Showing posts with label journal writing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label journal writing. Show all posts

I'm giving myself a raise!





I can see the headlines now...Work At Home Mom Gives Herself A Raise!

I know I've been a lousy follower lately. I do sincerely apologize. But I've been gearing up to give myself a raise as well as a company promotion - one thing I love about WAH. I don't have to wait for the boss to decide if I get a raise or not- I just work harder :-)

I have been socializing a lot more while building up my new group on CafeMom. I have met some really friendly moms there.

If you haven't been there, you really should stop by.....there are some articles, some stories from WAH moms, and some posts from WAH moms. If you've ever thought about working from home, stop on over! The link is:

Work at home in your P.J's and love it!



On to other news....


I had my last class for Journal Writing last night. That was one night a week for 2 1/2 hours. That's a WHOLE NIGHT away from my computer! But I always have a ball teaching it. And it pays VERY well, so I get paid for having fun. I proposed a beginning blogging class, but I guess they have a secured server and can't get a lot of Social Networking sites.



On to other mildly exciting news....

Girl Scouts is in full swing! I have 2 new girls, so that will be nice. That gives us 7 girls, a nice small number. The other day I had them break into two groups and each group took (I think it was 5) sentences from the Girl Scout Law and made up quick skits for each- maybe a minute or so. They were so funny! These are 7th & 8th graders and they are so goofey! I couldn't help but laugh!

We are looking into going to a haunted house, doing a food drive with the boy scouts and going camping in November. That's to start!

Anyway, looking forward to seeing everyone tomorrow for Virtual Girls Night Out!

11:54 AM | Labels: , , , , , | 1 Comments  

Grocery Store Madness!!!

I just ran across this poem I had written back in 2004. I believe I was working at the library part-time and working at home part-time doing freelance writing. Our local paper was having a contest for WhoRemembersWhat. You had to write a poem in 400 words or less about shopping, food, feeding the family and stretching your budget.



I didn't win....







....But , I still think it's pretty good- not to toot my own horn you understand!

Anywhoo, here goes


Oh no, Oh no, it's time to go

There is no time to spare


The kiddies want to eat right now

The cupboards almost bare


Gather the coupons, head to the store

We need cereal, milk and so much more


Grab a cart; a wheel spins the wrong way

At the rate I'm going, it will take me all day


I finally make it to the produce aisle

Where the fruit is bruised and the veggies look vile


Off to the snacks- the chip bags look skimpy

The boxes of crackers look small and whimpy


We need some meat for the evening meal

I check out the pork, the beef and the veal


The pork is fatty, the steak costs too much

I guess it will be Hamburger Helper with the "mommy touch"


I rush to get milk- my nerves are fried

I look around, mystified!


Cows milk, and soy milk and rice milk, too

There are too many choices, what shall I do?



I grab one of each- I really don't care

I just want to get the heck out of here!



The lady up front takes all my money

She gives a big smirk saying, "Thank ya, honey!"



Finally I'm free from the grocery store

I drive away, done with my chore



I get home and start unloading the car

The kids knock me over for an ice cream bar



They will no longer hunger nor will they fade away

Momma's brought home the goodies- they're happy for the day.



The End!



end note: And now, I work at home full time, and I STILL hate to grocery shop!



1:38 PM | Labels: , , , , , | 6 Comments  

Working at home- It's all good!


Working from home is proving to be so much more than what I had envisioned. I thought it meant being your own boss, staying home with the kids, and great tax breaks. It is, but there's more!


You also get friends. People who really care about you and the welfare of family. These friend's will do whatever they can to help you succeed- you just have to be willing to do the work.


This really hit home last night. during my journal writing class. We were doing Topics Du Jour. This is where you number a paper 1-31. One each line, write a different topic from your life. Example- love,kids,animals, house, etc.... One each day of the month, you write in your journal about the topic for that day. Yesterday was the 9th of the month. After everyone had written 31 topics, I told them to write about topic #9 . I had done the exercise, too. My # 9 was friends.


That was a funny one for me as I always say I don't have friend's. Realistically I do have friends, but do I have FRIEND'S? My best friend is in Colorado- my cuz-friend, Tracy. She's the cool chick in the picture! Her mom and my mom are cousins by marriage. So, we really aren't cousins, but we always say we are, even at our old age of 40-something. I talk to her more than anyone else- we will often talk for several hours on the phone. Praise the Lord for unlimited long distance!


I really get along with everyone! The world is my friend! There are very few people I truly dislike - I try to see the good in everyone. But really besides my long distance cuz-friend, do I have a FRIEND?


What came out in my journal writing is that my AmeriPlan team mates are truly becoming friends . When one is facing an illness or a death in the family, you feel as badly as you do for someone you've known your whole life.


They are like a "cyber-family." Members of this great family talk on the phone frequently, hear each other on conference calls, and are constantly I.M.ing each other . Friendships within the "family" are created.


Then you meet the family face-to-face- and it's like a family reunion! Black, white, fat, thin, balding, we are all one. Wow! And really, it's not like meeting strangers. You feel as if you have known them forever!


So that was a ta-da moment! Then another sort of funny thing happened last night. I come home from class and walk into my house . It's a wreck as it had been for days. We have been bombarded with doctor appts, Girl Scouts and Journal Writing class this week PLUS my A.P. biz. Dishes and kitchen floors were low on my list of Things To Do. Apparently no one else saw fit to do it, either. I just said " It's all good!" and started cleaning things up, and making my dinner (at 9:30 p.m.-oops!) But, really, It's all good!


At 10 p.m. we had a team call with Janie Jones, our team leader. She started talking about the Leaders of Tomorrow event she just returned from. She said it's just like a family reunion. I thought that was funny as I had just written something similar! Then several times she said "It's all good" during the call!


I thought, wow I must be picking up thought patterns from Janie! Hmmmm...does that mean I'll be at her level of income by year 5 with the company?


And then I thought- all joking aside. I CAN be making that income level by year 5, but I do have to work hard like Janie did in the beginning. She didn't just start making $100,000 her first month. It took a lot of dedication and work.


But with my "cyber-family" standing behind me encouraging me every step of the way how can I not be another success story?
It's all good, my friends, It's all good!


Carolee Sperry
Regional Sales Director
AmeriPlan

11:57 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , | 0 Comments  

What does this have to do with work at home?

You're probably wondering just what the Journal Writing exercise I mentioned in the last post has to do with working at home. I would assume most readers here do work from home or have been considering working from home.

If you have been considering working at home, you would 1st need to determine why you want to work at home in the first place- your WHY. You might try writing "100 reasons why I want to work at home", or "100 things I want in a work at home opportunity", etc...

This exercise will help you determine what you should be looking for. Do you have kids? Can you work around their schedules with a jome JOB? Can you committ to a specific work schedule? Most home JOBS require that you work a certain set of hours. Do you have a home office? Some require that you have a room separate from the main living quarters.

If you are considering a home-based business, you could write, "100 things I want from a home-based business" or "100 things I DO NOT want out of a home based business" or "100 things I am willing to do to build a home-based business".

You may hate to sell products- that would be something you DON'T WANT in a home business.

You may be financially strapped- you would want to consider a business that is under $100.00 start-up. [Side note here- work at home jobs should not cost you anything. A home business typically has a start-up cost associated with it] So you DON'T WANT high start- up costs.

Maybe you don't have a home office. Big factor when deciding between a job and a business.

With a home business, you can conduct business at the kitchen table, by the pool, or almost anywhere. With product sales you can sell to anyone , anywhere. A service - based business is typically done with a telephone and home computer, so can be done anywhere there is telephone and Internet service.


If you presently own a home based biz, a business journal is a great place to record what has been working for your biz and what hasn't. It is also a great place to write down ideas, goals, and marketing strategies.

So how can we use our list of 100 to our greatest benefit? First,we want to take all of our 100 words or phrases and put them into categories.

Example- Say if I was writing "100 time stealers"- I may have category's such as "Kids" , "Volunteering", "business", etc...Next, I want to count how many times I referenced "kids" and write that number next to the word kids. Then, do the same with Volunteering, Business, etc....

Not that spending time on any of these subjects is a bad thing, but if they are taking the majority of your time, you need to recognize it and take steps to balance out your life a bit.

So go ahead and break your list down into categories. See what category's get the most attention. Then, sit down and think about what you just discovered about yourself +/or needs.

If you wrote about working from home, what have you learned about your needs?

Are you looking for the steady hours and a steady paycheck?

Or are you looking to be your own boss, knowing it will take time, dedication and devotion , but will be so worth it in the end?


This is what I asked myself after reviewing the facts: - Was I willing looking to work 40 hours a week for 40 years, and retire broke? Or did I want to dedicate myself wholeheartedly for 4 years and retire with $100,000+/yr in annual residual income? I chose the second option because I have dreams bigger than any job could afford to pay for!

So, what do you say? 4 years or 40?

Not everyone has what it takes to make it on their own- DO YOU?

Check out our webinar: http://www.watchthewebinar.com/

Carolee Sperry
Regional Sales Director
AmeriPlan
home4ever@hotmail.com
www.freedomathometeam.com/sperry

10:43 AM | Labels: , , , , , , | 0 Comments  

A productive week, considering!


Wednesday, another broker and I met at Denny's and got to know each other a little and brainstormed some ideas. We are going to be setting a table up at Family Fun Day at the local high school. We are also looking into hooking up with some non-profits if possible and set up tables when they have something going on. (Like during Diabetes awareness month).


It is nice to have a local broker that wants to get out there and work! It's unbelievable how many people say they want better for themselves and their family, that they want to work at home. Then, when given the opportunity, they do nothing. It's like they are paralyzed by fear of failure. Or they work a week or a month and aren't satisfied with their earnings. They quit. If they would only look at leaders within their organization and even leaders through-out history, many, many of them worked hard to get where they are. For some it took many failures, for others it took many years to get to the level they are at now. If they had quit in their first month, they never would have built the business to $100,000+/yr annual residual income.



We decided we would meet every other Wednesday night. This will hopefully turn into an opportunity to bring prospects and provide first hand information about our great benefits and the home business opportunity.


Yesterday was one of those trying days. My daughter woke up with pain in her hip, and she couldn't close her hands much at all. It looked like she was holding something. She took her ant-inflammatory stuff and went off to school. The first school dance was that afternoon, and she had been eagerly anticipating that. She and her friends had it all planned where they would stand and what they were going to do the whole time, etc.... Well, my daughter forgot her note to stay after. Being the G-R-E-A-T mom that I am, I drove back there (I had just driven through there 10 minutes before!) While at the office, I saw one of my daughter's teachers. She said my daughter was really complaining about her hip and was limping around . I figured she would deal with it as she has been doing, and take meds when she got home.


I proceeded to Family Dollar to get some scarecrows to put in my front yard. I wanted them to be holding my business sign (doesn't it look cute?). While there, Ron calls my cell phone & tells me the school nurse had called the house. My daughter was having alot of pain in her hip. I stopped back to the school.


I called the doctor for the 100th time in the past two weeks, just to make sure she could take a tylenol or something. It was cool, so I had the school nurse give her Tylenol . My daughter wanted to come home. She didn't care if she missed the school dance, she hurt.


Then the 3 muskateers (my 2 sons & the one's G.F) that all rented a place together..........well, that is a soap opera in itself.


I had my Journal Writing class last night. It went much better-everyone opened up and read some of their stuff and we really had a good time. We did a technique I read about somewhere called pick-a-word. You pick up a dictionary, bible, newspaper, whatever. Close your eyes, open the book and put your finger on the page. Write about the word you picked. One woman picked the word "time". She wrote all about the constraints of time, never having enough time, how she wishes she could wake up when she wanted, without an alarm clock. She got into how you have to go by the bosses clock, etc...(A light bulb went off in my head! I can help her!)


After she read it I said "You sound like you want to work at home. We need to talk." And left it at that. Thus far, the class know's I work at home, but I haven't said doing what yet. I am not in class to recruit or sell, really. But you can recruit and sell anywhere, so if I mention it casually, and maybe wear my benefits T-shirt, and drive my car with the lettering on the back windshield, well...hey if someone wants more info, you bet!
Anyway, speaking of time, time is moving along. I have to close for now and call my fantastic National Sales Director, Anita. We are going to stategize a little on how to get promoted to the next level. Then, over-rides kick in and my income goes up. Now, who wouldn't want that?
Check out the new training website that Anita and another NSD, Elizabeth put together. They are always creating new and exciting ways for their team to market their business. I have never worked for a place before that cared about helping me. Most places ( and people) want to hold you back. I love AmeriPlan! Anyway, the link!

11:25 AM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , | 0 Comments  

Another busy week!

I started the journal writing class this week. It was interesting. The ladies were a little hesitant to share their writings, so I went a little into lesson 2, and we STILL had a little time left! Oh well. Hopefully by this Thursday, they will open up a little. That amount of time is included into the class schedule, so if they don't paticipate, we have a lot of extra time. Hopefully, someone in that parking lot at the school will see the wording on the back of my car & call for benefits or work at home.

Funny, so much has been going on that I have not really had much time to work my business. Even so, I enrolled a couple of work at home reps (benefits brokers) in the past week, and some members. The brokers had found me during a web search for Dennis or Daniel Bloom, the co-founders of Ameriplan®. The members were warm market or from flyers I had posted on bulletin boards and such while out doing family errands.




Wednesday, a couple of my local brokers are going to get together and meet. I haven't met one of them, and they all haven't met each other. We can also bring prospects. I need to get on the phone and call some past prospects who are local and see about getting them to attend.





I had my daughter up to the emergency room the other night. Her doctor said if she had pain in her hips, hands, ankles, etc... after school, take her up there. Her rheumatologist appt. isn't until late October, and that was too far away for my satisfaction. I mean, sometimes this girl is in PAIN! They took bloodwork, and gave her a prescription for painkillers to take if it got really bad again. The E.R. doc thought it sounded like Juvenile Rheumatiod Arthritis ( was that right?), but of course, that part of the bloodwork hadn't come back by 2:15 in the morning, so they released her and told us to follow-up with her doctor.





We got a new dog a couple of weeks ago. Poor Rocky was lonely without Thunder ( so was I!). We finally decided on a 1 yr.old peek-a-pom. His name was Boomer, but we switched it to Max. He started coming to Max from the first time we called him that! Look at his pic! I joke around and say he needs AmeriPlan dental!

Well, must depart for now! Toodle-loo!

12:53 PM | Labels: , , , , , , , , , , | 0 Comments  

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