Children are mostly oblivious to the constraints that we face as adults and I think that as adults we may self-impose some of those constraints. What’s the first thing that you think of when you have an idea or someone comes to you with an idea? Do you focus on the ‘what if’ or do you immediately start looking at the reasons why it wouldn’t work?

 The reason that I pose these questions is that our daughter has recently been on a quest to set up a business of her own. The only real issue here is that she is turning seven next month! In her eyes even this is not an issue, she just kept thinking until she found something that suited her. In her mind the sky is the limit and we are going to do everything we can to help her reach her potential.

 I understand that as an adult we have to undertake a certain amount of ‘risk assessment’ with any idea that comes before us but I also wonder how many good opportunities have been lost by erring on the side of caution. Maybe if we concentrated on the ‘what if’ a bit more we might find that life is full of good opportunities.

 To read more about Mikaela’s entry into the business world please have a read of the Six Year Old Entrepreneur post at My Online Dollars. I think you will find it an interesting read, but then again I may be biased!

Craig

These two subjects come hand in hand for me as I am working towards a life goal of not having to return to a J.O.B. and I am using the Internet as a means to achieve this. I have realized though that both of these subjects are far too vast to adequately cover on one weblog so I have removed all trace of website and internet type stuff and will concentrate this site on the WHY only.

The HOW will be taken care of by My Online Dollars.com, our new site that will show what we are doing online and the results of these endeavors. No doubt there will be a few mistakes made along the way and hopefully more than a few wins but my aim is to share everything to do with making money online, from a complete beginners point of view and with no fluff or hype as you so often see in the Internet Marketing type game.

There has been many techniques and methods that we have discovered to make money online and no doubt they have all been covered before but if you want to see a true beginner trying to master these things please take a look at our site.

If you need some inspiration in your life to start turning your dreams into reality stick around here as we have some really helpful stuff coming up. Hopefully we can provide you with enough motivation to get you dreaming and most importantly get you thinking of ways that you can achieve your dreams. I firmly believe that if the will is strong enough we will find a way to achieve and a life without dreams and action taken towards those dreams is a life not lived!

I have found this particularly true with what I am aiming for. Many people cannot grasp the concept of me wanting to make a living while still being at home with the kids. Even some family members are wondering why I don’t just go out and get a ‘real’ job. It is these opinions that honestly make me think if I am doing the right thing, especially when things aren’t moving as quickly as I would like them to.

One way I have found to combat these feelings of self-doubt is to sit back and take a look at the small successes we have had on our way to our goals. Rather than focusing only on the dream or goal that we know we will achieve in time I think it is important in keeping our focus to occasionally celebrate the steps we have already taken in our journey.

After all, it is these steps that make eventually lead us to our ultimate goal and without them we just wouldn’t get there. They are also a very useful way to ‘re-ignite’ the fire inside you when the journey seems like it is taking forever. Do yourself a favor, if you have set any goals at all for your life in the immediate future take the time to sit back and think about how far you have come already, visualize the successes you have had no matter how large or small and see them as important steps in the path to obtaining your ultimate goal. Sure, there may be many more steps to cover but I bet there is also many steps that you have already walked!

Craig 

 This post was written by a very talented woman from one of the social networking sites that I spend way too much time on and I think it sums up perfectly the road to adulthood and the reasons we loose sight of our dreams and abilities.

 Many thanks to White Trash Queen for permission to use this article.

To Whom It May Concern: 
I am hereby officially tendering my resignation as an adult.
I have decided I would like to accept the responsibilities of a 6 year old again.

I want to go to McDonald’s and think that it’s a four star restaurant.
I want to sail sticks across a fresh mud puddle and make ripples with rocks.
I want to think M&Ms are better than money, because you can eat them.
I want to play kickball during recess and paint with watercolors in art.
I want to lie under a big Oak tree and run a lemonade stand with my friends on a hot summers day.
I want to return to a time when life was simple.

When all you knew were colors, addition tables and simple nursery rhymes. But that didn’t bother you, because you didn’t know what you didn’t know and you didn’t care.
When all you knew was to be happy because you didn’t know all the things that should make you worried and upset.
I want to think that the world is fair. That everyone in it is honest and good.
I want to believe that anything is possible.

Somewhere in my youth…I matured and I learned too much.
I learned of nuclear weapons, war, prejudice, starvation and abused children.
I learned of lies, unhappy marriages, suffering, illness, pain and death.
I learned of a world where men left their families to go and fight for our country, and returned only to end up living on the streets… begging for their next meal.
I learned of a world where children knew how to kill…and did.

What happened to the time when we thought that everyone would live because we didn’t grasp the concept of death?
When we thought the worst thing in the world was if someone took the jump rope from you or picked you last for kickball?

I want to be oblivious to the complexity of life and be overly excited by little things once again.
I want to return to the days when reading was fun and music was clean. When television was used to report the news or for family entertainment and not to promote sex, violence and deceit.
I remember being naive and thinking that everyone was happy because I was.

I would walk on the beach and only think of the sand between my toes and the prettiest seashell I could find.
I would spend my afternoon climbing trees and riding my bike.
I didn’t worry about time, bills or where I was going to find the money to fix my car.
I used to wonder what I was going to do or be when I grew up, not worry about what I’ll do if this doesn’t work out.

I want to live simple again.
I don’t want my day to consist of computer crashes, mountains of paperwork, depressing news, how to survive more days in the month than there is money in the bank, doctor bills, gossip, illness and loss of loved ones.
I want to believe in the power of smiles, hugs, a kind word, truth, justice, peace, dreams, the imagination, mankind and making angels in the snow.

I want to be 6 again.

 This got me thinking about the difference between the dreams we have for our lives and the goals that we set or should set if we want to get somewhere.

 The way I see it is that we have dreams or aspirations for our lives as the overall plan that we are working towards and goals as measurable steps on the road to these dreams.

 Without goals we have no way of knowing if we are getting closer or further away from our dreams, and without setting goals the dreams we have for our lives may seem so far away that we are tempted to give up altogether. Each small success that we have with our goals can be seen as one more step on the road to the life we desire, take those steps away and all we have is one long road that looks too long to even contemplate.

 Planning out and writing my goals was something that I struggled with early on. I am the kind of person that stores everything in the old grey matter and have become quite good at it. It wasn’t until I wrote everything down that I realized I was actually not getting the things done that would put me one step closer to my dream, instead I was wasting a lot of time doing I don’t know what! If there could be one ‘rule’ when it comes to goal setting it is to write everything down and go back over what you have written at least once a week.

 As an example, part of building our niche websites involves adding new content to each site on a weekly basis, so I mentally set aside Monday’s to do this. Funnily enough, when I look back at the dates of each post made there are times when some sites got forgotten for a fortnight or more. Now after writing the goal on the whiteboard near my desk there is no forgeting Monday’s and what do you know, there has been new content added every week since doing this! Funny that.

 I know writing website content every week is not exactly an awe-inspiring goal to achieve but the way I think of it is that every new piece of writing is one step towards building a large site, one step towards getting better search engine placings, one step towards attracting more readers and therefore increased revenue and that is one more step towards my dream of being financially free. As you can see that goal is very important because it gets me one step closer to my dream.

 If I was to focus solely on achieving financial freedom instead of the steps taken to get there I would feel very overwhelmed at the amount of time and effort it takes to succeed and probably give up after a short amount of time. This is why I think setting attainable goals is crutial to achieving success in any part of your life.  

Craig

 2008 will be a big year for us and I hope that we may have provided you with some inspiration to chase your dreams in 2008 also.

Take care over the holiday season.

Craig and Belinda.

 David’s story is a very interesting one and his blog is full of great articles on finding what it is you want from your life and many of the articles provide a great deal of inspiration when the going gets a little tough, and it does get tough at times. Going against the ‘normal’ way of thinking - the J.O.B. mentality - certainly has it’s ups and downs.

 I have thought on several occasions of dropping everything and heading down to the local J.O.B. centre and signing up but then I think how crushed I would be at having to let go of a dream. A quick read through the Slow Down Fast blog and the inspiration returns. Well worth your time to take a look.

 One other resource that I have found useful both in dealing with the pressures of daily living and also useful for dealing with my back pain is Mindfulness. What the heck is Mindfulness you may ask? Mindfulness is a form of meditation that allows you to completely clear your mind and become more self aware.

 Yeah I know, sounds a bit odd and I can tell you that when I found out that I was booked-in to do a course on Mindfulness with the pain management group that I attend I have to say I wasn’t impressed! Four weeks later and I have mastered Mindfulness and use it on a daily basis to kick back and get everything into perspective once again.

 I found so many benefits from Mindfulness that I started a blog on the subject. Sounds like that ad from a few years ago - “I was so impressed that I bought the company!”, something like that anyway. I think it was for mens razors. Anyhow once again I digress! If your keen to see what this Mindfulness thing is all about please head over to The Mindfulness Blog. It is a little light-on content at the moment but I am working on that as we speak.

Take Care

Craig   

 The post came about from a particularly sad moment in my life when a good friend of mine attempted to take his own life. Thankfully he had second thoughts and thank god he was able to call an Ambulance that got him to hospital in time. I wrote this post for him and also for myself to try and re-focus my own thinking after this shock. I hope that you too can find some hope and inspiration from it. Here goes….. 

 There has been a long-running fued in our household regarding two conifer trees that were growing outside our lounge room balcony. Belinda insisting on letting them grow for the sake of privacy and me, well I just wanted the view back. One of the reasons we bought our house in the first place was the magnificent view that it had.

 Finally today she gave in and the trees where cut down. The neighbours must think that I am a couple of sandwiches short of a picnic, getting excited over trees being cut down!

 So what in god’s name does this have to do with the title of this post? Glad you asked! First take a look at the pictures of the view. Beautiful isn’t it? No, I’m not hear to gloat about the house we have, the market was very low at the time we bought and there is no way we could afford the same house in today’s market!

 What I am trying to say through this example is that although sometimes our outlook on life may be distorted or even completely blocked, not by damn conifer trees I hope!, but by events in our lives that make it hard to focus on what we do have that brings us hapiness. Often times these ‘events’ are out of our control and I guess there is a certain amount of helplessness that comes with them which can make the situation seem alot worse than it may be.

 From my point of view I have had a few challenges over the past twelve months, first physically which then led to financially and it is only now that I have realised the importance of looking past the conifer trees, so to speak, and to find inspiration for my life from the things that I do still have around me. When these challenges first began to become problems my outlook was very clouded and I focused on the negatives instead of looking for the great view that was still there, it was just a bit harder to see.

 I have found that training your mind to think this way is no easy feat and although I knew how I should have been thinking at the time it took a long time and a lot of perseverance before I truly believed it. However I am reminded of some of the positives in my life most morning’s when there are three smiling faces looking up at me from the end of the bed when I wake up!

 Although life can often throw us a few curve-balls, sometimes more than one at a time, I think that there is allways something left in our lives that can bring about positive thoughts and feelings and this is what we need to concentrate on to help us make the most of a situation we would rather not be in. Take a look at the bigger picture and focus your energy on things that help you live the life you deserve, one of happiness.

 Life was never meant to be easy, as they say, but if for even one moment in a day you can focus your thoughts on something that brings about happy, positive feelings then life will be easier to handle. Also there is always someone out there who cares for you, whether you realize it or not. Unfortunately it often takes us humans a lot to admit that we care for someone and I think if we were to show our feelings more people would understand that they are not alone and that there is someone out there that wants to know if you are doing ok.

 Life is way too short to leave your feelings buried inside you and quite possibly expressing to someone that you care about them may bring them to see that it isn’t all doom and gloom and potentially may even save their life! Don’t worry about whether or not you think they want to hear it, let them know anyway because as I found out you never know how someone is feeling deep down inside and it may be all they need to hear to make their life a bit easier. If you can help anyone see the good things around them they will be better off for it.

 I guess what I am trying to say and what I have learnt is that no-matter how bad things are for you at the moment if you try your hardest to look at the positive aspects of your life, the great view, the positive view will come into focus again. Sure it takes a lot of work and you need a lot of self-talk to make it happen, but take it from me once you get there you will never want to go back! The view is too good!

Craig

I have had the pleasure of reading and now writing a review of David Bohl’s insightful ebook entitled “Your Life in Balance”. David’s ebook takes you on a journey that examines every aspect of your life and has great methods for digging deep and finding what it is that YOU need to change to achieve a balanced, enjoyable life.

David Bohl is not just another ‘trained’ life coach. David draws on his own life experiences as the basis of his teaching. He has been there, done that as far as an unbalanced work/home life is concerned and has made positive changes to achieve a balanced life and you can learn from his real world experience through this ebook. This unique perspective makes for an enjoyable and thought-provoking read.

David has done well to squeeze so much into 68 pages, everything from explaining what life balance means, how to find what life balance is for you, finding what you want out of life and practical ways to overcome obstacles and achieve the life you have always wanted but weren’t sure how to go about it. The last chapter focuses on why a support system is important and makes you realize that you don’t have to struggle on by yourself.

At the end of every chapter there is a review of the key points and practical exercises for the reader to complete. I found the exercises very good for plotting out how my life is going at the moment and it is very easy to see where changes need to be made, particularly with regards to where my time is spent. I thought I was spending a reasonable amount of time with my family but when I wrote it all down I realized I still spent way too much time chasing the elusive dollar. Now I know what Belinda is complaining about!

Stress is a huge part of modern day living and David has a whole chapter devoted to addressing this issue. There is an explanation of what stress is from a physical and emotional point of view and the difference between negative and positive stress in your life and my favorite, The Stress Test. Do you think you are handling the stress in your life? Take the Stress Test to see how you are really doing.

I could rave on for hours about the content in this ebook, it really is a comprehensive guide to improving your life and achieving life balance. David has done a fantastic job of addressing and thoroughly explaining every step of the process and I highly recommend this ebook to anyone that is looking to get the most out of their lives. Even if you think you are doing fine, grab a copy and read it with an open mind and I guarantee you will see things from a different perspective and find areas of your life that you can improve to increase your happiness and your ‘life balance’.

Craig Wilson.

*This is not a paid review, this is an honest opinion of a top quality ebook!*

 If you don’t know who Steve Irwin was (and seriously who doesn’t!) he was better known as the Crocodile Hunter. The khaki-wearing, hyperactive man that was so deeply passionate about animal conservation that he made it his job to educate people around the world about looking after mother nature. Through his tv documentaries and the world famous Australia Zoo he bought attention to the plight of our wildlife in a unique and sometimes crazy way.

 I think the biggest thing that we can learn from Steve, apart from his message about wildlife conservation, is what can be achieved when the passion and the goal is strong enough and he is a perfect example of someone living their dream. In 1991 Steve took over the reptile park from his parents and transformed it something that is a tribute to one man’s (and one woman’s - I’m sure Terri had a lot to do with it as well) vision. We are lucky enough to live not far from the Australia Zoo and have been there a number of times and if you haven’t been there it is truly a sight to see. There is no doubt that Steve had a lot of good people around him every step of the way but I think it would have been Steve that had the grand-plan firmly implanted in his mind.

 A lot of people have critised Steve over the years for making Australians look like a bunch of looney’s. When you look at footage of behind the scenes action you realise that this man had a huge personality. He was larger than life. It’s a shame that some people see this as a bad thing and scorn someone having a great time and thoroughly enjoying life. I think Steve would have had a strong enough character to see that what other people thought of him was none of his business and to hell with the knockers! Obviously many people around the world liked what he did judging by the huge audience that his documentaries attracted.

 People like Steve Irwin don’t come along everyday and it may be hard for you and I to remain so focused and committed to one thing when the chores of everyday life take up most of our time, but take a step back for a moment and see what other people have achieved and you know, they are no different from you and I, they just have a goal that they are willing to chase without letting anything get in their way.

Steve Irwin 22/2/1962 - 4/9/2006

May He Rest In Peace.

Craig Wilson