Have you ever had one of those days when you just don't want to play anymore? You just want to pick up your marbles and go home? We have all experienced that feeling at some point or another. You may have had to deal with that feeling while on your job, or when you are faced with a difficult personal situation. Did you actually follow through on that desire? My bet is that even though you really, REALLY wanted to quit, you didn't. Somehow you found the strength, courage or both to continue, even though you wanted to throw in the towel.No matter how difficult a situation may become, there are always opportunities to be found. I know that sounds like Pollyanna, but most successful businesses and people look for the opportunity, especially during tough times. Even in today's tough economy, there are more people now starting their own home based business than at any other time. If we all followed through on our desire to quit when times get tough, then nobody would attempt to start a new business when we can see how hard times are for everyone.
Perhaps Norman Vincent Peale said it best, "Problems are to the mind what exercise is to the muscle; they toughen and make strong."
Throughout our life, we are faced with challenges. Each time we are faced with a difficult situation, we have to make a decision, do we quit, do we continue what we are doing, or do we try to find another way to deal with the problem? Marsha Petrie Sue would identify that situation as either having to "take it, leave it, or change it". Each challenge you are faced with may seem insurmountable at the time, but if you take the time to analyse the problem, perhaps a solution would present itself. Granted, one of the solutions could be to quit, but that may be one of many options available to you.
If you find yourself in a situation where your first reaction (not response, but gut reaction) is to just throw in the towel and quit, stop, and take a good hard look at what is going on. Quitting may be the right answer, but do not just rely on your 'gut' reaction because that reaction may be based on your limited experience in that specific situation. If you don't think you can find an alternate solution, seek advice from a colleague or professional in the specific field. You would want to talk to someone who you respect, but you need to keep an open mind when you ask for their advice. Be forewarned, the person you talk to may not agree with your initial assessment, or they even may suggest something that you do not like or do not agree with.
If the person whose advice you requested does not provide you the answer you were hoping to get, do not get mad at them. Remember, you asked their opinion, they gave their OPINION. Do not beat them up because you don't agree with their opinion. It is OK to not agree with an expert's opinion, but remember, you asked for the opinion, so you should at least honestly look at it before you dismiss it out-of-hand. If you are unsure of the answer, perhaps you would want to ask another expert for their observations. The key is to ask questions, and not to react if you hear the answer that you really didn't want to hear.
Perhaps you want to know if you should go into a new business venture. You have a friend in that particular field who has been in it for years, so you ask them if it would be a good opportunity for you. They may tell you that it is a bad idea for you to get involved. If you were excited about the opportunity, you may become angry with their answer. What you need to do before reacting, is to find out why they think the particular opportunity is something you don't want to get into. Is it because they are leaving the field because it is no longer producing as effectively? Perhaps they believe that your personality would not mesh well with that particular business opportunity. They are an expert in the field for a reason, do not dismiss their opinion just because it does not match the answer you wanted to hear. What you really want to hear is their view of the truth. Then you match up your views with theirs, compare the similarities and differences, and then make a responsible decision.
Your friends and family may want you to not start a new business venture because it scares them. It is OK to ask their opinion, but do not base you final decision on their opinion alone. Again, the key is to gather as much information on the subject you can and then to make a reasoned decision. If you reacted and did what everyone told you to do, you wouldn't get much satisfaction in your life because you were working on pleasing everyone else except yourself. Do you homework, ask a lot of questions, talk to experts or professionals in the field, and ask your friends. After gathering all that intelligence, then whatever decision you do make will have been reasoned and thought out, not based on unfounded reactions. Reactions are great in life-and-death situations, but in business, reactions can get in the way of reasoned thinking. Gut reactions are good and may help, but every successful business person will tell you that they became successful from hard work, research and thinking things through instead of working problems out with pure reactions.
Starting up a home based business now may be a great thing for you to do. You need to determine what you want out of the business for you and your family, and then determine if it will fit with your personality and lifestyle. Look for the good and the bad in the business idea before getting involved. If you know the down-sides, then if something does go wrong, you at least were prepared and may have even thought through an alternative solution. Taking chances is a scary process, but can be very rewarding if you have mitigated the risks and anticipated the problems.
If you have any questions regarding starting up your own home based business, please feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com. We will be willing to offer our advice, even if it is a business opportunity that we do not offer. Our goal is to help you to develop your own business and become your version of successful.
Until tomorrow...
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