60 Pounds Lighter and Counting

I'm going to be starting off 2016 with a resolution: to lose the rest of the weight I need to lose.

Don't get me wrong -- I've lost 60 so far. I'm proud of that.

But I want to lose 80 more. And I will lose 80 more.

This goal means that I need to lose 20 pounds every 91 days in 2016.

I'm also going to be writing a book about my weight loss journey (for publication in 2017).

I hope that you'll follow along with me on my weight loss journey in 2016 and beyond. :)

What I've Been Up To

So...I've been quiet for a while. Lots of reasons for that, but I'll spare you the details.

It seems like this blog gets more hits than my other one, so I'll probably post here more often so more people can see it.

I've moved away from the MMO niche. Found my true calling, I guess you could say.

I'm going to be adding a lot of stuff to this blog, but if you want to see what I'm doing now (and you can't wait! LOL), you can visit www.91DayQuest.com.

Seasons of Life

It's been a while since I've posted. Lots of other projects going on. I've neglected my little blog here. *pets it gently*

Lots of projects going on. Lots of things happening. Maybe one day soon I'll give some details on what's going on personally.

But today, I want to talk about seasons.

Not the seasons with the weather, but the seasons of life.

I'm getting older.

I'm not old by any means, but I'm over 40.

When I was younger, I never understood how much of a difference age makes when it comes to wisdom. And choices. And seasons.

I was a young child - carefree and without major worries. I played. I was fed. I was loved. That's really all that mattered then.

Then I was a older, but not a teen yet - more worries, but mostly around school and home life. Nothing horrible.

Teen years. Oy. Whoever said they'd like to go back and relive their teen years needs their head examined.

Then I grew into an adult. Responsibilities. Work. Bills to pay. Ends to make meet.

Then.....parenthood.

Something changes when you're responsible for another person. Or several little persons.

Then....they grow up.

I never understood the freedom that comes by degrees as kids grow older until now. All but one child is now in their teens. I can (pretty much, not quite) come and go as I please. The kids are maturing and branching out. Life is good.

Patience was never one of my virtues, but I'm seeing that things come full circle.

Freedom....then responsibilities....then freedom again.

Life is good.

Mindset

If anybody remembers the movie Dumbo, you'll remember the part where the crows talk about how they would use a magic feather to help the young crows have confidence to fly.

Dumbo's friend, the mouse ( whose name escapes me at the moment), gave Dumbo the magic feather and said it would give him the ability to fly.

Sure enough, Dumbo found that he could fly when he had the magic feather - using his huge ears.

But over the course of the story, he realized that the ability to fly was always in him. Having a magic feather only gave him the courage to try to fly in the first place.

We all need a magic feather.

There are so many things that you could accomplish - if you only had the confidence to try.

There are so many books that are inside of you that would benefit the world - if only you had the courage to write them.

There are so many ideas inside your head that could make money for you and could benefit other people - if only you had the courage to put them into practice.

There are so many words that you could speak in order to inspire other people - if only you had the courage to say them.

There are so many lives that you could change - if only you had the courage to step out of your comfort zone.

You could accomplish more than you could ever imagine if only you had someone whispering in your ear "You can do this."

It is my sincere hope - and, to be perfectly honest, my goal in life - to be a magic feather for as many people as I possibly can be.

Dream, believe, achieve.

You can do the impossible.

You just have to take the steps to start.

It's been forever since I updated!

Holy cow! I just realized it's been over a month since I updated this thing. But I have very good excuses.

• Some family things have come into play, as they often do. We had a bit of an emergency with one of the kids, but hopefully that is taken care of.
• I've also got a weekly show now on TalkMarketingNow.com. It's at 11 PM on Tuesday nights Eastern time. It's called "Savvy Marketing," and it covers a wide range of topics dealing with marketing and making money.
• I have also been involved with several JV projects. It's been a crazy ride, but it is a lot of fun and it's just going to get better.
• I have also been working on my upcoming book - Cookie Jar Money. It is about helping moms make money from home. The rough draft is done and I hope to have the final edition ready within the next two weeks.
• I also have a few other projects that are in the works.

So, as you can see, I have been a very busy woman.

Over the next few weeks, I will hopefully be writing more on this blog and trying to consolidate things from other blogs to this one. (Wish me luck!)

Cookie Jar Money - Part 1

Does your family have a cookie jar?

Years ago, I can remember my dad having a cookie jar where he kept emergency money. It wasn't a fortune, but it was a few hundred dollars for emergencies and for splurging - an unexpected repair for the house, and unexpected necessary purchase, or even just a fun night out after a long week.

Having some money in the cookie jar always meant that you would never be broke, and that you are prepared for small emergencies.

Having a few hundred dollars set aside is the difference between an emergency and an inconvenience. If you have a flat tire on the family vehicle that is needed to go back and forth to work and you do not have the money to repair it, it's an emergency. If you have a few hundred dollars set aside for something like that, it is merely an inconvenience.

Even only having $100 set aside for unexpected expenses can make a huge difference with your peace of mind.

The problem is, most households don't have a cookie jar - not literally, and not figuratively.

They are not prepared whenever an emergency strikes.

It can be difficult to have an emergency stash set aside the way that the economy is right now. This can be especially true if you have a one income household.

Over the next few weeks I'm going to talk about some ways that you can stock your cookie jar. They will be ways that you can get started that are painless and profitable.

Be sure to subscribe to my updates so that you won't miss any posts.

Be a Hero. Save a Life.

Once a very great while we are given the opportunity to make a difference. To change a life. To save a life. To be a hero.

This is one of those times.

There is a man by the name of Kim W. Kim had been healthy for over 50 years, but one day his life changed completely. His kidneys began to fail, and his health deteriorated rapidly. Dialysis, surgeries, medications - all have become part of his reality.

Imagine having your entire life turned upside down in a matter of days. Your livelihood, your health, your state of mind - all changed dramatically in what seems like the blink of an eye. Imagine going from being self-sufficient to needing to rely on others for help, support, and assistance. Take a look around your life - your home, your possessions, your family, your job - and imagine that all of that could be in jeopardy after a lifetime of work just because you fell ill.

And now we come to you and what you can do to make a difference.

Many people - successful people, knowledgeable people, generous people - have banded together to donate products for a WSO to help benefit Kim. The knowledge, expertise, information and strategies that are available in this WSO can easily help propel your business to the next level. It is a huge value for the asking price.

But that is not the reason why you should buy it.

The reason why you should buy this is because this is your chance to make a difference in someone's life. Not someone who is abstract, nameless, or faceless. This is not a donation that you send off to some charity in the hopes that a part of your donation might actually reach the people in some far-off place that need it after paying the administrative costs for that charity.

This is a two-fold investment.

First, you will be investing in your business by purchasing the products that are in this WSO. You will have access to all of the information that has been combined - the accumulation of years and years of business experience and expertise all in one place.

Second, you will be investing in Kim. You will be helping make his kidney transplant possible. You will help provide for him and his family during this time of need.

Give and it shall be given back to you.

As you sow, so shall you reap.

Generosity given is always rewarded in some way, somehow, some measure by the universe.

Today is your day to be a hero.

Click the Link Below to help Kim W.

http://tinyurl.com/KimW321

More about Kim's story and his donation page:

http://funds.gofundme.com/1oh40

More about Kidney failure:

http://www.kidneyfailurestage.com/

More info about this effort for Kim W:

http://www.warriorforum.com/offline-marketing-discussions/355626-paul-myers-thud-factor-needed-all-star-project-greatest-warrior-special-offer-wf-history.html

100 Phone Calls in 2 Days

If you own a business, how would you like to get an additional 100 phone calls - from prospective customers - in two days?

This is the power of local press coverage.

A few years ago, I obtained an interview with one of the local news stations. The spot ran for a grand total of about three minutes. I was asked a few questions, had some videos taken, and then the crew left my home and told me when the interview was going to run.

That three minutes of air time and ended up generating well over 100 inquiries about my business.

I thought it was a fluke.

Fast forward another year or two, and I had moved to a new city. I ended up getting another interview with a different local news station ( remember, I was in a new city at this point).

That interview was in the studio, and ended up generating around 75 inquiries for about a 90-second to 2 minute spot.

It was then that I truly realized how powerful local media was.

There are so many ways to generate interest with your business. Finding something newsworthy for your local media to cover is just one way, but it is a very powerful way. There is a certain credibility that comes from being on your local news channel or in your local newspaper.

Even just having a press release submitted to local and national news websites can be a tremendous boost to your business. If you couple a press release with a public relations campaign, it can be a phenomenal boost to any business.

Press releases are not just for big businesses. Even small businesses and home-based businesses can benefit.

For information about how you can benefit from a press release or a PR campaign, contact me today. (My contact information is in the right sidebar.)

Now is the perfect time to start your own home business

In these economic times, there are many women who are looking for a way to make extra money from home. Some women are facing the loss of their spouse's job. They might be losing their own job.

Perhaps hours have been cut or pay has been decreased.Even some women who are not sure whether or not their spouse is going to lose his job still feel like it is a possibility (and rightly so). For those women, they are looking for a way to "make hay while the sun shines" and start making some money from home in case their husband loses his job. They want to prepare while they still have a regular income coming in.

I know that my opinion may not be the popular one, but I truly feel that one spouse should be at home for the kids. If one parent is the breadwinner and works full time, then I truly believe the best situation for the kids would be that the other parent stays home with them. I don't think that anything is wrong with the second parent working part time outside of the home, but having two parents working full time outside of the home is very stressful and counterproductive.

I have seen far too many moms who have worked full-time jobs and then had to come home and do all of the things that moms normally do in the house. It simply makes things very difficult. It is almost like having two full-time jobs. Starting a business from home can be an excellent way for a parent to contribute to the family budget without having the stress of being away for 40 hours or more per week.

Many party plan businesses average anywhere from $35-$100 per hour. There are other businesses that can be worked strictly from home and can bring in a substantial amount to the family budget.

Party plan businesses can have an excellent hourly income, but they do normally require that you spend some time away from home. Most successful party plan business women work only two or three evenings per week outside of the home. For a mom with small children, this can actually be a welcome break. It allows for you to set your own schedule and only be outside of the house 10 or 15 hours a week, while still being at home with the kids most of the time.

Other home businesses can usually be worked entirely from home without needing to go outside of the house for appointments. Special care needs to be given to make sure that the business is legitimate and will also provide a reliable income.There are numerous options available for working from home.

I encourage you to contact me today and discuss the options available for working from home.

You can find my contact info in the upper right hand corner of this blog.

Don't wait until you have a crisis to start a home business. Start one today.

Helping kids pay for their own college tuition

With all of the talk on the news about kids not being able to get loans for college tuition, I am very thankful for what Hubby and I have decided to do. I want to share this plan with you, because I think it can help other parents make future plans.

We have four kids - ages 15, 12, 10 and 4. We are going to have kids in college in about 4 years. We will probably have no more than 2 in college at any one time, but that is not certain - we might have 3 in college at one point. Things happen - one might take a year off. One might not do well for a year - who knows? The point is that, realistically, we might have 3 in college at the same time.

We are paying off our debt so that we will be debt-free long before we have kids in college.

However, we are NOT planning on paying for our kids to go to college.I have set the kids up with ways to:

--learn how to make money.
--make money over time
--build up their income

I have set up blogs for the kids - they update them and run them (with my supervision) and they learn how blogging works - and how money works! There are ads and affiliate programs on there. (They are not old enough to participate directly yet, but I have my account and give them their share.)

Right now, they are almost to the point where they can earn all of their spending money. (Hey, 50 bucks is a fortune for a 10 year old!)

In the future, as their needs grow, their income will grow, too. They can and will be responsible for all of their clothing and other needs (once they earn that much).

They will be putting money aside for college.

They can have regular money coming in while they are in school - no broke college students! No phoning home for money! LOL

And I will have the peace of mind that they are self-sufficient.

That is the best part of all.

What is wealth?

Everyone has a different idea about what true wealth is. To some, they want thousands. To others, only millions will do. Still others think of wealth in terms of having more money than Bill Gates.

For this post, however, I will be using the general definition given by Robert Kiyosaki (of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame):

His measure of wealth (and I am paraphrasing here) is how long you can live at your current comfort level if you stopped working today and had zero money coming in.

For most people, that would indicate how much they have in savings. For example, if you have $10,000 in savings and your bills total $2000 per month, you have 5 months of wealth.

The idea of infinite wealth, therefore, can mean very different dollar amounts to different people, depending on their lifestyle and/or debts, but it is a very measurable amount.

Let's say you require $3,000 a month to maintain your current lifestyle. If you had $3,000 a month in passive income coming in, you are according to this definition you are infinitely wealthy. You would never need to work a job again!

How can you attain this income? There are many ways, actually. Real Estate is one way. Investments, etc. are also ways to do this. The way I (and others) have chosen to create wealth is through working a business from home.

I would love to share what I do with you. Let's discuss your financial future!

I can be reached at shay (dot) rockhold (at) gmail (dot) com.

Make a decision today

Your current financial situation is the result of previous decisions you have made.

If you want to change your financial future, you have to make a decision today to change your financial picture in the future.

Contact me today and let's talk about your financial future.

What is the true cost of working outside of the home?

Many women work outside of the home because they feel it is their only option - single moms in particular feel the pressure to work outside of the home, since they are often the only source of income for their family.

I used to be a single mom. For six years, I supported myself and my two children by working from home.

On paper, I could have (perhaps) made more money by working a job outside of the home, but the difference would have been in how much I kept.

Consider the costs involved with working outside of the home:

1. Child care - This expense alone can eat up half of your paycheck.
2. Gas - No doubt that this is a hefty expense, too.
3. Car insurance - Did you know that your insurance can go down if you don't commute to work? Mine did.
4. Clothing - Pantyhose alone cost me a fortune. (I can't seem to wear hose for more than 2 minutes without running them. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!) Add to that all of the dressy clothes you need for office work, and it is a hefty sum.
5. Lunches, coffee, etc. - A few dollars here and there add up!

And let's not forget another cost - time. Time to commute. Time the kids stay in daycare. Time you can never get back.

Are you ready to get your life back? Contact me today at shay.rockhold@gmail.com and let's talk about your future.

"Do you REALLY work from home?"

I had this question recently.

The answer is, "Yes, I really do work from home."

No parties or meetings. I do everything online and over the phone.

Want more info? Contact me at shay.rockhold@gmail.com.

-----Shay :o)

How can working from home reshape your life?

Can you imagine what your life would be like if you worked from home?

I cannot tell you the difference it makes. The stress level goes down. The hectic pace slows.

It really is amazing.

When you work for yourself, YOU call the shots. YOU set your own schedule. YOU are in control.

Want to find out how you can do this? Contact me at shay.rockhold@gmail.com.

Picture a different future....

Take time for a minute and think about what I am going to say. Don't just read the words and move on. Really think about what I say. Picture it in your mind.

Picture this: Imagine how your life would be if money were not an issue. Bills are paid automatically from your bank account on the first of the month because the money is in there. No waiting and paying some bills one payday and more bills the next. The money is there.

Picture this: You decide to take a vacation. Hawaii sounds good! You book a flight and go - because you have the money, you don't have to ask a boss for time off, and you just feel like going.

Picture this: The youth group at church wants to go on a mission trip. They have done fundraisers but they are still $1500 short. You simply take out your checkbook and write a check to cover the $1500 they lack. No problem.

Picture this: A missionary comes to town and is talking to your church about an orphanage they want to build. They need $5000. Your heart is tounched. You write a check for the $5000 and smile.

Working from home can be a huge blessing for you....but it can also change the lives of others!

Find out about working from home today.

Contact me!

Do you believe you can work from home?

There are lots of scams out there. I know that. I really do.

But there are also legitimate business out there that can help you change the financial future of your family for generations to come.

What are you waiting for? Contact me at shay.rockhold@gmail.com and you will receive a complete business overview - all of the information you need to make an informed decision.

"I could never do what you do...."

I hear this from a lot of people I talk to about a home business. They want to work from home, but they have some mental picture that is frightening to them! Like what I do is so hard....HA!

Let's take a look at a typical day (Monday-Friday) for me:

• I wake up around 8 or 9-ish. No alarm clock for me. In the summer, I wake up when my body has had enough rest - not when the electronic rooster crows for me. (During the school year, the kids and I do set the alarm for 8 am. Yeah, I know. Life is tough.)
• We have breakfast. I sometimes make a big breakfast and sometimes we have something easy.
• I make some coffee and sit down at the computer. I answer emails and post online for about an hour.
• I do some kind of reading or training for about an hour.
• I spend time with the kids and the hubby until around 2 pm.
• I make phone calls for about an hour. These are people who have contacted me and have asked for info - not cold calling!
• The rest of the day/evening is for me and the family to do what we want.

I work around 2-3 hours a day. Weekends are for family time.

See? There is nothing magical about what I do.

Anyone can do what I do from home.

I don't ask a boss when I can take off,

when I can go out of town,

or when I can go out for lunch - I really am in control of my own life.

My business can be done anywhere you have a cell phone and the Internet.

Do you want your life back?

No more dropping kids off at daycare and missed memories.

No more having someone dictate how you live your life.

Contact me at shay.rockhold@gmail.com for information

about how you can change your future.