regular basis.

I have successfully learned how to smile and say “thank you” no matter what anyone does or says to me at the airport.

But not everyone is as seasoned as I am.

Here is one of the most useless displays of grumpiness that I witnessed yesterday.  A woman walked through the metal detector with her pager on.  The metal detector did not go off.

However, the TSA agent told her that she had to take it off and send it through the x-ray.  (Easy enough, huh?)

No, the passenger had to argue.  (Why?  Isn’t the TSA agent just doing her job?  Is it hard to take a pager off?)

Apparently so.  The offender’s next complaint was that there was nothing to put the pager in.  With a serious attitude, the TSA agent told her to get a bin and send it through.

As the passenger then proceeded through the metal detector, the TSA agent loudly and with anger recounted to her co-worker the woman’s reluctance to part with her pager.

Both passenger and the agent left the exchange angry.

Why?  How ridiculous is this?  The passenger was delayed maybe 30 seconds.

How differently could this have gone?

“I’m sorry, policy is that your pager has to go through the x-ray.”

“Okay, do you have something I can put it in?”

“Sure, just grab a bin.”

“Okay, thanks.  Have a great day.”  (smile)

“Thanks. You too.”  (smile)

Here’s the great thing.  It doesn’t take cooperation from everyone to make this work.  You can change the entire mood of the airport, almost single-handedly.

We’ll talk about how next time.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at  home mom with three fabulous kids.  She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 12 years.  Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Learn how personal growth is the foundation to your business and personal success in Jennifer’s free mini-course, Seven Simple Success Steps.  Get started today.

This is a lesson in understanding one of my favorite Jim Rohn quotes — “For things to change, you must change.”

I used to think this meant I needed to change how much money I made, that I needed to change from being paid by the hour to earning passive income.  If I could change those things about me, then I was certain that yes, things would change.

I spent a few years spinning my wheels.  Wondering why nothing was changing.  I was persistent.  I kept working.  Buying every new course.  Trying every new thing.  Failing.

Eventually I figured out that making more money and creating passive income streams was the end result, not the path to change.  I needed to change me.  Because I was never going to dramatically change my income doing what I was doing anymore than a hamster is going to escape his cage if he just keeps running on that wheel.

“For things to change, you must change” means that you need to change from the ground up.  You need to change your habits.  The way you live your daily life.

This likely has little or nothing to do with your business.  It’s about you.  You don’t need a new course, or a new website.  You don’t need to change your tracking methods or tweak your adwords ad.

You need to change your habits.  To become more responsible, more productive, more focused.  Your habits are at the root of your failure.

Just because some habits are seemingly easy to change, don’t underestimate their importance.  I have a lot of trouble with organization.  And I know I am way more productive when my physical space is organized.

But looking around at my house (including my home office), it is completely unrealistic to think I can get everything organized just the way it should be, and then get to work.  I would be in a state of constant organizing for six months.

So I pick small battles.  Make the bed every morning.  Get all the dishes cleaned up after each meal.  Things I’ve thought I just don’t have time to do.

And if you make a small but significant thing your goal, it pretty quickly becomes a habit.  As routine as getting dressed in the morning.

In addition to making progress towards your goal, when you are able to make a small change that is important to you, you feel really good.  It lets you know that change is possible.  And it gives you motivation to continue to make change.

A series of small changes will make you a new person before you know it.

So, get off your hamster wheel.  No matter how hard you try, if you keep doing what you’re doing the way you’re doing it, things will not change for you.

If you think you don’t have time to make your business wildly successful, figure out how to be more productive, and what shortcuts you can take.  Then break it down into little steps and go do it.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at  home mom with three fabulous kids.  She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 12 years.  Jennifer’s passion is empowering others on the challenging and rewarding journey of entrepreneurship.

Having trouble figuring out why you’re stuck?  Find your answer in Jennifer’s free mini-course, Seven Simple Success Steps, and start changing your life today.

I go to a fitness club.  I have for over 20 years.  So I know this little graph to the right to be absolutely true.

I curse the full parking lot every January.  But take solace in the fact that it will only last a month or so.  And always, every year, it proves to be true.  By the end of February, we’re back to the old crew.

A few weeks ago during an aerobics class, I looked around at some of the people who had been attending regularly since the new year began.  And they were getting it.  They had gone from stepping on the wrong beat and looking around the room in frustration, to being in sync with the regulars in the class and in step with the instructor’s calls.

I also thought about the dozens of new faces that I’d seen once, and then never again.  They cared enough to show up.  But it was hard.  Others made it look easy.  But the newbies gave up in frustration, often even before their first class was over.

It occurred to me that my aerobics class mirrors life.  Those who show up — who keep showing up — succeed.  And, it becomes easy for them.  I wrote this post in my head while doing a fairly complex aerobics class.  Because I’ve been doing it for 20 years and it’s easy for me.  It became easy for me a long time ago.

The “just keep showing up” rule applies to most anything you want to succeed at.  As a baby, you just kept trying until you walked.  (Good thing babies’ brains are so undeveloped, most adults would give up after a couple of days . . .)

Musicians, athletes, even doctors.  When they started they had no idea how to read music, to hold the ball correctly, to diagnose disease.  But they kept showing up, and working at it.  Until they could do it in their sleep.

The same formula for success applies to your home business.  Show up at night after everyone else is asleep.  Work on your business.  You’ll learn how to succeed.

Nearly everyone who starts a home business fails.  And it’s always because they stop showing up before they start making money.  They’re looking for get rich quick.  They want to get their website up tonight and see $10,000 in their Paypal account tomorrow.

That’s not how it works.  Not for anyone.

The good news is, you probably signed a contract with that fitness club.  So it’s not too late to start going again.  Today.

But before you go, sign a contract with yourself and get back to work on your home business.  It’s not too late to be healthier, and wealthier, in 2010.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at  home mom with three fabulous kids.  She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 12 years.  Jennifer’s passion is empowering others on the challenging and rewarding journey of entrepreneurship.  Discover the Seven Simple Success Steps for free in Jennifer’s mini-course designed to start you on the path to personal growth and home business success.

Being the ever-conscious parent that I am, I tried to seize the moment for a “life lesson.”  I told her that she was right, with anything she wanted to do she would be become better at it with practice.

For example, if she practiced being nice, it would become easier to be nice.  (A concept that needs practicing when it comes to her 2-year-old brother).

As I made the bed, I started thinking about how true this was.  And it doesn’t just apply to gymnastics and spelling and things of the sort.  It applies to being nice, and to treating people right, and to developing positive self-talk.

Our physical body gets better at things as we practice them, as does our mind.  It’s called developing habits.  It reminds me of a story Denis Waitley tells about his work with world class athletes.

This won’t be a perfect telling of the story, but Denis talks about conducting tests where they ask the athletes to visualize running the race they are training for.  When they monitor the athlete’s body during the visualization, they find that the same muscles fire as do when they are actually running the race.

The body is so conditioned by practice that the race can be run in the mind.  The body reacts automatically.

And so does the mind.  If trained properly.  Let’s look at a simple example.  Someone cuts you off in traffic.  You react to this without thinking — by laying on the horn, throwing up your middle finger, cursing the person who dared to interfere with your drive.

Try to stop yourself from this automatic reaction.  Instead, say “wow, he must be having a hard day,” or “she must be late, I’ve been there,” or “I hope nothing’s wrong.”

Instead of reacting to the jerk who cut you off, react to the person who’s somehow struggling that day.  Before long you’ll notice that you won’t have to make a conscious effort to lay off the horn.  Your automatic reaction will be one of compassion rather than anger.

You will find, with practice, that you can change your entire outlook on life.  At first it’s hard.  You have to constantly push the negative aside and force yourself to think positive.  Oftentimes you don’t even believe what you’re thinking.  That’s okay.  It will come.

I love music.  I used to force myself to sing happy Mary Poppins-like songs when something was bringing me down.  Now there are times that I realize I’m in the middle of one of those songs without having given it any thought.

With practice, positive thinking and productive habits become as easy as tying your shoe.  First, exercise your mind and train it to develop new ways of reacting.  You will find that new habits emerge.  And, quicker than you think, personal and financial success will become a way of life rather than a daily struggle.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from 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 achieve success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Get weekly exercises for your mind  with Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan, the most complete and achievable personal development plan ever.  Develop simple habits for a successful business with your free copy of Jennifer’s Seven Simple Success Steps mini-course.

This first got me thinking that it truly is time to take a vacation.  But it also made me think about how we go through so much of life on assumptions and first impressions.  We don’t even consciously think about things.  We just go through the rhythm of life.

Of course assuming someone’s been on vacation when they haven’t is pretty meaningless.  But as we work on self improvement and struggle to develop a consistent cash flow in our home business, forgetting to step outside the box of what’s expected can be fatal.

Let’s face it, the assumption when you start a work from home business is that you are going to fail.  Your family expects it.  Your friends expect it.  And really, who can blame them?  They don’t predict your failure because they have no faith in you.  But because in truth, most people do fail in their home business efforts.

And sadly, whether you want to admit it or not, at least a part of you assumes your business will fail.  I remember being in line to get in the doors of a network marketing company seminar I was attending.  Everyone there was paying for the seminar, airfare and a hotel room.  I heard someone in the line saying “if this doesn’t work, I’m going to try . . .”

I’m sure it didn’t “work” for her.  Because she didn’t expect it too.  And she was ready to “try” something else.  I highly doubt that worked either.  Even people who are willing to devote significant money and time to their home business expect to fail, at least on some level.

Most of us start a work from home business hoping to get rich quick, even though we know that’s not reality.  Very few stick around after they discover how much work it’s going to be.

Those of us who do persevere fall into the trap of “it takes time to build a home business.”  True, but, once you start thinking like this, you don’t expect to make money.  And, surprise, in fact you don’t make money.

I’m not saying you should ignore reality in your home business expectations.  But, as Tommy Lasorda says, “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.”

The overwhelming majority of home businesses end in failure.  Knowing this fact, and likely being constantly reminded of it, you must take great care to overcome the failure assumption.  Because lots of businesses do succeed.  And yours can be one of them.  If you decide to make it so.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from home with her kids.  She has enjoyed the time freedom and financial rewards of home business ownership 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 mini-course designed to start you on the path to personal growth and home business success.

I was standing in the kitchen the other morning, feeling overwhelmed and a little stressed about all the work I had to do and the lack of any thought about what I might fix for dinner.

In hopped my 2 year old, sporting only his morning diaper.  He had a big smile on his face as he bounced on both feet around the kitchen floor, babbling something I couldn’t decipher.

He was totally immersed in himself.  He wasn’t playing with anything or interacting with anyone.  He was just happy.

And I wanted so bad to know what was going on in his little head.  I imagined that he was deliriously happy to greet another beautiful day full of so much potential.  I wanted to think I was at least partially responsible for making his life such a happy one.

But more than anything, I wanted to be him.  I wanted to happily hop around the kitchen floor with him.  I wanted his joy.

And it made me think about what age we are when it becomes not okay to outwardly express our happiness like that.  Or better yet, when do we cease to be that happy?  And why?

I know the short answer.  Toddlers can be so happy because they have no responsibility, nothing to worry about.  Everything’s taken care of for them.

But I’m not buying that.  I think that’s just an excuse.  And not a very good one.

We see the same sunshine that my toddler does.  Every day has the same unlimited potential for us as it does for him.  Even more really, because we are capable of doing so much more.

My 2 year old could have chosen to be cranky that morning.  Lots of things were not going to go his way that day, and he had to know it based on past experience.  I wouldn’t let him eat candy for breakfast.  His sister would take one of his prized cars away from him.  His brother would hit him.  I would make him take a nap no matter how hard he struggled.

When you think about it, he was going to potentially have a tougher day than me.  But he chose to start off happy and full of life, just as he does every day.

He knows something about self improvement that we don’t.  Wouldn’t it be great if adults regularly started their day running around their offices laughing and smiling about nothing other than the joy of being alive?

Instead we suck down five dollar cups of coffee to wake us up, and complain about our job, our boss, the economy, our spouse, blah, blah, blah.

The way you start your day is vitally important to what you make of that day.  So take a few minutes and think about what you want from your day before you give the finger to the guy who cut you off in traffic, causing you to be 5 seconds later to work than you already were.

JENNIFER HERNDON works at home with her kids.  She has enjoyed the benefits of home business ownership for over 11 years.  Jennifer’s passion is empowering you to success through a positive mindset and consistent action.  Start today with the Seven Simple Success Steps, Jennifer’s free mini-course designed to put you on the road to personal and work from home success.

I got an email from an internet marketer the other day promoting a training for people who aren’t having the success they want.  The email promised that the training wasn’t about that “mindset crap.”  Instead, it was going to tell me exactly what I need to do to achieve online business success.

Here’s my problem with that.  There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people who can tell you exactly what you need to do to grow a successful online business.  If you’ve been buying online marketing how-to products for a day, you probably own a product that gives you the mechanics you need.

The difference in those who succeed and those who quit is that the successful believed they would be successful.  And that belief translates into consistent, positive action.  Ironically, if you succeed with the course that doesn’t give you any of that “mindset crap,” it’s because your mindset is where it needs to be.

Here’s what happens if you don’t believe you can achieve success.  You buy a how-to course.  You start doing what it says.  You may follow the course for a day, a week, or a month.  But something happens somewhere along the way.  You don’t make money your first week.  This isn’t as easy as you thought.  It’s too hard to spend two hours a day on this.  You don’t have time.  You don’t have the technical skills required.  This doesn’t work.

And so you stop.  In your mind, it’s not your fault.  The course “didn’t work.”  The fact is, however, that about 90% of the reputable courses out there will work if you work them.  But if you don’t believe that you’ll succeed, you make an excuse to stop working.

If you do believe, it goes more like this.  You buy the same how-to course.  Initially, many of the same things happen to you.  You don’t make money the first week, or even the first month.  It’s harder than you think.  You become discouraged.

But the similarities in you and the non-believer end there.  You have a burning desire to succeed.  You are motivated by your family, your debt, your job . . .whatever.  Quitting is not an option for you because you know persistence pays off.  And you don’t quit until it does.  And so it does.

Many people have the attitude of “okay, I believe, now let’s get on with how to do it.”  That’s not enough.  You can’t just say it, you really have to feel it.

To become a believer in yourself you must consistently work on your personal growth.  Every day.  Before you buy another how-to course, develop a personal growth plan.  You will feel a difference in your life within days.  And the difference will change your life forever.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from 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 achieve success through a positive mindset and consistent action.  Start believing in yourself today with Jim Rohn’s One Year Success Plan, the most complete and achievable personal development plan ever.  Take action now by claiming your free copy of Jennifer’s new Seven Simple Success Steps mini-course.

Most of them had the typical “find your financial independence today” message. Most of them talked about the freedom of owning a successful online business. I got a couple of emails that claimed I wasn’t free at all unless I had developed a business that allowed me to do whatever I want whenever I want.

I obviously got the point of the emails claiming that if I was mired in debt, and a slave to a time clock and a boss I didn’t like, I wasn’t “free” at all. A depressing message that I am thankful not to have read over a nice holiday weekend. I question how much thought goes into such a message. Especially when the sender knows that 99% of his/her list aren’t “free” under this definition.

More important than questioning the wisdom of sending the message, however, I question the truth in the message. In fact, I absolutely disagree with the idea that you aren’t “free” simply because you can’t pick up and go whenever and wherever you want.

On the other hand, I completely agree with the emails I got encouraging me to declare my financial independence now. Because although you may not be financially free today, you are free to declare your financial independence today.

You are free to change anything you want today. Free to change your attitude to one of determination to not stop until you succeed. Free to start turning off the tv every night and working on your business instead. Free to learn how to put up your first website today. Free to start taking one step each day towards your success.

Suggesting that you aren’t free because you haven’t “made it” yet is so limiting. It’s exactly why most people never succeed. Because they don’t believe or understand that they have the freedom to do whatever they want to do.

And this is wrong. Whether you’re $100,000 in debt and have no business experience or knowledge, or you have lots of extra cash and are an experienced entrepreneur — it doesn’t matter. You are free to take the first step towards whatever you want to be, TODAY.

The holiday is over. It’s back to business. Don’t make excuses. Don’t wait to put it on your New Year’s resolutions list. Today is as good a day as any to start. Because if you start today, you’ll begin feeling the success you’re working towards one day sooner than if you start tomorrow.

You are free. Realize what a gift that is and take advantage of it. Today.

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.

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.