Motivation is a fundamental requirement for us to achieve our goals. How well and fast we achieve our goals is based on how motivated we are. When a person is trying to achieve goals it is important to try to find the motivation to attain them efficiently and effortlessly.

1. When changing your lifestyle do not make too many changes at once. Start gradually and get used to those changes. It is much easier to give up smoking or drinking, than to give up both at the same time. Or it is much easier to exercise twice a week rather than setting an initial goal of exercising 4-5 times a week.

2. When you are making a lifestyle changes try not to leave gaping holes within your lifestyle. If you are giving up smoking or drinking, try to occupy your time doing other things to take your mind off the cravings.

3. If you find it difficult to keep with the new lifestyle, rather than give up and go back to your old ways, try something else. It is not a crime to get bored of something. Only when you are happy and satisfied with what you are doing will you achieve your goals.

4. When changing your lifestyle, try to get a friend or loved one to do it with you. A problem shared is a problem halved. It is much easier to start an exercise program with a friend; you have someone to talk through your experience with and what you are achieving.

5. If you have a particular interest or hobby, try and base the changes around something that you like doing. If you want to get fit then this method will not only help you achieve your goals but increase your skill level as well.

6. Reward yourself for achieving short term goals along the way. There is nothing more satisfying than going to the shops and treating yourself.

7. With certain changes, you can allow yourself to indulge so that you’re not cutting everything out of your lifestyle right away. You can indulge your passion when you have achieved short term goals.

8. If you have many changes that you would like to make to your lifestyle, then choose one that is most easy to achieve first. Many of us have a number of things we would like to change about ourselves. Take the easiest one first and work your way up to the most difficult one. Achievements come in small steps until you start to get going and build up motivation.

9. Focus on the positive aspects of what you are trying to achieve and not the negative aspects. When you feel yourself starting to flag or get bored, reflect on what you have already achieved.

10. As with everything, achieving change is not easy. The better you research and plan how you are going to change, the more you will know and the easier it will be. When planning a lifestyle change it is important to look at the way you are going to achieve your goals.

One of the main factors in a lifestyle change such as getting fit or losing weight is the major change to a lifestyle that we are happy and comfortable with. To sustain a change takes determination, but when you have achieved your goals you feel as if you are conquering the world.

Business women are well known for being some of the busiest people around.

With either a home based business to run or one away from home, combined with responsibilities in the home for family or alone, there’s always something to take up too much time. In fact, some women start a home based business in an effort to be able to spend more time with their family while earning an income. While it is never easy to be a full-time working business woman outside the home, it can be just as hard, if not harder, to be a full-time working business woman from home.

Learning to get a balance in an already business life can be a challenge to any business woman. Here are some secrets for getting a life balance for busy business women if you’re a single business woman or one that has a demanding family.

1. A home based business can be a great thing but for the busy woman it can also add another dimension of obligations. If you are alone during the day to do your work, keeping a focus can be problem. If you have the discipline to stay focused you also need to know how to take a break once in a while so you don’t burn yourself out.

2. If you have family at home during the day, you have another problem. Family may automatically feel that you are at their service. This is even more so if the children are at home during the day. The day could look like this: one child may need a ride somewhere, another child wants you to find something they are looking for, and your spouse wants you to run to the store and buy something for dinner. On top of all of that, you have clients expecting you to complete various projects for them, as well.

3. Moving from busy to balance is what you have to consider as you look at your working situation. Gaining the understanding of a support group is a first step towards that goal. The support you need the most starts at home. If your family does not quite understand your work day, you might think about holding a family meeting to explain how important it is for you have time set aside for your business. It doesn’t matter if you leave the house and work from an office, or if you work from the kitchen table, work is work. Your family wouldn’t come to an office outside the home and ask you to do all those miscellaneous tasks; working from home should be no different.

4. You will want to set aside time for your family, just as you would for your clients. Working from home will allow you to have a flexible schedule and that gives you the opportunity to attend school functions and other activities. If you’re accustomed to taking a lunch break for work outside of the home, think about this inside of the home with your family. You could take your child to lunch or fix lunch together in the house. But after that you have to get back to work.

5. While it can be easy to procrastinate and not get your work done as a business woman, it can be just as easy to over schedule yourself and spend too much time working. Work quality family time into your schedule and it will be easier to ask family to give you separate time for your work.

Read Consuelo Meux’s other 5 Top Secrets of Life Balance for Busy Business Women by clicking here

If you work at home it’s not hard to get distracted. Friends and family stop by because after all, you are “home all day”. Spouses may demand YOU do all the house work because again, why not? You are “home all day” to do it.

Then of course there are the distractions of your children. Not always bad distraction, but still something that takes you away from your business.

A normal day may go something like this: Answer personal emails, grab the children breakfast, talk to someone on Instant Messenger or someone that called, do a little house work, get the kids lunch, break up a fight or tend to the children more, talk to others that call or instant message you, start supper. Where did the day go? Why didn’t you get to work on your business today?

Here’s a few tips to keep you from getting distracted:

• Separate Business & Family – Let your children know you have work to do during certain hours, and DO NOT feel guilty about it. You work at HOME and being in the same house with them at all times is a huge deal. Should an emergency arise, you are right there for them. Summer can be difficult to work around, but once school starts it becomes easier to work in the day with the older children in school,
• Turn off Instant Messenger – Or at least go invisible during your work hours. If someone likes to just chat, they won’t even know you are online if you are “hiding”. When your work hours are over, you can turn it back on again. If you get any personal phone calls, quickly set up a time to visit in person outside of your work hours. Make plans to go out so you can get them off the phone and get back to work.
• Business Email First – Either let your personal email sit, or set up a separate email account for your business. Don’t even think about checking that personal email until after work hours.
• Set Weekly Goals – Have clear cut goals and tasks you know you want to get done within a specific amount of time. If you have a list you are more likely to keep on track and not fumble around with non-productive tasks.
• Share the Housework – If your spouse doesn’t take you seriously, it might be time to sit down for a talk. Let them know you work too, just in a different industry. Show them the business hours you have set, and housework will not get attended to within these hours. Get him involved in certain tasks. If you share the income, you share the housework!

Hopefully these tips will prevent you from getting distracted, and increase your income over a period of time.

About the Authors: Kara Kelso & Anita DeFrank are two busy wahms, and the owners of Direct Sales Helpers. For free direct sales tips, visit: www.DirectSalesHelpers.com/newsletter.html

If you own a home business and have an illness or disease do you have an obligation to tell your clients?

Lest I look like a total insensitive boob, let me start off by saying that I am very sympathetic when someone or someone’s child gets sick or if there is a death in the family or other crisis. I get that life happens. It would be unreasonable to expect any business owner to truly be available 24/7 365.

One of the many benefits to owning a home business is that it affords you flexibility. Entrepreneurs generally choose to work at home either because they simply want to or often because of health concerns or caring for a loved one make it difficult to work outside the home.

Within my own team we have members who are dealing with Lupus, Cancer, Crohns, COPD, Narcolepsy, RA, Chronic Fatigue, depression, Bi-Polar, a brain tumor and Heart Disease. We have parents with special needs children and consultants taking care of aging parents. We have single parents and military spouses whose husbands are deployed overseas and we have pregnant and new moms. And those are just the challenges of which I am aware. I am certain there are plenty others that have remained private.

That said – if you own a home business and have an illness or disease do you have an obligation to tell your customers? My take on it is that no, you do not need to reveal this information providing your problems do not become your customers’ problem. If you can carry on your business in spite of challenges, and no team members will feel ignored or unanswered and if customers receive their product in a timely manner, then your health issues is no one’s concern.

If however, you’re going to be out of pocket or if the possibility exists that you could disappear for a while due to hospitalization or treatments, then yes, I do think you have an obligation to, at the very least, mention it to those you work with. The specifics can and should remain private, but it’s the responsible thing to say something such as, “I have some health challenges. I’ve been feeling very well lately and I do not anticipate it being any problem at all. However I wanted to let you know that sometimes I have off days or sometimes I need to be admitted to the hospital for a day or so. If that happens I will call, email or text you. Or I will have someone contact you to let you know what is going on.”

Me complaining about someone with health challenges would be the ultimate example of the kettle calling the pot black. It’s not the health issue that is the issue. It’s the lack of communication. The moment you decide to sell to one customer or take on one downline member, you’re in business. Whether you consider yourself a business owner or not, you are. Can you even imagine going to the orthodontist to pick up a retainer that you already paid for, need and are expecting – only to find the doors locked? No notice on the door, no one answering the phone, and no message left for you? No of course not.

Yet consultants and other freelance service providers see nothing wrong with accepting money for a product or service, providing a deadline when to expect delivery, and then not meeting the deadline, not communicating that life got in the way and inquiring if it would pose any imposition if the product or service were to be delivered a week later. I’ve seen it happen time and time again. And I’m not talking about a few days of no communication but weeks and sometimes months. Sometimes they even leave footprints on Twitter or Facebook, verifying that they are alive and appear to be well. Then eventually, after you repeatedly attempt to get a status update, they report that they had a death in the family or they weren’t feeling well. And what… there was no phone, smart phone or computer anywhere around in 5 weeks? I highly doubt they were on a deserted island. Communication is key.

Veteran Entrepreneur, Tara Burner has also experienced more than her fair share of consultants and freelancers who don’t deliver on promises made and who don’t communicate:

“As the popular saying goes, “Life happens”…but should it affect your business? No! Though sadly it seems to – especially in the WAHM community. We all have ‘things’ happen-kids get sick, we get sick or have health issues, people die, babies are born-but that doesn’t mean we don’t conduct business in a timely manner for months on end. When you’re in business, it takes work to build a client base and maintain a reputation of reliability and professionalism yet it only takes a missed deadline, unanswered emails & phone calls to destroy your reputation and your business.

There is an appropriate time for you to be ‘closed for business’ while going through things, but that doesn’t mean months should pass without conducting business and communicating with your clients. If it’s going to take that long, sell your business or close shop because people will move on and find someone else who is reliable, trustworthy and able to do the work at hand! Benjamin Franklin said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” Keep that in mind when you’re making excuses when you don’t deliver to clientele.”

Tara was dead on when she said “If it’s going to take that long, sell your business or close shop because people will move on and find someone else who is reliable, trustworthy and able to do the work at hand!” Take your website down, request a leave of absence, put your emails on auto-respond that you are away but if there is an immediate need contact ____.”

If you have an active business website or if your signature line includes various ways people can contact you – email, phone, Skype, Facebook etc. then it is expected that you will respond to any or all of those platforms in a reasonable amount of time – ideally within 24 hours.

Do you have a back-up plan should you become incapacitated or are unable to fulfill your business obligations? If not, perhaps today is the day to line up a friend or co-worker to step in or at least make notifications if you are out of pocket for more than a day.

RYBLAB – Run Your Business Like a Business.

When you plan ahead for the holiday season or any special occasion, you can take time off and it won’t hurt your business at all. It will take some added work on your part, but it’ll be worth it when you can take a few days or a week off and not have to worry about how you plan to make money.

There are two ways to make this happen and both will work, but you’ll need to decide how much time and money you want to put into it. Once you know that information, the choice will be easy to make.

One way is to do it all yourself. You’ll need to work longer hours so you can do double the work. You’ll need to make a to-do list and schedule your time so you know exactly what needs to be done and when you’re going to do it. It’s a good idea to plan ahead of time so you give yourself enough time to get everything done. Two or three weeks should be enough time. When you give yourself that much time, the hours you’ll have to work won’t be too bad.

If you plan to do the work yourself, you’ll need to let your family know that you’re going to be working longer hours so you can take the time off. They may need to help with chores and they’ll need to be patient during this time. It’s a good idea to remind them of the outcome and that will help them to understand why you’re doing what you’re doing.

The other way is to hire a Virtual Assistant to help you. She’ll be able to do the tasks that don’t require you to handle yourself. These would include scheduling blog posts, writing and scheduling social networking posts, email management, and many other tasks that may be specific to your business.

The holiday season or vacation time is meant to be spent having fun and being with your family. If you have to continually do work during this time, it’s not much of a vacation. That’s why it’s important to plan ahead and finish the work ahead of time. You’ll feel relaxed and you’ll be glad you spent the extra time doing your work early.

Corrie Petersen runs a successful Virtual Assistant business. She enjoys helping her clients plan ahead and so they can take time off during the holiday season or for vacations. If you’re ready to make this happen, click here to visit her Virtual Assistant site today.

In today’s society many women feel totally overwhelmed by the demands made on them. Work and family balance can seem like a constant battle.

So what is your definition of work life balance? Working out your priorities and deciding what really matters is the most important thing. Sometimes simple changes are all that is required.

1. Family. My daughter, now an adult, still fondly recalls the times we spent baking cakes in our kitchen. I still remember the pride in her face as she burst through the kitchen door to show her daddy the finished cakes with the pink icing.

I doubt very much if she has any memory at all of how often the oven was cleaned. The oven would have to be cleaned at some point but this task held no importance in her eyes.

Family time should be guarded carefully. Children in particular need to know the time you spend with them is not grudged or rushed with one eye constantly on the clock.

2. Work. There is no doubt some people have little control over their working life and many are wary of “rocking the boat” for fear they may lose their jobs. A good employer will respect work and family balance and it is worth remembering they have a responsibility for your wellbeing.

If you are working very long hours and feel stressed or unhappy, you should talk to your employer. It may be possible to reduce or change your hours. Flexible working is the best way to endorse work life balancing.

Working for yourself from home can be the answer for some as it offers the flexibility to work round family commitments and allows you to gain some control over how much work you do and when.

3. Being Organized. Knowing your priorities and planning your time will help you stay in control. Recognizing that one person can not do everything is key. If you have a partner it is time to divide up the workload. Sitting down and discussing things such as who does the household chores, takes kids to activities etc. all make a difference.

Work and family balance is about allowing time for yourself. Being organized will allow you some guilt free time out. It is very important to look after yourself and find ways to relax. For some it is having a night out with your partner or friends. For others swimming or simply relaxing in a bath makes them feel good.

In the end the benefits of balancing life and work are immeasurable. For the employer there is an increased commitment, productivity, retention, higher morale and less absenteeism. For the individual the feeling of being in control and valued, better relationships both in and out of work and a happier healthier life.

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