Another new beginning

So I am getting ready to take the plunge and start a business for myself. I am going to take what I have learned here and the changes I have made in my life and put them to work helping others set goals, learn self-confidence and understand what they mean by successes. I am terrified of doing this on several levels. But I also know this is something I can do, and need to do both to overcome the fear of it as well as for financial reasons. So I need to get a plan in gear and get started. First I need to exercise my demons.

In the past I have not had much luck working for myself. As an insurance agent I had trouble brining in clients and did not follow through very well on many of the small details of the business. Back then I was selling someone else's product and ideas and at the same time I learned some truly useful marketing skills. I know with a bit of effort I can develop a basis of clients and keep them coming back on a regular basis. This combined with referrals should be enough to get me started. As for the details and managing those it will be my own system of details rather than the rules of large, heavily regulated corporations dictating what is important. I have talked about taking back the battle field before and I think this is another one that needs reclaiming.

I also worry that I am not qualified to do this work. I am afraid I will give the wrong advice or that someone will take what I show them the wrong way. This is a silly thing to worry about because I give advice away for free every day and don't worry about it. People come to me with questions and I give honest responses. The problem I think comes from claiming to be an expert or an authority on anything. My qualifications are simply this: what I have done has worked for me and it can work for others.

The biggest fear I have though is that no one will want my help. I fear rejection more them pretty much anything else. I think this is what is truly at the root of my procrastination what if I start marketing myself and no one calls no one even take my number off the flyers. That thought terrifies me. This is what I have to work on now, not just in the context of the business but in the context of life in general. I will need to figure out a system I can use for this if any one has any suggestions let me know.

Thank you all for sitting with me as I fight back these negative thoughts. I would not even be considering this course of action if it was not for the great readers and commenter's I have had here. Your insights and encouragements have meant a lot to me and done wonders to help build my confidence. Once again thank you all and I will be back with more of my thoughts on personal growth and living the life we want to rather than the life society tells us to live tomorrow.

Finding the eye of the storm

This week has been hectic for me to say the least. I start school next week and my partner is on his winter break, there are so many errands to run and so little time to do everything. Today I have decided that it is my day I need time to collect my self and sit quietly doing the things I enjoy.

It is important in my mind to be able to find peace and stillness in a way that works for you. For me a quite day hunting around the internet for interesting things to look at is a good day, maybe playing some video games and reading up on a new RPG I want to play. Would this work for my other half, not a chance he would be bored and wanting to go some were or if feeling a bit more low energy he would rather work on an art project. The point here is that you need know what is rest full for you, were you find relaxation and not try to emulate others when it is time to rest.

For most of us the hardest part about resting is finding the time. The problem with this is it is not about finding time but about making time. We are in complete control of our own schedules even if we do not feel like we are. Every action we take, every meeting we set, every minute we spend doing something happens because that is what we decided to do. Not every moment may be spent the way we want but it is still better then the alternative. If we choose to not go to work we don't get paid, if we choose not to go to school we don't get good grades and so on. By knowing that we set our schedule and understanding that we have the power to decide what we want to do we can find that moment of peace, the eye of the storm.

One problem most people make when they budget there time is that they treat time to rest as a luxury rather then a necessity. Every day that we go with out time to relax and focus on the things we enjoy doing degrades our ability to deal with stressful situations. Our ability to foucus suffers, our tempers become shorter and our willingness to listen to others advice erodes. I am remnded of my father, an avid tennis player, he worked hard all week to suport our family. Saturday and sunday mornings were his time to get out to the courts play a few sets. If we had plans to do something as a family for the weekend we made sure that he still got to go play, he would come home much more relaxed and happier. He had found his peace.