Everyone told me I couldnt do it, or it had been tried before by others already, and then some just looked at me with that "yeah, well we'll see" look... I think this is one of the things that just pushed me harder. I had to prove them wrong
LOL ... and I did - which was a really good feeling.
Many of you have heard my story before... I was working as a Unix Sys Admin and married at the time. We had four children between us - his two, mine and then one together. My husband stayed home - he watched after the kids, then 4 months, 5, 5 & 8 and piddled around on the side in electronics.
I quit my job cold turkey and sold everything we owned (I'm being serious here: my shoes, the pictures off the walls, most of our furniture - you name it) to open an electronic repair shop. I had to move us two counties over, as we both had no-compete agreements against us... my husband just shaking his head the whole way. I found us an older house about three miles outside of a big city that had a shop out beside it - and there we lived and worked. No sign, no business cards, no telephones even at first.
Within three months we were meeting our income expectations and the business was rolling good. With squirming baby on my hip and three older children running circles around me that summer, I became the secretary of the MOMS Club, ran the business, and began dabbling in computer training and web design on the side. Within a few short months I had published a manual and was holding classes in town three nights a week, and doing in-home training sessions on off nights. By the end of our first year, I was rewriting the business plan and moved us into a large commercial building right in the middle of the city... and we tripled our income.
My husband left me in early 2000... I gave him the shop and I took WSN (Web Service Network, the web development company I had already started and grown) - he went bankrupt pretty quick after, sadly. I worked WSN from a storefront uptown on the square for about half of that first year... and then my son became ill by the end of 2000 (diagnosed with rolandic epilepsy, long-term depression and severe anxiety). I spent the next six months trying to juggle business, school, a hyperactive 4yo and my son's illness, along with the pressures and expenses of living in the big city. I finally left the city and moved to a lakeside cabin in the middle of nowhere - and homeschooled the kids and worked from my home office.
And there I stayed for two years... happier than I'd ever been in my life. I figured out who I am, bonded with my children, became independent (in all ways) and learned what was most important to me in this life. It was during this 'sabbatical' that I created my "ten year plan" and began to really focus on my business and the direction that I wanted to take with it.
I recently turned 30 years old and moved in with my 91yo Grandmother, as she was unable to live alone anymore. The children are now 6 & 11 years old - becoming more independent and self-sufficient all the time, and Grandmother and the children seem to entertain each other to an extent... I've found the situation to be very positive for us all, so far. While my Grandmother is healthy now, and requiring minimal care (meals cooked, housekeeping & medicines) - I do realize that there will come a time when she will require more of my time and attention.
In case you've read this far and are wondering where in the world I am going with all of this... just a glimpse into my lifestyle
I am still single, and I imagine I will be for awhile. With my time and attention so scarce already, I find that people that I meet fall into one of two categories: they are either part of the problem, or part of the solution. I notice now that I am very careful who I associate myself with and where I promise out my time.
Even with all of the changes in my life recently, my Ten Year Plan still rings as Truth to me. It actually came about from a thought I had ten years ago - it hit me again this past year... and I began to realize that my life was unfolding with a deliberate purpose.
Even with this purpose in mind - which really helps me get through the many challenges in my life - I am struggling with managing all of the aspects of my life, goal-achievement, seeing the big picture, etc lately. My definition of "success" has changed dramatically in the last five years, and I find myself grasping for a vision that I can work towards again. Only this time... I know enough to make me hesitate.
When you get bogged down and stretched thin... what is it that you do to get yourself back to that mindset you had when you first started?
My life has changed - in a lot of ways. Many of them are for the better. I have some great things going on right now that I am very excited about. But having just moved and not even being unpacked yet, along with the kids just getting out of school for the summer and the added responsibility of watching after my Grandmother... I am feeling really out of sorts at the moment.
I realize that I have to get caught up, settled in and in my groove before I can get back to that fast pace that I am so used to. I feel like I'm in the middle of a whirlwind at the moment!
The way I am feeling reminds me of the end of the movie Cast Away where he is standing at the crossroads for a brief moment...
I'm ready to put on my 'thinking cap' and figure out what the next chapter of my life is going to be! ... and that is my number one goal right now.
