Give Yourself Permission

Written by Dave Balch


It is September 14, 2001 and I am sitting here trying to think of something to share; frankly, I can't. I'm still in shock overrepparttar events ofrepparttar 101852 last few days so I'm going to offer this:

I have always maintained that TV isrepparttar 101853 archenemy ofrepparttar 101854 home-based business owner because it's so easy to get sucked-in and completely distracted. I've tried to work whilerepparttar 101855 TV is on, but I'm only at 50% capacity at best. I suppose that's better than sitting onrepparttar 101856 couch with a bowl of popcorn, but I prefer operating at a higher level than that.

The solution I have always recommended is to never turn on a TV inrepparttar 101857 first place. It's amazing how easy it is to avoid plot lines when you don't know what they are! That said, when there is a major news event I find myself in terrible conflict; should I keep my nose torepparttar 101858 grindstone or just 'give-in' torepparttar 101859 temptation to keep up with what's going on? I have found myself in this predicament during major events such asrepparttar 101860 Columbine shootings,repparttar 101861 Northridge earthquake,repparttar 101862 Gulf War, andrepparttar 101863 Challenger space shuttle disaster.

When something happens that is so devastating, so traumatic, so incomprehensible asrepparttar 101864 terrorist attacks onrepparttar 101865 World Trade Center andrepparttar 101866 Pentagon, I am not doing myself a favor by 'resisting'. I NEED to keep up withrepparttar 101867 details. I NEED to know what's happening. I NEED to feel involved in some fashion, even if only vicariously. So I gave myself permission, and just leftrepparttar 101868 TV on.I didn't even pretend that I was trying to get anything done; I just stayed glued torepparttar 101869 tube to stay informed. Occasionally I had to remind myself to breathe.

Be Afraid

Written by Dave Balch


There's no doubt about it: fear holds people back. Period. Fear is probably one ofrepparttar most important obstacles to overcome in order to be successful. "Fear of what?" you may ask. Fear of failure (you probably guessed that one) and fear of success.

Fear of success???

Absolutely! People fear success because there is a lot of pressure to stay atrepparttar 101851 top when they get there, and there isrepparttar 101852 feeling that they don't deserve what they've achieved; someone will eventually discover that fact and it will all go away. I saw an interview of Chevy Chase last night and he said that most ofrepparttar 101853 celebrities he's ever known feel like someone will "discover" that they really have no talent after all.

I think that a lot of people get to a certain level of success and stay there because they just don't feel comfortable at a higher level. In retrospect, I think that may have happened to me and caused me to sort of slack off when I got to a comfortable income level. Looking back I actually felt a little fear atrepparttar 101854 idea of making more money than I already was, and it held me back.

People fear failure because their self-esteem is too tied-up in what they are doing. If they fail then they are somehow diminished and less of a person. And, they are concerned about what others will think if they make a mistake or if something isn't perfect because they depend onrepparttar 101855 approval of others in order to feel good about themselves

When you are afraid, you go into a protective mode that includes, but is not limited to:

1. Giving up too easily. You can't be good at what you do if you give up too easily. Some things just have to be hammered-on repeatedly until you getrepparttar 101856 results you want. Fear of failure is a self-fulfilling prophecy, because when you give up too easily failure is almost assured. Weird how that works, don't you think?

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