Today I come with a couple of things on my mind & a big question I really want feedback on. In the end, this might not be a weekly deal, or an every Tuesday thing, but I can only start where I am.
As I type this, two things are on my mind: one is a quotation, the other a story.
Quotation
[a big goal is like] crossing an ocean. Some people try [by themselves], day after day, … That’s like taking a rowboat across the ocean. It’s exhausting and usually unsuccessful.
Others have given up trying and throw themselves entirely on “relying on God’s grace.” They’re like drifters on a raft. They do nothing but hang on and hope God gets them there.
Neither trying nor drifting are very effective in [achieving the big goals]. A better image the sailboat, in which if it moves at all, it’s a gift of the wind. We can’t control the wind, but a good sailor discerns where the wind is blowing and adjusts the sails accordingly.
~ John Ortberg
This quotation means a lot to me for a number of reasons, including a love for sailing I developed years ago. People who have sailed really grasp this way to look at the world easier than those who have not. No matter how hard I work, I don’t control everything and events needed to achieve success or accomplish goals are out of my control.
Story
I shared this as the second episode of StartingCube, but it is a story Dave Ramsey shared in a presentation at a Real Estate Investors Association meeting. He talks of a key to becoming a billionaire that I am trying to keep in mind:
[audio:http://www.startingcube.com/cube0002-b2m.mp3]
[mp3 – 3:31]
The Big Question
The big question for today is a simple one:
What topics or questions do you have that you would like addressed here?
I want to help, especially Stay At Home Fathers, Business Owners, and people striving to become one or the other.
Leave questions, topics, and feedback in the comment section.
As a stay at home dad, I think my most pressing issue is how to handle mutli-tasking. Women seem to have the advantage here over us males, they seem to naturally be able to handle children and home based business ideas. There’s no shortage of blogs and businesses out there about women at home with kids running businesses.
As a stay at home dad, I’m hard pressed to focus on anything meaningful outside of keeping my children alive and happy and the house clean. When I’ve tried doing anything business related, I’m just not able to maintain a focus and it all quickly goes down hill from there. So my question would be, how do you focus on running a business without losing track of your most important job, your kids?
That’s a great question, Rob, thanks. I’m sure both general ideas & specific strategies can come from that.