The significant challenges that we face today cannot be resolved by the same level of thinking that created them.

Hi there! And how's your day going? I'm back home in Elie and will stay put for awhile.

Being on the road with Jimm has been wonderful and with the technologies available to us today, running your business away from home isn't all that difficult.

The biggest gripe I had was downloading my email when I didn't have access to my wi-fi connection. It was starting to cost too much to maintain a dial-up connection especially when most of the email was just garbage. To give you an idea of what I have been dealing with, 55,995 messages were sent to my Inbox this last week and only 194 of those were legitimate messages. A good portion of those messages deal with pornographic content that is just too vile for words.

I contacted my local ISP when I got home and had them delete the current email accounts there and set up new ones. I also contacted my web host who also took care of things on my other domain. I've been gradually switching my subscriptions and unsubscribing from others that I don't get time to read. And of course, we still need help keeping the new spam from plugging our Inboxes and I can highly recommend MailWasher Pro for that job.

One of the toughest things to deal with when we work from home are all the countless distractions that will make demands for our time. Stone Evans wrote today's Feature, Treat Your Home Business Like a Real Job -- with Exceptions and he offers some good tips to help you keep on track.

In The Power of Belief by Kathleen Gage, today's Special Feature offers a valuable lesson in understanding the impact our beliefs have in our lives.

Have a great day and keep smiling.

Publisher, KIT and the Home4Success Channel
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http://www.home4success.com/kit2004.html

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When you are the owner of a home business, you will find hundreds of distractions that vie for your time, energy and focus.

Common distractions include: children, family, friends, neighbors, pets, phone calls, mail, household chores, video games, television, neighborhood children, visitors, and so many more.

As an owner of a home based business, you must always remember your purpose in bringing your profession home. What was your reason for wanting to own a home business? Was your goal to work from home so that you can share in the lives of your children? Was your goal to be out from under the rule of a tyrannical boss? Was your goal to have the freedom to work when it is convenient for you? Was your goal to make tons of money working for yourself?

Here's a few good tips that will help you stay focused on your home business:

Whatever your reason for going out on your own, you must keep your reason in the forefront of your mind. If you forget your reason for starting your own home business, you will not be working for yourself for long. It is far too easy to let circumstance drive your activities --- and when circumstance is in the driver's seat, you are more likely to crash and burn.

Remember --- your own business is a lot like a real job. Some people go to work to play, some go to socialize, and others --- most often those who are paid in a commission or tip environment --- go to work to work and to make money. When you work for yourself, your salary is directly proportional to your productivity. Therefore, wouldn't it make sense to stay focused on getting as much done in as short of a period as possible?

Go to work to work and to make money. Leave playtime and recreation for when your workday has ended.

When you are dealing with family in the course of your workday, it is important to schedule your activities as much as possible. With small children, you must take time when you must, but you should also work hard to make sure you dedicate a specific number of hours to your workday.

With older children, it is much easier to tell them that you will be working between the hours of x and y. Your children and your friends must understand that certain hours of your day are devoted to the activities of your business.

Don't permit your friends and extended family to run over you. Many people get the blind idea that if one works from home then they are not actually working.

Well-meaning people may try to fill your doorway to bring advice about getting a real job. Others may simply believe that if you are at home, then you are fair game for chitchat and socialization.

You must stand firm. You must make certain your friends and family understands that when you are working, then you ARE working! If they wish to socialize with you, then they need to do it during the hours that are not dedicated to your home business.

You are the only one who can stand up for you. Your friends and family will seldom be able to appreciate your dedication to your home business, unless you make the effort to make sure that they have the same respect for your business that you do.

You should allot a certain portion of your day to email and to regular mail. For example, allot one hour in the morning and one hour in the afternoon to handling your written communications.

Unless you dedicate certain times to the handling of these communications, you will soon find yourself on the downward slope of decreased productivity.

When you find yourself spending too much time doing non- productive activities, then you should seriously consider finding a third-party service provider who will assist you in those non-profitable business activities.

As an example, you might be in the mail-order business. You might believe that your time is best spent writing ad copy and setting up your advertising, but you find yourself spending far too much time taking care of your books to take care of your advertising in the manner that you should. In this event, it might make more sense to hire a bookkeeper to handle your financial records for you.

In the end, the success of your home business is entirely and completely reliant upon you and the decisions that you make.

You had your reasons for deciding to start your own home based business. You must always keep your reasons in the forefront of your mind. You must always be able to rely upon your own self and your dedication to the success of your business.

Your friends and family might be annoyed that they cannot come visit upon their own whim, but when success comes to you and your business, they will better appreciate you for putting your foot down when necessary.

Success is within your reach, if only you can stay focused on your goals. You must decide to reach for your goals, and then, you must have the discipline necessary to reach them.

Stone Evans owns the Home Business Resource Directory where you can find everything you`ll ever need to start, run and grow a home based business at: http://www.Home-Business.com

Nothing is formed.
Nothing dies.
Everything is simply in transition.

Convince a man of what he wants, and he'll move heaven and earth to get it.
- Source Unknown

One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life.
- Edward B. Butler

It is never too late to be what you might have been.
-George Eliot

Many people have heard that their beliefs can be very powerful in creating their reality. Sadly, many also choose to ignore the impact one's beliefs have on various aspects of their life. Years ago I had the opportunity to meet a woman who reinforced my understanding of the power of beliefs. This woman is probably one of the most powerful individuals I will ever encounter.

I met Chris in 1986 while taking the Dale Carnegie course in Santa Rosa, California. Although not in class the first week of our twelve-week course, Chris showed up during the second week. Class was well under way when she walked into the room. Actually, she didn't really walk into the room; she dragged herself in, supported by a pair of metal crutches. Chris has Cerebral Palsy, which she had lived with all her life.

Chris had an extremely difficult time communicating with others. This was not due to lack of desire, but because for most of her twenty-one years of life she had been kept in a room with no more than Elvis records and tapes to entertain her. No one had taken the time to assist her in developing the ability to communicate. No one except Bonnie, her current caretaker. Bonnie knew there was much more to Chris than anyone ever gave her credit for.

When asked by the instructor what her goal for the twelve-week course was, Chris struggled to respond and became frustrated and angry in the process. Chris had a very short fuse when it came to frustration because for most of her life no one would listen to her. The only way she knew to get someone to listen was through temper tantrums. With Bonnie's help, Chris was able to convey to us that her goal was to be able to stand, by herself, in front of forty-five people and tell us her story.

On the twelfth and final week, to the pleased amazement of everyone in the class, Chris stood in front of the room. In her own words, she shared with us what life had been like for her. It was one of the most enlightening experiences I have ever witnessed. Here was a woman who had, in many ways, been thrown away. And yet she had a determination, commitment and belief that she could accomplish more in her life and she did. She also had the love and support of forty-five friends, who weeks before had been complete strangers.

What we all witnessed through Chris' courage is that life is created moment by moment based on our beliefs. She stuck to her belief that there was more out there for her and took the steps necessary to improve herself. Her beliefs carried her beyond her limiting situation. She learned new tools to communicate and used them. As Chris' success shows, beliefs can empower us beyond our wildest dreams.

Often the people admiring the successes of another are also people who want guarantees of how something is going to turn out. The fact is, there aren't always guarantees. The way to make something happen is to believe it could be possible and take the risk to find out. If we don't stretch ourselves, we have no idea of what we are capable of.

What are your beliefs regarding your personal life and business situation? Do those beliefs hold you and your team back or do they encourage everyone to keep moving forward? I frequently talk with business owners who have dreams of what they want to see happen with their business. More times than not, I see that their beliefs hold them back. They are comfortable within their current beliefs, so they are not willing to take the necessary risks that come with expanding their beliefs and moving forward with their dreams.

Incredibly, as our beliefs change our experiences change. And as our experiences change, so do our beliefs. I have witnessed and personally experienced some incredible experiences in business due to the belief that you don't know what is possible until you try.

What are the beliefs that will carry you to places you have yet to explore? And what are you willing to do to put those beliefs to the test?

Kathleen Gage is a business advisor, keynote speaker, and trainer that helps others gain market dominance and visibility within their market. Call 801.619.1514 or E-mail kathleen@turningpointpresents.com. Get Gage's FREE 4 day online marketing course by visiting www.kathleengage.com.

Many times when tweaking your system, you end up in the "Options" menu where you are faced with a long list of features. What does each one do? There is a very easy way to find out what different features do in all Microsoft products.

To find out what a particular option does, just right-click the item and a little box comes up that says "What's This?". Right click that box and you get a little description.

Why not give it a try?. If you are using Internet Explorer, go to Tools / Internet Options and click the "Advanced" tab. Go to any item in the list put your arrow over it and right-click.

See the "What's This?" box? Right click it again and your description should appear.

This also works with the Option menus in all Microsoft products. Give it a try with other program option lists. It's a great way to find out what will happen, before you click or unclick a feature.

With thanks to Bob Osgoodby of Internet Tip Of The Day http://adv-marketing.com/business/subscribe2.htm

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Be responsible! Always do your own Due Diligence before responding to any offer.