Fall has finally arrived. As someone living in near Dallas, it was a very welcome change. This summer we broke our record of the number of triple digit temperature days in a year. We even had a last gasp of summer on the 29^th of September with 102.

With the change in seasons comes a change in thinking. Instead of trying to avoid the heat, people around here are looking forward to the State Fair, crisp mornings and Halloween with Thanksgiving around the corner.

This could be a season to change how you think about your life. Many people look towards others for the major requirements in their life. A job, either having one or looking for one, to pay for the things you want gives your power to other people. This is especially acute when you are looking for a job in these times. Like Blanche DuBois, you are dependent on the kindness of strangers.

This dependency shrinks your dreams. You shrink them to fit your income. You take a “staycation” instead of a memory making vacation with loved ones.  You drive a car that fit your budget, not your fancy. Your living accommodations are “cozy” instead of breath taking. All the while, you rationalize to yourself that it will get better “someday”.

I challenge you to change your thinking. Expanding your income to fit your dreams is not only possible but so much more rewarding. You can be your own boss. You can have a carpet commute. You take back your power and control. If you want a raise, you can give it to yourself.

Look at starting a profitable home based business. You can do so for relatively little. Even in down times, people can be successful in business. In fact, down times often force people to come up with ways to be successful because of the lack of alternatives.

Some of the things it has brought me are the two most important things to people at the end of their lives – memories and relationships. Many parents feel they are sending a stranger off to college because they don’t know who their child has become. I have been involved with my sons’ lives especially during their critical teen years. Before that, I was working much too long hours. My youngest still remembers when I would come home when they were finishing dinner.

I have chaperoned a choir trip to Walt Disney World. I have chaperoned band trips. I am often the only dad that’s chaperoning. I have been there dropping them off at school and more importantly, picking them up afterwards. I have confidence in my son’s driving because I had the time to teach him and log the required 20 hours before he got his license.

I have built relationships with my sons and provided foundations for having great relationships with them as they mature into adulthood because I had control of my time and my life. That’s often called time freedom and lifestyle freedom.

I am urging you with the change of seasons to change your thinking. Interrupt the “get a good job” mantra and take control of you life.

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Are you suffering from the summertime blues? What I’m talking about is the frustration with what you are doing now. You work hard, put in your time and you don’t have the money to go on the vacation you really want to have. Or, you don’t have work to do and can only spend time on a job search.

The economic news is not good and isn’t promising to get better anytime soon. Some estimate the current unemployment rate will be with us for the next couple of years. It sounds pretty dismal, doesn’t it?

There is good news. The statistics that the experts quote apply to population as a whole and they become meaningless when applied to an individual. The economy as a whole can be in a recession but that doesn’t mean your personal economy has to be in a recession.

Here’s some of the advantages being your own boss.

• You can’t be laid off.
• You determine when you get a raise.
• You can turn travel into a business expense.
• Your economy can boom no matter what others are doing.
• You pick the hours you want to work.
• You pick the location.

It’s not all fun and games. You do have to provide value and you do have to be self-disciplined enough to do the work.

What I recommend is to find something that is flexible and can be done on a part time basis so you can build the business while you are still bringing in a paycheck. The extra income can help you catch up on bills, pay off debt, etc. while you learn to earn.

By next summer, you can be doing what you want instead of wishing you were somewhere else.

If you would like a suggestion on what you can do, get your free CD at FreeRKCDForYou.com.

Technorati Tags: economy, free cd, frustration, job search, money, pay off debt, paycheck, vacation, your own boss

The beginning of Spring is a time of promises. Nature starts putting on her flower show. Kids start dreaming of what to do over the Summer break. People start thinking about vacations and trips. It’s a time of birth both literally and figuratively.

What about you? Have you started to think about moving your life forward? Have you thought about shaking off the moss of complacency and becoming active again?

Many people are living with self imposed limitations. Some people have never been exposed to lifestyles other than the one they grew up with. If their parents struggled to make ends meet then that’s the way life is.

It’s not the way life is just one way life can be. Many people every day wake up to possibilities. I know one woman in her 50’s who was a single mother with two daughters who grew up on food stamps and public assistance. She barely got by while living paycheck to paycheck in a run down apartment.

One day she was introduced to some products that had a positive impact on her health. Other people noticed the difference and asked her how she did it. She shared her products with more and more people. She really did not want to be in a network marketing business. Finally, a trusted financial planner told her that she had the two answers people are looking for – better health and better wealth. What really motivated her was the thought of all the lives that would not be changed if she didn’t promote the products that really helped her.

Today, she lives a life of freedom while doing things she never dreamed she could do. She wasn’t there to spend time with her daughters as they grew up, but now she can spend time with her grandchildren. She has changed her life and the lives of her descendents for at least two generations if not more. She has helped them break the cycle of just getting by.

Maybe you can relate to a family story of just getting by. I can. Now that Spring is in the air, maybe it’s time to give birth to your dreams and take actions to make them come to life.

Technorati Tags: dreams, limitations, network marketing, Spring, vacation

Since I work from home being my own boss, I don’t have to ask anyone else for time off. My son will be having some minor foot surgery done later this week. One of the requirements is that an adult be with him for 24 hours after the surgery. If my wife and I were working in a corporate job, we would have to figure out who burns a vacation day to be with him.

Since we both make money from home, once we get him home, it will be a day like any other day here. Since my network marketing business is a residual income, I could take the rest of the week off and the money would still come in.

It’s also comforting to know that if this surgery was major, heaven forbid, I would be able to be there for him without worrying about income.

Technorati Tags: be my own boss, make money from home, residual income, time freedom, vacation, work from home

Staycation is a new word that has entered our vocabulary. It’s where you can’t afford to go anywhere for vacation. I’m sorry, but I believe I deserve better.

The word became a staple in this new era of gas prices around $4 per gallon. These prices are really cutting into people’s budget. It’s the first time I have ever seen gas prices dramatically affect how people drive.

When you work for someone else, you get a double whammy with this situation. First, you have a ceiling on what you receive. In my 20 years of working for someone else, I did not have a real say in the raises I got. They were either budgeted at the beginning of the fiscal year or they were on a schedule.

The rising cost of commuting plus all the price increases of all the food and other goods that are affected by fuel prices can put a real squeeze on a family budget.

The frightening vision I receive from this scenario is someone who is trapped in a room with rising water.

My answer to this is to work for myself in my home based business. The lifestyle freedom that this has enabled me allows me to minimize the problems with rising prices. To get more income, I just work a little more. The concept of staycation doesn’t even occur to me.

Technorati Tags: family budget, gas prices, home based business, lifestyle freedom, staycation, vacation, work for myself