There seems to be a theme in the blogs I’m reading today.  Fear and Self-Doubt.  And I just had a big long discussion about this the other day.  I have a LIST.  Yep, a whole LIST of reasons I can’t succeed in online business.  Since everyone else is sharing, I thought I would too.

1. No Focus.  I have too many ideas and I’m committed to all of them.  I run a website consulting business, a home fitness for women business and this blog for WAHM balance.  I don’t know how to present myself.  As ONE person, or THREE?  So far, I’ve gotten no answer to this question… even though I’ve asked.
2. Fear of Competition. I look at other websites that are similar to mine. I get jealous of what they have accomplished. I believe there is no way I can compete, so why should I bother?
3. Guilt.  This one cracks me up because, logically, I know it’s silly. When I network online with others in my “field” or post a comment with a link to try and build traffic to my site, I feel like I’m stealing.  Who am I to take attention from them and try to turn it to me?  Who am I to ask them to “share” their followers?  When I actually CAN compete with a lower price, I feel bad for making others look over-priced.
4. Lack of Support.  Okay… I don’t want anyone to take personal offense here.  This is my issue and I’m probably not aiming it at anyone in particular.  People don’t understand what I’m doing.  They think I should be out working for someone else earning a paycheck.  They don’t purchase from me.  They don’t tell other people what I’m doing.  They don’t believe what I’m doing is real, why should I?
5. Delay of Gratification. I can spend days on a project or idea and have it go nowhere.  If I were working for someone else, I’d still get a paycheck… on a schedule… whether the idea worked or not.  I don’t always see immediate results from my work-at-home efforts and I’m impatient.
6. Lack of Discipline.  I’m not going to get fired if I don’t work.  It’s sunny outside and I want to go enjoy it. Who’s gonna stop me? Oh, there’s a sink full of dishes that needs attending to. Let me just finish those up and I’ll get back to the website. I’d better get my workout in before it’s too late. Aren’t I supposed to be spending time with my kids? I know I have to make a schedule… but I don’t have to.
7. The Failure List.  I HAVE A FAILURE LIST!  (And if I sat here long enough, I could make it even longer.) I’m doomed!

Maybe tomorrow I’ll come back and tell myself off for this…

WOW!  I can’t believe it was THREE years ago we had Camp Cleanup.  (I honestly thought it was only two, but there’s the 2007 date in print.)

Any way, the conversation of summer camp came up with my neighbor/friend the other day, so I told her all about the Camp Cleanup we held a few years ago.  She thought it was a good idea.  Oddly enough, my kids liked it too. The house could definitely use it.  And we still have the camp t-shirts from 3 years ago.  (The shirts were so big then that they still fit now.)

The idea behind Camp Cleanup is to give your kids something to do during one week of their school vacation and get your house clean at the same time.  While everyone else’s kids go off to camp, we stay home and clean.  (My daughter just said “we have fun”.)  We spend the mornings cleaning together and then do something fun (or even more fun) together as a family in the afternoon as a reward.  Make camp t-shirts, go to the park, get ice cream, etc.

Going back to read my old post, I remembered that we designated an area of the house for each day and drew from a cup every morning to see what it would be.  Sounds cheezy, but it really did add to the excitement.  We worked our way from ceiling to floor in each area, trying to make it as fun as possible.  You know, throw water all over the kitchen floor and skate around in it with wash cloths under our feet.  Stuff like that.  You’ve really gotta get creative!  (Which is hard for me to do… Not sure what I was taking when I came up with the idea.)

We are thinking about repeating Camp Cleanup this year.  I need some inspiration!!!  Do you have any fun ways to clean that you can share?  How about some great inexpensive rewards to fit the theme?

Just like “Connecting Rainbows” isn’t really about rainbows and my recent “Déjà Vu” experiences weren’t really promnesia, this posting isn’t really about “How to Make Chicken Soup”. It’s just another one of my crazy analogies. If you were really looking for a recipe on how to make chicken soup, I apologize.

During my recent great therapy session, my therapist and I were discussing road blocks that I have in my work-at-home mom career. (Hmm… road blocks… another analogy.) What is stopping me from moving forward? Well… I’m not an “expert” on anything. “Be the expert“ and “You don’t necessarily have to be the expert, you just have to appear to be one” are comments that I’ve heard over and over again in the WAHM community. (Just to be clear, I’m not entirely sure this is what was said, only what I heard.) I can’t work that way. I think that’s lying and being phoney! Whether I heard it right, or not, whether it’s being phoney, or not, doesn’t even matter. What matters is that somewhere in my mind, I believed it. I believed that I had to be an expert or I couldn’t get anywhere with my work.

However, just as soon as I said that out loud, a new thought popped into my mind.  Chicken Soup for the Soul!  Ah ha!  I don’t HAVE to be an expert!  I don’t HAVE to know everything! Who says I can’t use other people’s information and opinions (with permission, of course) to pull that together? Seriously… Chicken Soup for the Soul wasn’t written by one person. It is a compilation of other stories presented by two people (Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen).  I can do that!  I can use my vision and my knowledge of the subject and fill in the blanks with information others already know.  DUH!  Seems like a no-brainer NOW!  (Those road blocks can be rough.)

Now there are messages out there everywhere confirming this thought and I can retrain my tricky little mind into believing a new reality.   On Twitter this morning, @AWHWorg said “Don’t wait until you are ‘expert’ enough! Find other experts & great resources. Be the talent scout. Ask Q’s for your customers. Get set GO!“  And I didn’t previously follow her on Twitter.  Someone else retweeted her comment for me to find.  And then I found this article: You Don’t Need to Be an Expert to Be Successful (different subject, same bullet points). 

The universe is talking to me. 

P.S. The “work” I was referring to in this blog is for my Home Fitness for Women website, in case you want to visit.

Have you seen the famous article The Good Wife’s Guide from Housekeeping Monthly, 13 May, 1955? This is almost identical to the legendary textbook lesson that Snopes.com reports as “undetermined” in authenticity. Fake or not, either version is amusing to read.

Here is my WAHM version:

1. Have dinner ready. Do your best to have a warm meal on the table for your family at a reasonable hour. If your schedule allowed time for a fresh home-cooked dinner, great! Your husband will certainly appreciate the fact that he “lets” you stay home to take care of everyone. When you just don’t have time to cook, grab from one of the frozen double-batched meals you made over the weekend for this type of dilema. And if worse comes to worst, call out for pizza!

2. Prepare yourself. Grab a wine glass and fill ‘er up! It’s been a long day and you need to relax and take a break before the evening shift starts.

3. Clear away the clutter. Close the laptop or shut off the PC. Stack and remove the papers from the kitchen table or counter top. (You need someplace to eat that warm meal.) Pick up some of the toys that are sprawled all over the floor. Make it look like you didn’t just spend the entire day sitting in front of the computer monitor.

4. Prepare the children. At least know where they are and what their homework is.

5. Minimize all noise. Heck with that! Turn on the radio or CD. The music will help you keep moving while clearing away the clutter.

6. Some don’ts: Don’t turn on the TV. Don’t sit on the couch. You’ve worked too hard for it to look like you sat on the couch eating Bon-Bons all day.

7. Make him comfortable. Meet him at the door with a hug and a kiss. Appreciate him for dealing with the 50+ hour work week and for his long commute. Then have his children hug him while you make a break for it and leave him with the kids.

8. Listen to him. When he finally breaks free from the kids, before you start informing him of the chores you’ve done and what the children got into, let him tell you about his day. Even though you have no interest in hearing about the corporate blabber, pretend you care. It will make him feel important.

9. Make the evening his. Let him go do his thing. After all, you have to get back to work and finish the things you couldn’t get done with your preschooler wrapped around your leg.

10. The Goal: Try to make it appear that you have it all under control and that you being at home is the best thing for everybody. It is, isn’t it?

11. My One Addition: Make sure to spend some time with your children and husband instead of just working all the time. Don’t forget your “why”.