30 Day Blog Challenge #Day3

Freedom in business means being able to choose how and where you earn a living.  Some of the time I can work sitting in the garden or my favourite cafe, even on the bus or in the car park whilst I wait between meetings.  Of course modern technology enables me to do this, it would have been more difficult a few years ago, but that’s why it’s so great to embrace all the IT available.

I’ve been offered a job recently and working for myself gave me the freedom to say “No”!  I think I’ve moved on too far to be able to settle in one office, probably being told what to do.  Every day I wake and choose what I’ll do, how I’ll do it, how much time I’ll spend working and from where – now that’s freedom to me.

What about adventure in life?  Now life’s an adventure from start to finish and for most people that doesn’t have to mean climbing Mount Everest or sailing the Atlantic!  Developing my business is an adventure for me; turning up at networking meetings at silly-o’clock not knowing anyone but beginning new friendships; teaching myself how to write a blog, then build a website – SEO’s the next challenge.

Walking my dog and getting out and about into the countryside, exploring new places; trudging through the snow at midnight; going out with friends; getting lost and finding new places; shopping for a mother-of-the bride outfit are all adventures.  Holiday adventures that I bore my friends with – missing the flight home when the hire car was impounded; grabbing someone else’s luggage from the airport carousel; getting locked into a municipal park with high gates and climbing the castle wall to escape!

It’s my ambition to travel further and experience more, but I feel I have the ability to find enjoyment and adventure in most aspects of life as little things amuse me and make me happy.

Life is good!

http://suitcaseentrepreneur.com/lifestyle-show/blog-challenge-day3

Post #27 New Moo cards

I’ve ordered some business cards today.  This was prompted by a 25% discount at Moo.com.

I’ve been using Moo for a while because not only are the cards excellent quality with various finish options to choose from, but you can design your own cards.  As it’s possible to upload many different images, it’s fantastic for photographers, or anyone else who’s business is very visual, to feature their work.  I tried using wordles on the back of mine, until someone I met at a networking meeting said it looked confusing.

That’s the beauty of Moo, order a few cards then change the design for the next order.  A friend of mine always creates his very personal Christmas cards with Moo too.

Another attractive benefit is the infomality of their correspondence – it’s so friendly 🙂  Sign-up to Moo’s newsletter which is full of innovative ideas of how their customers design & use their

This was the wordle design of my old cards & I can’t wait for my new ones to arrive.

Post #12 Guide to Blogging

I have my own business with website & blogging page, but haven’t really blogged on there.  Although I have a passion for paperwork & a fondness for forms, I can’t see that organising admin & managing diaries is fascinating to anyone else.  So, in order to become comfortable with writing & hopefully release some ideas, I began this personal blog to blather on about anything that’s been important to me during the day.  I don’t expect many readers will find these posts riveting, but getting my thoughts down online is improving my confidence & less than two weeks into my one-post-per-day challenge, I’m much faster at composing each one.

I’ve had blogging in mind for the last couple of years, even more so since I heard Erica Douglas speak at the National Virtual Assistants’ conference in Spring last year.  She gave an interactive & lively presentation, projecting her enthusiasm to the room & promoted her Blogging Guide written with business partner, Antonia Chitty.  A successful team, they’ve made a career from blogging, have many websites, share their knowledge & provide free e-courses to encourage newbies to have a go!

I immediately purchased the book & did read it, but since beginning to write, I’ve just completed a re-read. It was well worthwhile, gave me some essential details, but as not everything was relevant to me right now, it will be an invaluable reference during my blogging adventure & progression.  Now it’s time to re-connect with Erica & Antonia’s excellent training at Ace Inspire too.

Blog #4 Eat That Frog

Today I’ve been working from home with a lengthy list of tasks from one particular client. I was asked to call one of my client’s customers to resolve a particularly complex but sensitive issue.  Not feeling overly confident of the background to this problem, I was nervous of both making things worse & looking incompetent.  Of course I didn’t want my ability to be doubted, but as a very conscientious Virtual Assistant, I’m 100% committed to all my clients’ businesses & certainly didn’t want to put their reputation in jeopardy.

After working on other tasks all morning, anything to put off making the call, I went through all the details once again, took a deep breath & dialled out.  The person I needed to speak to was in a meeting!  Not good news as I would have to call back later – oh no!

Then I couldn’t settle.  Anxious & clock watching, I was unable to concentrate on my work.  Finally, I had to grit my teeth & pick up the phone again….

He was lovely!  We had a friendly conversation, made progress on the way forward & parted on good terms.  I felt fantastic, really buoyed-up & confident – feelings which lasted for the rest of the afternoon.  Now if only I’d have made this call in the morning, I would have basked in the glow of success, for longer & motivated for the full day.

I should have eaten my frog!

(To continue with the theme of one photo per day, I was going to scan in my copy, but cannot find it as I must have loaned it to a friend.   The Amazon image is the actual format of my book which is not the latest version)

This is an excellent little book, doesn’t take long to read & I obviously need to familiarise myself with it again.  Brian Tracy defines the ‘frog’ as a particularly unpleasant or challenging task which you really don’t want to do.  Something you keep putting off, but as it’s on the rest of your mind all the time, it actually affects your productivity.

If you had to eat a big, ugly, slimy & warty frog every day, how would you feel to see it sat there on your desk all day?  Could you concentrate, or would you spend all the time dreading it?  However, if you ate the frog first thing in the morning, how great would you feel to have completed such a difficult task?  All other jobs would pale by comparison – they’d be a doddle & you’d fly through your day, coping with everything.

So go on, stop procrastinating & Eat That Frog 🙂