It’s school spring break in my part of the world and I am blessed to be home with my two gorgeous children during their week away from education. Well, formal education that is, cause man… are we learning lots this week….

…Like…

…. when you make bread but forget to plug in the bread machine, it’s not ready in time for supper…

…leaving a 3 year old alone with a bottle of dish soap and sink full of water is not a good idea…

…6 year olds do fit under the deck in one direction, getting them back out is more challenging…

…dropping a full travel mug of coffee on the floor not only makes a very loud sound and makes small children cry, the spray out of the tiny drinking hole goes surprisingly far and can be found for days after…

…gloopey glue is good for sticking rocks together, glue sticks are not, but they are pretty good for leaves…

…taking your children for an after dinner bike ride sounds more relaxing than it is…

….sweeping out the garage on a day with 50km winds is silly…

…going through the carwash is better with the adventurous child rather than the sensitive one…

…there is no such thing as too many juice popsicles…

…sprinklers in a March in the middle of Canada are freezing…3 year olds don’t care…

…always check the propane tank before promising a hotdog roast…

…playing in the dirt on the street is far more appealing than the clean and tidy backyard sandbox…

… there are fewer things in the world that are better than the sweet laughter of your children mixed with your own…in your own warm, sunny backyard, on a Tuesday afternoon in the springtime…

…being a Mompreneur is tough and amazing in equal measure, but when you add chalk,  bubbles, bikes, homemade cookies, sand castles, picnics, and slobbery kisses whenever you want them,  the balance is decidedly tipped in favour of never working for someone else again…

If you feel like a hamster on a wheel, this article is for you.

 Like many of you, I run a home based business out of, go figure, my home. It sounded like such a dream come true at the time. Work from home, make money from home, earn an income from home. Ahhh….bliss.

 I found a top tier direct sales network marketing company that in addition to the most robust compensation plan available today specializes in products I actually like. Love really. Personal development, happiness stuff. Definitely my gig.

 Yaye, I found it all. And I have been successful. Moderately.

 Yes, moderate success. Despite having the company with all the ducks in a row. So what was going wrong?

 One of the perks we enjoy is a Saturday morning mentorships session with a new guest speaker every week – someone who can add value to what makes life worth living, what makes someone successful, how to reach your full potential, and all that amazing stuff. The most recent guest spent the hour telling us about clutter and distractions and how that can lead to UFOs.

 Unnecessary Freak Outs.

 What kind of clutter leads to UFOS? Email, facebook messages, IM, junk mail virtual or paper.

 Distractions – blog posts (oops), youtube, facebook, twitter, Google, marketing and advertising ideas.

 The guy had a point. And I read a great blog post last week about this (you can read it here). So I decided to do a clean sweep.

 1. Mass unsubscribe – newsletters, ezines, junk mail, coupons, specials, grocery stores, contests, all of it. Gone.

2.Notifications – I stopped all email notifications from facebook and twitter from coming to my inbox.

3. Mute – I muted all the sounds on my computer, so no dings, beeps, blips, nothing.

 Suddenly I can see. I can see the important emails in my inbox, I can concentrate on what I’m doing without interruptions, I’m not hopping from one thing to the next.

 Whew.

 And then I took a look at what I’m letting get in my way. Yes, I read and write blog posts. But I was not doing that in a systematic way. I was randomly all over the place with forty three half done things open on my screen. Plus being at home I can do laundry, play with the kids, make supper, etc etc etc…Quite productive.

 So I’m going to try something different. I’m setting aside times for the critical tasks of the day. What’s my number one priority? Well, every home based business thrives on business partners, and as much as I’ve waited and watched, they do not fall from the sky. You have to call them. So that’s the number one.

 How do I find people to talk to? Need at advertise. That’s number 2. How to advertise? That’s a process that also requires a narrow set of blinders. Pick 2 things to become really good at. In the mean time, consider buying some leads so you have the flow.

 I was trying to learn everything and essentially learned nothing at all. As I narrow my focus, I’m getting better and more leads. Plus, because I want to ensure I’m building my business at the same time I’m learning about it, I bought some leads.

 Everything else comes after that.

 So with WAY fewer emails, no facebook, twitter, or youtube notifications coming in, skype turned off, no newsletters, ezines, or great online act now sales to distract me, ignoring the laundry, dishes, and meal planning, and babysitter arranged… behold…Monday, 22 leads, 4 people qualified and it’s only mid afternoon.

 Plus a blog post topic.

 Cool.

If you’ve looked around my blog at all, you’ll know that I am involved with personal development, and work in the field of happiness. I do workshops, lectures, keynotes, represent an amazing wellness company, and all that good stuff. So I’ve been called, on more than one occasion, the happiness lady.

Sigh….

Well, the happiness lady is cranky today. So there. I’m not even going to hide it, I’m just going to lay it out there for you all to see. No need to cringe, the world will not end because you read a negative sentence on blog. Your pristine positive mindset will not crumble.

(Ok, add scathing to the cranky.)

One of the most common questions I get in a workshop or even talking in new business partners, is about the law of attraction and how to handle the ‘bad’ thoughts. If I think bad things, they’ll come true, I’ve made all the bad stuff in my life happen, if I give into to my negative feelings, my life will go to rack and ruin, and so on…

Back up the bus.

 
Let’s get something clear once and for all. If the law of attraction worked like a magic wand, we’d all wave it, have everything we could ever want, and be done with blogs and relationships and networking and all that because it’d be manifested, poof, just like that. Well, sorry, that was never the intent.
Secondly, being a positive person does not equate to being Suzy Sunshine 24/7. Nope, wipe that grin off your face every now and then and get in touch with your real self.
Personal Development, positive psychology, happiness, positive mindset, and blah blah blah, never once said deny the other half of the equation. The gurus do not say you cannot be sad, angry, upset, annoyed, frustrated, and ticked right off.
That’s not real. That’s denial. That’s fake. And we do want authenticity.
The key message in any personal development and wellness lesson is this: What will you do?
Seriously, this is the key. Feel anything and everything, in fact it’s important to allow all feelings not just the wram fuzzy ones; think anything and everything.
Now choose your path. Choose your reaction. Choose your next thoughts, feelings, actions. This is the neglected feature.
So yes, I’m crabby today for a litany of reasons not appropriate for these pages. And I have chosen to acknowledge that, feel that (not super fun, but not agony either), and now it comes to the choice. What do to NEXT…?
Well, I decided to tell this story. I didn’t go yell at my kids, I didn’t slam any doors, I didn’t smash any dishes, and I didn’t pout (much). I decided I would just feel cranky, crabby, and sarcastic. I decided that I could channel this feeling into something productive, a new post. And I decided to forgive myself and allow myself to be human.

Perhaps you can too.