ENDING 3/31/13 AT MIDNIGHT

My spouse is jealous of my business.

I know I'm not the first to have this problem. I know I won't be the last. What I do know, is that there's a reason my spouse is feeling the way he's feeling, and I need to make sure I'm addressing that. I need to make sure that I'm not only doing what is best for my business, but also what's best for my marriage. My husband has every right to be upset right now because I have had my own business for only a month so far, and I am new to the whole scene. Because of this, I have spent 10+ hours a day working. I advertise and search for new marketing sites every day. I download free leads and purchase cheap leads every day. I email all of those leads every day. I make sure I'm updating my status on each social media site every day. I call my prospects every day. I make a plan for the next day, every day. I read some of my Dani Johnson training every day. I listen to our conference calls/training calls every day.
Now, the reason I'm writing this blog is because I know so many of us face this problem with our spouses not wanting to support our business and I know some of us immediately get offended and call them selfish and whatnot, but after talking to my husband today I realized I wasn't considering his feelings. He just misses me, it's that simple. And he doesn't completely understand my business and would like to know exactly what I'm doing. So, we worked out a plan to fix this little problem that's been causing us stress and tension and disagreements over the past month.
Firstly, we brainstormed ways that we could fix the problem. See, I can't just simply work when he's working because I babysit in the mornings and by the time I get home and get started it's already 10:30 or 11:00. Then my daughter has to eat and lay down for a nap. THEN, while she naps I try to squeeze in as much as I can before he gets home at 2:30. That's certainly not an 8 hour work day! So, I decided to come up with a set schedule and stick to it no matter what. (With the exception of training calls and calls from prospects.) First, I thought about what tasks were most vital to my success and made sure I allotted sufficient time for them each day. The less vital, but still very important tasks I decided to schedule every other day. And each day at 3:00 it is hubby time, clear til we go to bed! He was so tickled by that part :)
Here's how I have my schedule set up:

Advertising/Networking  Mon:X  Tues:?-12:30  Wed:X  Thurs:?-12:30 Fri:X Sat:2 hrs

Prospect calls  Mon through Fri: 12:30-3

Lead generation  Mon:?-12:30  Tues:X  Wed:?-12:30  Thurs:X  Fri:?-12:30  Sat:X

Training/Studying  Mon-Sun: Daily conference calls, read Dani & listen to recorded calls in spare time.

Hubby time: Mon-Fri: 3:00-? Sat & Sun: All day baby :)







The schedule I printed out and taped to my desk is much more professional looking of course ;) Hope this helps a little for anyone dealing with an angry and jealous spouse. Talk to them and diagnose the real problem, then come up with the solution that works best for both of you! Also, be sure that you maximize the time you have scheduled for your business so that you can be more productive with less time. If it helps, log out of social media and emails, turn off cell phones (unless that's what you use for business calls), "shut the door" to avoid distractions from family and pets, turn off TV, etc.

8 more days to save big!

Become a member today! www.mybenefitsplus.com/sjwinters

Or feel free to contact me with any questions at bizmom.91@gmail.com

Maximize your home office tax deductions

Red flag and IRS — two things you never want to see in the same sentence. If you’re self-employed or have a small business, chances are somewhere along the way, you’ve been told that deducting a portion of your housing costs will be a red flag for an audit.

However, this isn’t necessarily the case. And if you legitimately qualify for the home office deduction, there’s no reason to avoid it. After all, the typical home office deduction will run into the thousands of dollars. It’s substantial and well worth the effort (far more so than scouring your car for a missing receipt for printer ink).

So, how can you make sure you can take as much of a deduction that’s allowed to you, while minimizing your chance of an audit? The key is knowing (and following) the rules. According to the IRS (Publication 587), “To qualify to deduct expenses for business use of your home, you must use part of your home:

• Exclusively and regularly as your principal place of business
• Exclusively and regularly as a place where you meet or deal with patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of your trade or business”

Decoding the Elusive "Exclusive Use"

The word "exclusive" shows up frequently in the IRS definition of a deductible home office. If you use any portion of your home exclusively for business purposes, you’re entitled to claim a home office deduction for that space. But just what does “exclusive” mean? In short, it’s a space that you use solely for your business, and nothing else. For example…

• If you have a blogging business and do the bulk of your writing at the dining room table, you can’t take any deduction for the dining room if you ever eat there, host dinner parties, or use the dining room for anything else other than your blog.
• Let’s say you’re a freelance application developer and have set aside a desk for your workstation and server in the bedroom. You can deduct the area around your desk as your exclusive work space (assuming this space is used only for your business).

Of course, the above examples are rather straightforward and we all know that tax matters are rarely cut and dry when it comes to your business.

For example, let’s say you’re a self-employed designer and rent a studio outside your home. But occasionally, you invite potential clients to your home to review your portfolio in your living room. Since your living room isn’t an exclusive place of business, you can’t deduct this. But, if you designate a spare room in your house as a client meeting area, then you can deduct this area.

Let’s say you’re a plumber who makes house calls. Your primary place of work is in clients’ bathrooms or kitchens. However, you can claim a home office deduction if you use part of your home to handle the bookkeeping, administrative, and other management activities for your business. Again, this space qualifies only if it’s used exclusively for your plumbing business.

If you’re a telecommuting employee (and not an independent contractor), home office deductions get even trickier. In this case, you must be working from home for your employer’s convenience. Let’s say you’re a virtual call center agent or data entry specialist and your company saves money on office space by hiring agents to work from home. In this case, you can deduct your home office space using Form 2016. However, if your employer lets you work from home because your commute is long (and the employer does have office space available for you), then you don’t qualify for the deduction.

Taking Your Deduction

Home office deductions are based on the percentage of your home that is used for business purposes. The first thing you need to do is figure out the total square footage of your home, and then the square footage of the space that’s designated as an exclusive office or working area.

If you use a spare room (180 sq ft.) as an office and your home is 1,900 sq. ft., then you can write off 9.5% of certain home expenses, including: rent or mortgage payments, insurance (homeowners or renters), and utilities. Direct costs relating to the space, such as repairs or paint, can also be deducted.

The rules around other expenses can be a little fuzzy. Can you deduct a stereo as a business expense? What about an expensive painting or a designer rug for your workspace? Tax experts tend to give a few general guidelines for these questions.

Will the expense bring your business more profit (i.e. increase your productivity or sales)? Expensing a desk lamp that helps you see can certainly be defended. If you meet with clients in your home office, then aesthetic elements (like a painting) may be eligible for deduction. However, these expenses should be ordinary and standard, meaning that other business owners would have the same expense at a similar price point.

It’s also important to note that the rules have loosened with regard to how profits are taxed when you sell your home. In the past, if you used 9% of your home as an office (and had been taking the home office deduction), when you sold your house, 9% would not qualify as tax-free under the rules that allow up to $250K tax-free profits for individuals, $500K for joint returns. This no longer applies. However, you do have to pay tax on any profit resulting from depreciation claimed for the office.

What About an S-Corp, C-Corp, or LLC?

The above scenarios apply to self-employed sole proprietors. But let’s say you decided toform an LLC or Corporation in order to separate your personal and business expenses, minimize your personal liability, and perhaps lower your overall taxes. Deducting the use of a home office is handled differently here, but it is still possible. Talking to your accountant will be the easiest way to figure out the most favorable solution for both the corporation and shareholder.

For example, in an S-Corp situation where one of the shareholders uses a home office as his principal office, the corporation can reimburse the shareholder for the home office costs on a monthly basis under an accountable expense reimbursement plan. This becomes a deductible business expense for the corporation.

For more information

• IRS Publication 587 for details on home office tax deductions
• IRS Publication 551 if you claim the business use portion of depreciation on your primary residence
• IRS Publication 523 if you plan to sell the home that was the principal location of your business and you’ve claimed depreciation deductions on the home
• IRS Publication 2106 if you are a telecommuting employee and want to deduct your home office
As with any tax strategy, the best way to avoid trouble is to claim the home office deduction only if you qualify, to deduct only the expenses you’re entitled to, and then thoroughly document all expenses in case the IRS has any questions. And of course, consulting with a qualified tax professional is always a wise move, so make sure you’re following the rules and enjoying all the deductions available to you.

Unemployed?...We've got positions available.

Unemployment is universally recognized as a bad thing. While economists and academics make convincing arguments that there is a certain natural level of unemployment that cannot be erased, elevated unemployment imposes significant costs on the individual, the society and the country. Worse yet, most of the costs are of the dead loss variety where there are no offsetting gains to the costs that everyone must bear. (Depending on how it's measured, the unemployment rate is open to interpretation. Learn how to find the real rate. Check out The Unemployment Rate: Get Real.)

TUTORIAL: Introduction To Accounting 

The Costs to the IndividualThe costs of unemployment to the individual are not hard to imagine. When a person loses his or her job, there is often an immediate impact to that person's standard of living. Prior to the Great Recession, the average savings rate in the U.S. had been drifting down towards zero (and sometimes below), and there are anecdotal reports that the average person is only a few weeks away from serious financial trouble without a paying job. 

Even for those eligible for unemployment benefits and other forms of government assistance (like food assistance), it is often the case that these benefits replace 50% or less of their regular income. That means these people are consuming far less than usual. The economic consequences can go beyond just less consumption, though. Many people will turn to retirement savings in a pinch and draining these savings has long-term ramifications. 

Prolonged unemployment can lead to an erosion of skills, basically robbing the economy of otherwise useful talents. At the same time, the experience of unemployment (either direct or indirect) can alter how workers plan for their futures - prolonged unemployment can lead to greater skepticism and pessimism about the value of education and training and lead to workers being less willing to invest in the long years of training some jobs require. On a similar note, the absence of income created by unemployment can force families to deny educational opportunities to their children and deprive the economy of those future skills. 

Last but not least, there are other costs to the individual. Studies have shown that prolonged unemployment harms the mental health of workers, and can actually worsen physical health and shorten lifespans. 
 
Costs to SocietyThe social costs of unemployment are difficult to calculate, but no less real. When unemployment becomes a pervasive problem, there are often increased calls for protectionism and severe restrictions on immigration. Protectionism can not only lead to destructive tit-for-tat retaliation among countries, but reductions in trade harm the economic well-being of all trading partners. 

Other social costs include how people interact with each other. Studies have shown that times of elevated unemployment often correlate both with less volunteerism and higher crime. Elevated crime makes sense because absent a wage-paying job people may turn to crime to meet their economic needs or simply to alleviate boredom. The volunteerism decline does not have an obvious explanation, but could perhaps be tied to the negative psychological impacts of being jobless or perhaps even resentment at those who do not have a job. 

Costs to the CountryThe economic costs of unemployment are probably more obvious when viewed through the lens of the national checkbook. Unemployment leads to higher payments from state and federal governments for unemployment benefits (in excess of $320 billion through the end of 2010), food assistance, and Medicaid. At the same time, those governments are no longer collecting the same levels of income tax as before - forcing the government to borrow money (which defers the costs and impacts of unemployment into the future) or cut back on other spending (perhaps exacerbating the bad economic situation). 

Unemployment is also a dangerous state for the U.S. economy. Over 70% of what the U.S. economy produces goes to personal consumption and unemployed workers. Even those getting government support cannot spend at prior levels. The production of those workers leaves the economy which reduces the GDP and moves the country away from the efficient allocation of its resources. For those who subscribe to Jean-Baptiste Say's theory that "products are paid for by products," that is a serious issue. 

It is also worth noting that companies pay a price for high unemployment as well. Unemployment benefits are financed largely by taxes assessed on businesses. When unemployment is high, states will often look to replenish their coffers by increasing their taxation on businesses - counter-intuitively discouraging companies from hiring more workers. Not only do companies face less demand for their products, it is also more expensive for them to retain or hire workers. 

The Bottom LineGovernments rightly fret about the consequences of inflation, but unemployment is likewise a serious issue. Apart from the social unrest and disgruntlement that unemployment can produce in the electorate, high unemployment can have a self-perpetuating negative impact on businesses and the economic health of the country.

Worse still, some of the worst effects of unemployment are both subtle and very long-lasting - consumer and business confidence are key to economic recoveries and workers must feel confident in their future to invest in developing the skills (and building the savings) that the economy needs to grow in the future. The costs of unemployment go far beyond the accumulated sums handed out as unemployment insurance benefits. (Preparation can help you land on your feet after getting the "old heave-ho." See Planning For Unemployment.) 


Unemployed? Need a little relief from healthcare costs?

If you're currently unemployed, or even if you have a job, but are looking for something more, something to supplement your income, something that you can believe in, here it is. 

We invite you to take care of yourself and your family with AmeriPlan®. Your life is full of precious things: the people you love, the home you live in, products you need to keep the things you value most in life secure. A good place to start is right here at AmeriPlan®.

Is the high cost of quality health care getting you down? Are you one of the 58 million uninsured Americans with no health savings program? Look no further... it is now possible to access affordable dental, vision, prescription, chiropractic and medical programs for your entire household. Programs that range from $19.95 per month to $150 per month. Select the product that is right for your family.

Would you like to make money with our opportunity? Thousands of AmeriPlan® Independent Business Owners (IBO's) have built highly successful businesses of their own, by sharing and caring. How do they do it? It's simple. Read more about our opportunity here.

About AmeriPlan®

AmeriPlan® Corporation... the nation's premier Discount Medical Plan Organization (DMPO). Since 1992, AmeriPlan® members have saved hundreds of millions of dollars receiving discounted health care services using the AmeriPlan® provider network. Our network has tens of thousands of health care professionals across the country. Read more, click here.

The AmeriPlan® Mission…

• Provide high quality and affordable medical care, dental care, prescription drugs, vision and chiropractic care to the average American family.
• Hold the well-being of our members, Independent Business Owners, service providers, staff and our company in equal balance.
• Foster an environment which promotes a spirit of cooperation, self improvement, leadership and genuine concern for each other.
• Adhere to the highest standards of professionalism, service and leadership that will earn us the respect and praise of our industry while providing financial stability and independence to those who would earn it.

Work from home

Before work from home:
-I had to deal with co-workers I didn't like.
-I was NEVER happy with the shift I was on, and had a heck of a time trying to get my boss to switch me.
-I couldn't miss work if I was sick or Shelby was sick or I just simply wanted to relax for a few hours before working.
-I felt like I was going nowhere, I was depressed and bored.
-I had an endless list of rules, like I was back in high school.

After work from home:
-I have the most amazing co-workers in the world. I don't know where else you can find the positivity, support, kindness, etc. that I have in my new team!
-I work wherever, whenever I want. I don't have a boss to answer to.
-I can miss a day or half a day if I'm sick or Shelby's sick or I'm tired, whatever!
-The sky is the limit for me now, I am in charge of my financial future!
-No rules!!!!!:)

If you're ready to overcome your excuses, your fears, your doubts, whatever is holding you back...let me know! I'd love to have you on my team!

Conquer your time management issue!

If you're anything like me, you pictured your work from  home lifestyle to be just like this...HA! If only, right? It is a lot harder than I thought to work from home, take care of the house, feed the dogs, let them outside, take care of my baby, cook dinner, keep my hubby happy, shower, sleep, etc. Where in the world can I find time to work? 






I don't know about you, but this picture is much more accurate......

So, how do we get from there to......  

Simple - we have to learn to manage our time. 

Tip #1: Establish a schedule. This really helps so that you can outline school times, meals, naps, errands and work. For me, I get most of my work done while my baby is napping, and after my husband goes to bed.

Tip #2: When do you feel MOST productive? Figure out what time of the day you get that burst of energy. Is it in the morning around 10 am? Or maybe right after lunch? Or perhaps you are a night owl? Schedule the most important activities that you MUST get done during that time.

Tip #3: Use a timer. When you sit down to do a task, set the timer. Turn off Facebook, Twitter, Email (aka time suckers) and focus on that one task. Give yourself 15-20 minutes to accomplish and cross that item off your list.

Tip#4: Create a designated area for work and play. This is so important. Find a place in your home where you can create a work place. It could be as simple as a small corner tucked away in your bedroom or maybe one room dedicated to your work. Eliminate distractions.

Tip #5: Use productivity apps. 

1. Cozi: Manage a shared family calendar, shopping list, to do lists, and family journal while you're on the go.
2. Milebug: Great way to track your mileage, tolls, and parking.
3. Wunderlist: A list manager that runs on the web, mobile devices, and on the iPad. You can connect with it anywhere-such a great tool!
4. Time log: Perfect for anyone who needs to track their time especially when managing a few different clients.
5. LockBox: Lets you store and protect sensitive info such as credit card numbers, bank accounts, passwords, pin numbers, private notes, and any other secret information.
6. A Personal Assistant: Access and manage all your online accounts in one place with this free app.
7. Bump: Great took when you are at a networking event or conference. Quickly exchange contact information by bumping phones.
8. Intuition: A personal assistant designed by moms for moms to help you get things done.
9. Drop Box: Lets you share your files with friends, family, colleagues, and bring them with you when you're on the go.
10. Dragon Dictation: Quickly converts your voice to text. You can use your voice to send emails, write a text, tweet, and so much more. Up to 5x's faster than typing!

Tip #6: Identify daily time wasters; try to eliminate. We all have them. Maybe it's the TV, cell phone, or email. What do you get distracted by? Identify these items and make sure to eliminate them as best as you can.

Tip #7: Make time for the kids. It's so easy when you work from home to always be thinking about deadlines, emails you need to respond to, posts that need to be written, and calls that need to be made. Trying to work with little kids around is not easy-especially if they feel like they are being ignored.

Tip #8: Reward yourself! Mothers have a hard job no matter if you work outside the home, in the home, or do a little of both. We need to stop every once in a while, step back, and realize all that we accomplish in a day. It's pretty incredible if you think about it. We deserve a nice reward every once in a while to help relax and rejuvenate ourselves. It can be simply picking up a book you've been meaning to read, getting a nice pedicure, taking a long hot bath, or maybe buying yourself a new outfit. Whatever it is, don't forget to pamper yourself! Remember, it's impossible to do it all, but with a little planning, organization, and prioritizing; it can help make things more manageable!

Life lesson from my mother: "Tomorrow is another day."

Rome wasn't built in a day...

I have not failed. I have just found one of 10,000 ways that won't work.

-Thomas Edison

We all want the same thing - to be able to have what we want, when we want it, and not have to worry about overdrawing the bank account or missing a bill or fighting because you want something your spouse deems unnecessary. So, why is it that so many people who strive for this kind of financial freedom end up failing and ending up right back where they started? 

1. Lack of belief in the product or service.
The biggest reason in my opinion is that they simply do not believe in what they are selling and doing. Without true belief in what you do...without passionate conviction that the prospect wins in a sale-it becomes very difficult to be persistent. Today's buyer will look right through the false enthusiasm and see a self-centered motive every time. Do not work for yourself, work for your customer. Make it your #1 priority to help every single prospect in any way you can.

2. Other people have convinced you of your "station".
This one hits home for me because when I decided to drop my full time job that had me depending on depression medication just to make it through the day, EVERYONE told me I was stupid. "That's really going to pay the bills." "You'll never make it." "If working from home were real, everyone would be doing it."
What in the world do they know? They are not you. They don't even know what company you are representing. They don't take a single moment to ask about this opportunity you've taken. Truthfully, I believe they are jealous because you had the guts to take the leap when they didn't. Keep following your dreams and prove everyone wrong. They'll see.

3. I'm just not making money as quickly as I'd hoped.
If you are so detached from reality that you honestly believe you can "get rich quick" you have no reason to attempt owning a business or being your own boss anyway. News flash-you sow what you reap. Rome wasn't built in a day. You certainly can reach the top and be extremely successful...with hard work, lack of sleep, coffee, dedication, investment, and persistence. The road to success is NOT a straight path. You will fail, you will stumble, you will lose confidence. But never, ever quit.

4. Aimless wandering.
There is no hope of success for the person who does not have a central purpose or definite goal to aim for. Without a destination, you will be doomed for failure because every single twist and bend and bump and bruise will knock you down and you will walk away. You will go running back to the comfort zone of dead-end jobs, working your tail off for the boss you can't stand.

5. Fear of....everything.
These are the people that say "That sounds perfect...but I don't have the money right now." "...but I need guaranteed income." "...but it's just not the right time." "....but I'm not a good salesperson." You know what I think when I hear these EXCUSES, yes that's exactly what they are, I say NEXT. Why would you want someone like this on your team? I myself used to be this person. I was a pro at dishing out my "well planned lies". Once you overcome your excuses, there's no end to the possibilities in life.


6. Negative Nancy Syndrome
I promise you, if you give off nothing but negative vibes to everyone who sees you, sees your posts, has you on facebook, whatever - they WILL NOT believe that you have something good to offer as far as products you're selling or job opportunities you have. If you are so down all the time, then how could you be offering anything good for anyone else?

7. Indecision
The success stories we always read about originated from a single decision-a decision to take control. Those who succeed, reach decisions promptly and change the slowly. Those who fail, reach decisions slowly (or never) and change them frequently and quickly.


*Facing failure should never stop you in your tracks but make you more determined to overcome.*

Another good question would be....how do the people in the success stories do it? Are they really successful? Is that possible? How do I get there?

1. Develop a desire to break away from the crowd.
You need to have the courage to make use of your idea. A dream, and an unfathomable desire to achieve that dream, are the two basic aspects needed to succeed in business.

2. Find your niche.
This should be something you are knowledgeable about (or are willing to learn in detail) and have an interest in. Something you believe in and use personally.

3. Persevere through setbacks.
If you let roadblocks deter you, you will never make it-in you business or life.

4. Learn from your mistakes and try not to repeat them.
Treat every crisis as an opportunity to learn.

5. Maintain self-discipline.
When you own a business, you get freedom. Quite often this freedom paves way to complacency. Your business will only survive if you buckle down and work at it. You have no one to answer to but yourself...and maybe a spouse ;)

6. Commit to your business idea and to all those you include in your plans.
These can be employees (downline), family, friends, prospects. If you continuously advertise for your business and prove that it works with your own testimony and reviews from consumers, then the faith others have in you and your business will not falter.

7. Be patient.
No tree gives fruit overnight. For the fruit to appear, the tree has to undergo several phases. Much like the success in any business journey. You need to be patient to reap the fruits of your toil. You need to keep your effort through the lean phase. You need to be steady and focused. 

8. Be flexible.
A brilliant idea alone will not ensure success in business. You need to learn to adapt your idea to the present day needs. Your idea should reach maximum customers with ease. In the initial years, customers will not come to you. You need to take your product or service to the customer.

9. Be prepared for any question the customer may throw at you.
ex: "What do you have that others don't? Why is your product so special?" If you are prepared to answer this question you are on the right track.

10. Realize that all business involves a certain amount of risk.
So, you should be prepared to face the risk. You must have some financial backing to look to when things go wrong. Never invest your entire fortune in a new business.

Change your values, achieve freedom!

“Inside of every problem lies an opportunity.”

Robert Kiyosaki

“Your future is created by what you do today, not tomorrow”

Robert Kiyosaki

“Remember to dream big, think long-term, underacheive on a daily basis, and take baby steps. That is the key to long-term success.”

“Face your fears and doubts, and new worlds will open to you.”

Robert KiyosakiRobert Kiyosaki

“The poor, the unsuccessful, the unhappy, the unhealthy are the ones who use the word tomorrow the most”

Robert Kiyosaki

“The size of your success is measured by the strength of your desire; the size of your dream; and how you handle disappointment along the way.”

Robert Kiyosaki

Is fear keeping you from your dreams?

 The fear of failure is perhaps the strongest force holding people below their potential. In a world full of uncertainty, a delicate economy, and countless misfortunes that could happen to anyone, it’s easy to see why most people are inclined to play it safe.

But playing it safe has risk as well. If you never dare to fail your success will have a low ceiling. Most people underestimate their merit and ability to recover from failure, leading them to pass up valuable opportunities. The ability to fail big and fail often has been a mark of the spectacularly successful throughout history. The following strategies will help you put risk and reward in perspective so you can overcome the fear of failure.

         

   1. Consider the cost of missed opportunities – The biggest risk that people fail to consider is the benefit they lose by avoiding high risk/high reward opportunities. In his guide to career planning, Netscape founder Marc Andreesen compares a well managed career to a diversified portfolio. The ideal career contains a wide range of job opportunities (some risky, some safe) that combine to form a relatively safe career with a high potential for growth. Taking high risk opportunities is essential because they offer the greatest reward: The issue is that without taking risk, you can’t exploit any opportunities. You can live a quiet and reasonably happy life, but you are unlikely to create something new, and you are unlikely to make your mark on the world.

        2. Research the alternatives – The unknown is a major source of fear. When you don’t know what you’re dealing with, potential consequences seem far worse than they actually are. Take the power out fear by understanding it. Research all the potential outcomes (both good and bad) so you genuinely understand the risk of failure and benefits of success. Analyzing these outcomes will help you see through the fear of failure and make a logical decision.

       3. Put the worst-case scenario in perspective – One of the most powerful questions posed by Tim Ferriss in the 4-hour workweek is: If you chase your dreams and fall flat on your face, worst-case scenario, how long will it take you to recover? The answer is probably less than you expect. How hard would it really be to find another job? Chances are you could recover completely in a few months. Is the fear of a few rough months strong enough to keep you in a mediocre situation indefinitely?

      4. Understand the benefits of failure – As Emerson said, life is a series of experiments, the more you make the better. Each failure is a trial in an experiment and an opportunity for growth. Even if a failure costs you financially, the educational benefits can far outweigh the loss. Working for a startup instead of a big company is considered risky, but according to Paul Graham, “Managers at big companies prefer to hire someone who’d tried to start a startup and failed over someone who’d spent the same time working at a big company.” Maybe that experience at a big company isn’t as safe or as valuable as you think?

     5. Make a contingency plan – Another way to overcome the fear of failure is to reduce the downside. Hedge your risk by creating a contingency plan. Even if your first option fails, you can maintain the status quo with a solid backup plan. Daring to fail doesn’t mean you have to risk losing it all. If you manage risk intelligently, you can capture the benefits of high risk opportunities while leaving yourself a safety net.

     6. Take action – The best way to reduce fear and build confidence is taking action. As soon as you do, you’ll begin accumulating experience and knowledge. Everything is hardest the first time. It’s like jumping off a cliff into a lake — after you do it once, you see that the water is safe and each time afterwards is easy. Start off with small steps and build up your confidence until the fear of failure is manageable.

     7. Burn the boats - When ancient Greek armies traveled across the sea to do battle, the first thing they would do after landing was to burn the boats, leaving them stranded. With no way to make it home besides victory, the resolve of the soldiers was strengthened. When success and failure are the only options, you have no choice but to follow through. If you have a goal, but are afraid to commit, force yourself into action by burning the boats. Register for an exam in advance if you want to go back to school. Set a deadline to move to a new city without signing a lease. Fear of failure disappears when you realize it can’t save you.

     Personally, it took me about a year of searching for a home-based career to finally decide to take the leap and risk failing. I had just enough left in my bank account to pay for my starter kits and overhead fees. What did it take for me to overcome my fear? It took having a job I absolutely dreaded, depending on depression medication to make it through a day, missing out on valuable time with my newborn baby and husband. It took someone saying the exact right words to me at the exact right time in my life. And if you are having problems letting go of your fear, I suggest you log on to Dani Johnson's site and sign up for the free 30 day bootcamp. You will be so glad you did, trust me. And when you decide you're ready to take the leap, I hope you join me.

AmeriPlan-This 20 year old BBB recommended company has helped people nationwide feel relief from overwhelming healthcare costs, as well as tons of savings on other services including legal, financial, automotive, ID theft protection, and more! I am personally excited about spreading the word to my peers and strangers. Help others become independent business owners and/or help others save on out of pocket costs on so many every day purchases. Make money - Click here. Save money - Click here.