Freedom On Toast

Okay, I have admit, as I dug through my freezer, looking for yet another frozen lunch, I started to have my own pity party. After all, I had been eating these meals for 800 days straight (well maybe I exaggerate a little – but not much) I longed for something more…yummy. Not that they are bad but a real meal would have been nice. Admittedly, I have a freezer full of delicious food I could have prepared, but (fill in your own excuse).

Heck, as a candle distributor I could have had my own (albeit solo) romantic lunch! Flare up a candle or two and voila! But that quick meal called me and so I succumbed to the Three Cheese Ziti. And yes, I did light a candle.

So as I sat with my fork in hand, I thought about how really lucky I was to be eating not only a fast, hot meal but a meal at all! The world hunger rates are about 817 MILLION. That’s 817 MILLION people who are hungry. Almost made me lose any appetite I had right then and there.

So needless to say, my pity party was short lived. I have freedom that MILLIONS of other people don’t even come close to enjoying. Really made me grateful as I sat down to plan my grocery list and plan for my next week of frozen meals.

Want to help fight hunger – help give freedom? Check out this site: http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1 A daily click will help feed the world – and it’s free!

Like it or not, we have become a nation that demands, yes demands, instant gratification. We want to instantly be thin. We want to instantly be rich. We want to instantly be there. We want to instantly have information at our fingertips. Have you used dial-up lately? Try it, if you can find it, and then tell me you don’t want instant gratification.

I’ll admit, I am no different than anyone else. If there were an instant diet pill I would be the first in line. If there were an instant cash card that didn’t depend on my bank balance I would quickly insert it into the ATM.

But in our instant world, we miss something. We miss the joy of the journey. And okay, if there isn’t joy on the journey, at least there are lessons to be learned.

Take my business. I LOVE my business and the freedoms it affords. But it has been, and will continue to be, a journey on many levels. I have had to learn about myself. I have had to learn about patience. I have had to learn about sacrifice. ALL have been good things to learn and worth any amount of effort I put forth.

But it IS the journey that has been so utterly gratifying. It’s the people I have been honored to meet along the way. It’s the successes, small and large, that give you that rush of excitement. It’s the process, the step by step actions, which bring increased freedoms. It’s all been a big WOW!

And in the end, I KNOW it will be the journey that I look back on. When I am retired in Tuscany, Italy, I will reflect on what it took to get there. I will have a much deeper appreciation for what has been accomplished knowing what it took.

So for all the frustrations, barriers and challenges that I have encountered or will encounter along the way, I say thank you. The journey will be more exciting with you.

“Success is not a place at which one arrives but rather the spirit with which one undertakes and continues the journey.” – Alex Noble

I have a bias. I don’t really like TV.  I know, that’s almost un-American to admit that, but it’s true.  I do, however, sit down to watch something now and then.

Having my own home business actually allows me a lot of freedom in which I COULD watch TV.  But as I sat down today, I was reminded why I don’t like TV.  Some of the premium choices I was faced with included multiple news channels (do they ever report anything happy?), paid programming (huh? watching 30 minutes of commercial?), Snapped (a show about female murderers), Hawaii’s Best on a Budget (I figured this must be a comedy show since I have been to Hawaii), Cheaters (a show on infidelities), lots of music video channels, 8 stations with College Football, 6 stations with Golf, Martha’s Sewing Room (probably SHOULD watch this since a simple button is a challenge – hey – we all have our weaknesses), Drug Years (about the crack epidemic), the Stanley Cup Finals (which must have really ended about 6 months or so ago), and Star Trek II – Wrath of Khan (what are we really on, something like Star Trek LXXXVI?) So you see the dilemma.

So, I turned to one of my favorite pastimes – the internet.  I figured I could use something that might actually get my brain cells to do something, so I typed in achievement.  And lo and behold, there is a site called The Academy of Achievement.  http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/pagegen/index.html  Now we are getting somewhere.  I ALWAYS want to achieve something – this seemed like a great place to start.

There are names of people who I have never even heard of so obviously the TV hadn’t been teaching me anything. They even had a “Find a Mentor” section.  Hmmm…who would be my mentor?  Well, I was closely matched with 15 achievers.  In what can only be a twist of fate, Martha Stewart happens to be one of the fifteen.  But the list of mentors was impressive! Stephen Case (Founder of AOL), Michael Eisner (former head of Disney),  Jeffrey Bezos (founder of Amazon) and Pierre Omidyar (founder of eBay) were some of the achievers who were tagged to be my future mentors. Geez, I am in good hands!

A quick peek of Pierre Omidyar’s profile reveals similar business start ups. “I started eBay as an experiment, as a side hobby basically, while I had my day job.” He and his wife Pamela have vowed to donate all but 1% of their wealth within 20 years.  Mind you they have already given 20 million dollars to Tufts University. Now this is a guy who’s about freedom.

So you see, my resolve to turn off the TV and be free of…garbage, has resulted in a new mentor. Sure beats sewing with Martha!

Have you even had one of those days where you feel like you just aren’t achieving all that you wanted to achieve? I know I have and I suspect we all have. Here’s great little video that will inspire you to “kick it up a notch” and enjoy the benefits. Enjoy!

http://www.212movie.com/

We have a great dog. Well, actually she is sort of goofy, but we love her anyway. Her name is Dutchess and she’s a Golden Retriever. She was a Christmas dog for our daughter when she was 8. This is a good story and I’ll tell it someday but not today.

We had another great dog, a Bernese Mountain Dog, who wasn’t goofy – just big and fluffy. Her name was Zakia. Zakia went to that great cabin in the sky (she loved the cabin) this past summer. I am sure she is enjoying her freedom there.

But it has been Dutchess, the goofy dog, who was taught me many lessons over the years. She and Zakia were buddies. Even though Zakia was twice her size, Dutchess could often be seen dragging Zakia around by the collar. Chasing her in the park. Beating her up the steps. Taking the “comfy” bed.

Rule number one – never give up. I am certain – and I mean this – that this dog would kill herself for her passion – chasing balls. She LOVES to play ball and would go on and on and on in her quest to follow her passion. Starting a home business requires nearly this same mentality – although I have no intentions of killing myself.

Rule number two – have fun. Dutchess has fun. And she knows it’s an important part of life. And, she can be relentless in her quest for fun. Don’t forget, that what ever you are doing with your life, your journey to freedom – have fun.

Rule number three – believe you will get what you want. You may have to bark a lot, but eventually you DO get what you want. Be clear about your goals and don’t stop working toward them until you have achieved them. Then set some more goals. Do you know how many bones this dog has eaten simply because she believed she would get them, “set her goal”, and persisted? Geez.

Rule number four – be trustworthy. I know I can count on Dutchess to do what dogs do. Eat, play, sleep and use the yard as a bathroom. If these things aren’t happening the red flags go off. In business, your customers and partners count on you. Your integrity IS your business. Without it you have nothing.

Rule number five – care. Dutchess loves our family no matter what. We can be crabby, we can be forgetful, we can even lose the ball – she still loves us. Our customers and business partners need to know we care too.

I am sure there are other rules I have learned along the way as well but I have to go now. It’s time to take a walk – with the ball of course.

Dutchess and Zakia

I received an email recently from a woman who was desperately looking for freedom in her life. By all accounts it was not a happy life. There were financial issues, relationship issues, social pressures but topping the list was her own belief that she couldn’t start her own home business because she wasn’t “good enough.” She said in her email that she was writing to me in tears and that she wanted help. She wanted answers. What she wanted me to say was something like, “By starting your own business it will ease your financial pressures.” Or, “By starting your own home business you will meet lots of new people and you won’t have to be with such negative crowd.” I couldn’t give her what she wanted. Sure, those things could be true but what this woman was desperately needing was a healthy dose of believing in herself.

It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not. ~Author Unknown

Joel Garfinkle (www.DreamJobCoaching.com) has a great list of things you can do to start believing in yourself.

1. Think of ways you can be your best.
2. Focus on your strengths not your weaknesses.
3. Remind yourself of who you are becoming.
4. Like Magellan, have faith in yourself and know it will happen.
5. Challenge yourself to be all you can be, more so than you’ve ever been.
6. Encourage yourself to keep going, keep building this new you.
7. Acknowledge your successes.
8. Be unconditionally constructive.
9. Allow yourself to achieve greatness.
10. Take a stand for the success you deserve.

Certainly nobody’s perfect. But as we search for freedom in our lives we just have to start with ourselves. Believe in yourself, dream big, and achieve the life you want and deserve.

My husband, Paul, came home from work and said, “I don’t get the name of your blog. What the heck does Freedom on Toast mean!”

I didn’t expect him to “get it” – or anyone else for that matter. But I believe so passionately about freedom, in all it’s glorious forms, that I knew my blog had to be about freedom. Freedom is my why – my reason why I do EVERYTHING. I started my own home based business so I could be free. Free to enjoy life the way I want to enjoy it – not the way someone else (like a boss) wants me to enjoy it. Freedom to spend time with my family when I want to – not when I can schedule it. Freedom to earn the money I want, on my terms – not the amount someone else believes I should earn. And ultimately, freedom to help others be free – to live the lives they want.

Millions, perhaps billions, of people are living a life based on someone else’s expectations. Maybe you have heard…

• If you want to be successful in life you need to work hard and save your money.
• In order to succeed you must go to college.
• If you work until retirement you will have a nice retirement package and will be able to enjoy life then.
• You aren’t talented enough to do…
• You aren’t smart enough to be…
• You can’t do that because…

Have you been living your life based on someone else’s expectations? Have you been listening to the reasons why you can’t have a life of freedom? So have millions of others.

But you know what? We all have choices. You can choose to listen to those voices or you can choose better for yourself. You can find your own freedom. Or you can create your own barriers. Which life would you rather have?

So I explained to Paul that Freedom on Toast is just a way of saying let’s spread freedom. We all can do that everyday. A simple gesture or some kind words can inspire someone to create their own freedom. We can inspire people to be great. Surely by inspiring freedom in others we are inspiring freedom in ourselves. And heck, it’s just a lot more fun then moping around anyway!

We live in a GREAT Country. We have a lot of freedom, including the freedom to start a business whenever we want. And we have a variety of choices about what type of business we want to start.

Have you ever wanted…

• To have time and freedom to attend all your children’s sports events and activities?
• To buy a new car or the home of your dreams?
• To take the vacation of your dreams?
• To get paid what you are worth?
• To FIRE the boss?

Chances are you have wanted to do at least one of those items – if not all! So what options do you have?

You can win the lottery! How much fun would that be? I can see the celebration already. Unfortunately, I can’t see the plan. When will that happen?

You can inherit a large amount of money! Unfortunately that requires death. UGH.

You can save and save until you can have the life you want. How is this plan working for you?

Or, you can start your own business.

I am sure you are thinking, “I can see where this is heading. She’s going to tell my why her business is the best.” Well, it’s true; I DO believe my business is the best. But there are other options and I encourage you to consider them all so that you can find a business that is right for YOU.

You can choose to become involved in a franchised business. After all, these are popular companies and you can choose a wide variety of businesses from the hotel industry to the full service restaurant to the fast food industry. In fact, many are successful businesses. But did you know, according to AllBusiness.com that the average initial investment for a hotel franchise is between 4-6 MILLION? The average initial investment on a full service restaurant is $700,000 to 3.5 million. The average initial investment on a fast food franchise is $250,000 to 1 million. Then there are the franchise fees. But it is an option.

Or you could choose to open your own “brick and mortar” storefront. According to the National Retail Report the average rent for a mid to large sized city is $20.00 - $40.00 per square foot per month. Of course location matters. I know in our local mall to lease (yes a lease is required) a kiosk they wanted $2500 per month Jan. – Oct. and $7000 per month for November and December.

Fortunately, you ARE free to start your own business. It’s a choice you can make and one you will likely find very rewarding.