Tips to ACHIEVE your 2010 New Year Resolutions & Goal Setting

"The trouble with the rat race is that, even if you win, you're still a rat" ~ Lily Tomlin

There was a time, in the not-so-distant past, when families were expected to give up everything in order to achieve the financial security they craved. Perhaps you remember those decades, perhaps you are too young to recall those times.

Those were the days when climbing the corporate ladder was a revered activity, and wives and children gazed fondly at pictures of the breadwinner in order to remember whether poor, exhausted Dad had blue eyes or brown.

Large companies moved employees from one city to another, like pawns on a chessboard and, if you had any hope of climbing the ladder toward upper management positions, you packed up the wife and kids and moved on from Chicago, to Boston, to New York, to Tokyo.

In the intervening years, the divorce rate climbed, fathers lost touch with their families and died of heart attacks and strokes at an alarming rate. When these men retired, they felt useless and unproductive.

Over the years, the identity of these men had become inextricably tied to their success on the job. New retirees found themselves wondering who they were, and why they were living with women who were complete strangers to them. And, whatever happened to those darling kids who used to live in the house?
Then women entered the workforce in earnest and joined the rat race.

Lest you think that this rat race has come to an end, look to the evidence of stress related death and illness, an increase in the average number of hours worked by employees in the U.S. and around the world, skyrocketing numbers of divorces and children in single-parent families.

And, let us not forget those of us who are responsible for the care of aging parents.

We live in a world of conveniences that were designed to give us more leisure time. But, it would seem that all the informational overload, whirring computers and media blitz has given us is more time for work.

It is not unusual for men and women to work sixty or seventy hours per week on average. Some of us work eighty or ninety hours without batting an eyelash. And, we fool ourselves into thinking we have a life!

If you are one of the enlightened few, you have already come to the conclusion that giving up a social and family life is too great a price to pay for career success.

Maybe, you have stress related health problems, perhaps you are not eating right, and you are probably fighting with your spouse, boyfriend or best buddy because you spend too little time with the people you care about most.

You probably can't find the time to return phone calls or send a birthday card to your Aunt Betty.

It doesn't matter if you are a lineman for a utility company, a pizza delivery girl, a corporate executive or an aspiring dancer.

In today's chaotic world, it is a safe bet that you don't have enough time for work, family and friends. And, since your boss holds a tight rein on your paycheck, it is likely that your family and friends are the ones that suffer.

For most home businesses, the computer and the
Internet are an integral part of the success or
failure of the business.

However, just like when you are at work, there's
always the temptation to check your email, talk to
friends online, or play a game when you are not busy.

However, just like at a job that you commute to, this
should be something that should be avoided when you
are working at your home based business.

One way to help avoid doing this is to set up an
account on your computer that is just for your home
based business.

Set up an email that is just business, set up an
instant messenger that is just business, and use the
web browser to just do things that are part of the
business.

The temptation is still there, of course, but if you
start doing this right away you will find that it's
not so difficult.

The other reason that setting up an account that is
separate for your business is good is because when you
are doing things that are personal on the computer you
will be less likely to work during your 'off' hours.

One of the biggest mistakes that people who work from
home make is that they are 'always' working. They
never allow themselves time to be 'off the clock'.

This isn't something that is healthy, and it's
something that should be avoided. Having a separate
account on your computer helps to prevent this from
happening.

Mothers who work at home (or Wahms) are a growing population of working America.

As more and more women want to spend time with their children and need to bring in an income, there has been a boom in the work at home industry. Making the decision to work at home is not always an easy one.

Before you decide that being a Wahm is right for you, you need to take a few things into account.

You'll need to decide if being a Wahm is right for you and your family. There are many benefits to working out of the home. You can set your own hours, you don't have to commute to work and you can be there for your kids when they need you.

However, there are some downsides as well. The isolation of working at home can be an issue for some women. There are also challenges related to juggling work time and family time.

You'll also have to look at the impact that working from home will have on your family's financial situation. If you are moving from a high-paying full time job to working part time from home while you care for your child, there will definitely be some financial adjustments.

However, whatever your cut in pay will be, you have to weigh that versus the costs of putting your child into daycare full time. Although it may seem like your work at home pay will be minimal compared to your full time out of the home job, you need to consider how much it will cost for daycare.

If you can make an equal amount of money or more by working part time from home and taking care of your child yourself, it is well worth it financially to stay at home.

However, some women see that raising their child without the use of daycare, whether or not they make a significant income, is the real benefit of being a Wahm.

The perks of raising your own child, while still bringing in money for the family, are many. Children are only young once, and being able to stay at home with them is one of the top reasons that women choose a Wahm career.

There are also several qualities that make a Wahm successful. Before you start working at home, evaluate whether you have these qualities or can develop them.

Working at home normally fits into two different categories. You can either work as an independent contractor for a company or you can work for yourself. Either way, you are going to be in charge of your own schedule.

You'll need to be extremely self-motivated and work well without having a supervisory presence in your work environment. Even those who choose to work for a company are responsible for scheduling their own time and meeting deadlines without a lot of input from supervisors.

Another important skill to have as a Wahm is time management. When you work out the home, you are confronted with two sets of challenges each day. You'll be faced with the work you need to get done, but you'll also be in the midst of your household, where there are always things that need to be done.

If you focus too much on your work, your house will get out of control, and vice versa. Having good time management skills will help you tackle the diverse challenges of being a Wahm.

Making the decision to become a Wahm requires a lot of thought and consideration.

If you are thinking about working from home because you are having a baby, or because you are tired of sending your children to daycare, take some time to write down the pros and cons of becoming a Wahm. Talk things over with your family to ensure that you are making the right decision for the family unit.

There are plenty of resources online for moms who are looking to find out more about the realities of working at home. Once you've considered your position and done the necessary research, you'll be better equipped to make the right decision for you.

If someone asked you what your business is about, can you tell them in a brief, clear and concise way inn which it's powerful?

Would you say "I sell shoes" or would you say "I manufacture various types of shoes for distribution to major wholesalers across the United States". Again, which statement would you use?

The Mission Statement part of your action plan should define your business. SOHO's can benefit from having a defined mission statement. It is professional and it reaffirms the goals and objectives of your small business. It also reminds you on what your business is all about and how your business will serve people or other businesses.

Some SOHO businesses die because they lose focus of their mission. They started off good but they never wrote down a mission statement. The money flowed and the clients came but all of a sudden, a downturn happened in their business and they couldn't make it back out of the ditch. The problem was that they never defined their mission statement.

Structure brings success and many SOHO businesses don't have structure. Along with the Executive part of your action plan, the mission statement is the next important item that you can create and adhere to.

Let's say that you manufacture shoes out of your SOHO. How would you write your mission statement? Let's try to formulate a mission statement for Joes' Shoe Manufacturing Company

Joe's Old Mission Statement: "We manufacture shoes".

Joes New Mission Statement: "Joes Shoe Manufacturing Company specializes in the manufacturing of fine quality leather shoes for men and women in various and special sizes for distribution to various shoe outlets throughout the United States and Europe. When you see the insignia of excellence in our shoes, you know that you are buying the finest footwear in the world through our company.

The second mission statement introduces the company and its operation or specialty, the target market and adjacent markets, the geographical reach of your operation and the trademark or brand identification of your business.

Try writing out your mission statement on a piece of paper. Mission statements also change due to the direction of your company. This is what the action plan for SOHO's are all about. It shows you possibilities and angles that you never saw before in your business.