Articles
Browse every published article connected to Linda Hampton, with exact attribution and full-archive search.
Articles
Browse every published article connected to Linda Hampton, or search within this exact expert archive.
Stress prevents you to be from performing at your peak. Tackling stress is essential to ensuring the success and well-being of both you and your business. Learning to say no and to form a mental sanctuary are just 2 ways to get your stress under control. So let's get down to the business of de-stressology and improve peak performance.
When you work for yourself it's very easy to get involved in Time Sucking Gremlins. I bet you can already guess some of what I'm about to say. You're probably thinking I've heard this all before, but if you haven't put it into practice it does bear repeating, because you're time is the one commodity that you can't get more of.
There is no end to the types of businesses boomers can start right from their kitchen table. But, you might have to think outside the box to get to the core of what you can offer. The best way to do this is to write down what you do now, and how you can translate that into a business for yourself. Are you a computer genius? Are you very organized? Are you a professional of some kind like a nurse, a lawyer, a CPA? Maybe you're a secretary, or a software engineer? Any of these positions can be turned into a business from home.
You should always tell the truth! Never lie in a relationship! These are some unwritten commandments related to personal conduct and contact with other people that advice books everywhere tell you to follow. While this is certainly true in idealistic situation, real life does not work that way. Sometimes the truth may hurt badly and put relationships in the back gear. Half-truths or buffers may stand a better chance and allow deeper connections.
Running a stress-free business seems to be something of a fantasy on the surface, but if you really delve into the idea, you will find out that it is completely possible to run a stress-free home business. A lot of this has to do with your own personality, needs, habits, and reactions to situations. If you are a high stress person it will take practice to run a stress-free business, but you can do it. If you are laid back and the type of person to avoid stress, you may find yourself not running a business at all, but simply avoiding it.
At first glance, it would seem that positive thinking and time management have nothing to do with one another. But many of us who are natural born clutters develop negative thinking patterns because we become exasperated by our challenges and frequent feelings of being overwhelmed. This negative attitude then makes it more difficult to control our feelings and move forward.
Most people who start a business online already work "9 to 5" at another job. If you're one of the people who have another job while you're starting your business take heart, you can do this! The fact is, being hungry is a key ingredient to your success. If you're hungry to get out of the rat race and leave the grind behind, you will work that much harder to create a business that allows you to do, just that.
If you believe that life always gives you the short end of the stick, remember there is something wrong with the way you operate rather than the scheme of things. Your life is what you make of it. Instead of waiting for a miracle to happen, proactive people look for the power within which has the capacity to change your existence towards better. Here are some strategies to attain success through personal endeavors. Taking Responsibility
If you sometimes hesitate to tell your spouse the whole truth, that could be a good thing. Protective buffering can make our relationships run more smoothly. However, if buffering is misused, it can pose a barrier to deeper connections. These are some guidelines for using buffering wisely. Situations Where You May Want To Use Buffering 1. To be considerate of others. Ask yourself if you're focusing on your own convenience or sparing the other person's feelings. There's a difference between covering up your own misconduct or holding back your true opinion about your friend's haircut.
If there's one thing you probably already know "Life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."! You probably have a hard time identifying any long periods in your past when life continued without problems or disruptions. But have you ever thought about this? Those "disruptions" belong there because life is meant to be multi-dimensional. Your life is interesting and fulfilling because of variety. Variety in the professional and personal aspects of your life make every day worth living. Now all you really need to do is learn how to balance it all.
Time is the great equalizer. Everyone gets the same number of hours to work and play each day. No matter who you are, where you live and what you do you get a 24-hour cycle just like everyone else. One person may be wealthier than another, but that doesn't earn her a minute more in a 24 hour period than the poorest among us all. Discovering how to manage your time is part mental reorganization and part creating a system. It can be tempting to use interruptions as an excuse to postpone a project or task. Secretly we sometimes welcome the interlude.
The truth is if you knew what you thought about all day it could shock you. You may not even realize what you’re thinking negative thoughts all day. Undesirable thoughts slowed down your efforts to live, learn, and grow. Personal beliefs about yourself and your life matter more than you realize. In fact, those beliefs become the very foundation upon which you build your life. How do you recognize any of these self-sabotaging thoughts? Some common self-limiting thoughts are: · "I'll never be able to save any money for retirement." · "I guess I won't ever fall in love again."
What is it about stress that causes us to dwell at length on negative thoughts? The answer has a lot to do with our memory. Although it's miraculous the brain - a three pound lump of neural tissue can store any memories at all. But the human memory system has some surprising quirks. Most notable, we forget things. The forgotten information is still in our brains somewhere; it's just that it's difficult for the brain to put its (metaphorical) hands on any one specific memory when it's needed. There is so much other competing information there.
Stress has become a part of our daily life these days. With the demands of job increasing coupled with family pressures, people constantly feel worried and anxious. When you add an unhealthy lifestyle to this, your woes simply increase. The result is a number of diseases that weakens that body and become a lingering issue throughout life. So, how do you protect yourself from being the next victim of lifestyle diseases?
In the regular life scenario, one has to work under pressure and keep everyone around us happy and contented. In this constant endeavor to these people, are you getting the short end of the stick emotionally? Are you the one who has to constantly compromise and feel short-changed? Do not reach your breaking point, unnecessarily, taking care of yourself emotionally from the very first ensures satisfaction and a happy life in all scenarios. Finding an emotional release in overcrowded and stressful setting may seem like a tall task, but it is surely possible. Acknowledging Your Feelings
Perfectionism is fairly common. In fact, it quite natural for us to strive to be perfect. I don't know anyone who enjoys making mistakes and exposing their weaknesses. Haven't we always been told to do whatever it takes to improve ourselves? Remember the old saying "anything worth doing is worth doing well" and society has constantly reinforced this idea.
If you're not experiencing the results you desire in your business it' time to take stock of what is happening. Take charge of what you're doing right and what you can improve. Start by asking yourself the following 7 questions. 1. Do you know your niche? Ensuring that you've laser focused your niche down to the nitty-gritty is imperative to make it in your business. Knowing your niche assists you with all aspects of your business from start to finish including: o Identifying your target market o Creating products and services that your market wants
Part of crafting a successful life is to create a winning mindset, but how do you do that? What if almost everything in your life is going wrong, or at least not what you expected to happen (and not in a good way), how can you still have a winning mindset? There is some scientific proof that any success you experience is 80 percent mindset and 20 percent ability. This is true for mental ability or sports acumen. You can be the most physically fit person in the world but if you think you can't, you're right. The same can be said for pretty much any situation.
Running a business from home automatically invites several types of distractions. Aside from the normal distractions of running a household, you may also have a full time job that you must go to prior to working your business. If you want to have a successful business, you'll need to create sacred time for your business. Time that you treat as the most important and valuable in your day or week. This is time you don't juggle around for anything but emergencies.
As a savvy boomer you're probably doing your due diligence asking yourself if you plan to retire or reinvent. A boomer is not an old person who is near death. Boomers are vibrant, alive, and active and often want more out of life and truly examine deep needs before making a choice. If you choose to start a business it's important to figure out what you want from that business so that you can choose correctly. There are key question to ask yourself when making the choice to retire or reinvent.
Are you feeling a bit squeamish about marketing? Maybe you're feeling a bit like you are pushing instead of attracting. And if you are pushing... you'll likely to have a shortage of clients. That adds up to more month then paying clients. Not a good position to be in. So here's a question only you can answer. What's the fire behind your business? Make marketing a priority?
Being a project manager is a highly visible role that can be both satisfying and stressful. Consider these steps you can take inside and outside the workplace to help you keep your cool under pressure. Inside the Workplace 1. Define the scope. Nail down what you want to do. Analyze how your plans fit in with your mission and abilities. Be clear about the details. Otherwise, a project can keep growing bigger and bigger, eventually becoming overwhelming.
Most of us experience tension daily, often it's hour by hour or worse minute to minute. How we cope with stress and worry determines whether we move forward or allow it to hold us back. Habitual negative thinking is often frenzied, inaccurate, and undependable, yet you can go through your entire life with negative thoughts that cause unproductive behavior and a more difficult life. Most people dealing with stress especially chronic stress assume that there's no getting around it, and its just the way life has to be. But this is certainly not the case!
You already have many skills that you've learned through life, education and work experience. Any business, just like any job requires certain basic skills to perform well. What skills do you have now? Make a list of them. Here are some skills to help you get started: -Good Writer -Experienced Public Speaker -Excellent Critical Thinker -Expert Computer Skills -Proficient Graphic Designer -Care about people -Self-Starter -Good Judgment -Organized -Handle stress well
Our emotions play an integral part in our lives whether it is home and hearth, work, or our business life. If our emotions are out of whack, then the rest of our lives will be out of whack too. This can weigh on your life in many ways, including making us look older, feel older, and go through our days weighted down with the problems of the world. The way to let go of some of this is to give yourself an emotional facelift.
I am often asked, "Linda how do you create a products or launch a service without getting overwhelmed and going a bit crazy?" Well creating a product or service for your business is a pretty simple process. But like any process knowing the steps is what makes the launch successful. Done right, your products can help you meet and possibly even exceed your business goals. Information products are an excellent business tactic to connect with and help more clients.
First of all, do you know the difference between an employee and a contractor? If you don't, then it is important to learn the difference and the best place to learn is from the IRS if you're in America and if you're not then please review your countries taxing authorities rules and guidelines regarding contractors verses employees. The IRS has some rules that determine if someone is an employee or a contractor, they are:
When talking about their business, many professionals make the HUGH MISTAKE of describing exactly what they do, in mind-numbing detail. "My company has been in business for 100 years and I can do this for you or that for you. We are the best, the smartest, the greatest and you really can't go wrong if you select us... blah blah blah." Zzzzzzz....you're putting me to sleep already. Hate to say this, but... SO WHAT! Nobody cares
Many people have this annoying habit of starting many different projects simultaneously or on different times and leave them unfinished before taking on another responsibility. They are either too callous to complete what they started or are confident that someone else will do it for them. Either way it causes problems in their professional and personal lives. Companies may lose deadlines or relationships go through rough patches if not severed completely. If your habit of leaving too many loose ends is causing a major havoc, it is time for a change. This is how to achieve this.
Powerful people have the ability to get what they want, to attract great opportunities. We are all powerful in our own way but everyone can increase their own natural power and have more energy. And the formula is simple....to increase your natural power eliminate the things in your life that drain your energy. If you're starting a new business or expanding your current one, feeling tired and less then enthusiastic about your business and everything that needs to be done can be damaging. As a boomer myself I know what it feels like to not be as energized as I use to be.
If you're busy and overwhelmed like most people you'll likely have some sort of to-do list going. It could be in the form of a notebook, a computer, mobile device or even heaven forbid a piece of paper. But some days looking at the list just makes me feel crazy. There is so many things to do that sometimes I get the feeling the list has "legs" of its own like a centipede. In others words the list seems to keep growing and growing without my help. In my experience at some point the list becomes an alligator... one that bites. So how do you get control of your to-do list?
It's no secret that as a baby boomer starting a business can be an exciting and overwhelming endeavor but if you make the right choices, and if you do, you'll never look back and you'll never regret it. In order to make the right choices it is important to evaluate your goals and motives each step of the way. So ask yourself why are you starting a business in the first place. There are a lot of reasons to start a business. Boomers are in an especially important transitional phase in their life.
Did you know that many super successful businesses have been started during economic downtu s? Hyatt, Burger King, IHOP, The Jim Henson Company, Microsoft, and even MTV was started during an economic downturn. These are very successful businesses that started on a wing and a prayer with low start up costs, even in the garage of a parent's home, and are now recognized the world over just by their name.
Have you found yourself asking is this really what I want to be doing. Maybe your daily to do list is keeping you from participating in the activities you really want to focus on? You may have momentary glimpses or aspirations of feeling inspired. But you struggle to get moving in a positive direction toward the goals you really want to achieve. If you're feeling this way, it's time to reconnect with the power source found inside of you and get involved with life again. The best method to get in touch with who you are or who you want to be is by setting some basic goals to work toward.
We all experience times when we lose focus. And most of us have to fight the shiny object syndrome the plague so many entrepreneurs. When this happens it becomes more challenging to keep pursuing our goals and dreams. Do you sometimes feel like you're in a skirmish when you're trying to give 100% of yourself and your talents with everything you do? How can you stay motivated and continue to work up to your potential? Examine these 7 strategies to soar at whatever you do:
Your life is full of moments of choice. You can respond to each moment based on old patterns, old stories, (conscious or unconscious) or you can choose to react from a new place based on freedom from the past. You can make new choices that make you feel alive and free. It's your choice.
What do you spend most of your time thinking about? I bet you don't even know, or maybe you've never given it much thought. Big Mistake. You have about 60,000 thought per day and 95% of your thoughts are repeated, and what's worse is 4 out of 5 of those thoughts are negative. Your thoughts are influenced by peers, world views, culture, the media religion and social expectation. They determine 95% of the emotions you experience every day. Most of our thoughts are automatic and habitual and control your pain, pleasure belief and values.
Did you know that even if you've had a particular hobby for years you may have the start of something big? The bottom line is you may already have the skills and knowledge that can turn your fledgling fun hobby into a full time business.
In recent decades retirement has been triggered by age, influenced by eligibility for social security benefits and employment retirement programs. Today retirement looks different, as the economy, good health and life expectancies have changed the retirement experience. In 2010, Business Insider reported that over 70 percent of those eligible for retirement can't afford to retire and therefore stay in the workforce.
Each time you offer a new product or service it is important to ask yourself three questions to evaluate a new business idea. If you follow this three step process it will help eliminate bad business choices and clarify that additions or new ideas are worth your time and effort. What is the significant problem does my business solve?
This topic is something that comes up all the time. Why isn't this working for me I feel like such a failure? Failure is a temporary inevitable situation when you taking a risk or learning a new skill. Think about it, when you first learned to drive a car no one expected you to do it perfectly the first time you sat behind a wheel. In fact, you didn't expect to be perfect either. Why is it we have become so hard on ourselves now?
We live in a very fast-paced world. As such, it’s easy to be stressed out. However, oftentimes, stress is a result of not being able to correctly balance everything that’s on our plate. Following is a quick rundown of things that you can do to ensure that you live a well-balanced life. Cut out unnecessary activities. For about a week, list down everything that you’re doing; don’t leave out any detail.
Do you remember when you were a kid and your parents or anyone else that was at least 2 years older then you told you to “start acting your age?” Well guess what…they had it all wrong. It’s time to stop acting your age! Act your age. What does it mean? Slowing down, getting ready to retire, it’s time to relax, you’re working too hard. For some people maybe that’s true. But for the new boomer I am here to tell you that there is nothing further from the truth. So let me ask you which path do you choose to follow? The path of the old boomer: • Work a 9 to 5 JOB
I’m so excited I have a great opportunity to market to my ideal clients. All I need to do is give a 30 minute presentation to the group. Woooo! Hold your horses. Do you mea I have to actually stand up in front of a group of people and speak? Maybe you’ve experienced it too? Stopped in your marketing tracks by fear. Even though you don’t want to admit it, fear of public speaking that’s holding you back. But does it have to stop you? No you can do something about it. Here is
I’ve purchased and read dozens and dozens of books over the past 5 years. From "Think and Grow Rich" to "The Science of Getting Rich", and they are all great books. They tell you great philosophies about life, but the one thing I found missing were the step by step instructions. The one thing that was clear to me is you create your own reality by your thoughts. It’s not as easy to change our thoughts as you may think. And more importantly knowing how to make the techniques “
Most people think attracting clients is mostly about the techniques. But there is a much more important technique available to everyone that most people don’t even think about. Your attitude can make or break you both personally and financially. It's indisputable that your attitude determines how far you'll go in life and a positive mental outlook can help you achieve optimal success. A positive mental attitude helps you cope with challenges. It will give you inner strength
Attending events are great for any business. It can change the course of your life. Everyone is gung ho about social networking these days. Social sites are bursting at the seams with members who reconnect with friends and learn to connect with business colleagues. What’s a Live Event? Well, like the name implies, a live event is a gathering of professionals in your field of interest or business in general. They are held all over the world and sometimes, if you’re lucky, ev
If you don't already have a prosperity mindset, it might be a hard thing to imagine. A prosperity mindset encourages you to take action each day to improve your life. Study the Actions Of Successful People Perhaps this is the most important suggestion. Learn by example. Find someone successful whom you admire and do what they do. These individuals serve as proof that your dreams can come true. - Find someone who has had the same kind of success that you desire. - Study wh