Stay At Home CEO

You can build a business between diaper changes.

Jonathan’s Process for Success – Reflect, Thank; Dream, Plan

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My family has this process that we started the fall after my wife and I were first married. It stems from my frustration of Thanksgiving being overlooked & disdain for New Years Resolutions. Currently I am calling it Reflect, Thank; Dream, Plan.

Reflect

The first step is to look back on the past year, or longer, and see where you have come from. What all has happened?

Having twin one year olds this Thanksgiving, I can say that the year went by fast. We both have much to be thankful for, especially the growth in our babies and each other — both as individuals, as a couple, and family.

Thank

This part is simple, but important – be thankful & speak to people what you are thankful for. As a general practice I am trying to be encouraging more in the day to day, but there are still some specific people who have had an impact that I try to go out of my way to thank.

Dream

This moves from the past & present side to the future. Dreaming what the next year or longer should be. Currently I am thinking about a model based on relationships for viewing your world, so:
– Yourself – physical, mental, spiritual, capabilities
– Family – the special relationships around you
– Business – if you are an employee – you are a business hiring out your services to your employer. If you own or desire to one one, then you have a slightly different relationship
– Society – other people who are not in your business, or family.

So, what are the dreams for those four big areas? What about the subparts? Can you paint a picture that you are aiming for?

Plan

The practical steps you intend to take to make your dreams reality. Before you fully make plans you need to make goals. Goals are important because they are the measuring stick of how well your plans do, but doing the important work to write out the steps you are going to take to make the dream a reality is also vital.

My family is in the middle. We talked about reflecting and thanks recently. This week my wife and I will talk about our dreams for the next year – thinking in those four big fields. If you can have one dream for each & work on just four things over the course of a year – it will be amazing, as long as you take the steps of really making a good goal and then a plan.

What do you do to both reflect on the past & prepare for the future?

Originally Posted on Jonathan’s personal site.

Location Independence

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I’m sitting in a comfy chair in a corner of a library, waiting for my next appointment & typing this article on my smartphone. Over the past few years this has been common, not just for me, but for thousands of other location independent people. I’ve worked in restaurants, coffee shops, gyms, and parks.

When we talk about location independence, we understand that with most ventures there will be some limitation on where you can be at some point in time, but the goal is that you can be productive while you wait, while you go to the bathroom, in the time between appointments.

When I arrived at this library I walked around looking at the chair options & observing what people are doing. Several people have laptops, one person was pitching another on a business. A few were on the public computers & one was asleep. All could be doing productive work to help achieve their goals & all could be wasting their time.

If you have goals there are three fundamental things you need to be location independent.

  1. Plan
  2. Tools
  3. Ability

1. Plan

This could be detailed or mostly abstract. When I arrived here I had an idea of what I would do (write on location independence & take a picture or two) and the time I needed to leave but that was about it. Once I complete this plan talk I’ll need another.

2. Tools

My wonderful smartphone provides me lots of functionality. I can take pix, write an article & post both to any website I manage. The website systems are tools in this case.

3. Ability

There are several parts to ability, like skills, but two I want to point out are time & energy.

When I am exhausted I cannot produce. Exhaustion might be due to a need for sleep, food, rest or exercise. You have to take care of yourself, or the location does not matter.

Time is the one resource that you have in an absolute limit.

If you don’t have any time to work, it does not matter the level of independence of location,nothing will be accomplished.

With location independence as a goal, because when taking care of children the ability to work where you are should increase your productivity, we will look for information & systems that can help you where you are.