Lazarus - Day 6

They say that a space shuttle uses a great amount of its fuel to get off the ground and through the atmosphere. After that it doesn't take as much. The same is true in starting any new venture. I am learning this first hand.

My goal is to have my business off the ground and running (and seeing profit) by November 20 with a clear plan of action for the foreseeable future. I know that I will reach this goal. It is going to stretch me like I have never been stretched, but I make the commitment that I will reach that goal. It is time to put up or shut up.

I have grown very aware that since I have set a deadline for myself, other things are grabbing for my attention. The fates are testing me to have me prove my resolve. Time is very precious. So, my next step in the Lazarus Affair is to block out the next 94 days. In the next couple of days I will have my plan for my remaining days up for you to view. I believe I said I would have it done by day 5, but that didn't happen. I want to be honest enough to admit when I haven't done what I have intended. (Today is really day 7. I missed a day because of a power outage at my house. It is a sorry excuse, but it is the truth.)

So, to correct for this I will block out the 94 days and then give myself twice the work time on one of the days to make up for what I missed.

I will post again within two days time with the plan of action. We go up from there.

Lazarus - Day 5

Life is a story. Your life. My life. Story. It is our job to tell it well.

I have decided on the name for my business. Life is a Story, LLC. I believe it reflects what I want to do. I want to tell good stories, and help other people tell their own well.

I have been looking over the business plan. This is what I have come up with:

My business will consist of my writing and speaking engagements. This includes marketing products that I believe fit in with my message and focus.

As I mentioned before the business will be called Life is a Story LLC. This is short for "Life is a story, tell it well."

I will begin the process of domain registration based around the business name.

On a different note, I have set a deadline to have my book, I Believe, ready for printing on August 28th. In his book Linchpin, Seth Godin says that real artists ship their products. So, in an effort to be a real artist, I have chosen this date to have it all ready and loaded for printing.

The affair continues...

Lazarus - Day 4

Why do I want to have a business?

I downloaded a sample business plan from www.48days.com yesterday. I have been reviewing it and I was hit with that question 'Why do I want to have a business?' I thought I knew the answer to this question, but I sat down to think about it some more.

It has been a driving desire of my life to help people. For the longest time I did not know how to define what that would look like. I just knew that I want/need to leave this world better than I found it. So far, I am not doing as well as I want to with this effort. I am trying, but not succeeding as much as I would like.

So, the first reason I would like to have my own business is to help people. But, how do I want to help them? Do I want to do something that is service oriented? Sell a product? What? And the answer comes to me: I want to be in the business of spreading hope. There is definitely a need for it.

Next, I enjoy being creative. I write songs. I tell stories. I do accents. (Some of them not very well, but some not bad.) I love using my imagination. So how can I use creativity to spread hope? How can I make a difference in peoples lives? I remind people of truths in creative ways through my writing.

I believe that there are deep truths that we instinctively know (the importance of family, personal accountability, the need for giving, taking time for rest, being thankful). These truths get clouded. We lose focus of them. We let other things of less importance get in the way. We end up confused and lost. I want to meet people at these places and remind them of the truth that they already know. To reveal it to them and help them see again.

Dan Miller, author of '48 Days to the Work You Love' and 'No More Mondays', writes about finding your passion in your career and life. I believe the paragraph above contains part of my passion. This is what I am building my business around. This is why I want to have a business. This is how I will make a difference.

Lazarus - Day 3

There are only 168 hours in a week. I sat down today for the first time to find out how I am spending those hours. This is what I found:

6 hours a day are spent sleeping.

10 hours a day are spent on my day job.

5 hours a day are spent with my family (making dinner, playing, talking).

3 hours a day are left Monday through Friday for other activities. (business, reading, writing, exercising)

The weekend is very open. I can devote 4-6 hours each weekend day to working on the Lazarus Affair.

Now that I have blocked out the time like I need, it will be much easier to set deadlines and achieve goals. The time for doing the work has been carved out.

I have decided my workout plan for the Lazarus Affair. It is as follows:

3 cardio/running sessions of 30 minutes

4 pushup/ab workouts of up to 30 minutes.

Since the workout goals are part of the overall goal for the Lazarus Affair, I am planning to utilize time within the three hour window M-F. I will take care of my workout obligations first thing in the mornings on the weekends.

Tomorrow, I intend to start working on the business plan for the Lazarus Affair. Stay tuned.

Lazarus - Day 2

I can see from the get go that choosing to be free is going to be a daily decision. It is so easy to get distracted. So easy to not want to do much. So easy to just let my time be taken away from me. Balancing a day job and family and other responsibilities will be tough, but as my goals start being met it will make things easier.

I have discovered a huge issue that has kept me from success. I haven't had a plan. Sure, I have had dreams. Ideas. Wishes. I haven't had a plan that I have stuck to. What is the old saying, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail..." It is time to start planning.

I have 100 days set aside to get my focus, supercharge my creativity, start my business, get into shape, and be chasing after my future with passion and purpose.

Days 1-5 Get a plan set for the 100 day process. Plans will include the following: business, reading, diet and exercise.

I downloaded a general business plan this evening. I will read through it and begin filling it out tomorrow. I have already set aside the books I intend to read in this span of time. I will also block out a fitness plan for myself tomorrow as well. I intend to post all of these on this blog as I complete them.

I have two main products that I will sell. 1. A book I have written called I Believe. It is a Christmas story for kids and adults and I am certain that it could sell well for this coming holiday season. 2. I am going to book myself to speak in front of groups concerning two topics: belief and personal responsibility.

The journey is under way. I will post again tomorrow with details of my forward progress.

The Lazarus Affair

I feel as good as dead. I have been frozen by fear and stuck with bad decisions for a long long time. I am in debt. I am out of shape. I want to be free. I am frustrated. I could give up, but that option is no good.

I know down deep inside that I can come back to life. I am surrounded by information and opportunity. Up until now I have chosen to ignore this. NO MORE. It is time for the dead to rise again.

So here is the challenge: I am going to have my health, financial, and business affairs turned around in 100 days. November 20th is my due date. In this span of time I intend to start my own business and gain control over my finances and begin training for my health.

Here are the positive things I have going at this point: I have a loving and supportive family. I have good friends who will stand beside me. I have a good job and I work hard at it. I am in better shape than I was 10 years ago, but not to the level I want to be at.

Here are the obstacles: There is too much month left at the end of the money. I have never worked for myself. I have spent too much time focusing on the immediate and have not planned for the future.

How I intend to proceed: I have set the due date. I am going to break the 100 days down into smaller increments with goals at each stage. I am going to log my progress here each day. I have set aside books from my library to read during this period of time. As I work on each goal I will blog about lessons I am gleaning from my hardbound mentors.

Even if no one ever reads these words, I am going to write. I want a record of the journey I take to success. It may be a messy affair, but Lazarus will rise again.