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Success from the Nest

Inspiration, tips, and advice for the home-based entrepreneur and those aspiring to be one - all served up with humor and cartoons.

The Hiatus That Became A Course ChangeSeptember 3 2008

When I was a kid, my mom worked in the admissions office of a small liberal arts college. I remember overhearing a professor talking about the 3-month sabbatical that he was going to take. As an amateur nature photographer, he was looking forward to what he called a “working vacation.” Freedom has always been one of my passions and values, so that sounded like the coolest thing in the world.

I’d heard years later that he decided to stay with the photography and he left his position at the college. The hiatus he took, defined a course change in his career.

Now, 9 months into what was to be a 1-month hiatus, it’s become clear that the same thing has happened to me. Teaching Sells has not only taken the bulk of my time, but also has been so much fun, it’s become my main focus. And, as some of you may know, I’m working on a new project called Lateral Action with Brian Clark and Mark McGuinness.

Where does that leave SFTN? Well for now (which has become pretty obvious), I won’t be updating with new posts. TS and LA cover much of the same material, but will offer a bigger arena. I’ll probably overhaul and combine this into

Holiday HiatusDecember 10 2007

I’ve been planning on taking a hiatus from blogging over the holidays, but things have been so slow around here, it’s been more transitional than a sudden stop .

Anyway, I’m taking a break from the blog for the next few weeks, and will be back after the New Year.

Thanks to everyone for stopping by, reading, and subscribing this year.

I wish you a joyful and abundant holiday season.

Are You Turning into a Home-Based Hermit?November 21 2007

This is the first guest post from Jon Morrow.

Working at home is certainly convenient, but it can be dangerous to your social life.

With no job to drag you out of the house, you might find that you no longer have a reason to leave. Sure, you might hop into the car and grab some groceries, but that doesn’t involve any deep interaction with people. Neither do conference calls or business lunches.

It’s surprising, but after a couple of months working at home, the joy of freedom can actually wear off and you start to feel lonely.

Of course, it doesn’t affect all people. Lots of folks have such active families, friends, or hobbies that it never becomes a problem.

Others of us find it more difficult. If you’re single, living in a new town, or somewhat of a loner, you might not have any activities that naturally connect you with people.

It’s easy to turn into a hermit — someone that stays cooped up in the house for days or weeks at a time with no friends or real connection to the outside world.

Not only is hermit life emotionally unhealthy, but for most of us, it’s far from what we imagine when we decided to take the leap to working at home. We want freedom from the workplace, but we don’t want to turn into a recluse.

The problem is, maintaini

When You Fall Off the Face of the EarthNovember 9 2007

Been kind of quiet around here the past two weeks.

I expected that to happen when Teaching Sells launched. I usually underestimate how much I’ll be involved when launching a new project. I tend to get both excited and obsessed, so needless to say, my primary focus has been the new venture.

Because it is so exciting, I have to be careful to prioritize and keep balanced. The main balance is with family and work. So unfortunately personal projects, like this one, tend to fall a little behind.

Wendy said in a comment here on balance:

“It’s much easier to write about balance than it is to actually do it. But every time I write about it, I am pushed to walk my talk just a little bit more.”

Amen, sister!

So regular posting will pick up again. I’m also approaching some folks about guest posting. Some of the top contributors in the comments have shared wonderful insights. Now I just need to convince them to share a whole post or two .

The Point Of View May Be New To YouOctober 30 2007

Graham had reached rock bottom.

From an outside perspective, you’d never know it. But Graham had pulled himself up from a very low place years ago, and vowed never to be that low again. When you reach a certain level of success, you never want to reach true rock bottom again.

It’s like those action-adventure movies where the hero falls from a cliff into a clump of trees. He’s always able to grab a branch and stop himself, before he plummets to the ground.

Graham had caught himself, but wasn’t sure how to begin the climb back from his low point.

“What worked for you in the past,” I asked.

“Usually I’d grab a success book or motivational CD, and it would give me the boost I needed to get going again. But I’ve heard all that stuff, and read and listened to hundreds of different books and CDs,” said Graham.

Then I told him this — I guarantee you haven’t heard it told by everyone.

It was as if a fog had been lifted. He had a look of clarity that you see with those moments of epiphany.

There was a new book by an author he hadn’t read before, but that covered many of the concepts Graham was familiar with. He put off buying the book, because he figured the author had nothing new to say.

Graham was right, and he was also wrong. The author did say