Take a day off and get some business ideas

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My wife has a deadline to hit for a gallery she supplies. So I said I’d take charge of the kids for the day while she worked.

Now I spend a lot of time with my children because it’s great fun. A friend of mine boasts how he’s never changed a nappy (diaper) in his life despite having three kids.

I’ve changed HUNDREDS of nappies – the contents of which have been as wide and varied in colour and ponginess as you could ever imagine. I did it because I wanted to – I’m a dad after all – and because it’s part of what life is about.

We could easily get a live-in nanny or au pair, but what’s the point of being a parent if you outsource it?

It’s all part of your life – experience.

Anyway so I took the day off ,and the offspring and I spent the day pratting about in the garden. First time I’ve ever seen a white spider actually so there you go.

And I kept getting HUGE flashes of inspiration, business-wise. I keep mentioning my ‘ideas book’ in this blog but today was quite extraordinary. I’ve come up with two ideas that WILL add $30,000 – $50,000 a year to my income and that can be put together in less than a day. Of course the sales pages, traffic driving and all the other stuff will take a couple of months to put together, but the point is, the idea arrived while I wasn’t working!

I’ll let you know when they come out and how much money they bring in of course but the crazy thing was how quickly it all came together in my head, and all because I took a step back from business for a day.

The feeling reminded me of years ago when I walked out of a job. The boss was a t*t and for once my calm and sense of hunour deserted me so I walked.

And walking out of a job as most people know involves euphoria to start with, then total FEAR sets in as we wonder how we can pay the bills.

Anyway this time the anger I felt seemed to push the fear away and I just didn’t get scared. I wasn’t married at the time and didn’t have a family to support so it wasn’t as worrying as it could have been.

But the fear stayed away.

And in their place I realised that I could THINK. I wasn’t totally knackered after a 40 hour week, or completely fixated on my pay cheque. So my brain seemed to rediscover what it was for.

And I started to have weird and wonderful ideas. Some compete rubbish of course, but other that I worked on and finally put into practise and actually made money from.

Which is how I got into home publishing (before computers though – this was all by mail and photocopier), and I’ve never looked back.

And I reckon this is why people talk about ‘taking the plunge’ when they think about quitting their 9-5 and working for themselves.

It IS a plunge, but once you free up your mind to do the job it was designed for and allow it to stop worrying about crap like paycheques, office politics and your employer’s problems, it’s a pretty wonderful business tool.

Someone Twittered (to see my tweets click the icon on the top right of this page) recently about booking a hotel room to get away and ‘brainstorm’ with yourself, and I think it’s a great idea.

Maybe consider booking 2 or 3 days off work when nobody else is at home and working on YOUR ideas – cos we all have them – and thinking about where you would ideally like to take an online business.

Your results will both terrify you and liberate you, but you’ll never be the same again. Once you see the possibilities your own mind has to offer, no job will ever satisfy you again.

Go do it

Cheers 🙂



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5 responses to “Take a day off and get some business ideas

  1. Hey Tony

    Excellant post, and every word is very true. I take time away every now and again, and its amazing to see things from a different perspective. And i find that being away, ideas just flow naturally, it’s where the magic happens. 🙂

    Good job, hope to meet you sometime soon Tony. Take care.

    Dan Briffa

  2. Tony Shepherd

    Thanks Dan – I agree – time away from the meat and bones of your business can kickstart the ideas process, which is where the big money is!

    Thanks for posting (and thanks for testing that my comments section is back up and running!)

    Tony

  3. Yes very true…’working’ fulltime just kills creativity and drains you of energy and motivation.

    Btw, has Sara taken a back seat these days? You seem to be the front face to Laycock now?

    Finally, the kickstart course is great, well done. However, you mentioned once that the IM niche was only a small part of your income. The other parts I guess are other niches that use the same principles as the kickstart teaches or are they a different format altogether? If they are different maybe another course would be useful with an overall business plan or flowchart to show the whole picture of making a living online?

    Ian

  4. Hi Tony

    Wonderful post you have here. It is strange as to why, when one takes a day or two off that we somehow come up with magical money making ideas.

    Maybe the rest of the world should take note that taking days off are actually far more productive for both employer and employees.

    Anyway, do you still run your mail and photocopy side? and yeah like Ian asked : Where is Sara nowadays?

    Hope you are both well

    Nigel

  5. I am new to your blog and a wannabe internet marketer. I also have 3 kids and have worked 60 to 70 hours a week for the last 13 to 14 years. Spending very little time with my kids. I am looking for a home business to stay home and spend more time with my kids. I really like your blog and I am looking forward to reviewing your products.

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