For those of you who have children, how many of their events at school have you missed out on this year due to your job or your timely business? Now it doesn’t matter how big or how small these school events are. So whether you go just to see them sing a few songs, eat a popsicle or walk across the stage for a graduation, all are equally important to your child. If your child brings home a paper with something happening at school, most likely, parents are invited and you should go!

What I have noticed, if my daughter tells me about something coming up at her school, or asks me to go, she really wants me to go. She not just inviting me or telling me because her teacher told her to. If I can’t go, they feel left out when the actual event happens. Even if just one other parent shows up with their child and nobody else does, your child will still feel left out wondering why her Mom and Dad couldn’t be there. It means a lot to them, and it means a ton to me as a parent as well. I know it does to you also!

Tell me, is an hour of pay worth more to you than an hour with your child at school?

Today my daughter is having her end of school field day. I will be there. Earlier this week my daughter had a presentation at school. I was there. They sang four songs and then we ate cookies and punch with them for the rest of the time. It was something so simple, yet, I could see her beaming the entire time we were there. I loved every bit of it. Every event she has had at school this year, I was there.

If your job or your business is keeping you from “being there” for your kids, it isn’t worth your time! Let me say that again, if your job or business is taking precedence over your children, drop it like a rock. It isn’t worth your time.

Now, I realize that you must have an income to feed and clothe your children. There are better ways to create an income than what most people are doing right now. You can work from your own home in a home based business and have the time freedom to always “Be there!” You just have to do it. It is a choice!

And regardless of whether this offends you or not, by having a job that requires you to miss your kids events, you have directly chosen to miss those events. You can’t blame it on your job, your business or whatever. You have directly chosen not to “Be there!” You always have a choice and I want you all to realize that. Don’t spend the rest of your childrens childhood absent. Be present. Don’t ever miss out on your kids.

A man was walking down a street. It was a very nice street with all kinds of shops, restaurants and people. It was the most prosperous street in town and this certain man was having a fantastic time. He was headed to a restaurant he had heard about and lunch time was approaching. Well, before eating the best meal he would ever have, he looked at a wall down an alley, and read something someone wrote. It said, “This is the worst street in the world. Don’t eat the food, it’s the worst food you will ever have and it costs way too much!” Well, naturally, the guy decided not to eat at the restaurant, which is also the choice that most people would make. Only very few actually go into the restaurant after reading the writing on the wall. These very few are the people that enjoy the best food and will continue to return to the restaurant regardless of what someone else says, because they know first hand and create their own opinions. It turns out, the guy who wrote that comment on the wall, which is graffiti, lives just below it in a cardboard box.

The internet is a wall full of graffiti from people who have been offended, found fault, found what they thought were greener pastures or just plainly quit. That’s why it is there. They can’t blame themselves for their own failure. That would be crazy right?! So they make their blame public by using the internet.

I mean, someone could walk into paradise and still find something wrong with it if they were looking for it. Right!? Thus is life. As an example, I live near Phoenix Arizona. I’m not saying that Phoenix is paradise okay, but when it rains, it cools off the entire town, and for a brief moment, can be paradisical. It only rains a few times a year there and people were actually complaining about the rain, wishing it would stop. This is proof that people will complain about anything, regardless of what a blessing it is.

Ten times out of ten, the guy to listen to is definitely not the guy who moves from one opportunity to the next, hoping that it will be better than the last. And ten times out of ten, the ones to listen to are not the bums writing graffiti in forums. The ones to listen to are the people who have created success. It just makes sense! You just have to ask yourself the questions, “Who do want to become like?” If you want to be a graffiti bum, take advice from the graffiti bum. If you want to be outrageously successful, take advice from the outrageously successful. Simple!

I eagerly await the day when the majority of the people take the advice of someone successful over the opinion of 30 people who are not. Following the majority has never been the way to create success in life. Otherwise, everyone would be outrageously successful. If you are following the majority, chances are, your results are just like the majority, average! Ask Albert Einstein if he followed the majority, Abraham Lincoln, Michael Jordan. There a leaders and there are followers. A follower, is not a leader.

It turns out, the restaurant owner in the story decides to leave the statement on the wall that deters so many people and is glad it is there. Why? It’s because he now gets the perfect customer. The customer who is loyal and returns often and tells all his other loyal friends about this great restaurant. The statement on the wall keeps out the ones who would have found fault, even in paradise! It keeps the ones out that are “wishy-washy” in their decisions and jump from one thing to the next. It keeps out the ones who are terrified to experience change. It keeps out the followers of the majority. The graffiti bum has actually done the restaurant owner a huge favor!

You, the one reading this, might be the one who bases decisions on what the graffiti says. If it is you, I hope you are enjoying “average!”

Choose to be the one out of 30 who can see past the graffiti and the bum living below it, who was the author of it.

From time to time I will get the question, “Is this a get rich quick scheme?” I think it is hilarious when I do because most people probably can’t even define what a “Get rich quick scheme” really is. I assume it is something that promises you that you’ll get rich with little or no risk or effort. I would think this would be something a little more like gambling or pyramids, something you can just throw a little bit of cash at in hopes to get a ton back.

Let’s analyze the phrase, “Get rich quick,” a little bit. I guess it really all depends on the rate at which one gets rich, right? Before we get into that, let’s establish what being “Rich” really is. It would be safe to say that being a “millionaire” would be a good starting point. There are a lot of factors to consider when determining if someone is really rich, so for the sake of time, let’s say a millionaire is someone who is rich.

Let’s do some basic math. I believe the average annual income in the USA is right around $35,000. How many years, at that income, would it take a person to make a million bucks? Don’t worry, I couldn’t figure it out in my head either. Here’s the numbers:

The average person will take 28.57 years to make an accumulative million dollars, with all or most of that going to pay their costs of living. This business opportunity puts you on a much quicker path to making your first million. Instead of a 29 year track, you hold the potential to do it here within 18 months to 5 years. It’s been done over and over again. It’s definitely not a get rich quick scheme, or a scheme of any kind, but definitely a get rich quicker “theme!”

Take a look at it this way. When on a long walk you come to a mountain. You can either choose to go over it or around it. Both ways will take you to the same destination. One will obviously take longer than the other and one will be a lot more risky. Which one will you choose? The one who chooses to go around, will happily stroll along using just enough energy and risk as needed to get around the mountain. The one who chooses to go over it, will become stronger with each risk, building muscle and confidence with every obstacle.

I don’t know about you guys, but I sure didn’t want to spread my first million over a period of 29 years. I took the shorter path. Really all it is, is the ability to take a risk. The risk in this business opportunity is not whether it works or not, but instead, a risk in whether or not you will work. That is the only risk there is. If you will work and make it happen, welcome to the shorter path. I look forward to working with you and seeing your tremendous success!

Everyone starts a home based business for their own reasons. For some it’s for the nice home, the fancy cars, the gadgets and the nice clothes. For others it’s for the time freedom. Some people may just want to start a home business to do something different than what they are currently doing or just to get away from their job. Every single individual has their own reason. This reason, is unique, and powerful and is the fuel behind their success. It is the reason they will either fail or succeed. If their desire to obtain this “reason” is strong enough, they will succeed.

The purpose of this post is not to educate you all on the will to succeed. It’s to discuss the importance of having a reason, and knowing when you have obtained your reason.

To give you a quick example, our reason for starting a home based business initially was to make money. At least we thought that was the main reason. We had a mortgage staring at us in the face, bills that were piling up and a shortage of income to make all our ends meet. But once the money started coming in, we found out our true reason. We could have gotten a second job to make ends meet, but we were looking for so much more. We were looking for the lifestyle, the lifestyle that would allow us to spend more time together.

So many parents rarely see their children due to their work. They are not the primary influence in the lives of their children. After missing eight months out of the first year of my oldest daughters life, we made a decision to change. We weren’t about to see our children grow up without us.

Now that I look at my life, I have everything I set out to get by starting my home business. Amy and I were sitting on the back porch, reflecting on some of our goals and thinking of the life we have created for ourselves. The youngest was down for a nap, and Amy brought up our main reason for getting started with this business opportunity. It was to bring Daddy home, to make the income to support our lifestyle and to use that income to travel the world and enjoy each other. We have obtained all that we came here for. Anything we do beyond that is extra and adds to our main reason.

Four years ago when we made the decision to get started, to leave the job and to create our new future, we really had no idea how sweet it would really be. Now that we are living it, it really is that sweet.

Living your reason, your ideal life, is not a difficult thing to do. It just involves making a big choice….and then following through with passionate consistent action. And trust me, it’s a lot closer than you think…..and has always been within your grasp!

Sometimes, working from home can be a struggle. What? Did I just say that working from home can be a struggle? I must be out of my mind right? I mean, you don’t have to get up early, go to a job, take orders, work for a wage, deal with corporate politics, worry about employees, leave the house and miss out on your children growing up. There are a ton of perks and very few negatives about working from home. It has been a huge blessing to my family and I. We love it.

Let me share an example with you of something that can kill your work day progress. Her name is Macy. She is just over one year old, she loves her Dad and I love her, but she cries when she can’t have Dad. Also, I have Kyla and Saydee who are seven and five who also require Dad’s attention. Saydee is not in school yet and is a bored hyper little girl. She can only color, play Wii, play barbies, jump on the trampoline or ride her bike alone for so long before it isn’t fun anymore and she is back to being bored. Kyla gets home from school mid afternoon and is excited to be home and is ready to go do stuff. All of this is why I work from home, I love it. But, if I let it distract my work day, it can be very damaging to my success.

Now, for me, I have to designate a period of separation from my kids in order to be effective. I can’t be holding Macy and type on the computer at the same time. Some people may be able to pull this off. My wife is actually a very talented one hand typer and is probably faster one handed than I am with two. I just can’t do it.

So what we do, is we have an office. A room where I can escape from the kids for a few hours to work. We have established some rules around this office time so that the kids know that I am working and not to interrupt. We made it fun for the girls and helped them make a sign for my door. They know that when the sign is up, Dad is working. It’s kind of funny, I get reminded at least twice a day what the sign means when it is turned one way or the other. They take ownership in the rules. Now, does this work 100% of the time? No! But is sure does help.

I usually work from 2pm to 5 pm every day, Monday through Thursday. Fridays I work in the morning for about an hour. That’s it! The important thing is that my wife and children know when I start work and when I finish work. I have my DMO (Daily Method of Operation) established. There is no frustration of not getting that chance to get some work done because it is planned into my day. I don’t ever get to the end of my day thinking of all the things I have to get done because I never had the opportunity to do it that day. Three hours of focused, uninterrupted work is better than 8 hours of unfocused mediocre work.

If you are a single parent with children at home, plan to work around your lifestyle, not settling for excuses of why you can’t do it. Plan to do it. Work during nap time, before they wake up, after they go to sleep or while they are away at school. Make it a priority and it will happen. It just has to be planned in.

There are some days where all I require is my phone and people to talk to. Those days we are most likely out on the road living the lifestyle. Other days, I am marketing to find those people to talk to. Give and get!

Honestly, there is no comparison to the lifestyle I enjoy. No other business opportunity on the planet can even hold a candle to this. I love my life and have complete control over my time, whether with children or without. They are definetely not distractions, they are not a burden, they just love their Dad. Every time I go into my office, I go there because of them. I am always home while most Dads hardly ever are, and I will never take that for granted.

What other methods have you found effective in managing your home life while working from home. Your feedback is appreciated!