So, did you manage to watch Piers Morgan interview Simon Cowell over the weekend? I must admit I’m a sucker for this type of entertainment and love reading and watching how people became successful.

One of the things that caught my attention was one of the questions Piers asked Simon. “Would he would ever give up and when? How would he know?” etc.

Simon answered and it really hit home with me. When he was at school (which he hated) every Sunday night he would get a sickly feeling in his tummy as he would simply dread getting up the next day. He hated Sundays because of this too.

So my point is, (and luckily I haven’t reached this yet!) do you dread Sunday’s? or do you look forward to them? Do you get a sickly tummy at the thought of going to work? Or excited?

I really liked his statement – Simon clearly doesn’t need to work. He continues with it as its fun and he enjoys it. As he said, he’ll stop when he gets that Sunday feeling again.

I know I often talk about we only have one life and should live it free from regret and sometimes it takes something upsetting to make us realize this.

Life is for living, about fun, family and enjoyment. Work is such a big part of that. What I do isn’t for everyone, I know that. I respect that. For me I love it. I’m sitting at home as we speak, looking out of my window. I can see my garden and my cat wondering around the bushes. In a couple of hours it will be time to pick up my daughter. She has swimming tonight after school so will be a mad rush to get there for 4pm but whilst she’s having her lesson I can swim some laps and then go in the steam room (bliss!).

I chose my lifestyle. I chose to work from home. I chose to be able to pick her up from school every day and have play dates, activities etc.

Is it easy? No. I’m not going to lie. I work hard. Please don’t believe the hype about making $60,000 each and every month. It doesn’t work like that. Very few people earn that kind of money and those that do, rarely have time to spend with their teams as they are too busy playing golf etc.!

But, I love what I do. I am passionate about it. Yes I work hard, but at the same time I feel very privileged to be able to pick my daughter up from school, work from home and have a good lifestyle.

I believe it takes a certain type of person to succeed in this business. As not everyone will. There – I said it. Why don’t more people say this who are trying to sell you a money making opportunity? I’m telling you now, my lovely fellow subscriber. The only way you will make it in this business is by having the right mindset, hard worker, driven, disciplined with you time and of course having the right mentor who can help you.

Stress seems to be a permanent part of our lives. And to be honest, I’m not entirely sure that it has to be, but I’m also not entirely sure how to avoid it. But in an effort to work more effectively I’ve discovered that getting things done and feeling good about my work day has helped reduced that nagging feeling that hits at 4:00 when you suddenly think, “Where has the day gone?!”

How many times do we look at the clock and wonder where the day has gone? Or how many times do we do that and think, “What have I done today?” Often the feeling of stress is synonymous with being overwhelmed. It’s very easy to get overwhelmed with work, let alone life and all that goes with it. But one thing at a time – let’s look at ways to take out some of the weight at work and maybe, just maybe, we’ll feel better, work better and look back and say “Wow, look at everything I got done today!

One of the most important keys to your outcome is your outlook. Your attitude will affect so many areas of your working day that it’s very important for you to check whether you are being optimistic and positive in various aspects. Choose to “look on the bright side” in the genuine sense, not the tragically ironic sense. But having a good outlook will affect how you see things, how you interpret situations, how your clients perceive you and how well you perform your job. And as you can imagine, constantly having a negative attitude will raise your stress levels – if nothing is ever right, how can anything be pleasant?

Another key to getting through the day and feeling good about work is setting realistic goals. Setting goals helps you take things one step at a time. It causes you to pace yourself and plan out your time, and allows you to track your progress. Instead of having loads of things to do and this ambiguous cloud of confusion looming over you head, you have a defined set of tasks which progress you toward your end goal for the day. At the end of the day (and even throughout the day!) seeing a list all ticked gives a great sense of accomplishment and also shows you exactly what you did get done that day. And if there are items that you didn’t finish, they are still clearly defined for you so that you’re not constantly bombarded or surprised by new items.

One final and very important aspect of being productive but not overwhelmed is to not lose momentum or enthusiasm. The two keys listed above – attitude and goals – will help keep you going strong throughout the day.

A short video about one of the many questions I receive from people wishing to sign up to Your Net Biz. Can I make money in time for Christmas?  Here are a couple of ideas to get you started…

I recently spoke to a guy who was seriously interested in joining YourNetBiz.  He asked me a few questions that I am asked time and time again by prospective team members, will I succeed?  Can you guarantee my success and that I’m going to make lots of money!  And if the opportunity is so good why isn’t everyone joining up?

This is actually a very important question and one which I will try and answer, but obviously this is my own personal perception – everyone has their own thoughts on this matter!

Yournetbiz is a business and we all know that not everyone succeeds in business regardless of what type of business that is, online or offline. This is a Fact.  No amount of training, resources, and money can guarantee that your business will succeed.

Let’s go back to the beginning.  Not everyone chooses to set up their own business.  Some people don’t like taking risks, others like the comfort blanket of a regular guaranteed income.  Some people like to be employed; they enjoy knowing what tasks they will be doing every day, where they are going etc.  Others don’t like taking orders and think that they could do a better job than their boss.

I could go on and on with the differences  but the point I’m trying to get at is that whilst I love running my own business as the pro’s far outweigh the negatives (in my mind) some people don’t want to run their own business for whatever reason.

So why go into business?  Do we suddenly wake up and say “there has to be another way”; are we forced into it through the present financial climate?  Is it a lifetime goal?  Personal circumstances change?

Regardless of how we get to setting up a business I think the key ingredient is having the right mindset.

Often we decide to start a business without really understanding what it actually involves.

So, let’s go back to the original question of whether you can succeed.  I could give you the usual comment that there are no guarantees and I don’t know if you will succeed etc. but give me your money anyway lol!

But I won’t for the simple reason that isn’t actually true.  I strongly believe that if you have the right mindset, are passionate about the product/services you are promoting, work hard (THERE ARE NO get rich quick schemes), are disciplined with your time and willing to learn then success can be achieved.

Is it really that easy?  Don’t you need certain business skills? Be able to sell?  Well people buy from those they like and trust.  If the product is good, shouldn’t it sell it self?

Time and again I am inundated with people wanting to sign up to Your Net Biz, they think it’s easy, they think they can earn money and lots of it immediately.  Why do they think that? Are they lead to believe it by the marketing and the hype?  Is it the fault of us as mentors that is making them think this?

There will always be some people who will succeed in business regardless of what it is.  I myself have run and sold a successful business and am now working with other opportunities like Your Net Biz.  Does that guarantee me success?

If you look at the top business men, most of them have some kind of failure in the past, I know some big names who have even gone bankrupt but have built themselves up again and are now multi-millionaires.

Is business success determined by how much money you earn? Or by how much time you have to spend with your family?

When I used to carry out my training I was often asked by people, why are you training them and giving away all your secrets, they will then become your competitors.  My answer was always simply that I believed that there was enough room in the market, that competition is healthy and more importantly, only a few will actually carry out what I have said to do.

The same principal applies with yournetbiz.  As your mentor I can’t guarantee that you will succeed but what I do strongly believe is that if you do carry out my suggestions together with having the right mindset you will succeed.

Is it really that simple?  Try it, I dare you to prove me wrong!

Below is a short video which I did yesterday with my 5 year old daughter.  It’s been half term and I feel very fortunate that I have been able to hardly work throughout the week so that I can spend time with her.  We’ve been to London, had parties, Beaconsifeld village, the farm and various other fun activities!

For me, this is what it’s all about, I joined Your Net Biz so that I could spend lots of time with my family whilst at the same time earn a fantastic income, which before joining seemed like an impossible dream!

Have you noticed that, if your office stuff is just a cluttered mess and you have to find an important document, then the mess seems to get messier and you end up more frustrated? If so, then welcome to a common peril of the home office. It’s easy to neglect proper organisation in the home office. Can it be that important if you are just at home? If it is going to reduce your productivity, then yes, it can!

 Here are a few tips to sort out your home office.

 Keep a clean desk policy

• Move all of your paperwork off your desk. Then organise your paperwork by type and place documents in proper containers (see below). The same goes for writing implements.
• If you come across documents that you no longer need, get rid of them. (Whether you can just throw them in the bin or need to shred them will depend on the content. Remember that some material will be confidential to you or your clients.) 
• If you come across old reading matter that is no longer used in your office, put it away. It is only taking up space that could be used for more important documents.
•  Get a memo board or corkboard. This will help organise some of the stuff taken off of your desk.
• Rearrange your desk so that you maximise the space while doing work.
•  Tidy and clean your desk regularly.

Organise proper containers and storage spaces

Your files should be allocated to specific containers or storage areas according to the type of file. This will have two benefits: it helps keep your desktop clear and it will be easier to find the files later.

You can organise these important files by category by allocating them to specific trays, lever arch files or filing cabinet folders. When it’s time to use a file, you will know where to look, this will save valuable time that could be spent on ‘real’ work.

When you start to organise your files, consider how often you are likely to use them in future (if at all). Then you can place them in an easy-access file location, store them in less accessible containers or just get rid of them. This will save you time and space.

Plan your schedule

A planner, diary or calendar is essential for your home office desk. As a minimum this will enable you to keep track of the date – easy to lose track of when busy.

If you can, get a planner. This will enable you to record appointments, tasks that must be done by a given date and other information that you need to keep in front of you.

So what’s in it for me?

Setting up your home office can take a lot more effort than you might think. You need to balance work and home life. More importantly, you need to condition your mind that the home office is a work space, even though it’s in your home.

However, there are important benefits from getting your home office organised. Here are a few.

• It will promote a professional image. People who see your efficiently-organised office are more likely to regard you as a professional. 
• It will be easier to find documents and other things.
•  It will help avoid important documents being lost or thrown away.
•  It will save you unproductive time in looking for things.
•  It will help reduce stress because you won’t have to continually deal with clutter and disorganisation.