Earlier this week, my friend Norma Doiron shared this with me:

“Every one of us is either a plus or a minus in people’s lives,” says John C. Maxwell. The positive people usually know it — wake up each day and consider, “Who can I add value to today? It’s an intentional lifestyle…”

And it got me thinking about how easy it really is to make a difference in other people’s lives.

IF you live intentionally.

With most things in life, we get feedback.  And we’re usually motivated by some external outcome.

We publish a newsletter for our clients because they will read it, benefit from it, and do business with us.  We fix dinner because we’ll hear about (and potentially feel bad) if we don’t.  We excel at work so that we’ll get a promotion or a raise.   And so on.

To make a difference in someone’s life requires intentionality because it often comes without much, or any, feedback.

Let me share a story with you.

A couple of weeks ago I was at the baseball game with my kids, who are 3, 4, and 7 years old.  My boys (3 and 4) were anxious to see the fireworks, a St. Louis Cardinals’ tradition when a player hits a home run.  My 3-year-old, Justin, had asked the man sitting in front of us where the fireworks were before the game even began.

When the first home run came, of course the crowd came to its feet.  I lifted Justin up in the air so he could clearly see what he came for.

When the next home run came, we had just returned with food.  My hands were full of nachos and ice cream as everyone around us stood up.  The man in front of us, who was on a “guys’ night out” with three of his friends, had been tolerant and friendly to my overly social little ones.

Seeing my predicament, he lifted Justin up high so that he could again experience the colorful night sky.

The experience lasted less than 60 seconds.  But no less than a dozen times since then, Justin had told me about how “that man lifted me up in the sky.”  His memory of that small gesture is so vivid and important to him.

I have some regret that I’ll never be able to share with this stranger how he was able to make a difference to my 3-year-old that night.

And so too can YOU make a difference . . .

The sparkle in Justin’s eyes when he tells me about the man makes me think about times when a stranger smiled at me at just the right time, or a friend extended a helping hand just when I needed it most.  Even among friends and family, these small gestures go unnoticed or at least unrecognized.

There’s generally no external reward for small and often random acts of kindness.  Which is why it requires an intentional practice.

Always striving to be a “plus” to everyone you encounter can make someone’s day.  It can help someone change her life if done consistently.  It can establish you as someone people just feel good being around.

The benefits to the other person are clear.  And while such service to others is motivation enough to work to make a difference, you will find that the benefits to your personal life as well as your business make it worth the small effort.

JENNIFER HERNDON is a work at home mom with three fabulous kids, ages 3, 4 and 7. She has been enjoying the time freedom and financial benefits of working at home for over 13 years. Jennifer’s passion is empowering others to personal and business success through a positive mindset and consistent action.

Not every day inspires us to be or feel our best.  To recognize and appreciate the many ways in which we are blessed.

Some days, we need a little help.

Recently, I was at the gas station when I noticed a beautiful little bug on the concrete island around the pumps. Maybe “beautiful” and “bug” don’t go together for you.  But this bug was a nice lime green color and in the shape of a small leaf.

She was flipped over on her back, all of her tiny legs flailing wildly in a futile effort to right herself.

I wondered how long she had endured this struggle as I took my thumb and gently flipped her over.

She resumed her journey, and I imagined a look of relief on her face and a thank you on her lips.

For some reason, I felt really good about my little act of kindness all day.

The next evening, I was at the skating rink for my daughter’s lesson.  My boys were being energetic, to put it nicely.

I was at my wit’s end with them.  On the brink of forgetting all those lessons I try to implement about good parenting.

A woman who I know casually from skating approached me.  “You are such a good mom.  You are so patient with them,” she said.  “I wish I could be more like that.”

I immediately thought – she just flipped me over.

Her comment of course made me feel good, and put things back in perspective for me.  Of course she had no idea what a difference she made in my day.  She inspired me to regain my patience.

Some days you will be the bug.  And some days you’ll do the flipping.

And keep in mind, that while there will be obvious opportunities to “flip” somebody, far more often you will do it unknowingly.

You never know when even the smallest comment might make the biggest difference in someone’s life.  So it’s important to never leave something positive unsaid.

“I like your haircut.”  “That color looks good on you.”  “Your kids are so nice.”  “I enjoyed your last blog post.”

I used to keep small compliments of this nature to myself.  But now I say them.  I go out of my way to recognize positive things and tell people about them.

Certainly, at least, you’ll make the other person feel good with a compliment, or any random act of kindness.  And who knows, you may flip her whole day around.

As a bonus, you’ll also make yourself feel better.  If you are thinking, saying and doing nice things, you’ve got to feel good.  And, you’ll find that others will think, say and do nice things for you in return.

Take a minute and think about what you can do today to inspire someone to have a better day, to get more out of their day, or to more fully recognize life’s blessings.  Then, go put it into action.  And share with me below who you flipped, and how it made you feel.

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.

I’ve been working hard on a new project lately.  It’s left me a little overwhelmed and without much time for blogging (sadly).  But, it’s going well and I should be back to “normal,” if there is such a thing, within a couple of weeks.

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.

Remember when you first started your work from home journey?  You were likely attracted by the promise that making money online was easy.  And the pictures of the house you could buy, the cars you could drive, and the vacations  you could take just a few months into your work from home business.

Unfortunately, it hasn’t turned out to be that easy at all.  Instead of having an easier life, you’re likely feeling more overwhelmed than ever.  It’s not as easy as a couple of hours a night.  Not if you want to succeed in this lifetime.  And the work it takes to grow a successful work from home business is anything but easy.

A couple of years into my journey to grow a successful work from home online business, I realized something that troubled me a lot.  This new business that was suppose to bring me happiness and freedom and all things good, was actually making me more miserable than ever.

Once I realized what it takes to grow a five figure a month business, I was completely overwhelmed.  Yes, I’d finally figured out what I have to do, but I have no computer knowledge and am completely right-brained.

How would I ever be able to learn and implement everything it takes?  If you haven’t had this feeling of being completely overwhelmed, you are probably still deluding yourself as to the effort and skill necessary to successfully work from home.

Don’t despair.  As with most every problem, a little personal development and selfimprovement work can turn things around for you.

How you think about things is everything.  So the first thing you are going to do is stop saying to yourself, “There’s no way I have the knowledge, skill or time to do this.”

Instead, think about how working from home is going to simplify your life.  Working from home will give you so much more time.  I can throw in a load of laundry while I work.  And fold it during a break.  I can take my kids to activities during the day, freeing up the evenings for dinner and bedtime without all the rush.  And, I can go to the gym at night, which is a mental health break I couldn’t do without.

If I were slave to a time clock and a commute, there’s no way I could come home from work, make dinner, take the kids to gymnastics, go to the gym myself, and get everyone in bed before midnight.  I’m worn out just thinking about it.

Start using your visualization and affirmation time to focus on how simple your life is.  Not how simple it’s going to be.  You’re programming your subconscious mind to believe that you’re already living the life you want.

Next time, we’ll talk about how to simplify your day while you’re still juggling your j-o-b and your work from home business.  Then, your mindset will match your actions, and you’ll be happily on your way to work from home success.

JENNIFER HERNDON works from 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 mindset and consistent action.  Start simplifying your life today with the Seven Simple Success Steps, Jennifer’s free mini-course designed to get you on track to work from home success.

I confess that I had so much to do and so much fun over the holiday weekend that I just got to reading my emails from the weekend. And naturally, every internet marketer whose list I’m on had an Independence Day email for me.

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 cheap ampicillin buy 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 buy amoxil knows that 99% of his/her list aren’t “free” under this definition.

More important buy amoxicillin than questioning the wisdom of buy cheap amoxil 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 levitra cost 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 buy Amoxil generic 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 propecia hair loss 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.

buy amoxil online title=”mindfulnesscollage” width=”300″ height=”259″ Amoxil buy cheap class=”alignright size-medium wp-image-326″ />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 buy prescription drugs online 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 cheap ampicillin 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 generic amoxil complicated. I would really focus on the act of washing the dishes. I would consciously keep my mind from wandering elsewhere. It was a levitra on line 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 amoxil buy 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.

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 order amoxil 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 propecia levitra online price cost 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 online ampicillin 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 buy xanax 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 amoxil online free in Jennifer’s new mini-course.

“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 amoxil 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 amoxil online 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 Ampicillin online 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 amoxil generic really accomplished something.

When I have a big project with a deadline, buy generic levitra or am especially busy with a hundred buy online amoxil 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 finasteride 1mg 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.

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.

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 cheap amoxil 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 online levitra your goals and the joys of meeting them, the frustrations buy online propecia of falling short. But the bottom online amoxil 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 buy Amoxil generic buy ampicillin 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. buy vardenafil

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.