The American dream has always been more than just a dream—it has and still is a right protected by the Constitution. This is a nation founded on enlightened ideologies of equal and unalienable rights, granting all “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”, a most unique declaration of hope and possibility. Yet, the American dream has been somewhat flawed from inception. Not all people were equal, take for example women and slaves, or as in more recent times, the few are granted greater privileges than the masses. Imbalances have always been a part of the human condition, here and everywhere else in the world, and should not deter us from pursuing what is rightly ours. Therefore, it is important to adapt the dreams to the existing conditions by being flexible and resourceful. With today’s advances in technology, working from home could become the new frontier for all dreamers with amazing opportunities awaiting.
However as with all dreams, they require equal amounts of passion and action to manifest them into reality, regardless of who you are or where you work from. There are many upsides to working from home—some of which are the reduction in cost and time spent on commuting, easing child-care issues, as well as greater comfort and convenience. Especially start-up businesses profit from these conditions, although many entrepreneurs and workers absolutely love it as it gives them more freedom. However, freedom requires greater personal responsibility. Home workers are their own bosses, responsible for their own successes or failures. As such, it requires self-discipline and a meticulous blueprint to stay focused, structured and on target. The following seven tips will put you on the road to success.
1. Act as If
You have to act as if you were going to a regular office with set business hours. Meditate, exercise, shower and get dressed for work. Obviously, you don’t have to go overboard, but showing up in your pajamas sets the wrong tone for the day.
2. Decide What You Want
Set a goal with a deadline and a value. Be specific! This will force you to analyze your dreams and to become aware of what you really want at core level. Awareness is always the first step towards realization and becoming a leader. A clear mind creates very clear outcomes setting you on a clear and defined path. It’s as if you were programming your internal GPS system with your final destination and the time of arrival. Now, all that is left to do is to just activate it. The benefit of adding a specific value is that it too will program your subconscious mind to get you exactly what you want. Vague requests get vague results! Make sure though that your requests are based on informed choices. Knowledge influences your decisions and protects you from mistakes. Every choice you make and every action you take has a compound growth effect on your future success.
3. Know That It Is Possible
In order to be successful at anything, you have to believe in yourself and believe one hundred percent in what you are doing, eliminating all fears, doubts and anxieties. We have approximately 50,000-70,000 thoughts per day, which are mostly negative and self-destructive. Hence, we need to counteract them by consciously changing our thoughts and raising our vibrations into positive territory. Start your conscious transformation by becoming aware of your thoughts without judgment, just by simply observing them. Then, let go of the negative ones, release them and replace them with your personal visions of success. Pretend you have reached your destination already. When you act as if you are that successful person of your dreams, you will draw it to you. Use affirmations and visualizations to alter your sponsoring thoughts. Make up some mantras and repeat them over and over again, in effect positively brain washing yourself into higher states of mind.
4. Take Action
All actions are emotions put into motion. Now that you know what you want, it is time to get into action. Your goals will have determined the actions you must take. Be sure to include a daily connection commitment. Contact five people daily who could help you to move forward. This creates movement and puts you in the flow. Ask for help, advice, recommendations or for their business—ask, ask and ask some more. Get over rejections—consider them stepping stones and not roadblocks. If you don’t get any rejections, then you must have never asked, so consider them a badge of honor. Without failure or rejection, there is no learning and consequently no growth. So, take small steps each and every day, be consistent and persistent, and know that every action has consequences. Thus, choose wisely, repeat your actions daily and reap the benefits in the future.
5. Make a To-Do List
Working from home requires a great deal of discipline. Start out with analyzing your strengths and weaknesses as well as your most and least productive hours. Then, at night time before you retire, sit down and make a list of what you have to accomplish the following day. That way, your subconscious mind will work on it during your sleep and program your mind in advance. Divide your list between big tasks and little ones that should serve as fillers for open time slots. This will also allow your brain to recharge in between major tasks. Make time estimates per task so that you don’t become frazzled by overbooking your day and thus undermining your schedule. Well-organized daily habits have positive cumulative effects, and although they may often feel like short-term pain, they do pay long-term gains. Just think of your goal, visualize it in moments of doubt or frustration, motivate yourself into higher vibrations, and move forward.
6. Take Responsibility
Know and accept that you are the creator of your life. Thus, take responsibility for all your decisions and actions, made or not made. Be accountable for your own health. Should you experience discomfort working at a desk, invest in home office products such as an office chair for lower back pain, to improve comfort and thus productivity. Don’t become a victim by blaming others for anything—accept, learn and move on. Understand that you are responsible for your thoughts, which precede all your actions, as you are in charge of them. Don’t give up your power by allowing others to negatively influence or even control your thoughts, be that consciously or subconsciously. Influences can come from other people’s thoughts or through the visual and audible effects of your TV, radio, social media, apps or even book choices. Be vigilant and selective in what you allow to affect your state of mind. Therefore, make it a daily habit to invest in yourself. Read something that will benefit and uplift you, be it personally or professionally. Start a daily meditation practice for at least 5 minutes to begin with. It will act as a protective layer while also raising your vibrations. Finally, take responsibility for your body—eat healthier foods, drink plenty of water, breathe deeply and workout for at least 15 minutes a day. Today’s simple steps honoring your mind, body and soul will in fact act as investments in your future yielding exponential growth.
7. Gratitude Is an Attitude
Gratitude changes your relationship to all the things that happen in your life. It allows you to appreciate the good in your life, while it helps you to perceive difficulties and even failures from a different perspective. They are signs telling you to tweak or change course— be grateful. Gratitude changes you! It gives you a more positive outlook and a greater sense of well-being. The ultimate benefit though is that it attracts more to be thankful for. It’s the gift that keeps on giving as gratitude begets more gratitude! But it must be out of sincerity—you can’t fake it for then you will attract just that, fakeness. When meditating, leave space for true gratitude and notice the change within you. It attracts happiness to you. In fact, happiness is a state of mind that you create. So be happy, which will lead you to do the things that will allow you to have what will make you even happier. It can’t get any better than that!
Create and pursue your happiness, be it from home or from wherever you are and know that it is your unalienable right to do so. Believe in yourself—be who you want to become. Then, just go for it and take action to make your American dream come true. That is how America became a great nation—it inspired drive, ambition and a lot of gumption!
