Saturday, April 09, 2005
Just when you think you have it all figured out...
Bizarre day! I got MasterVisions' dropship customer update out today, along with an invitation to make use of the resources at One Stop Web Support. It's funny. I've procrastinated some at getting that invitation out.
Why, I don't know. It's not like I don't know what I'm talking about when I share my experience in articles and reviews. I have a solid track record of success on the Web. But there's that slight hesitancy to step out.
You know, when you're just in the planning stage of taking a big step, there's a certain comfort to it. When that step hasn't yet been taken, you can live in the dreams of what a big success it will be.
When you actually take that step, you open yourself up to the possibility that it might not turn out the way you plan it. That's why so many people only plan to start their business—they study, gather information, do piddly little things that accomplish nothing but take up time and then wait until everything is absolutely perfect before they make their move.
But you know what? Things never reach that point where everything is "perfect" enough to make that move—so they never make it. They just stay in that safe little cocoon of dreaming of future success instead of making it actually happen.
If you're in that safe mode, it's time to make your move, take a risk, be alive! Dreaming isn't enough. You're made to take chances, to give it your best effort and let the results stand on their own. Nothing you do will guarantee the final results. But even if your results aren't what you dream they'll be, you will succeed.
You will succeed because, through the very act of trying, you will grow—even if your results don't match your dreams. And growing into something more than you started out as is the greatest success you can have because it's something that nobody can take away from you—ever.
But what was strangest in the day was that—out of the blue—I got a call from a resume I had submitted three years ago. A temporary consulting gig as a technical writer, which I used to do looong ago. I'm keeping my options open. It would be a short enough gig not to derail my business plans but would provide a monetary cushion that would certainly come in handy during this startup time.
I can't seriously believe that I'll get the gig after being out of tech writing so long—unless it turns out to be my old boss hiring, which from the sounds of it might just be the case. But it was funny.
Three years ago, when I submitted the resume, if I had gotten the call I got today, I would have been falling all over myself, desperate to say all the right things and probably would have come across as desperate. Today, I found myself verging on cocky about my ability to fit back in even after three years away from the field.
That, I think, fits in with what I was saying about growth. There's been a lot that has stretched me in the past three years. And I never would have been able to take the steps then that I am taking now. So whether my new business matches my dreams or not, it will be a success in some form.
And I hope that—if you're in the same holding pattern I was in for so many years—you can take the steps you need to move outside of the safety of your dreams and find your success, too.
Jeff
Bizarre day! I got MasterVisions' dropship customer update out today, along with an invitation to make use of the resources at One Stop Web Support. It's funny. I've procrastinated some at getting that invitation out.
Why, I don't know. It's not like I don't know what I'm talking about when I share my experience in articles and reviews. I have a solid track record of success on the Web. But there's that slight hesitancy to step out.
You know, when you're just in the planning stage of taking a big step, there's a certain comfort to it. When that step hasn't yet been taken, you can live in the dreams of what a big success it will be.
When you actually take that step, you open yourself up to the possibility that it might not turn out the way you plan it. That's why so many people only plan to start their business—they study, gather information, do piddly little things that accomplish nothing but take up time and then wait until everything is absolutely perfect before they make their move.
But you know what? Things never reach that point where everything is "perfect" enough to make that move—so they never make it. They just stay in that safe little cocoon of dreaming of future success instead of making it actually happen.
If you're in that safe mode, it's time to make your move, take a risk, be alive! Dreaming isn't enough. You're made to take chances, to give it your best effort and let the results stand on their own. Nothing you do will guarantee the final results. But even if your results aren't what you dream they'll be, you will succeed.
You will succeed because, through the very act of trying, you will grow—even if your results don't match your dreams. And growing into something more than you started out as is the greatest success you can have because it's something that nobody can take away from you—ever.
But what was strangest in the day was that—out of the blue—I got a call from a resume I had submitted three years ago. A temporary consulting gig as a technical writer, which I used to do looong ago. I'm keeping my options open. It would be a short enough gig not to derail my business plans but would provide a monetary cushion that would certainly come in handy during this startup time.
I can't seriously believe that I'll get the gig after being out of tech writing so long—unless it turns out to be my old boss hiring, which from the sounds of it might just be the case. But it was funny.
Three years ago, when I submitted the resume, if I had gotten the call I got today, I would have been falling all over myself, desperate to say all the right things and probably would have come across as desperate. Today, I found myself verging on cocky about my ability to fit back in even after three years away from the field.
That, I think, fits in with what I was saying about growth. There's been a lot that has stretched me in the past three years. And I never would have been able to take the steps then that I am taking now. So whether my new business matches my dreams or not, it will be a success in some form.
And I hope that—if you're in the same holding pattern I was in for so many years—you can take the steps you need to move outside of the safety of your dreams and find your success, too.
Jeff
Friday, April 08, 2005
26th Anniversary
Tonight's not a night for talking about work. Sure, I did some today, but there's something more important. My wife, Jo, and I celebrated our 26th anniversary today with a dinner out at the last surviving of the favorite restaurants we had when we first went out together.
I get too wrapped up in my work at times; even I recognize that. But tonight's a night to dedicate to the woman who has gone through a lot with me and put up with a lot from me and I feel blessed to have her by my side.
May you all be as lucky as I am.
Jeff
Tonight's not a night for talking about work. Sure, I did some today, but there's something more important. My wife, Jo, and I celebrated our 26th anniversary today with a dinner out at the last surviving of the favorite restaurants we had when we first went out together.
I get too wrapped up in my work at times; even I recognize that. But tonight's a night to dedicate to the woman who has gone through a lot with me and put up with a lot from me and I feel blessed to have her by my side.
May you all be as lucky as I am.
Jeff
Thursday, April 07, 2005
Something a little different tonight
Usually, I write my blog around 11 PM and then end up short on sleep. So I'm doing something a little different tonight—a blog written around 10. It's a step taken toward fighting the addictive nature I have.
I can always find one more thing that absolutely has to be done before I start my blog. Usually, they're things that can easily be put off. Sometimes they're things that don't need to be done at all.
I could have put another hour into optimizing tonight, but that will wait until tomorrow. It's pointless to start your own business so that you can be your own boss, only to find that the work is controlling you instead of you controlling the work.
A good rule of thumb: when you start feeling that you absolutely can't put your work aside, you most desperately need to.
Jeff
Usually, I write my blog around 11 PM and then end up short on sleep. So I'm doing something a little different tonight—a blog written around 10. It's a step taken toward fighting the addictive nature I have.
I can always find one more thing that absolutely has to be done before I start my blog. Usually, they're things that can easily be put off. Sometimes they're things that don't need to be done at all.
I could have put another hour into optimizing tonight, but that will wait until tomorrow. It's pointless to start your own business so that you can be your own boss, only to find that the work is controlling you instead of you controlling the work.
A good rule of thumb: when you start feeling that you absolutely can't put your work aside, you most desperately need to.
Jeff
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
A taxing day
Please excuse the pun, but that's what today consisted of: taxes. Other than some car repairs, the day was devoted to figuring out my business records. At least I can say "mission accomplished." Now comes plugging the figures into the tax forms and seeing what comes out.
But that probably won't be tomorrow. After three days away from either paying work or foundation-building work, I need to get some of that in. Ah, there's nothing like being pulled in multiple directions at once, but I think that's actually the definition of life.
Jeff
Please excuse the pun, but that's what today consisted of: taxes. Other than some car repairs, the day was devoted to figuring out my business records. At least I can say "mission accomplished." Now comes plugging the figures into the tax forms and seeing what comes out.
But that probably won't be tomorrow. After three days away from either paying work or foundation-building work, I need to get some of that in. Ah, there's nothing like being pulled in multiple directions at once, but I think that's actually the definition of life.
Jeff
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
Unexpected bonus
For the most part, life got in the way of much progress today. Today was my day in the MasterVisions office, so I knew I'd have only the evening to work at home today (funny how, more and more, I'm thinking only of what work I do at home as my work).
I expected that work to be on organizing my business records for taxes, but that never happened. Family matters took the forefront. So I ended up with a day off (if you can count seven hours of work in the office as a day off—sheesh, how mixed up is my thinking getting?).
I did find one unexpected bonus as I went through my e-mail, though. A daily newsletter I receive had an article about a site that enabled you to do a search for information on the obscure computer processes that run in the background on your computer.
So many of the processes are unnecessary, or even harmful, but you need a reliable resource to tell which is which.
I had lost track of the resource site I had used in the past—I had come to rely on just doing a search on Google for any process that I wanted to find out about. But finding those resource sites through the search engines has become next to impossible now, thanks to all the people who lazily post their whole process list on forums and then ask other forum users to research the 100 or so processes on their list and tell them which ones they can get rid of.
But the article listed an excellent resource site and the site had a free script I installed on my site to allow visitors to search that site's database of processes right from my page. I love win-win-win situations like this! My visitors get access to a useful tool, I have a useful tool that encourages visitors to return to my site, and the site that offered the free tool gets exposure from the visitors who use the search tool on my site.
I quickly wrote an article describing the value of checking your processes to determine which ones are needed and which aren't and put the tool on the page. I still need to smooth out the rough edges of the article and incorporate it into my linking structure, but if you're interested in checking it out, it's on the following page:
www.onestopwebsupport.com/maint/processes.htm
I get the feeling that maintenance articles like these may find their way into a more prominent position on my site. My target audience is people who are trying to start a business on the Web. I've found that a number of them are relatively inexperienced with technical matters concerning their computers. Web tutorials may be a useful feature to offer them.
But it's getting a little late for serious strategizing right now and Sunday morning's "springing forward" and yesterday's mano a taxo combat with my business records has left me ready for a good night's sleep.
Jeff
For the most part, life got in the way of much progress today. Today was my day in the MasterVisions office, so I knew I'd have only the evening to work at home today (funny how, more and more, I'm thinking only of what work I do at home as my work).
I expected that work to be on organizing my business records for taxes, but that never happened. Family matters took the forefront. So I ended up with a day off (if you can count seven hours of work in the office as a day off—sheesh, how mixed up is my thinking getting?).
I did find one unexpected bonus as I went through my e-mail, though. A daily newsletter I receive had an article about a site that enabled you to do a search for information on the obscure computer processes that run in the background on your computer.
So many of the processes are unnecessary, or even harmful, but you need a reliable resource to tell which is which.
I had lost track of the resource site I had used in the past—I had come to rely on just doing a search on Google for any process that I wanted to find out about. But finding those resource sites through the search engines has become next to impossible now, thanks to all the people who lazily post their whole process list on forums and then ask other forum users to research the 100 or so processes on their list and tell them which ones they can get rid of.
But the article listed an excellent resource site and the site had a free script I installed on my site to allow visitors to search that site's database of processes right from my page. I love win-win-win situations like this! My visitors get access to a useful tool, I have a useful tool that encourages visitors to return to my site, and the site that offered the free tool gets exposure from the visitors who use the search tool on my site.
I quickly wrote an article describing the value of checking your processes to determine which ones are needed and which aren't and put the tool on the page. I still need to smooth out the rough edges of the article and incorporate it into my linking structure, but if you're interested in checking it out, it's on the following page:
www.onestopwebsupport.com/maint/processes.htm
I get the feeling that maintenance articles like these may find their way into a more prominent position on my site. My target audience is people who are trying to start a business on the Web. I've found that a number of them are relatively inexperienced with technical matters concerning their computers. Web tutorials may be a useful feature to offer them.
But it's getting a little late for serious strategizing right now and Sunday morning's "springing forward" and yesterday's mano a taxo combat with my business records has left me ready for a good night's sleep.
Jeff
Monday, April 04, 2005
A cautionary tale
After church, Sunday dinner, and errands, I figured I'd better stop procrastinating on taxes. Personal records were in decent shape; I got them organized in an hour or two.
But the killer was the business records. In contradiction to my comments last night about being so wonderfully organized, I never planned out my business recordkeeping, so it has simply developed on an as-needed basis. If I couldn't find an existing file folder for whatever I needed to file, I just added another one that fit it.
Believe me, that is not the way you want to go! I'm on seven hours of trying to organize my record with a whole lot to go tomorrow before I'm anywhere near organized enough to take a stab at my taxes.
Planning your filing system may not be the most exciting thing to do, but don't neglect it, and don't let it develop a life of it's own. Someday you'll be forced to beat it into submission.
Jeff
After church, Sunday dinner, and errands, I figured I'd better stop procrastinating on taxes. Personal records were in decent shape; I got them organized in an hour or two.
But the killer was the business records. In contradiction to my comments last night about being so wonderfully organized, I never planned out my business recordkeeping, so it has simply developed on an as-needed basis. If I couldn't find an existing file folder for whatever I needed to file, I just added another one that fit it.
Believe me, that is not the way you want to go! I'm on seven hours of trying to organize my record with a whole lot to go tomorrow before I'm anywhere near organized enough to take a stab at my taxes.
Planning your filing system may not be the most exciting thing to do, but don't neglect it, and don't let it develop a life of it's own. Someday you'll be forced to beat it into submission.
Jeff
Sunday, April 03, 2005
Getting addictive
I was back to working most of the day on One Stop Web Support today and reached another milestone with it. It took longer than I expected, but I got the free ebooks up.
Setting them up to download turned out to be laughably easy. I expected it to be a whole new technical skill I'd need to learn, but it was as simple as uploading them and then linking to them. The test downloads I did with them came off without a hitch.
What took the time were the actual pages. The first one took forever while I figured out exactly what I was going to do with them, but once I figured out the pattern I was going to use, I was able to get into a nice rhythm and finish it in a way that left me pretty pleased with how they turned out.
Makes me think of something one of my long-time-ago supervisors said about me: that "If you ask Jeff to analyze something for you, you won't get an immediate answer. He'll think it over, but when he finally answers, the answer you get will be more thoroughly thought out than anyone could give.
I think that's why I often find it so hard to start a big project: the energy it takes me to analyze all the ins and outs and interrelationships involved in the task is like climbing a steep hill. Once I get to the top I have everything decided. And once I've reached that point, it's just a matter of coasting down the other side of the hill. But that climb sure is daunting.
But I've drifted away from what I planned to talk about: the addictive nature of building my own website. I get back to doing my own site and I just want to keep rolling with it. Now I'll have to drag myself back into my MasterVisions work. I'd love to just keep pushing on toward that next milestone on my own site.
But there has to be a balance between what I'm laying the foundation for and what brings in the income right now. And once I get back into the MasterVisions work, I'll enjoy that, too, as I did a couple of days ago (see Fun With SEO a couple of days back).
But seeing continual progress on the site I had long left dormant is definitely adding a bit of excitement back into my life, as I'm sure that growing your own business is doing with any one of you taking the same path. There's nothing like challenging your skills against the unknown to get that adrenaline rushing!
Jeff
I was back to working most of the day on One Stop Web Support today and reached another milestone with it. It took longer than I expected, but I got the free ebooks up.
Setting them up to download turned out to be laughably easy. I expected it to be a whole new technical skill I'd need to learn, but it was as simple as uploading them and then linking to them. The test downloads I did with them came off without a hitch.
What took the time were the actual pages. The first one took forever while I figured out exactly what I was going to do with them, but once I figured out the pattern I was going to use, I was able to get into a nice rhythm and finish it in a way that left me pretty pleased with how they turned out.
Makes me think of something one of my long-time-ago supervisors said about me: that "If you ask Jeff to analyze something for you, you won't get an immediate answer. He'll think it over, but when he finally answers, the answer you get will be more thoroughly thought out than anyone could give.
I think that's why I often find it so hard to start a big project: the energy it takes me to analyze all the ins and outs and interrelationships involved in the task is like climbing a steep hill. Once I get to the top I have everything decided. And once I've reached that point, it's just a matter of coasting down the other side of the hill. But that climb sure is daunting.
But I've drifted away from what I planned to talk about: the addictive nature of building my own website. I get back to doing my own site and I just want to keep rolling with it. Now I'll have to drag myself back into my MasterVisions work. I'd love to just keep pushing on toward that next milestone on my own site.
But there has to be a balance between what I'm laying the foundation for and what brings in the income right now. And once I get back into the MasterVisions work, I'll enjoy that, too, as I did a couple of days ago (see Fun With SEO a couple of days back).
But seeing continual progress on the site I had long left dormant is definitely adding a bit of excitement back into my life, as I'm sure that growing your own business is doing with any one of you taking the same path. There's nothing like challenging your skills against the unknown to get that adrenaline rushing!
Jeff
© 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Jeff Baas, One Stop Web Support
