Category: Business & Entrepreneurship

Great News & Valuable Lessons!

When I got home last night from a dating, judging the local county science fair exhibits with my husband I had a very welcome email in my email box……seems the TV “personality” who was challenging my grandson’s right to the domain has withdrawn his domain dispute!

Apparently he (or his attorneys) now believe that Billy is real and has legitimate rights to own the domain.

This has been a very interesting experience, and I certainly learned a lot – a lot more than I really wanted to know about the person who brought the complaint, but also a lot about the process itself.

If you’re interested – or if you find yourself facing the same thing and want to know how I handled it – you can read about it by clicking on this link.

That’s the Great News. The Good News is that it was withdrawn before I had to make all the copies and pay for shipping to Switzerland, so it’s not costing me as much as I thought it would.

However, I’ve already poured a bunch of time and money into gathering the evidence and having pieces of it overnighted to me, so there are still some expenses.

While I was dismayed in the beginning, thinking I had to find an attorney, not knowing what was needed to successfully respond to the challenge, knowing I would have to go learn a BUNCH (I’d have to read the prior cases and figure out which ones applied to us, as well as respond to every one of their allegations, and all within a 5000 word limitation), in the end it was a lot less of a burden than I had been afraid it would be.

In fact, by tackling it myself, I found I was up to the challenge. I did the research, I did the writing, I responded to each of their allegations, I gathered my evidence, I talked with attorneys (including his), I corresponded with WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), and I continued to talk it over with my 15 year old grandson.

Ultimately, with each and every step forward I knew without a doubt we would win the dispute.

So on Friday I only had to dot a couple i’s and cross a couple t’s before sending it in. I had received my final piece of evidence (a certified birth record for the grandson). I planned to re-examine everything over the weekend in a final review and send it off on Monday or Tuesday to the WIPO Center for the Panel to decide.

Late Friday afternoon I received a call from one of the Complainant’s attorneys. At that point I was certain of prevailing in the dispute.

After a short discussion, during which he brought up (for the fourth time) the possibility of their purchasing the domain name, he told me he was 99.9% convinced that my grandson existed (!) and they would withdraw the complaint on Monday.

By end of day on Monday I had not received notice from the attorneys, so decided I would have to move forward. Tuesday evening, upon returning home from judging the local County Science Fair, the withdrawal email was in my inbox. Wednesday morning I received confirmation from WIPO and Wednesday afternoon my Domain Registrar had unlocked my grandson’s domain.

The process can seem tedious, and definitely if you are dealing with attorneys, it can be intimidating. Fortunately, though, the rules are fairly straightforward. If you have legitimate rights to the domain name, are capable of doing some research, and able to write in a fairly clear and understandable manner, you should be able to handle this yourself.

This is a permanent page that discusses how I handled our dispute, and some things to pay attention to.

Oh, and the lesson? Well, actually there were lots…the main ones being:

  • Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself, especially when you know you’re right.
  • Persevere, and hold steady.
  • Be nice, even when they’re not. (Okay, these guys weren’t bad once I actually talked to them – it just looked like it by the arguments they submitted in the dispute. Plus, they never bothered to call before filing the complaint.)
  • You don’t have to be the biggest dog on the block to win.

…plus a bunch more that I’m sure will come to me over the next few weeks!

New Year, New Choices

Well, we’ve hit that time of year when we’re encouraged to put together resolutions for the next 365 or so days. 

Unfortunately, most of us, if we thought much about it, would realize we’re simply recycling the same things from the past several years (or decades!!).  Perhaps that’s part of why such a large number of people break their resolutions within the first month of the new year.

I’ve never been big on New Years’ resolutions, but I do appreciate the periodic review of effectiveness and setting myself back on a healthy, prosperous and/or more interesting track.  And of course, that can happen anytime – not just on December 31 or January 1!  (I like to use my birthday.)

Rather than fixating on the specific things we consider to be deficiencies,  it’s so much more effective to focus on the larger picture.  Successful businesses, while they look at the particulars regarding their success (or failure) in the marketplace, periodically take the opportunity to actually create a larger vision or purpose for themselves, ultimately leading to methodology that allows them to create the results they want. 

I’m thinking this would be a very useful exercise for all of us – sort of a strategic plan for our lives.

When we focus on specific acts (tactics), rather than our overall desired outcome or the plan to get there (strategy), it is much easier to fail.  For instance, having a resolution to give up coffee or sugar is very specific.  But it’s a tactic, rather than a strategy.   And, as soon as you succumb to the sugar or coffee, you have failed in your resolution.

How much more room is there for success when you shift “giving up sugar” to “eating healthy foods”, or “eating mostly unadulterated foods”, or “having natural fruit as a snack”, or even “leaving additional sweeteners out of anything I eat”?  While these last are tactics, too, they are much more broad, and they offer solutions rather than deprivation. 

That’s another problem with resolutions (re-solution – to solve again).  Not only are we attempting to solve something for the second or third or twentieth time, most resolutions are formulated in the direction of deprivation, loss, removal of some pleasure, etc.

While there are those among us who are motivated by fear and loss, most of us are more likely to achieve what we desire when we frame the choice in a positive direction – just like when we write affirmations.  Giving yourself something is always more pleasant than taking something away.  And of course, you can always use both the stick and the carrot – which for some people is an effective strategy, too.

As you think about what you would like to be different in your life this year (or month or week),  kick it up to a higher level than just a tactic by identifying what you are attempting to fix, correct, or what you stand to gain by accomplishing that tactic, not just what you must give up. 

What is the result you are looking for in giving up coffee?  Is it having a natural energetic balance?  Is it getting rid of gastro-intestinal upset?  Is it to calm your nerves?  Is it to keep that extra $4 per day instead of giving it to Starbucks?  Use whatever you discover to create that larger outcome and ultimately to create an overall strategy. 

Once you identify the larger picture for yourself, you can set your natural problem-solving talents on the task of coming up with multiple ways to accomplish that larger outcome.  And in doing that, you will have many more ways to be successful and feel good about your results.

Rather than depriving yourself through your resolutions, I encourage you to offer yourself more choices this year by looking at your own larger picture to develop the new habits you want in your life. 

Good luck, and let me know how you’re doing!!

Affirmations…Do They Really Work?

[PLEASE NOTE:  Although the items discussed below are still available, the special offer has expired.]

 It seems the jury is still out on the usefulness of affirmations.

Some people swear by them, and credit affirmations with helping them to make massive positive changes in their lives.

Other people say they are ineffective and wishful thinking.

Well, this is a case where both sides really are correct. Although the use of affirmations and the reasons behind their effectiveness is definitely up for inspection!

Affirmations, when done correctly, can help desired change happen far more quickly. When affirmations are framed appropriately, designed to support the desired change(s), and implemented in the proper manner, then they can seem to work like magic.

However, there are some simple basics to affirmations, that many people don’t understand. There is a form (or formula) to creating effective affirmations, and a method for integrating them into our self-development work that makes a huge difference in how well they will work for you. If you’ve been using visualization and affirmations, but you’re not getting the results you want, then you are probably missing out on at least some part of this basic understanding.

If you’re ready to have better results, then this could be your lucky day! Over the past week or so I’ve discovered 2 very useful tools that can help increase your success in using affirmations.

The first was a software product that intrigued me. So I bought the rights to it, made some basic modifications, and tested it out myself. I think you’ll like it. In fact, I’d like to run a little test with it, and you can be a test subject if you’re game! More about that in a few minutes…

The second tool I discovered was a quick-read ebook called “Why Most Affirmations Fail and the Four Building Blocks of Successful Affirmations” by Jennifer Shepard, a syndicated columnist with a tagline of the Lipstick Mystic ®.

This book contains a lot of useful information about how and why affirmations do and don’t work, and what you can do to make them more successful. I really liked Jennifer’s approach, and so I contacted her to see if I could set up a special offer for my readers.

While affirmations may seem to be esoteric to those who are not familiar with them, they use some very solid premises based on how the brain codes and uses information. They are useful for any area of your life, whether your focus is personal or professional.

Well, it didn’t take a lot of convincing, especially after she saw how connected the Prosperity Challenge is to the work she is also doing. So, she graciously agreed, and the result is that Jennifer is allowing me to offer you her $27 book for only $17 – which is more than 35% off her regular price.

There is a condition, however. This price will only be good until April 17, 2007. The link and the discount disappear on April 18. You can find out about Jennifer and her book by clicking here to be taken to the $17 page.

This great little book will give you lots of insight into how to tune up your affirmations so they work better. She offers some great ideas on how to overcome blocks and get things back on track. I think you’ll enjoy reading the book as well as the articles and suggestions she has to offer on her website.

So, now that we’re talking about affirmations, this is where my new software comes in. I purchased rights to a subliminal message affirmation software program that works on your computer desktop.

The actual affirmations were written based on ideas in “The Secret” – you know, the movie everyone has been talking about for months now. But I found the affirmations to be very basic, so I “pumped them up” to make them even more powerful, using my understanding of linguisitics and how the conscious and subconscious minds work.

While the focus is mostly on wealth and abundance, there are also some affirmations and suggestions for other areas of your life, too. As we know, abundance isn’t just about money. It’s also about health, relationships, self-confidence, etc.

So, here’s my offer to you: I am currently selling this software at http://Subliminal-Messenger.com for $7. I know that’s a really low price, but I do want people to have the opportunity to use it if they are interested.

However, I also want people who want to write their own affirmations to have a solid grounding in what works and why. So when you decide to pick up Jennifer’s book, I will give you a free copy of the Law of Attraction Subliminal Software.

All you have to do is send me a copy of your PayPal receipt for the book and I’ll send you a link to get the software for free. That means you get both the book and the software for $17 – less than half of the full price!

So, if you’re interested, here’s what you do:

  1. Go look at Jennifer’s site, http://free-daily-affirmations.com
  2. Go look at the software, http://subliminal-messenger.com
  3. Then, use this link: http://prosperitychallenge.com/affirm.html to buy the book
  4. Send a copy of your PayPal receipt to prgm@prosperitychallenge.com
  5. Read the book, apply the principles
  6. Install the software, enjoy the results!

Oh yes, and if you do use the software, please let me know how it works for you – what you liked, what you didn’t like. I am planning to develop several more little affirmation scripts for various specific issues, so I really want to know what you think, and how it works for you.

By the way, personally I think affirmations are great and I use them often! But I also know their effectiveness is dependent upon several factors.

At some time in the future I will be writing my own book about my successful experiences using visualization, language and various specific techniques and processes. In the meantime, I encourage you to pick up Jennifer’s book. You are sure to learn something new and useful – I did.

To Our Continued Success!

Katie

P.S. I will be posting a link to both the book and the software on the Prosperity Challenge and the Career Life Institute blogs. The book will continue to be available after April 17 – but it will go back to its full price of $27.

Career Choices

A good friend of my husband’s came to visit with us recently.

He reminded us of the value of determining what is most important to yourself, and of keeping your word, especially with yourself.  You can read what I wrote while he was here by going to my Prosperity Challenge Blog.

My husband and I have been talking a lot about his visit in the past few weeks and the ideas it brought up for us.  We are scheduled to go to New Zealand for a month – both to visit family and take a vacation. 

That’s a long time.  I’ve NEVER taken a month off – especially for vacation!  And it’s been years since I was out of the country.  But it will be during February, our dreariest month – and we’ll be going to Summertime in NZ.

I told my dear hubby that I imagine it may be difficult for me to want to return to working in my office when we get back from vacation.  Not that I will ever stop “working”, I just prefer to work for myself since it’s the way I get to do what I want.

Since we are looking at all the options right now, I actually get to include “retirement” as one of them.  DH would be just as happy if I did retire now, even though he was the one who asked me to take a “steady” job working for someone else, which I have been doing for the past 3 years.

And if “retired”, I would probably just play for a year or so to get back into my own natural patterns and shake off the “corporate” structure that I’ve been working under.  For me that means spending a lot of time making glass beads and creating one-of-a-kind jewelry, with some time off to dye and paint fabrics!

Which brings me back to the subject here.  There’s nothing wrong with working for someone else.  There’s nothing wrong with working for security.  There is, however, definitely something wrong with working in a job that does not satisfy you – even if it used to. 

There is always a choice.  We live in a world that has mostly eliminated slavery.  If you don’t like a job, you can choose another.  If you don’t like the location, you can change it or choose another job in a better location.  If you don’t like the direction your work is taking you, you can quit, get another job, go back to school, start a business, “retire”, or even find a way to move your job back into the direction you started. 

The key is that you have a choice – and that’s where you become powerful – as long as you have a choice, you get to choose not only your ultimate outcomes, but also the steps along the way.  And you get to choose what you make of it all.  Your freedom and your choice are where your power lies. 

What are you choosing right now and how are you using that power?