Motivaitonal Monday - February 13th

Welcome to yet another installment of Motivational Mondays.  I apologize for not providing your Wednesday installation of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits, last Wednesday was more than a little crazy...actually, when you come to think about it, all of last week was absolutely nuts.  Well, before we get too distracted and I wander off into a discourse of how crazy a week can get, lets work on our Motivational Monday topic.

Last week we talked about reviewing your past successes, learning from those successes but not reliving those same successes.  Today we are going to talk about dreaming.  Dreaming can be good for you and it can be bad.  We are going to cover both aspects of dreaming tonight...

Remember when we were much younger (only a few days ago for me...) and we had all these big dreams about what we wanted to do and what we wanted to be when we grew up?  Well, hopefully you all have not yet grown up.  You should continue to dream and to dream big.  If you dream about relatively simple achievements, you will never get motivated to go out and achieve those dreams.  If you dream big, you stand a much better chance of becoming motivated to start working toward that dream.

There is a practical aspect to dreaming big though.  Dreaming big is one thing, but you can't dream of becoming a runway model if you are 5' 1" and more than a little overweight.  There has to be a bit of a practicality to your dreams.  You know what dreams you have that you can achieve with a lot of work.  Some people may just talk about their dreams, but never put any effort into working toward them.

If your dreams are real enough to you, there is no reason in the world why you wouldn't be motivated to start working towards them.  Start a "dream board" where you begin putting pictures of what you want up on a cork-board or wall.  As you collect these pictures of your dreams, you should start becoming more motivated to obtain those same dreams.  Then, on the days, weeks or sometimes months where you feel you are lacking the motivation to do anything, you can look to that wall and remind yourself of why you are working so hard.

No doubt you have also dealt with those who are "dreamers".  These people may talk about all the great dreams they have, but they never, ever, seem to get anything done.  They only dream about what they could do or have, but they never make the effort to work towards that dream.  That type of behavior can be very de-motivational (is that really a word?).  Those are the types of people that you want to avoid because they could suck you into their dream, and keep you from doing what needs to get done to achieve your dreams. 

Your dreams should be your source of inspiration, something that drives you to get up every morning, and the same something that keeps you up late into the night.  They should get you excited about the future, they should drive you to plan and work to achieve those goals.  Powerful dreams can move you to heights you may never even believed you could achieve.  These dreams are what create greatness in man.

So, focus on your big dreams, develop your own "dream board" and start working on moving closer to achieving that huge dream you have always had.  Even creating a dream board is a lot of fun.  You may find that the more you build your dream board or wall, the more you want to continue to build it.  That board can become an awesome inspiration to you and your family to keep working towards your dreams.

Until Wednesday (really...I mean it...THIS Wednesday...)...

Motivational Monday - February 6

Happy Monday one and all!!!  Welcome to our second February installment of Motivational Monday.  Hopefully your Monday wasn't as bad as you may have imagined it would be over the weekend.  For those of you who watched the Superbowl yesterday, it was a fun game...  No matter who you may have rooted for, both teams played hard and well.  I don't have any fingernails left after the game yesterday, but I am happy I got to watch it. 

Watching these two awesome football teams battle it out for that ultimate prize, you have to wonder how they stayed motivated.   Both teams had huge motivation to win, yet we all know there was to be only one winner. (In my book, both teams were winners, they both played to the absolute best of their abilities).   I read in the news today that Tom Brady was utterly dejected after the loss to the Giants.  It has to hurt, to be so close to winning the Superbowl for the fourth time in his career.  Heck, the Patriots were leading until the last 4 minutes.

From this loss, you have to wonder, how does the team get motivated to play again?  The most obvious is that you know they have to look at their past successes.  They know they can win, they know they have the talent to win.  Now, to stay motivated, they will have to remember the successes, but they must also look at what they did wrong and learn from those mistakes or missed opportunities. 

What the New England Patriots are going through after yesterday's Superbowl is nothing different than what we all go through on a daily basis.  The only real difference is that a lot more people saw them fail, whereas we may only have a handful of people watching us fail.  In this economy, many people are looking for work and having one heck of a time landing a job.  They may be interviewing like mad, but never getting that job offer they hoped for.  It is difficult to continue day after day to remain motivated, when you feel like you are continuously failing and not landing that job.

You need to stay motivated, remember that you did land jobs in the past.  Focus on your strengths, not your weaknesses, remember why you were so good at your job.   Focus on your successes to help keep you motivated.  As we discussed last Monday, you do not want to dwell on those successes, but if you feel that your resolve may be slipping, remember your prior success and strive to remember how good you felt when you did get that job, or win that big contract. 

Use your successes to motivate you to move forward.  Even though Tom Brady was very depressed and despondent yesterday, you know that in a day or so, he will start focusing on what they need to do to win the next Superbowl...  He brought his team 3 prior wins, he will build on that and motivate not only himself, but his team to focus on winning so they can take the Superbowl podium next year.

Until Wednesday....

Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits for February 2012

Welcome one and all to Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits for February 2012.  Since today is the first day of the second month of the year 2012, I thought it would be fun to review trivial facts about the month of February.  February 2012 is special, not only is it the shortest month of the year, but for this year in particular, it is a leap year.  So, I feel sorry for anyone born on February 29th, they only celebrate their birthdays once every four years.

Did you know that February starts on the same day of the week as March and November (in non-leap years) and starts on the same day of the week as August this year (leap year).  In leap years, it is the only month that ends on the same weekday that it begins.

February was named after the Latin term februurm, which means purification (based on the purification ritual [Februa] held on February 15th in the old lunar Roman calendar).

The Anglo-Saxon's called February Solmonath, meaning mud month.

The Finnish people called February helmikuu, meaning month of the pearl (from the snow dripping off the trees).

February is the only month of the year that can occur without having a full moon (not this year, the full moon is scheduled for February 7th, 2012.

The second day of February is often referred to as Ground Hog's Day.  The superstition that surrounds Ground Hog's Day is that the ground hog comes out of it's burrow on February 2nd to look around.  If there is sunshine and he sees his shadow, then he goes back to sleep and there will be an additional 6 weeks of winter.  If there is cloud cover and the ground hog does not see his shadow, spring is right around the bend.

 The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania where there is a celebration to see if Punxsutawney Phil (the ground hog) will see his shadow.

The Roman Catholic Church does not celebrate Ground Hog's day, but celebrates February 2nd as Candlemas Day (the festival of lights).  The candles used in the church during the rest of the year are blessed on this day.

The whole month of February is a celebration of Black History month in the USA and Canada.

Did you know that February is also National Condom Month???

Shrove (also known as Fat Tuesday) Tuesday is in February and it begins the 40 days before Easter (for this year, that would be February 21st).

Some not so well known dates in February:
February 4th is Independence Day in Sri Lanka,
February 6th is Waitangi Day in New Zealand,
February 12th is Paul Bunyan Day,
February 15th is Flag Day in Canada,
February 24th is Flag Day in Mexico, and
February 28th is National Tooth Fairy Day in the USA...

Now that you know too much about the month of February, have a wonderful rest of your week.

We will chat with you later this week, (I have some thoughts that I will post in a few days...)

Until then....

Motivational Monday - January 30

Happy Monday one and all!  Welcome to another edition of Motivational Monday.  I am willing to bet that not all of you are feeling too "chipper" today.  No surprise, today is Monday, and traditionally, Mondays are not all that much fun.  Granted, some of you do enjoy Mondays, but for the person who has a great weekend, going back to work on Monday is not always enjoyable.  Today we are going to review some more points on how to get through Mondays and how to not just survive the work-week.

One tip to remaining motivated is to let go of your past.  Before you all get angry, please let me explain.  There are a few ways you can let go of the past, but I am not suggesting that you let go and FORGET the past.  The key here is to not DWELL on the past.

History (the "past") provides many great lessons for us, but if continued to dwell on what happened in the past, you will never be able to more forward.  It is very important that we learn from both our past mistakes and our past failures.  How many people have you encountered that seem to live in the past?  They tell you how great things USED to be, and how much better their life was.  Or they may tell you about the time they made that mistake and nothing has ever gone right for them since?  It is that kind of thought processes that you need to get rid of.

If you continue to re-live the past, you will never find the motivation to make changes and improve your present.  I learned one very important piece of advice many, many years ago that has stuck with me...you cannot change the past, you can only change YOUR ATTITUDE towards the past.  This is extremely important if you want to keep your motivation for the future.

You need to acknowledge that the past occurred.  If you made mistakes, you need to accept that you made those mistakes and learn from what you did wrong.  By making mistakes, you are forcing yourself to learn.  If you didn't make any mistakes, you probably would not be where you are now.  Heck, the sticky note (that little yellow post-it note that 3M makes?) was actually a mistake by one of 3M's developers. They were trying to make a type of glue, only to make a glue that didn't stick very well.  You all now probably know how successful the 'sticky note' is for many of us, especially those of us in an office.

Making mistakes opens up new avenues for us to try new things.  Now that you know this doesn't work, you can try a different path.  But, if you constantly lived that same mistake, you will never have the desire or motivation to try anything new.

How many people have you talked to that constantly relived their greatest successes?  This is almost as bad, if not worse than reliving your mistakes.  Constantly reliving your success could prevent you from going out and becoming even more successful.  Like the mistakes of the past, if you learn from your successes, then you can become even more successful in the future.  Also, realistically, how many of you want to hear for the 100th time how Joe made that one awesome sale and brought home a six-digit paycheck the next month?   Wouldn't you rather hear about how Joe made that sale, and then has continued to make better sales up through today?  Then, you can learn from Joe's successes and possibly apply his techniques to your business.

So, in a nutshell, if you want to build a successful future and maintain your motivation, let go of the past, both the pain and the successes.  Use the past as a building block and a tool to motivate you to do even better in the future.

Have a wonderful Motivational Monday.  Until this Wednesday...

Finding your Passion in Business

Last week we discussed reviewing where we were in business and setting goals for where we want to be by the end of this year.  While we were discussing goal-setting, I mentioned that it was not only important to set obtainable goals, but to set goals that you were passionate about. 

This week we are going to explore a some possible ways that you can find your passion in business.  Let's first define Passion:  "Passion is a term that is often applied to a very strong feeling about a person or a thing.  It is an intense emotion, compelling feeling, enthusiasm or a desire for something." - Wikipedia definition

If you are in a home-based business, or are managing a small business. it is highly likely that you were extremely passionate about the business you got involved in.  The problem is that running a business, especially a home-based business, can be very time consuming and tiring.  After a while, you may start to wonder why you ever thought you wanted to be in business for yourself in the first place. 

If you are still working your business, you may need to rediscover the passion in your business.  It could be helpful to sit down and write down all the reasons WHY you got involved in that business originally.  Sometimes, when you go back to the beginning, you can rediscover the passion that inspired you to start your own business.  As you rediscover your passion, write down the points that you feel very strongly about.  You want to remember those aspects of your business when times start getting difficult again.  Do not focus on the negative aspect of your business, everyone has tough times, and focusing on the negative will not allow you to capture the passion (positive passion) that you were hoping to discover. 

Once you are able to rekindle the passion you had at the outset, now would be the time to start setting goals for the future.  If you had focused on the negatives of your business, odds are that your goals would not be all that they should be and you could very well start a downward spiral of your business.  As you start defining your goals, always be sure to verify that you are passionate about the goals you are setting.  You should be very passionate about all of your big, long-term goals because if you are not, there is a very high likelihood that you will not achieve those goals. 

Make sure your goals are realistic, but that they are also designed to push you and your business to greater heights.  If you can set long-term goals that you feel very strongly about, then it will be so much easier to remain motivated and passionate  as you work towards those goals.  After your "big" goals are set, then you can start designing those smaller, stepping-stone goals, that will help you to attain your "big" goal.  Again, if you are passionate about the end result, you will find a much stronger motivation to continue working towards that goal, despite any road-blocks that will appear.

Sometimes you may discover that you cannot recapture the passion you once had.  If you feel you are in that position, before you do anything rash, talk to some other small business owners.  Ask them how they managed to work through their challenges.  As we discussed last week, talk to successful people.  Do not waste your precious time and energy talking to people who feel your passion is misplaced or misguided. 

Continue to strive to be passionate in your business, and strive to provide the best services to your customers.  By providing the best for everyone, in the long run, your business will prosper.    One critical key to success in business is finding your passion in business. 

If you are looking for some business opportunity to get involved with, perhaps we can be of assistance.  If you do not see anything that triggers your passion, perhaps you can use some of the ideas from the website to discover what you are truly passionate about.  As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

Until next week...keep the passion...

Motivational Monday - January 23rd

Welcome to the first Motivational Monday of 2012.  It has been quite some time since we had a Motivational Monday, so let's get started.

Since this is still the first month of the new year, I'd like to let you in on my New Year's resolution.  I don't usually believe in resolutions, but this one is not really a "normal" resolution.  No, I am not going to resolve to lose weight (I should and am working on losing weight, it is a promise, not a resolution), nor am I going to resolve to quit smoking (because I have NEVER smoked in my life).  My resolution this year is to NOT be MOTIVATED by negative people or negative situations.

Granted, that may sound a tad odd, but if you really think about it, the concept makes sense.  If you want to lose motivation fast, start hanging around people who believe nothing good can ever come of anything.  If you start feeling sick, you don't hang around sick people, right?  This is the same concept.  I am making a resolution to only associate with positive, up-beat people. 

Sometimes you may be motivated by negativity, more along the lines of "I won't be THAT way", but if you are exposed to negative situations continuously, then you stand a very strong likelihood of also displaying that same type of behavior. 

Keep in mind, positive, up-beat people are not always happy, but they do not bring you down or tell you how horrible the world is on a regular basis.  Positive people will also have bad days, depressed days, but on the whole, they look at any set-backs in their progress as not insurmountable situations, but as a learning lesson.  They will look at the positives of a negative issue and then work to overcome the current setback. 

These are the type of people who are successful.  They are the ones that many may envy because it seems that no matter what happens, they always end up on top.  The reason they end up on top is because they maintain a positive attitude and most likely surround themselves with other positive people.  

If you want to stay depressed, hang around with people who are always complaining.  Even if you started the day in a good mood, how many times do you wonder where your good mood vanished if you constantly hear people complaining about everything from how horrible the weather is, to how bad their kids are?   Sometimes you may discover that negative people surround you because they are trying to capture your positive attitude.  These people are like sponges, sucking your good attitude out of your body.  The key is to not let this happen to you.  If someone is in need of positive reinforcement, definitely provide it, but do not continue to support someone who refuses to stand on their own and work on their own positive attitude.

Life is tough.  There is no denying it.  The important thing to remember though is that you may not be able to change the circumstances, but you are able to change your attitude about the circumstances.  You cannot change your past, but you can change your attitude about what happened in the past and turn it into a learning experience.  Learn from your mistakes, use the problems as a spring-board to a better future. 

We would not have the light bulb if Thomas Edison quit after the first few attempts.  Many of your self-made millionaires did hit rock bottom more than once in their careers.  The failures just motivated them to do better and work harder for the next effort. 

I will leave you with this thought for tonight from Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "It takes as much courage to have tried and failed as it does to have tried and succeeded."

Until Wednesday...

If you are looking for second income opportunities, check out www.hawgwash.net.  There may be something there that could work for you.  If you don't see anything, but would like to discuss ideas, please feel free to contact us at hawgwash1@yahoo.com.

Being in Balance, or am I?

As much as I would like to "cheat" and provide you a blog on Motivational Monday, or Trivial Tips and Tidbits, I believe I owe you all some version of an explanation for why I disappeared for a few months.  As you know, I had been working on my Motivational Monday blogs along with my Trivial Tips and Tidbits blog on Wednesdays...and then...poof, I stopped posting.  Well, just because I thought I had everything balanced... I didn't.

How many times have you thought that you had your life under control only to discover that you have been juggling one too many balls?  Once you drop one of those balls, all the others just come tumbling down.  I write these blogs in part to keep everyone looking at the positive side of life.  My mother always taught me that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.  That is in part why I stopped writing.  You all don't need to hear any more of the woes of the world, nor do you need to hear someone else jabber on about how tough life is. 

My life got just a tad out of balance and I had a very difficult time getting that balance back.  The way I chose to maintain balance, was to take a break from writing.  I felt very guilty about not updating you all, but on the other hand, I discovered that I cannot juggle a dozen balls at the same time.  I discovered that I had bitten off more tasks than I could chew and was getting so buried in all the things that "needed" to be done, I started burning out. 

Along with work, weekend shows, I decided it would be good to get involved and become a foster parent in dog rescues.  I had absolutely no idea how much of an emotional toll that took.  For those of you who may not really know me, I am always open to helping hurt and abandoned animals.  It doesn't really matter which ones, but I always end up getting involved in some kind of animal rescue, be it a baby bird that couldn't fly, a duck that got hurt, a dog that was found wandering along the side of a road, a cat that got hurt.  I have always been there to help when I can.   So, fostering dogs until they got adopted out seemed a great way for me to help. 

Theoretically, the idea was great.  In actuality, fostering took a major bite out of my spare time and made a huge dent in my emotional resources.  I will go into my adventures with fostering on a future blog, but suffice it to say, that by the time I finished working, doing chores and then taking care of frightened dogs (yes, plural...heaven forbid if I do ANYTHING in small amounts..) and cleaning up after dogs that don't understand the term "housebroken".  Well, let's just say that my life got more than a little out of balance.

Things have somewhat calmed down now, and with luck, I will be back in the blogosphere keeping you entertained, perhaps educated, or just curious.  I still plan on blogging Mondays and Wednesdays with additional blogs when I have extra stuff to offer you.

Take care and we shall be talking once again, shortly.

Until Wednesday (i.e. tomorrow...)

Motivational Monday

Well, this week we are going to mix it up a bit.  I have been posting the Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits on or around the first of the week for quite some time now.  I thought I would try Motivational Monday, (versus my Motivational Wednesday - rolls off the tongue easier...) for a week or two and see how it goes.  No, Fun Facts is not being preempted, it is just moving to Wednesdays.  Please feel free to let me know which you would ultimately prefer, fun on Mondays or motivation on Mondays....

On to the motivation....

Last week we covered more tips on how to either get motivated to accomplish a task or how to stay motivated to keep working towards a goal.  This week we are going to continue to explore how to remain motivated as you work towards your goals.

Many of you work for a living, you go to a J.O.B. (Just Over Broke), trade your time for their money, come home and just collapse.  Well, doing that day after day, year after year, will seriously wear you out.  Do you remember the first day you landed your first job?  You were MOTIVATED.  You had PLANS.  You were GOING PLACES and TAKING NO PRISONERS.  Now, most likely, you are just grateful to have a job, but it takes so much out of you that you have no more to give once you get home.

This is where the motivational tips I have been offering come into play.  No matter how tired you may be, in order to improve your circumstances or work towards financial freedom, you need to not only define your goals, but really believe in your goals.  Defining goals is relatively simple, the critical point it to not only believe in those defined goals, but to EMBRACE those same goals.  The goals you define should be what you wake up thinking about and should also be what you think about as you are falling asleep at night.

By embracing these goals, you will discover you are as motivated as you were when you got your first job.  But even with clearly defined goals, and you celebrating milestones towards those same goals, you will find over time that your motivation does begin to flag.  This does not mean that your goals are no longer worthy.  All it means is that you may need to find additional methods of motivation.  Every new idea creates excitement, but as you continue to work towards your long-term goals, you will find times where you are still lacking motivation.  This is natural and not a bad thing, all you have to do is to devise some additional motivational methods to keep moving through your 'slow' time.

One thing that will help keep your motivation fresh is to be sure that you ALWAYS make time for yourself.  If you do not take care of yourself, no matter how supportive your friends and family may be, nobody else will take care of you.  Remember to take time out for YOU.  Do not lose yourself in your goal, your goal may be a part of you, but you still need to take some time to rest.  Your mind and body do need this rest, even if you believe that you have to push through and continue to work.  Spend some quiet time each day with yourself.   This does not need to be hours at a time, it could only be 15 minutes to an hour, but remember to take time for yourself and keep in touch with who you are and why you are working for these goals.   You may not feel like you have to do this daily, and if so, at least make an effort once a week to take time out for you.  You don't have to sit in a tub with candles all over, it just means that you should do what YOU want to do for a little period of time.  It is amazing how rejuvenating it is to do something that YOU want instead of constantly working to do stuff for everyone else. 

After you have rejuvenated, do not forget to spend time with your friends and family.  After you have taken care of yourself, you may also find it is easier to help your friends and family with their desires.  It is critical to maintain a balance between work, goals, family and friends.  Without a good balance, you will lose motivation very quickly.   Strive to remember that your friends and family may not always be around for you to spend time with.  Hopefully your friends and family are also motivated and excited about the goals that you have set, and perhaps part of spending time with them includes you all working towards the same goal. 

Time is that commodity that once spent, cannot be taken back, so spend your time wisely.  Avoid those who may 'suck' time away from you, they don't have enough motivation of their own, and would rather use you and your energy to get them motivated.  This is personally draining, and you will find yourself losing that motivational drive again.   Try to align yourself with other motivated people, because their energy will help keep you going.  Then, if they start losing motivation, you are there to help them continue on.

Again, it is always very motivating to see your goals clearly written and posted in a public place.  That way, not only you, but your friends and family can continue to see what you are working towards.  As your motivation periodically lags, all you need to do is to catch a glimpse of your plans, and you will find that your motivation is rekindled.  

These are a few more tips to keep you driving toward your goals.  These tips may help keep you motivated even after a 10 hour work day, with dinner yet to be made and kids that still need help with their homework.  After getting all that done, you may still be able to keep that tiny little spark of motivation alive so that you can do one more thing that will bring you closer to your goals.  You will be amazed about how quickly you can get motivated when you can take tiny little steps toward your goal.  By doing just one little task before you call it a day, you can go to bed enthused because you are now one step closer to your goal.  It is a wonderful feeling to know that no matter how rough your day may have been, you still took one more step toward your dream.  That should always keep your spark of motivation alive.

Hopefully you found some of these tips and suggestions helpful to stay motivated.  Perhaps it will allow you to get through this week a little easier too.  Have a great Motivational Monday.  Wednesday we will pick it up and have some fun with the weekly installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits.

If you are looking for other income opportunities, please feel free to check out our website for ideas.  We are always available for questions and even for bouncing ideas for other ways to find financial freedom.  

Until Wednesday...

Fun facts and trivial tidbits

Happy Tuesday everyone!!!  Hopefully you had a good Labor Day weekend.  Probably some of you did work, but hopefully you were paid well to labor on Labor Day.  This week's installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits will center around the month of September.  How much do you know about this month?  Some of us used to associate September with going back to school (yeah, really dated myself there..), and others probably associate early September (especially right after Labor Day) with the end of summer and summer vacation.

Did you know the origin of the word "September"?  It's root is in the Roman word "septem" which means seven.  This came about because in the Roman calendar, September was actually the seventh month of the year, not the ninth month as it is in our Gregorian Calenders.  The Anglo Saxons called this month "Gerst monath (Barley month) because this was when they harvested barley. 

Another interesting fact about September, is when Britain changed from the Julian Calendar (which is 365.25 days long) to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, we lost 11 days.  So, September 3rd immediately became September 14th.  Therefore time between September 3, 1752 and September 14, 1752 is the only time in British history where NOTHING happened...  Pretty cool information? 

Did you know that September 17th is Constitution Day (also Citizenship Day) in the United States of America?  The United States Constitution was ratified by the US Constitutional Convention on September 17, 1787 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 

Now that we have the serious facts covered, let's have some fun with September - did you know that September is National Chicken Month?  It is also Cholesterol Awareness Month right here in the good ol' U.S. of A. 

The poem, "Mary had a Little Lamb" was published September 1, 1830

September also has a National Teddy Bear Day and a National Play-Doh Day.  It seems like September is a great month to play in...

To wander off the subject of September for a moment, the interesting item about National Teddy Bear Day is that the United States has TWO National Teddy Bear Days, one in September and then another one in November.  The November event was created by the Vermont Teddy Bear Company in 2000 to celebrate the contribution the teddy bear has made to popular culture....Perhaps in November we will discuss how the Teddy Bear got it's name...

The U.S. Supreme Court was established in September 1789 as was the U.S. Treasury Department.

In Medieval times, September 24th is traditionally the start of  harvesting and Michaelmas Day (September 29th) is traditionally the last day of the harvest season. 

Hopefully you enjoyed these fun facts and trivial tidbits about the month of September.  There are a large number of celebrations and odd events that occur during the month of September.  Have fun with them.

Tomorrow being hump day, we will re-introduce our Motivational Wednesday information.  This way, you will stay motivated through the day tomorrow and then we can keep you motivated the remainder of the week.

Until tomorrow...

I am ALIVE!!!

Hello one and all. Bet you thought I would never poke my head out of my hidey hole... Well, here I am, almost back in the saddle. Tonight is going to be a brief, wandering chat, nothing too difficult and really, I do promise to get back to regular posting...

I realize I don't have to explain myself, but feel it is the right thing to do... Since the economy has been SOOOO stinky, I did go out and get a short-term job. The problem is that this "short-term" job turned into a major job that then turned into major hours and weekend work. Not quite what I had originally signed on for. The problem has been that I have had to drag my tired butt home every day after 10-12 hours working both in a warehouse and on a computer. Needless to say, I had zero energy to even want to eat dinner let alone talk to you guys about anything.

My mother taught me a great lesson, if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. So...three guesses why you haven't heard from me in a Looonnng time? I have now re-screwed my head back on straight and will carve time out of my evenings to at least chat with you all again. I truly have missed talking with you and after reviewing my old posts, needed to take my own commentary and advice to heart.

So, here I am talking once again and hopefully you all can forgive my disappearance and allow me to redeem myself by writing more consistently.

Tonight, I was sitting on the back porch, enjoying the lightning show in the distance. It has cooled down a bit here, all the way down to 102. A nice breeze has kicked up and it was overall a pleasant evening until I happened to look down. As I was sitting comfortably in my outside chair, what did I see, but a BIG BLACK HAIRY thing skulking around right under my chair. My first reaction was to get all body parts as high in the air as possible. Then I looked again to see this SPIDER slowly wandering around under my chair.


I then realized I was trying to fly, feet, and hands were waving around in the air, but it did nothing to lift me any higher from that BIG SPIDER. After my initial shock though, I realized it was most likely a tarantula (still not sure because my eyes were not adjusted too well to the dark, I was watching lightning, so I was still somewhat night-blind. After my eyes adjusted to the dark better, I did confirm I was looking at a tarantula. Then I carefully watched where it was walking and was able to put my sandeled feet back on the ground. I quickly ran to the back door, flung it open grabbed the dogs and locked them in the bedroom. I then flicked on the back porch light, verified the tarantula was still there and ran to get my camera.

So now you see what I saw, and you have a pretty good idea how big this male Arizona Blonde Tarantula is... the tiles are 6"x6". Pretty cool.

Anyway, this guy was subsequently picked up and placed on a bush OUTSIDE the fenceline so the dogs would not hurt or bother it. So all's well that end's well.

That's all the fun for tonight. I will be back tomorrow for a brief chat...PROMISE!!!

Until tomorrow...

Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits - Week 11

Welcome to this weeks installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits. This week will have an eclectic combination of trivial facts...which really is no different than any other week. One of these weeks, we will have an "X" rated series of Trivial tidbits...I will forewarn you prior to posting.... so stay tuned to this weekly funny page for the 'dirty' stuff coming soon...

For those of you who watch death tolls and such, did you know that the St. Louis Gateway Arch actually had a projected death toll? Guess what...no one died... so much for a dangerous job...

The world's largest wine cask is in Heidleberg, Germany. Don't know if there is wine in the cask, but it may be worth a trip to go find out...

Since we are so fuel conscious this decade, did you know that the cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns? And you thought your SUV burned a lot of fuel.

I am not fond of mushrooms at all, but did you know the name of the smallest mushroom?... how about "Hop-low"...no, really...

For those of you focused on hygiene in general; Dentist's recommend that a toothbrush is kept at least six feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush. Ewwwww...

If you are bored sometime, try this - no piece of paper can be folded more than 7 times.

Did you know that in a standard deck of cards, the King of Hearts is the only king without a mustache?

There is a reason why old firehouses had circular stairways - in the days when the fire engines were pulled by horses, the horses that were stabled on the ground floor had figured out how to walk up straight staircases. And you thought a dog in your bed was a bit uncomfortable.

Here is a question for you Morse Code types - Do you know what S.O.S. stands for? It doesn't stand for "Save Our Ship" or even "Save Our Souls", it was just chosen by an 1908 international conference on Morse Code because the letters S and O were easy to remember and just about anyone could key it and read it... S = dot dot dot, O = dash dash dash.

And for you stamp collectors - Great Britain was the first country to issue postage stamps. Hence, the postage stamps of Britain are the only stamps in the world not to bear the name of the country of origin. However, every stamp carries a relief image or a silhouette of the monarch's head instead.

The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

Every time you lick a stamp, you are consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

Images for picture stamps in the United States are commissioned by the United States Postal Service Department of Philatelic Fulfillment.

Hopefully you have enjoyed this week's installment of Fun Facts and Trivial Tidbits. Have a wonderful week and we will talk to you tomorrow.

Until tomorrow...

My Favorite Forms of Creative Expression

Many people have many different ways of expressing themselves creatively. I have discovered two methods of personal creative expression that, if asked a few years ago, I would have told you I would NEVER have done. Heck I never even considered myself as creative...I am usually at my most creative when I am tired or frustrated. I realize that sounds odd, but perhaps because I am tired, the mental blocks to creativity are lifted. When I am tired, my brain (which NEVER turns off) tends to free-wheel more and that is when more creativity comes to the surface.

Also, when tired, I am actually too tired to edit the ideas that may come pouring out of my slightly off-kilter brain. It is at times like this I get waves of creativity. The difficult part is trying to harness the creativity and direct it in a productive manner.

One way I LOVE expressing my creativity is in my stone carving. Unfortunately, lately, I have been so tired that I have not had either the time or the energy to carve. When I do carve, though, it focuses my whole being. I am aware of the stone, I can feel the vibration of the stone when striking it with a hammer. If I feel a slacking in creativity, I will pick up a hammer and chisel and start tapping away at various stones I have. These are not random tappings, each stone already has it's design inside, it is the creative mood that chooses which stone is used for that day.

When striking the stone with the hammer and chisel, you feel the vibration from your fingertips up, into your shoulder and throughout your whole body. After carving for a while, you begin to understand how the stone will respond to the various strikes to it. It is at this point that you become aware of how the stone may actually break, even before you make that tap. This is when my creativity is at it's highest. At this point, I have already 'seen' the shape within the stone, now I am letting the stone reveal itself to me. I do not force the stone to do what I want it to do, I am merely being used by the stone, and am the one clearing away all the excess rock to show the beauty that lies within.

My newest expression of creativity is in my writing. I used to write a lot as a child, but got away from creative writing while going through school. Within the last 2 years, I picked up writing again, originally for business purposes, but have been enjoying the creative freedom of writing on a wide variety of subjects. My creative writing is still in its infancy, but since this is a new creative outlet it is exciting to watch where I have been and where I am heading. (Also, it is not as messy and noisy as stone carving....)

Until tomorrow...

Runny Noses Here I Come

Well, here it is, yet another day and I wish I could just attach a tissue box to my nose. I think that would be easier than cutting my nose from my face, which is also a very interesting thought right now. I have gotten past the sneezing that I was enjoying all last evening, so now I can kind-of see. Now my nose has decided to create a marathon of it's own and it has been running since this afternoon.

I would love to chat with you all more, but I never learned how to type with only one hand. I have always been a touch-typist, my mother would allow nothing less, so I cannot just type with one finger. Right now, my hands are occupied with tissues, trying to stem the race my nose has embarked upon.

So, I wave a quick good-night to one and all so that I can better attend to the running of the nose.... With luck tomorrow the race will be over and I can get back to the Internet and all the fun that entails..

Until tomorrow...

You are not being ignored

Hi everyone, just wanted to let you know that you are not being ignored. I have a ripping cold and have spent late this afternoon sneezing my fool head off. If I am not careful, I will be typing with my nose...

As soon as I can get this cold somewhat under control (after working all day...) I will be back online providing you with your weekly fun facts updates (right now, I can't even see straight after the sneezing fits...) and various comments.

Have a great week and hopefully you will be able to avoid this year's cold. I count myself luck to have caught this cold only once...before I started taking my Stem cell nutritional products, I would catch several colds a year.

Until my cold subsides...even just a little bit...

This weeks Fun Facts

Well, granted, it is not Monday, but here is your weekly installment of Fun Facts. Life has been just a tad hectic here, so I have ended up running out of time before getting the blogs updated. You are not forgotten, my engine just ran out of steam last week. I think I have the engines fully stoked this week, so we should be on a better and more consistent track this week at least...

Since we are now more than half-way though the first month of the year and all of our holiday bills are piling up, I thought it would be fun to post some fun facts and quotes related to money...every one's favorite subject:

Have you noticed that success always occurs in private, and failure in full view?

Also that no one is listening until you make a mistake? (this happens to me often...)

For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism...

Experience is something you don't get until just after you need it...(boy, don't I know THAT one...)

A fool and his money are soon partying...

If you think nobody cares about you, try missing a couple of payments...

Have you noticed that bills travel through the mail at twice the speed of checks?

If you have to borrow money, borrow money from pessimists - they don't expect it back...

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.... (and you care because???)

Dilbert's Theorem on Salary states that engineers and scientists can never earn as much salary as business executives and sales people. This theorem can now be supported by a mathematical equation based on the following two postulates:

Postulate 1: Knowledge is Power
Postulate 2: Time is Money

As every engineer knows:

Work / Time = Power

Since Knowledge = Power
and
Time = Money
we then have

Work/Money = Knowledge

Solving for Money we end up with:

Work/ Knowledge = Money

Thus as Knowledge approaches zero, Money approaches infinity regardless of the amount of work done.

Therefore, the less you know, the More you Make.

How many of you took to collecting the "new" state quarters when they came out? Did you know that the government has been banking on the fact that we Americans will collect the state quarters instead of spending them?

Did you know that silver coins changed from silver to the sandwich we have now in 1965? Did you know that these coins no longer contain any silver in them at all? They are now made of a composition of three layers of metal fused together, known as a "Clad". The outer layers of the clad are the same alloy used to make nickles and the core is copper.

Did you know that in 1982 the penny composition changed from copper to copper-plated zinc?

Did you know that the average life expectancy of your one-dollar bill is just under 18 months (or less if your bills are high...)? Also you can fold a dollar bill 8,000 times before it tears...I am not going to test that statistic, but if you are curious, give it a shot...

Now you have some fun money facts to entertain your friends (and enemies) this week. Happy tormenting.

Until tomorrow...

Who is Stressed Out?

Who is Stressed out? In today's current times, stress has become a word that is used often. The key is to determine if you are stressed out in a good way or in a bad way.

Now why in the world would anyone consider being "stressed-out" lately? Not that there is so much going on in the world today to get stressed over, is there??? Stressed-out is a state of mind. Some people stress over the littlest things, others need a mountain to fall on them before they become stressed out.

Me personally, I am stressed-out, but you could call it a very good stressed out. I am happily maintaining Hawgwash, LLC, along with keeping the social networking side of the business interesting. I have also picked up a consulting job during the "off" season and that has taken a good bite out of my time. Add to that the work involved in getting a new company off the ground, and yeah, you could say I am stressed out...

Stess is a matter of how you handle multiple tasks. The key to handling stress is deciding what is important and what is not important, and therefore not worth your time. I know this sounds over-simplified, but really, once you start looking at all the tasks at hand and deciding which ones are critical and which ones can be delayed, life does get less stressful.

The key to managing stress is learning how to prioritize and efficiently manage your time. You could run around like crazy, trying to get everything done, but then by the end of the day, you are exhausted, and still didn't get everything done you wanted to. If you are able to prioritize and then not do the stuff that is a time waster and really doesn't help you to achieve your goals, then your stress levels should be greatly reduced. Get rid of the stuff that is more busy work than productive work. Just because the house needs dusting, doesn't mean you should forgo sleep to get it done. Those dust bunnies will be there the next day.

If you don't take care of yourself, nobody else will. Therefore it is critical to know when you are truly getting stressed-out versus just being busy. Remember there is good stress and bad stress. Good stress is different for each person, but good stress will drive you get go past your comfort zone and accomplish things you didn't think you could do. Bad stress will upset your stomach, will affect your health and could turn you into a growling person. If you feel yourself slipping into that type of stress, take a brief inventory and find what extra tasks you are currently doing that don't really need to be completed now. You may be amazed at the little tasks that have filled up your plate that are now making you crazy.

So, to answer the question, yes, I am stressed out, but it is a good, productive stressed out. I continue to take stock of all the tasks I do, and am continually learning how to reassess tasks and redistribute as necessary.

Until tomorrow...

How I Fight Cabin Fever on Rainy Days

It is hard for me to get bored in almost any situation. There is always something to do, or something to think about, or something to read. Heck, I may even break out my old sewing and repair all those buttons that have fallen off all those blouses... There is no end to entertainment at my home...

Rain Storm Along the Front Range and Pike's Peak

It is relatively easy for me to remain entertained when either snowed in (very rare in the Phoenix, AZ area) or rained in. I have two dogs that are an endless source of entertainment. Even when they are sleeping, they are entertaining. If they aren't doing anything in particular, it is a great time for me to "mess" with them, either by tickling the hair between their toes or by tickling their ears.

Eventually, when they get tired of my tormenting, they will get up, give me a very dirty look, and stalk off to another, quieter, place to sleep. Once I have exhausted all attempts to harass the dogs, I finally turn my attention to the mountain of books I have in the study. I am an eclectic reader at best and have books on almost everything, ranging from philosophy to science, to Accounting, to murder mysteries, to classic literature. Once I start reading a book, for me it is like watching a movie, I don't put the book down until my eyes want to come out of my head. I can easily sit for hours reading a good book. I have been known to sit for a whole weekend, just reading and ultimately finishing a good book.

If I am still stuck in the house during a prolonged rain, I would then go to the computer and see what news and events I can find. I may end up chatting with other friends on-line, but more likely, I will sit down and work, since running my own home-based business does take a good bit of work (paperwork...). I will even look at the website and see what I can re-design or re-write or even create new. There is always something to work on if I was in the frame of mind to work instead of being entertained. I almost love long rainy weekends, that way I can spend some of the dreary time sleeping, and then the rest catching up on all the stuff I don't like to do in the house when the days are beautiful.

As you can see, it is hard for me to be bored, even when stuck in my own home for any prolonged period of time. There is always something to be done and I believe if you are bored, when snowed in or rained in, then you are not looking honestly enough at your surroundings. There are tons of things you can do to remain entertained (and I NEVER once mentioned watching movies on TV...when all else fails...)

Until tomorrow...

What I'm Looking Forward to in 2011

There are so many expectations started each time a new year rolls around, it is hard to not get disappointed when many of your hopes and expectations do not come to fruition. The key to a successful new year is to take personal responsibility for how your year will progress and to not create unrealistic plans for the new year. Plan your year and then follow your plan. By doing that, you will have a very good new year.

I am looking forward to a lot this new year. I have NOT made any significant New Year's Resolutions, and the one I did make I will not make public. Since I am taking personal responsibility for my resolutions, I do not want you all to be watching what I do. This is my personal odyssey and I need to stay focused and stick to the task.


With regards to what else I am looking forward to this year, well, where do I start. We are currently preparing to launch a brand new company in the next 60 days, and I can't wait to get that up and going. No, this is not going to be an MLM opportunity, but it is an innovative product and we are expecting sales to go through the roof once the actual product hits the store shelves.


This new product is the next generation in energy supplement, and you will have to wait a little bit more before I can tell you EXACTLY what this product is. We have been testing this product in the field and have a select group of people preparing to sell this product to your local stores. I am sooo excited about this product...I can tell you this, the product name is Wink Zing, and it will be offered by Wink Energy Inc.


This product will be a blast to offer to the public, and we already have buyers eagerly waiting for our first run to come out so they can begin putting it on the shelves. Once the product hit's the market, I will be able to tell you more and let you know where you can purchase your own Wink Zing...


Beyond that, I still expect Hawgwash, LLC to remain profitable in 2011 and hopefully continue doubling sales year over year. Because of the pending launch of Wink, I have yet to nail down our rally schedule, but once we lock down dates and locations, I will post the updated schedule on our website (www.hawgwash.net)


Hopefully you all are also expecting an improved year this year. That is not to say that last year was bad, but you would always want an improvement over prior years. Take care and enjoy your new year.


Until tomorrow...

What do YOU want out of 2011?

Isn't that the question of the day lately...What do YOU want out of 2011? How many people have you talked to that have stated AGAIN their New Year's Resolutions? How many of those resolutions were essentially the same as last year's resolutions? Can we all get out of this "Resolution rut"?

Instead of making a "New Year's Resolution" why don't we just decide to make one small change in our life that we are COMMITTED to doing for 365 days? If we can keep our promise for 90 days, we have definitely started a new and pretty solid habit. To say you want to lose weight in the new year, is almost similar to saying that I would love to not age this new year. PLEASE...we all (at least the majority of us) would like to lose that extra pound or two (or 5 or 10...), but if we don't make a commitment and don't have a defined and ACHIEVABLE plan of attack, that resolution will be nothing more than a wish that will most likely not happen again this year.

This year I resolve not to make any resolutions. I have looked at my life and am focused on making one small, but important change. This change is not huge, but it will have very positive effects in the coming year, if I stay focused and committed to instituting the change. If I keep the desired change small and manageable, and more importantly, measurable, then my chances of success become much higher. I am not even going to tell people what that small change will be because I do not expect them to help me stay focused on that change.

It is my personal responsibility to institute the change, and I should not rely on others to keep me to task. If I need to rely on others to keep my resolutions, then I did not really commit to that particular life change. We should not expect others to help us with our resolutions. Our resolutions are ours alone, and it is our personal responsibility to remain committed and focused. This way, any failure is nobody else's fault except our own. We should not place blame on anyone else for us not achieving our resolution. If you feel the need to blame others for you not achieving your goals, then the goals you defined were wrong. The concept of personal goals is exactly that, PERSONAL. Do not place blame where it does not belong. Enlisting the help of others may be nice, but again, you should have made a personal commitment to the change you wanted, and all the outside help in the world will not help if you are not strongly committed. Essentially, if you make a commitment to change an aspect of your life and you expect others to help you keep that commitment, do not expect to achieve your goals. Your friends and family cannot do what you need to do, they can only offer support. You are the one who must make the particular sacrifice or change.

You should be the one pulling towards that goal, others may help occasionally for moral support, but you are the one who is responsible for your own success.

So, here is to your continued success in 2011, whatever you choose to do.

Until tomorrow...

Weekly (Weakly) Fun Facts

Well, HOWDY to one and all. HAPPY NEW YEAR. Bet you are more than a little bit tired of hearing and stating that phrase... Well, we are now into day 3 of the New Year and for me personally, I don't see much of a change from last year. Hopefully this year will be an improvement over last year, but so far, 3 days into it...I don't see it...

Anyway, so much for criticizing the new year, let's get into the weekly fun facts for the New Year. I have looked for particularly fun facts this time, just to get the year off on a good foot:

In this winter season, we don't see too may hummingbirds, but I thought this fact was interesting: hummingbirds weigh less than a penny...

Hummingbirds are the only animals that can fly backwards...

And you thought pigeons were big- the bones of a pigeon weigh less than it's feathers...

We have quite a number of quails here in Arizona. Bet you didn't know what the name of their "topknot" was called... try a Hmuh... don't even know how to pronounce that one...

For those of you living near alligator infested waters, this bit of trivia could be useful...(if you have the time to measure...) - the distance between an alligator's eyes, in inches is directly proportional to the length of the alligator in feet. Now, I ask you this, who, when face-to-face with an alligator, will take the time to measure the distance between the alligator's eyes in order to determine how long that sucker is? If I came face-to-face with an alligator, I guarantee I will not break out the tape measure...

For those of you who love to stare danger in the eyes - the poisonous copperehead snake smells like fresh cut cucumbers. Now who, in their right mind, will go sniffing a snake to see if it smells good???

For those of you who may have had a lobster dinner lately, did you know that it takes a lobster approximately seven years to grow to be a pound? So, if you think your dinner was a bit skimpy, think of how long that lobster had to be around first....they had a lot of work to do to get that big...

A flea expert is called a pullicologist..

Fleas have changed history. More human deaths have been attributed to fleas than all the wars ever fought. As carriers of bubonic plague, fleas were responsible for killing 1/3rd of the population of Europe in the 14th century.

Now, for those of you who are not terribly interested in animal fun facts... no piece of paper can be folded more than 7 times. Let me know if you succeeded....I didn't...

One in every four Americans has appeared on television...

For you poker players out there - the king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.

The 57 on the Heinz ketchup bottle represnts the number of varieties of PICKLES the company once had...(so much for thinking it represented the number of tomatoes used in the ketchup...nuts...)

This last piece of trivia for this week is priceless - Walt Disney was afraid of mice... Go figure

Have a wonderful week, I will strive to post more regularly this week, was super busy last week and just didn't have the 'oomph' to post nightly. Hope you enjoyed your Weekly (Weakly) Fun Facts this first week of the new year...

If you are looking for additional income sources, check out our website for some ideas. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask us...

Until tomorrow...