Monday, September 20, 2010

Surprise! Surprise! Surprise!

It's been quite a while since I have placed a post in this place. For those of you who have been wondering why, I've been on a crash course in learning the internet for the past year. I've tried many things, discarded most, and hopefully, kept the best.

In the process I have also learned a lot more about WordPress blogs and having my own domain and doing a bit more internet marketing, and with all that combined I have moved up to a WordPress blog and business.

Now don't get me wrong -- Blogger is a great learning platform and it is easy, but I have found that WordPress can be a lot more flexible since I control the majority of its aspect. Now I'm talking about the self-hosting WordPress that I pay for the domain name and setup and not the Free service they offer.

For this reason, and many others, I have copied all of my posts from this site to my new blog at:

http:/www.BlindBizWorld.com/ or just click Blind Biz World

My goal is to then delete this blog totally and hopefully those of you who would like to know what's going on with the Blind Biz Guy will join me there. I suspect I will keep it up until the end of the year and then all will be new with the new year.

Thanks for all your support and patience and hopefully I will see you on the other side.

Rick
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Monday, February 1, 2010

GOALS 2010 - THIS Time's the Charm!

It was around the middle of this past December, I was checking my email and I came across one from Vic Johnson. Now, I was introduced to Vic early last year by a friend who gave me some of Vic’s CDs which eventually led me to Vic’s website www.AsAManThinketh.net. It was through his mailing list that I received the invitation to join him on a webinar about setting goals for 2010.

Less than a week later I found myself in front of my computer waiting for the webinar to start. I figured it would be pretty much more of the same that I have heard in the past, and so I made no effort to have either pencil or paper around.

It started with the general welcome and opening statements, and then a brief overview of what would be covered. So far so good I was right with Vic’s presentation and then Vic went into the "meat" of his goal-setting lesson.

He said to think of 10 things that I would like to accomplish in 2010 and write them down. I had heard “write them down” before but had not seen much success in the past. By this time I believe I had a small need to prove Vic wrong (after all, goals don't work) and so I quickly got up and found a pad of paper to write my goals on. Once my goals were listed he said to put them in order as to when I would like to accomplish them.

Now that was new! I reviewed my list and, with a little more effort, scattered the numbers one through ten throughout my choices. Vic then said to put a date on my goals. He was starting to lose me again because I had heard that one before, but somewhat reluctantly I put a date on each of the ten items.

Vic continued with a few other things but by this time I was only half listening as I began to believe this webinar was going to be the same as so many others I have already viewed.

It was then Vic said something that got my immediate attention. He stated that my only job was to set the goals, and then every day follow through with a predetermined Action Step to move the goal forward. He stated that a person is either moving forward with action or moving backwards with lack of action. There was no standing still! Although I Knew I had heard all this before, this time, somehow, it was different. I quickly found myself riveted to every word he was saying.

Vic continued, saying, that if I did something every day to make my goals a reality the goals would be realized. He continued with if I did everything I could, every day to move my goal forward and the date I set arrives and the goal was not realized, just reset the date.

Most people in similar situations who work hard towards a goal and haven’t reached it by the date set would believe the goal was wrong not the date, but Vic says that couldn’t be further from the truth. When I set my goals for 2010 and I put action behind those goals on a consistent daily basis, then the solution is not to give up my goal but simply to reset the date and keep steadily moving towards my goals.

I felt like I had been knocked down by a prize fighter. During the many years I have struggled with goals I had never heard anyone, I mean anyone tell me to reset the date. I felt like the skies had opened up and the angels had started in with the Hallelujah chorus!

A wise person once said, “man does the sowing, but God does the growing”. Well, Vic pointed out to me that by setting my goals and doing daily action towards those goals was the “sowing” part. The “growing” or accomplishing of those goal is not in my hands and so I need not worry about day to day progress. I am in this for the long haul. My job - just keep planting seeds through my day to day actions and the results would take care of themselves.

I have to admit that I got excited. I mean truly excited!

At present, my goals are written down, posted, dated, and I review them every day. This is a new process for me, and I am sure as I get closer to my desires I will need to tweak things now and then but the overall plan is rock solid.

I used to hear people talk about when you truly have a dream backed up by a goal, backed up by an action plan that you will find yourself getting up early in the morning and staying up late at night and time will cease to have meaning. You’ll just be excited all the time. I didn’t use to know what they meant...but I do now.

It's only February 1, 2010, and there’s still plenty of time left to set up your goals and action plan. (There's no rule that says they have to be done on January 1st.)

Sit down right now and decide the 10 most important things you would like to see accomplish between now and New Year’s Eve 2010. Put together an action plan and put that action plan into Action! If you get stuck, go to Vic Johnson’s website and look into the resources he has to offer to get you unstuck. He has plenty of them and I assure you, that if you are serious about moving on with your life, the small investment at Vic’s site will pay back lots of large dividends. Try it, I mean really try it and you’ll see that once you get started you’ll be so glad you did!

(Or would you rather be a fish.)

Vic Johnson’s website: http://www.AsAManThinketh.net

Thursday, January 14, 2010

It's Not Too Expensive...I Just Don't Make Enough!

It seems that all I heard last year is how bad the economy had become. It seemed that everyone was scrambling--not so much to get more, but just to keep holding onto what they already have. It was like the frantic fever I see in the local grocery stores when it is announced that there is a "possibility" of a severe storm in my area. The shelves start emptying and the checkout lines get longer as a sea of people ruthlessly grasp for that last gallon of milk like the last lifeboat on the Titanic. I have to admit that there are days I would like to be a fly on the wall of those homes when the occupants realize that the "storm of the century" turns out to be nothing but a spring shower.

There was a time I would have had to ask myself what was the source of all of the great anxiety, but no more, I have found in the majority of cases the source tends to be the same place--our television.

Now don't get me wrong, I like television. But I learned years ago that the vast majority of the things I see on that box (and now on the internet) are not there because of being news worthy but because it makes good business sense. After all, mass media is a business and business can only continue to be fueled by the money it generates.

No, I don't have anything against business, after all, I'm a business person. But let me put it this way, when I go to see a horror movie I expect to be scared. That's why I choose the genre to begin with, and that's what sells. Same thing about mass media, I expect to see "doom and gloom" because that's what sells. A simple equation.

Okay, my point.

In all honesty I cannot say that our economic situation is the same as it was, let's say, 5 years ago. Frankly, I wish my situation was doing as well as it was then, but what i want to be cautious about is the fact that our present economic issues didn't just spring forth out of the blue unexpectedly. There have been signs for years. Most people were either chose to ignore them, were too ignorant of them, or believed that the government would solve any problems that came up for them. Is there any surprise that most of us are in the spot we are? As a friend once reminded me: No, things are not too expensive, I just don't make enough money! And he right.

So what is to be done?

In general, there's only two choices. Make the little you have stretch or make more money. Now, I don't know about you but my "belt" can only be tightened so far, and beans and rice can only sustain so long. My choice for the year 2010 is to make more money. And the best way I've found to do this is by being in business for myself, because I am visually handicapped, I choose to do that from home.

Over the next 12 months I plan on doing just that and documenting it as I go. If you are interested in joining me in the journey then come along. You can even do as I do if you would like. I choose to succeed in 2010 but even if it takes a little longer, at least I know that I will deserve everything I get because I am willing to work for it.

Happy New Year!