Me: You should have called me! I would have been happy to help you.
Them: Oh, I thought about it, but I didn’t want to bother you. You’re so busy!
-
Them: You have a blog?
Me: Yup. I love to write.
Them: Wow…
Me: What?
Them: Well, I just don’t know how you can find time to do that without taking away from [insert whatever project we're discussing here].
-
Them: Hey Annie, what have you been up to lately? Crazy busy as always?
Me: Umm, well I’ve been up to a lot of things, but let me tell you about the coolest bird I saw on my bird feeder this morning!
Them: Huh?
-
Them: So I hear you have gotten into real estate.
Me: Yeah! We love it. We have a couple properties now.
Them: So you’re not building Vemma anymore?
-
Them: I don’t have time to read. When do you do it?
Me: Well, I enjoy reading the most in the mornings, right after breakfast.
Them: Ha! Yeah, well, that must be nice…

I participate in a conversation like this at least once a week with someone. They’re all similar and all center around the same thing: being busy.

It’s been one of the most surprising reactions from people during my past two+ years of working for myself.

What is it with everyone and ‘being busy?’

I have so many questions around this topic…

Why do people assume that I am so busy to accomplish even the littlest extra thing?
Why do they assume that I am so busy that I have to pick one project, or one business, over another?
Why do they assume that, if I am NOT busy, that I must be lazy? Or not accomplishing anything?

Why do we seem to reward and applaud those that have the busiest schedule?

I was reading a short, sweet, and enjoyable e-book this morning from Kim and Jason Kotecki of Adultitis.org, and it got me thinking about busy-ness.

Since when does being successful imply that you don’t have time to breathe or live or converse?

And by the way, I’m not saying that I am the model of success. But I have two successful, cash-flowing businesses and several strong hobbies and am able to have the time freedom to work at home and dedicate time and energy and focus to all of them. Where along the line did we equate such a situation with being too busy to breathe?

I eat breakfast on the porch and watch the birds and meet friends out for long lunches and spend at least an hour every evening doing practically nothing but talking with my husband.

I also manage our two rental investments, support and grow a network marketing business with over 6000 people, network and socialize online, spend at least 30 minutes writing, 30 minutes reading, 30 minutes on personal development, and keep tabs on the dishes and the laundry and the dog and all the other duties that go along with managing a household. Often there is time for a walk or a run outside, or more reading, or chats with my Mom on the phone, or organizing of the junk drawer in the kitchen. Every, single day.

Since when does accomplishing such things in a day leave you without one minute to calmly answer a question via phone call? Or text your college roommate on her birthday? Or pause on the street corner to listen to that kind man that sometimes stands there and plays the violin? Or grab the scissors, walk to the back of the yard, and pick a couple roses? Or get in your car, order a mocha, and sit on the bench outside the coffee shop sipping it for a couple minutes while staring at the clouds?

And when did having the ability in ones life to appreciate and participate in such things imply that you were NOT successful?

Or, worse, that you were lazy?

There are many broke, unhappy people who are so busy living their lives that they’re not living their lives.

Don’t get me wrong, I have a full schedule. And with Babygirl S expected any minute, it will only be more full in the weeks to come. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t take – that I don’t prioritize – the time to live my life.

I would argue that success means that you are productive and efficient, focused, and well-balanced. Not that you are necessarily busy.

Busy is a state of mind. Too Busy is an opinion. Don’t you think?

—

Food for thought this Friday afternoon. Having a full and well-rounded schedule isn’t an excuse for not living.

You are NOT too busy to smell those roses. :)

Hugs,
AS

—

I don’t like to write about these types of things very often, but this one is too good to pass up.

Are you familiar with Adam Baker of ManVsDebt.com?
Or Karol Gajda of Gajda.com?

Or their joint project, a massive digital information product sale that only comes around once or twice a year, Only72.com?

Well, make sure you are. And make sure you do it today!

Here’s why taking a peek at their site today might be a good idea:

The quick gist of it is this: We run massive digital information product niche sales 2-3 times per year for just 72 hours at a time.

Only72 officially launched on Cyber Monday 2010 with a bang. The response was overwhelming, and besides having a successful sale, we raised over $30k for Charity:Water. Sale #2 in June 2011 resulted in another successful sale and we raised over $10k for The Kidney Foundation. And with our third sale on Cyber Monday 2011 we donated to the Women of the Americas Sustainability Initiative!

All told we’re lucky enough to call over 3,500 fine-looking, intelligent, men & woman our customers and we’re proud to state that we’ve raised over $45k for charity.

Our next sale, Only72 Presents The $100 Startup, will take place April 30, 2012.

Their next sale starts April 30th. Today!

Personal and business development…huge discounts…charity…they’ve got my attention. Let’s keep readin’:

We’re excited to team up with Chris Guillebeau to coordinate what we’re calling “The $100 Startup” package.

The $100 Startup is Chris’ new amazing book, which we are shipping anywhere in the world (at no additional charge!) with every package this time (the first time we’ve had a physical product as part of our sales).

In the book, Chris makes an even more brilliant case, including dozens of examples, of why your world-changing idea doesn’t need thousands of dollars to get started.

We’ve assembled training from a wide variety of bloggers, authors, teachers, and trainers on a diverse set of business topics.

This new package focuses on:
-Creating, designing, and successfully building a blog that actually matters to people.
-Identifying your passion (and then building a career around it).
-Becoming a freelancer (or improving your writing).
-Building confidence, balancing work and life, and facing fear.
-How to sell (ethically) in a way that actually works (one of my favorite courses).
-How to improve and increase ad income (if you run a website with advertising).
-How to structure your technology, productivity, and small business systems.
-How to publish a book and how to get paid to create art professionally.

As you can see, we really tried to diversify the different courses and training in this package – so that it can benefit almost anyone who wants to get started online.

The newly released book $100 Startup is on my wish list. That alone makes me excited about this sale.

The package of materials that are available are perfect for just about anyone who wants to make a side income or a serious business out of anything online. Writers, designers, bloggers, marketers, you name it.

However, if that’s not you? If you’re not looking for any additional money on the side, if you’re not looking to build a business, if you’re not looking for personal development and business growth? Then these materials aren’t for you.

Please don’t spend your hard-earned pennies, mmkay?

Here is how Only72.com works:

You get $1,000 in courses for just $100 (one-time payment).

We’ll also ship a hardcover copy of Chris’ new book anywhere in the world to you.

We can only do this big of a discount (90% off) for a few days. The sale lasts 72 hours.

Once the sale is over, it’s over for good. We do one or two a year max – and never with the same training.

It’s a simple idea that helps a lot of people.

And finally:

If you’re in the market for training to help you start or ramp up your business or income from creative sources, I firmly believe this is the best offer of the year (for an affordable price).

If you aren’t starting or running a business… Or don’t have interest in leveraging your creative talents to produce side income… then don’t be silly and buy this package.

At the end of the day, if you download the package – and never actually apply the training? You help no one.

It doesn’t benefit me long-term. It certainly doesn’t benefit you.

So if you take advantage of the hard work we did to put together such an amazing package – you have to promise me you’ll actually study, use, and then TAKE ACTION on the content involved.

If you can pinky-swear me you’ll do that, check out the full list of products included here.

Personally, I’m excited about the parts of the package that will teach me a bit more about freelancing and book publishing. Because, you know, I have those writing and reading geek tendencies. Hubz is looking forward to the passion/career materials.

Can’t wait.

Check out Only72.com, friendlies. You’ll be glad you did. The clock is ticking!

—

Cheers, Baker and Karol. This is an impressive offer. Hope it helps a lot of people!
AS

—

Want your business to grow? Want your LIFE to grow? Try these:

1. Burn the boats. If you land on an island and command your squad to start fighting the natives, what’s the surest way to gaurantee that you win? Burn the boats.

Put yourself into a situation where there’s no turning back. That way you HAVE to succeed. No matter what. Figure out what that means for you and your situation. If you allow yourself a fallback, what motivation do you truly have to push and be creative and make success happen? If you don’t have a fallback, if you’ve burned the boats, your mindset about being successful switches from something like “It would be nice if this works” to “It has to work, it will, it must.” Don’t underestimate how powerful that can be.

2. Ask a question. Looking for a new client for your consulting business? Send an email to ten of your closest, most professional friends and ask them if they know anyone who could use your assistance. Better yet, pick up the phone to call them instead. Not sure if you can figure out how to set-up your ebook shopping cart on your website? Post a tweet and ask if anyone else does. Looking for customers to buy your vitamin supplement? Ask, ask, ask. You won’t know until you do. And until you do, you’re just sitting around thinking about being in business. Which brings me to…

3. Know your exact intentions. Say you’re building a network marketing business. What’s your goal? I mean, your number-one, most preferred, perfect world intention? Probably looking for one or two other people to do exactly what you’re doing. Right? Although wonderful and necessary to business, your top intention probably isn’t to find a new customer who places a one-time order, or to find a distributor who is only halfway interested in sharing the product with one person over the course of the calendar year.

Love and support all your clients/customers/team members where they are, but be honest with yourself about what, or who you are really looking for. The clarity and confidence it will provide you in moving forward and simplifying your business will be worth it.

4. State your exact intentions. It’s not enough to simply know what they are. People in my Vemma business come to me all the time saying that they can’t find anyone open to building a business like they are. They’re struggling to duplicate themselves. “Are you actually ASKING people if they’re open to building a business like you are?” I inquire. The response is almost always, “Oh, hmm, not really.”

If you want it. Ask for it. Put it out there. Because how are you supposed to, say, attract and sign that perfect legal practice that wants the year-long social media consulting package that you’re offering if you don’t specifically ask them to hire you for a year-long social media consulting package? How are you supposed to nab that monthly column in the fashion magazine if you just send them your portfolio without a specific request for the monthly column job? The answer: you won’t. Practically never. People can’t read your mind, and rarely is what you exactly want handed to you without asking. Ask, and you’d be surprised how often you receive.

5. Know where you’re going. You have heard this one before. The late nights spent sending a few extra emails, picking up the phone to make those uncomfortable phone calls, rearranging your childcare to attend the networking event. None of that will happen, or you will quickly tire of it, if you don’t have an exact definition of where all of it will take you. And exact means EXACT.

“Any extra money I earn will help my family pay off our credit card debt.” Not clear enough.

“The first $500 I earn will go towards paying off my Banana Republic card. After that, all extra will go towards my $9500 in student loans.” Perfect.

Earning your first $50 might not seem like a big deal when compared with the looming destination of “paying off my credit card debt,” but when you measure it up against your first destination of a $500 store card balance, you can see the impact. Know exactly where you are going and the intention you have for what you’re doing, and make it easier on yourself to stay motivated and celebrate the impact of the little victories.

Right after Christmas, Hubz and I set a quirky little goal that required us to come up with $6000 in extra in just 4 months. We wrote our $6000 countdown on the white board in the office and every extra tidbit that we can nab – a freelance writing check here, selling a couple pieces of furniture from the dusty corner in the basement there, extra added to our savings after a pay period, etc – we record and subtract from the total. Now, we’re not rich by any means but we enjoy our lifestyle, and we have never appreciated an extra $50 or $100 more than we do right now. Before, it was just money. Now, it’s a specific step towards this destination. We didn’t change our spending habits nor our lifestyle, just defined our destination. It feels like that $6000 is appearing out of thin air. Really powerful.

6. Open your mind. Learn something new. The biggest step in personal development isn’t actually learning something new, it’s acknowledging the fact that you don’t know everything and that you COULD learn something new.

There are a few people in my life – whom I love dearly, don’t get me wrong – but who read a finance book or a business book or a nutrition book, close the back cover, and then declare, “It was an ok book, but I knew all of that stuff already.” You did? Really? You might as well have spent those last four hours watching Mad Men, because you surely didn’t get any use out of reading something when you weren’t in a mindset to learn.

Open your mind to the possibility that you can always – always always always – be better and stronger and smarter and kinder, and you will migrate towards ways to make that happen. Whether it be through reading a book or meeting a mentor or attending an event of likeminded people. Automatically.

—

Same thing, super-short version:

1. Make success a requirement, not an option.
2. Ask for what you want.
3. Be honest about your intentions.
4. Announce your intentions to others.
5. Know the exact path you are on.
6. Acknowledge what you don’t know, and how you can grow.

—

Practices. Practice them. They’re easy to do, they’re easy not to do. It’s your choice. Can’t wait to see you put them into action.

So today happened. Err, it is happening. It’s been one of those days where I woke up energized to do big things, to really move the needle, but I’m so motivated that I don’t have a focus.

You know what I mean?
You do know what I mean, right?

(Click here if you can’t see the video.)

See? The video didn’t even make focused sense! Ugh.

So, the question of the day is: how do you find your focus?

How do you force yourself to get to work when there are so many fantastic things you could be working on? How do you pick one when there are such great options?

My brain needs you. It needs you bad.

HELP!

In scatterbrainedness we trust,
Annie

I ran into this poster last weekend:

So the key, then, would be realizing when you’re just “being busy.” Right?

Knowing when you’re just being busy, or you’re not on the right track, or you’re in need of halting your dig.

Right?

Stopping, every once in a while, is a good thing, you know. Taking a moment to put down the to-do list, to take a step back and reflect.

Pausing is a good thing. A coffee break pause, a weekend pause, a summer vacation pause.

Use them to relax and determine if you are on that elusive right track, whatever that might be for you. Then – and here’s the kicker – make sure, before you take the pause in the first place, that you’ll be able to deal with and take action upon the realizations that come forth while you’re doing it.

Otherwise, what’s the point? Might as well carry on digging that hole that may or may not be in the wrong place.

Being busy is seductive. But what’s even more so? Being busy with the confidence that you’re busy-ing in the right direction.

Don’t you think?

We have a friend who frequently asks for our opinion on personal development books. Which one he should read next, specifically, and unlike many others who never make it to this step, he actually picks up what we recommend and reads them. Go him!

However, the accolades, sadly, end there. He reads them, we ask what he thought, and his response usually centers around, “It was ok, but I knew all of that stuff already.”

After completing the book, he doesn’t live his life any different than he did before.

He doesn’t grow.
He doesn’t admit to himself that he could grow.
He doesn’t take any action based on what he read.

In essence, he’s just reading. Entertaining himself.

Reading books for entertainment is fine. Great, even. I do it all of the time.

Personal development, though? If you want to improve the circumstances in your life, you have to not only make the decision to read (or listen) and follow through with it, but you have to accept the knowledge you gain and allow it to change you.

Don’t forget the difference, ok?

I’m the kind of character that loves working from home, but struggles with it sometimes.

And isn’t afraid to admit it.

I’m the kind of character that writes because she loves it, but hopes beyond hope that at least one person out there finds a tiny bit of inspiration or hope or…laughter?…from her writing.

But she would do it anyway, even if there wasn’t.

I’m the kind of character that tends to hesitate to push herself, yet jumps at the challenge when someone else doubts her.

I’m the kind of character who believes that anyone can improve their situation, if they simply decide to make a change.

If they decide to push through the fear of change.

I’m the kind of character who thrives on self-education, making a difference, and connecting with others.

I’m the kind of character who used to think she “worked hard for the money.”

The artist put those words on this drawing for me, but I believed them wholeheartedly.

Now that phrase makes me crinkle up my nose and wonder how I changed so much. It makes me think about how I still work hard, but in a totally, completely, 1000% different way.

(I wonder if my mouse still loves me, even if I tethered its cord long, long ago? :) )

I’m the kind of character who thinks it’s important to sit back once in a while and review who you are and where you’re going.

The kind of character who gets a kick out of finding an old, forgotten artist’s rendering of herself and how much it makes her think about where she was and what she was like at the time it was created.

(Early 2004, by the way.)

What kind of character are you?

How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.

An old line. But a true one.

Instead of seeing projects or progress as giant mountains to climb, why not break things down into smaller, more focused pieces. I think a lot of us, present company included, tend to default to seeing the whole picture for, well, all that it is. Kind of hard not to.

Your goal is to replace your entire salary with your side business.
Your goal is to read 52 books this year.
Your goal is to pay off all your debt.

How do you make progress on such huge accomplishments? How do you know what you should be doing today, this very minute, to get a smidge closer to making them happen? I don’t know about you, but I definitely don’t have vision that focused.

Break it down, place your focus on the tidbits. The monthly, weekly, daily digestible tidbits.

Digest one at a time, over and over and over again. And before you know it, that elephant will be yours.

Yum. :)

So. You know how you hear people say that “stick with your gut” line? Sometimes that’s easy to do, right? But for some reason, there are also times where sticking with your gut is maddeningly difficult to do.

Argh.

I left my corporate job in January 2010, and shortly thereafter I applied to volunteer at a couple places around town. Giving my time to others was a big part of my excitement about finally being self-employed and having complete control over my schedule. Except, a few months into it, it wasn’t exciting.

I signed up for Habitat for Humanity, enrolled in several iterations of the volunteer orientation, and could never get myself to go.

I signed up at a local animal shelter, attended several of the orientations, scheduled myself to volunteer on several different occasions, and couldn’t get myself to go.

I was failing at volunteering. I mean, seriously, who fails at volunteering?!

For many weeks and months I thought something was wrong with me. None of it felt right. I doubted that I did, in fact, want to work in my community. I felt selfish. I felt lazy. And never once did it occur to me that maybe I should think about why I wasn’t interested, or that perhaps my lack of interest was a signal one part of my brain (wherever that “gut” thing is located?) was trying to send to another part of my brain.

It’s not a fit for you, Annie! It’s not a fit for you, Annie!

Then, while I was busy working on something completely unrelated the other day, it hit me out of the blue; it’s not that I don’t want to be volunteering, it’s just that I picked the wrong outlet for it. Duh duh DUH. So I stopped what I was doing, hopped into the car, and drove to the closest library.

The library! Of course! Do I need to say duh again?

I picked up and filled out an application. I returned a couple days later for an interview. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the specific department in which I will be spending my time. Later this week I will be a full-fledged volunteer for the first time. And I can’t WAIT.

I ignored my gut for months, I logic’d myself into something I didn’t feel was right, and even made myself feel guilty about it. I wish I would have listened to that little voice in my head much, much sooner.

Why is making the decision to ignore logic and go with your gut feeling sometimes require so much darn convincing? Shouldn’t it be, you know, a gut decision? Something done without thinking?

Beats me. I don’t know the answer. But what I do know is that I will be trying to listen to it more often.

You with me?

Want your business to grow this year? Making a big difference on the success of your 2011 doesn’t have to mean making big changes.

1. Throw out your New Year’s resolutions and annual goals. It’s January 19th; define five, specific mini-goals you would like to accomplish by February 15th. Then get to work.

2. Be honest with social media. In 2009 the masses were introduced to the social media world. 2010 they tested it out and tried to put every, single piece of it to use for their business. This year? Be honest about what fits best for you. If you don’t connect with Twitter, decide not to use it. If you get a lot of use out of MySpace, don’t be guilted into not using it. Be honest with yourself and the best use of your time online.

3. Send a gift to a networking contact for no reason. Write “Just because I thought you’d enjoy it” on the card. My recommendation? A book, of course.

4. Say no. You can do it, ready? Nooohhhhhhuuuuwahh. Try it again? Noohhuu. Nice! Now keep practicing.

5. Set aside ten minutes every day to learn something new. You pick the method – a non-fiction book, a blog, a trade magazine, whathaveyou. Do it either first thing in the morning or last thing at night, and discipline yourself to never skip a day.

6. Contact a local university and submit a job posting for an intern. You’ll be providing a student with valuable work experience and getting a second pair of hands for free in the process.

7. Answer the question – what do I have to offer? What specific experiences and knowledge do I possess? Write down the answer (or answers) and make a plan to develop a product around it. Be it a new email series for your clients, a weekend convention for potential customers, or even an ebook for your blog audience, you’re offering something new, building relationships, and adding an additional income stream to your business.

8. Every other time before you hit Send on that tweet or Update on that status, erase what you wrote and write a sincere promotion for someone else instead.

9. In the next week, identify two of the most common processes that occur in the everyday operations of your business. Pick one of them, step back from it for a minute, take yourself out of the equation, and find a way to automate that process. Everything can be systemized, you just need to figure out how. Make it happen. Put the system into effect immediately. If you’re feeling super-productive, repeat this exercise monthly.

10. Say “thank you” to someone – anyone – every day.

11. Once a quarter, if not once a month, spend a long weekend with the most likeminded friends you have. Travel across the country if you have to. If you don’t have friends with the same goals and mindset as you do, attend a networking event every week and network your face off until you find them.

So, what do you think? What would you add to the list?