By Stephen Bucaro

If your job causes a lot of stress, taking up a hobby that lets you work with your hands can help you wind down. That's why Erica Basile took a class on quilting. After making a quilt for her daughter, Erica put all of leftover squares into a kit as a gift for a friend.

After Erica got married and moved to Boston, she didn't want to go back to work, so she decided to try to sell some of her quilts on eBay. Within three months she made $6,000.00 on eBay.

But Erica found that making quilts from scratch was very time consuming. She thought it would be easier if quilts came in a kit with precut fabric squares. When she mentioned this to her friends, they thought it was a good idea. So did Small Business Administration, who gave her a $40,000 loan to start Easy Quilt Kits, Inc.

She created a website to sell her quilt kits, and within eight weeks it received 61,000 visitors. Visit http://easyquiltkits.com and click on "Patterns" menu to see pictures of Erica's quilts. There are some very beautiful and boldly colored quilts, such as "Tequila Sunrise Quilt" and "Rosebud Quilt" - plus a French Quilt Purse and a Needle and Bead Holder Travel Case Quilt.

Fear can stop you from taking action that could improve your life considerably.

I have direct experience of fear getting in way of my dreams.

I’m a Kung Fu nut.

Last year, I really wanted to travel to Malaysia so that I could do a Shaolin Kung Fu course. This is dream stuff for me. I REALLY wanted to do it.

It was expensive and it would mean I would have to travel alone to a different country, but I really REALLY wanted to do it.

Lots of people travel alone all time, and would not consider this to be a problem, but for me it’s opposite. Sure, it sounds fun, it’s an adventure and all but I just couldn’t get comfortable with it.

I didn’t go to Malaysia.

Now it’s a year later, and course is available again.

Same place, same fee. And I have same fear.

Am I going?

I can not let this fear inside rule me. It’s not fair right? Why should I let it rule me, why let is get in way of my dreams?

You see fear can be opposing force to realising your dreams. It stopped me last year, and I didn’t really know why. This year is different though. I still have those feelings, fear, but this time I know that if I...

...take first step

...the rest WILL follow.

It just has to. What is worst that could happen? Nothing that couldn’t just happen any other day.

So I WILL be going to Malaysia this year, in April to be exact, to learn Shaolin Wahnam Kung Fu from my Sigung (Sifu Wong Kiew Kit) and I can’t wait.

So what has this got to do with you? What has this got to do with running a home business?

==> Fear is opposing force to taking action...

...to realising your dreams.

I want to ask you something.

Is fear stopping you from doing something that you really want to do? It could be about work, it could be about anything.

It could be that you are worried about what other people will think.

It could be commitments that you feel are stopping you from taking action.

Is it a fear of losing?