We had some pretty nasty storms come through Dallas last night.  Some places got wiped out, leaving many to start all over.

While there are many philosophical and spiritual directions to take this question, I just want to focus on career.  If you lost it all, what would you do in starting over.  However it got taken away from you.  If you had to start at zero or below, what would you do?

Would you get into real estate, begin looking for jobs, join a network marketing company, start a lawn care business, or many other things.  What would you do?

Well, first of all, I wouldn't panic.  It may be a natural reaction, because you still need to eat, buy gas, pay a mortgage.  But if you panic, you lose clarity.  My personal belief is that when you lose it all, or are in a situation where the slate is clean, you need to go to your strengths.  Up to this point, you have achieved enough skill sets to make something happen.  With focus, it shouldn't be a problem… really.

Some activities generate money quickly… others slowly.  For example, while real estate is great, it takes quite a long time to develop a portfolio to generate full-time monthly cash flow.  You could flip or partner in large buys, for quick cash flow, but that wouldn't be my strength. 

You could develop a large number of websites generating Adsense and affiliate income.  While that's good, it does take several months to generate good income from Adsense.

For me, I focus on the day.  If I need $4000 per month, then I break that down into weeks and days.  I need $1000 per week, or $133 per day.  Sometimes that can seem like mountain, but you have to see it.

You see, I can see it.  I believe I have the skill sets, the connections, and the knowledge to reach those kinds of goals.  While it is ultimately the Lord who provides (I'm not that arrogant), once you have built it, been there, and even traveled way beyond, the realize the road is familiar.  It is not unchartered water.

Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.   ~  Abraham Lincoln (1809 - 1865)

I'm not sure if you've seen Babel yet, but let me give you story line real quick:

Two young boys from Morrocco shoot an American woman who is a tourist with her husband.  The rifle is actually registered to a top business executive in Japan whose daughter is a nympho, deaf mute.  While the American couple is vacationing in Morrocco, their kids are being kept by an illegal who takes them over the border into Mexico for her son's wedding.  Things go wrong and the nanny is deported.  The American woman lives.  The Japanese deaf girl is seeking attention by licking her dentist and undressing for the cops.

I know this movie is supposed to prove a point about language and cultural barriers, but it had to be the dumbest movie I had seen so far this decade.  There were so many parts of the movie that were not connected.  It was rather ridiculous, and then I couldn't believe that it had been nominated for some award.  It just goes to show you how lame Hollywood is to nominate a sad movie like this.  CSI Miami has better writers than whoever put this script together.

Hollywood praises Brad Pitt for his brave portrayal and sociological impact.  Gag.  This wasn't even a B-rated movie.

About 6 weeks ago several of our friends from our church came over and helped us tear down a room off our house.  It's been something I've been wanting to do for a couple of years.  A major gas leak got us jump started.  We fixed the gas leak, tore down the structure, and hauled it all away.  That revealed some problems with the house that needed to be fixed.  So, we tore out the French doors, framed in the opening, fixed the eaves of the house, painted the interior of the living room and kitchen where the new wall had been built, and hauled all that away.  That left us with a concrete slab.  I took the jack hammer to it.  It just about killed me, but my wife and I cleaned up the concrete and 2 days ago, they came and hauled the dumpster away with the concrete.

Yesterday, we brought in about 1,000 pounds of dirt and laid sod where the old slab used to be.  Today, the plumbers came by and fixed (for free) a new water spicket for us to use.  If you live in the DFW area, I'd be glad to recommend this plumber.  So, after a long 6 weeks, it's finally done.

There's always going to be something to do though.  More projects and stuff, but it does feel good about working on projects together with your family and friends.  I grew up surrounded by friends.  I went to college and had some great friendships.  When I moved to Texas, and living in a big city, it's easy to lose friendships and become a survivor and just trying to make it through on your own.  About 3 years ago, we started a small group to begin forming friendships again.  It's probably the smartest thing I have done in the last three years. 

We wanted to pass along this special offer from our good friend, Max Steingart.  I've been working with Max for about 9 years.  Way, way back when he only worked within the AOL communities.  Why Max?  Because he can help you generate your own leads for your business.

If Max could give you 100 highly qualified prospects who wanted to talk about your business today, for just $1.77 each… would that be tempting?

How much business could you generate with 100 hot prospects?

Imagine for a minute: you're sitting in a room with 100 hungry prospects just waiting to talk to you about achieving a better lifestyle, a better career path, or the opportunity to take control of their income and retirement.

Either way, we are sure that you will agree that 100 "red hot" prospects for just a $1.77 each would be the deal of a lifetime.

But it gets even better…

Max Steingart has developed a revolutionary lead generating system that allows you to generate close to 300 highly qualified, precision targeted leads each week.

Hundreds of red hot leads pouring into your business each and every week, without costing a dime! And since Max's system generates them for you, they are yours and yours alone.

Leads that literally cost nothing to generate.

What's more, with Max's system you can continue to generate a steady flow of new leads to your business… week, after week - forever.

Max calls this system his "Endless Leads" system, and the name really says it all.

It get's better, there's more good news - so keep reading…

Right now, you will get Max's entire "Endless Leads" system for just… $177. Max has sold this same system for as much as $997, but not for you, not today, it is yours for just $177.

With Max's "endless leads" system you will have the power to generate as many highly targeted leads for your business as you desire:

• Without spending a dime on advertising
• Without bothering your friends and family
• Without conducting meetings
• Without having to learn any special skills
• Without high pressure sales tactics… you won't sell anyone in fact your prospects will be asking you about your business
• Without search engine placement… or ANYTHING complicated
• without websites, search engines, blogs, or article submissions
• and without wasting your precious time chasing anyone… this is a serious recruiting tool

Max Steingart's Endless Leads

Here's the deal…

Max has agreed to instruct his staff members to accept orders through a special web page just for my readers.

If you want to take advantage of Max's special offer and get the entire "Endless Leads" system at the special rate of just $177, then you need to act fast.

Just click on the special link below, and get all the details behind this powerful "endless leads" system today:

Just go to the site.  Read through the material.  Listen to the audios and read the testimonies.  Remember, this is a special page for us, so go check it out:

Max Steingart's Endless Leads
 

I watched Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium this last weekend.  It was a pretty decent movie (made better by watching it in Blu-Ray and surround sound).   It may not have the best story line, action sequences, or romance, but it is certainly worth a few bucks to rent the movie.  There was one line in the middle of the movie that was great.  Mr.  Magorium said to Mahoney, "You Are An Occasion… So Rise To It!"

I am amazed on the constant battle within myself to settle.  To settle for being an average father, Christian, husband, man, wage earner, and to simply be complacent with life around me.  Being so busy with life, having our schedules jam packed with things to do, we have squeezed out all that is left to rise to higher heights.

I really believe we need to listen to Seth Godin's book again, The Dip, and ask the question of ourselves, "What do I need to quit?"  In fact, that is the banner on my cellphone.  I have had that on my cell phone for the last 9 months.  What do I need to give up so I can be better at what I am doing and have the margin in my life so that I can live.

How long has it been since I went golfing?  How long has it been since I went fishing?  How long has it been since I played Monopoly?  How long has it been since I went for a lazy drive in the country?  How long has it been since I sat in a hotel room completely removed from my responsibilities?  The answer - too long.

You Are An Occasion… So Rise To It!

For approximately 6-9 months I have been planning a new direction for the next few years of my life.  The primary purpose of this direction is to eventually sell off everything I have online, invest completely in real estate, and retire.  I had always hoped to retire by the age of 45.  I'm 42 now, so I think I'll miss that by a bit.  I figured it is going to take me 3 - 5 years to build up the real estate portfolio I need to retire on, and allow for continued growth to continue purchasing more real estate as I see fit after I retire.

I'm not necessarily choosing a new direction that I am unaware of, rather I am looking at the map of my life and plotting my course.  It's something that I believe God has put on my heart and created me to be.  There are HUGE goals past my retirement… it's not really and end of work and the beginning of golf and fishing… at least not fully.

It certainly doesn't mean abandoning my business now.  In fact, I am continuing to build and grow National-Leads.com.  It just means that I am adding to and/or strengthening my financial position.  So, how am I going to do that?

1. Affiliate marketing - Primarily through building a strong Google Adsense network of sites that will bring in $5-$10,000 per month.  In addition, other affiliate income will be earned as I monetize those Adsense sites.  I'm already earning a nice Adsense check every month, so I just need to continue to add to what I am already doing.
2. Adding new leads sites - I will continue to expand what I am doing in the leads market by building more company specific sites to expand what I am doing.  This allows me to serve more customers and broaden my income base
3. Real Estate - My goal is to purchase my first few homes, and then my first apartment by year's end.  This is not new to me.  I have done some real estate in the past and am a student of this area of investing.

So, why do I say all this?  Because it holds me accountable by putting it in print.  It helps me verbalize what I want to accomplish.  If enough people know I want to retire in my mid-40's, then I will be held accountable for that.  I also understand that I can't see too far down the road.  I can live out today, but plan for my future.

I will be sharing with you over the next few months some of my tactics… especially number 2.  Making money from Google Adsense is extremely easy, but it's also very easy to not do right.  If you're interested, bookmark this site, subscribe to the RSS feed by clicking on the orange button in the upper-right corner, and tag along for a great ride.

Let me qualify that.

I need some help in planning a vacation for my family this summer.  I have the late winter blues right now, when you get tired of the bare trees, no flowers, wet weather, long sleeves, and the lack of holiday time.

Anyway, I have choices to make for this summer.  I have been saving for awhile, and want to do something for my family this summer.  I could use your feedback by leaving comments below (you got to click on the blue "comment" link below).  Here are the choices I have so far:

1. Disney World in Florida
2. Atlantis Reort in the Bahamas
3. Some other trip (i.e. Yellowstone, California, Texas Ranch, etc.)

We've been to Disney 3 times, and love it!  I could go over and over and never get tired of it.  Atlantis could be something really cool and different, and even a bit of an adventure.  Going somewhere else is always an option.  The choices are endless. 

For the first part of my marriage, we really couldn't afford vacations.  Vacations consisted of traveling to see family or taking a short trip related to the church we were working with.  Nothing really on our own.  But, ever since we started taking vacations, it has become such a priority.  Our kids still talk about vacations they took 4 years ago.  Attitudes change.  Spirits are lifted.

I am about 4 months behind my planning for this year.  I like to have my reservations in place in about November for the next summer.  So, I need some help.

Found a great article that I had to pass along.  I included a snippet from the article and then a link to go and read the rest.  Very good stuff for you to reference.

"For decades in American households the most dreaded morning sound was that of an alarm clock. Sometime between 6 and 7am a beep or radio music signaled that it was time to get up and head to work. But in the early 21st century two things have begun to change. First, the alarm clock is going off a little bit later. And second, instead of putting on suits and driving to work, people are heading to the basement in their pajamas and turning on their personal computers. These are the early days of the new Work From Home generation.

"With the invention of modern laptops, ubiqity of broadband Internet access, and advances in communication software, there is no longer a need to be in the office. At least not everyday. Thousands of companies are rolling out work from home policies and hundreds of thousands of people are starting to take advantage of them. What are the pros and cons of working from home? In this post we take a close look, as well as discuss what lies ahead for this new, rapidly growing generation.

"There are certainly challenges to working from home, but the benefits out-weigh them for many people. More companies and people are beginning to discover that working from home does more good than bad, as it introduces flexibility into people's schedule without impacting their productivity. The bottom line is that things get done and people are happier."

Here's a few more highlights… but I encourage you to click on the link at the end of the article for the whole thing. 

The Good Things About Working from Home

1. No commute
2. Flexibility
3. Saving money and the environment
4. Increased productivity

The Bad Things About Working from Home

1. Brainstorming is difficult
2. You never leave work
3. Entropy is after you

Read the rest of this article here.