Search Results for: blog what have you done with your talents

Moving Towards Your Home Based Business

Since starting your own business is no small feat, it can seem overwhelming. If you break it down into smaller, more manageable steps that you can take action on day by day, you increase your chances of moving “start my business” from your to-do list to your to-done list. Here are a few suggestions to get you started. First, have a good brainstorming session to get yourself moving in a direction towards figuring out what business you will start. Make some time for yourself to do it, and get a piece of paper (or two, or three) and write down … Continue reading →

What You Can Do for Animal Shelters

Early in my time as Pets blogger at families.com I listed a variety of volunteering options available to those who love animals but for whatever reason aren’t able to own them. The possibilities I provided all involved volunteering with animal shelters or rescues, but I limited my suggestions to those with high levels of animal interaction. However, if you just want to share your passion for pets with those pets that don’t have any homes, shelters/rescues have several volunteering opportunities that extend beyond what I mentioned before. Specific needs obviously depend upon the particular shelter or rescue in question, but … Continue reading →

Are You an Onlooker?

I’ve been reading ‘Prochownik’s Dream’ by Alex Miller. One of the characters, Marina, an artist, talked about how after she and her husband moved, she felt she was not in the right place and would ‘be cast as an onlooker for the rest of my days.’ As a result they moved back for a time to Melbourne, the city they’d originally came from. Her friend, Toni, also an artist, remarks ’I would have thought being cast as an onlooker is something you allow to happen to you, isn’t it?’ It’s a fair comment. It made me think, how easy it … Continue reading →

Do You Feel Less Capable Than Others?

Insecurities and self-consciousness can plague a single parent. The simple fact that we may have fewer resources and have suffered a set-back or two can cause us to feel as though we are less deserving or less capable at things than other people. Of course this feeling of “less” is rooted in low self-esteem, but what can we do to feel as though we are as capable as anyone else? Identifying that you are, in fact, feeling less capable or qualified is the first step. Many of us can go along for years refusing to go after that promotion, or … Continue reading →

Underestimating Your Abilities

While there may be some of us who think we are all that and the best thing to enter the world of home businesses since Martha Stewart (who started her empire as a caterer all those years ago), many of us feel just the opposite. We may feel self-conscious, ignorant and completely unprepared to take on the building of a home business. For most of us, our insecurity results in us underestimating what abilities we truly do have. When we underestimate what we are capable of, we are really selling ourselves short. We might not take risks or push ourselves … Continue reading →

What If Your Kids Don’t Prove Homeschooling Works?

Statistics overwhelmingly show that home schooling works. There has been research that shows that home schooled kids are better socialized, have better opportunities, score higher on achievement tests, and get into better colleges. Colleges are coveting young homeschoolers who they deem are more mature as a group and more serious about their studies. In fact, I’ve yet to see a good study that suggests that home schooling, on the whole is bad for kids. But what if your kids just score average on their SAT’s (or worse–what if they don’t do well), and what if they’re socially awkward. What if … Continue reading →

What Surprised You Most About Running Your Own Business?

I think it can be so interesting and productive to look back and take stock—a little evaluation around the differences between what we THOUGHT would happen when we hung up our home business shingle and what actually DID happen. Surprises can be both pleasant and unpleasant, but chances are, you have definitely experienced a few on your path to become a home business entrepreneur. I can tell you what surprised me—I’ve been surprised at how much more work I am able to do working from home than I ever did in a well-stocked and supported office environment. There is this … Continue reading →

What Have You Done With Your Talents?

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You might recall in Matthew 25:14-30 the parable of the talents. Basically, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to the traveling man who gave talents to his servants (my understanding a talent in today’s time is approximately $1000 in USD). The man gave the first man 5 talents, to the second he gave 2, and to the third he gave 1. None got the same because their abilities were different. Then he left. So the first and the second servants invested the talents and doubled the investment! The servant that received one talent went and buried it out of the … Continue reading →

Getting Things Done When You’re an “Idea” Person

Recently, I was talking with a colleague who said he was “an idea person” and admitted to having a little trouble with follow-through. This got me to thinking about how things are when a person is running his or her own home business and doesn’t have other employees or co-workers to fall back on and take up the slack for undeveloped talents and skills. When you’re running a business where you wear all the hats, you have to learn to overcome your shortcomings and make accommodations for personality “challenges.” If I had my druthers, I’d be an “idea” person too. … Continue reading →

Homeschooling Talented Children: Nurturing Talents

In my last blog post, I wrote about identifying the talents of your homeschooled children. I distinguished between what I believe to be gifts and talents, and explained that while small minorities of children are considered gifted, I believe that every child has a talent. Once you identify your child’s talents, it is your responsibility as a parent to nurture the talents of your children. Nurturing your children’s’ talents takes time and money. There is a huge debate right now that children are in far too many activities and are becoming exhausted. Homeschoolers however have a unique benefit in the … Continue reading →