If you aren’t in – you are out, no matter how good you are.

That may be true in many cases, but is that any way to live? Must one be always trying to worm his way into the right group and be “in” in order to make it? Doesn’t that leave a bit of a slime on your skin?

I feel very thankful to have read an tremendously enlightening lecture by C.S. Lewis entitled The Inner Ring. I encourage you to read it.

He explains how this desire for inner belonging eventually leads to an opportunity for corruption.

“It will be the hint of something which the public, the ignorant, romantic public, would never understand: something which even the outsiders in your own profession are apt to make a fuss about: but something, says your new friend, which “we”—and at the word “we” you try not to blush for mere pleasure—something “we always do.””

I think this can explain why decisions or votes often don’t make a lot of sense to those on the outside.

Lets look a bit further in Mr. Lewis’ lecture. He suggests that if you do practice your skill in a honoring way that you will become your own circle. A circle of sound craftsmen.

“If in your working hours you make the work your end, you will presently find yourself all unawares inside the only circle in your profession that really matters. You will be one of the sound craftsmen, and other sound craftsmen will know it. This group of craftsmen will by no means coincide with the Inner Ring or the Important People or the People in the Know.”

This combines the supposed opposing ideas into one sound principal. Practice your skills to craftsmanship level and be honest and you will enjoy the satisfaction and company of others who do the same.

I believe a high level of integrity and a desire to truly be of service to others will have it’s own rewards. Not only will you find your own healthy and honest inner ring but it is always open to others with the same values. Lewis says it in this way.

“And if in your spare time you consort simply with the people you like, you will again find that you have come unawares to a real inside: that you are indeed snug and safe at the centre of something which, seen from without, would look exactly like an Inner Ring. But the difference is that the secrecy is accidental, and its exclusiveness a by-product, and no one was led thither by the lure of the esoteric: for it is only four or five people who like one another meeting to do things that they like. This is friendship”

About the same time as I read this essay I learned a significant variation of the quote from Rhea Perry of Educating for Success. She said it is not WHAT you know, It is not WHO you know, It is WHO knows YOU.

Think of the candidate looking for a vote who never seems to make an impact and is not remembered come election day. Or the sales associate you don’t remember because he didn’t even give you his name.

You don’t have to check your integrity at the door to promote yourself. It is a matter of self confidence and assuredness that you are an honorable person looking to learn and serve others. I don’t even think you have to have to be the “sound craftsman” yet to find the crowd of craftsmen. Your willingness to learn the craft, be it sales, presentation, leadership or what ever the craft may be, coupled with your honesty will be recognized by those who value honest craft over influence, profit alone and peer pressure.

We all need other people to advance our goals. If you are asking to be remembered by a person that could influence your goals make sure you are respectful and principled.

Make your current craft one of good will and honesty and you will have a confidence born of integrity.

You will make an impression and be remembered.

Toward your work at home success!

This world is changing in ways I can’t fathom. It leaves me feeling insecure and breathless. At the same time I am slowly discovering new things about nature and the cycles of life. When I know what to expect in June (strawberries!) and in Sept (winter squash!), I feel like I can handle the other unsure things in life.
I can because next June I will be enjoying strawberries again.

The farm forces me to be practical and frankly so does my Mom.
Grandma is the gardener and farmer here. I have said it many times and I will say it again – without her hard work the garden wouldn’t be alive.
But where does that leave me?
She won’t be here forever and I am facing her deterioration every day. Not only do I think of how I will have to spend more time in the garden to get the produce we have so far, but I worry that I won’t do it. I am lazy and nature really doesn’t treat laziness too kindly.

So for now I am doing it my way. I’m building up my internal clock that is connected to the seasons. It affects what we eat and our activities. It helps me look forward to projects and completion. I like that! It’s different then the arbitrary calendar of schools and holidays.
It is a different kind of pressure. Less failure and more re-birth.

We face our own season of change as we age too. I’m watching my Mom change and I wonder what I will be doing at her age.
Sometimes it takes the lightness out of me and I wish it wouldn’t. Sometimes the season’s unforgiving changes give me a sense of loss.
Time moves on. If you didn’t get more beets planted the season moves toward the destination of harvest time and your hopes are left behind.
All the unsaid things, all the undone things get left behind like a dry dusty plot that hasn’t been amended with compost and watered.
I am left wondering if I am amending the right soil and watering where I should. Is it my garden I’m in or am I pouring my efforts into a landfill of garbage hoping for some growth?
As an activist for liberty, a caregiver for my mother, a homeschool mom, homestead gardener, homemaker, entrepreneur at home  and wife I often find I am neither watering nor amending the many plots that I need to tend. Instead I am commenting on the weeds or barren ground.

But seasons ground me in the “next thing”. Time grinds away but seasons come in chunks. I can deal with sections of my life easier then the feeling of always loosing something as the sands in an hourglass slips away. Time never returns but seasons do.
We have the chance to try again. It is really what new life is all about – letting all the failures of the past go and starting fresh in the spring.

I am going to remember to say little words of kindness and give gifts of service to those closest to me. I want a better world and my real circle of influence is where I can make the most difference.
Each season is another reminder to move past the projects you messed up on and to refocus on the ones that really matter.

I was taking a walk with my daughter and enjoying the late afternoon sun.

“Oh really?” I said. “Why do you say that?”

I resisted the temptation to launch into my own opinions on the matter of living here. When your teen chooses to share an opinion it’s a good idea to listen.

“Well, not only is it really beautiful here, but I feel our family has grown a lot closer.” She answered.

I caught my breath just a little. This hasn’t been expressed before by my daughter.

“In what ways?” I asked.

“I’m a lot closer to Dad now that he spends time at home with us.” She said.

My mind went to the day about a month ago when my mother called me into her room. She lives in our spare bedroom and has a corner view out onto the garage and front yard. Mom pointed to John and his youngest daughter working together processing the buck he had shot in back of our land. She was learning some practical skills as she helped him. My mother had turned to me and said, “That’s really special. How many girls get to spend time with their father like that?”

But now my daughter was expressing the same thing in her own words.

She smiled at me as we turned to head home. “I also feel closer to you too, Mom.”

“But I’ve always been home with you kids.” I replied as I gave her a quick squeeze around the shoulders. “What’s different now?”

She seemed to be thinking for a moment as our steps started to go in sync.

“I think it’s the projects that we do together. Our family is working toward common goals and we work together. We do our own thing but we aren’t gone to different places all the time.”

As parents, we don’t always get such clear feedback from our kids. It was very encouraging for me to hear her thoughts. I felt motivated to keep working on ways to help our kids develop multiple streams of income and work-at-home creativity. There are moments I feel inclined to take the conventional route and wish for the illusion of security in a punch-the-clock job that requires no challenge other then the demand you show up at work even on days you don’t want to.

But my daughter’s comment bolstered me.

Toward your work at home success!

Karen Skoog

Our son recently got a job at a warehouse unloading boxes. He had to get up at about 2:30 in the morning to leave for work. His job was to take boxes off trucks and re stack them on the dock. He made the observation that in the small space at the back of the truck it was hard for 3 people to work as they kept bumping into each other. He was told to just stand a side till there was more to unload. Then he got in trouble for not working. He didn’t last there very long. I might worry that he was just an unwilling worker but I know my son knows how to hustle. I think it was a really good opportunity to learn.

So what did he learn?

First of all, getting up early for work is the pits. It messes with your health and your social life gets slammed too. He also discovered how employees like to set other employees up to look bad so they will look good. Finally he learned that logic and critical thinking are not really valued in many jobs. Systems are set up and if they don’t work smoothly, oh well.

He came home with more ambition to make money without a job. His eBay sales had been slowing down a bit. He was finding it hard to consistently find things to sell on eBay. The other problem was that now he was also broke. That tends to be a real motivator! Then Josh answered an add for new sheepskin car seat covers still in the box for $5.00 each. He bought a few to check out the quality and found they where fine and that they sold well on eBay too. So he obtained a small business loan from us and bought about 140 sheepskins covers. They are bringing in a steady $250.00 a week for him.

He has been able to develop a system even if it is not fully automated yet. He still has plenty of time to look for new deals while money is being deposited into his paypal account. I think he likes that. Now the boxes he moves are for his own business.

His latest deals involve looking for free metals to resell and cutting up wood off logged areas for firewood, all done with the permission of the owner of course <grin>. It is just more practice looking for deals in unusual places. It is also a way he can hang out with his friends while looking for deals and still have money coming in.

He is still working to learn, but he’s also learning how to earn – even when he is not working.

It’s interesting to contemplate the changes that occur when the dads are away. There are many reasons for society to change, but are we helpless before these changes? What changes have taken place when families are spread out into their seperate spheres all day every day?

Think about it.

Toward your work at home success,

Karen

Outside we have two cats that we got as kittens. They began as inside cats which we fed and watered. As they grew older we let them outside where we only provide a small portion of food. At first they wanted to be fed more and would put us on a guilt trip by peering in the window and yowling pitifully. Slowly they started to change. First they sat by the birdhouse or under the deck sticking close to the house. Then they ventured into the barn and the garden. Later I would see them in our field or across the street in the neighbor’s field. They learned to hunt by playing with bugs as they practiced their skills. In the beginning they often missed their prey. Sometimes it was because they didn’t time the jump correctly or by becoming distracted by shadows or things going by. It didn’t take long, however, for them to sharpen their skills and bring home bigger rewards like rodents and reptiles. They would happily eat them and, while not always so willing to share with each other, we usually find an offering left for us.

What skills can cats teach us?

• Hunger will get you going like nothing else!
• Don’t rely too heavily on handouts or paychecks
• Always be aware of your surroundings – a deal may be close by
• Bugs, like really little deals, are great fun and good practice even if they lack meat
• Know when to go in for the kill – and close the deal
• Snakes, like shady deals, may be a challenge but are best avoided to be safe.
• As your skills increase you can move on to new territory or larger prey and a bigger payout
• Remember to drop a bit at the feet of the one you owe your existence to.

And don’t forget… An afternoon nap in a sunny spot by the window is a glorious thing!

Happy Hunting!

John Skoog

Spend Time with those you love.

We tell ourselves, “Oh, it wouldn’t work for me.”

When someone says that to me I will just agree.

“You made the choice so there isn’t any possibility of it working until you change your mind.”

It’s amazing what we tell ourselves, in such cool proverbial tones, that are not based on wisdom but rather on habits of speech.

Do we not think?

Amending the soil of your brain – changing your attitude – takes support. It isn’t necessarily true that your spouse will support your new ideas. Instead of trying to convert your spouse to think differently about business, just start practicing some business concepts. You really can’t change others but you can change yourself. When they see your possitive outlook they should react more positively. But how can you be assured of that?

What if your spouse doesn’t like your entrepreneurial ideas?

The answer is to put your relationship first. If you need to find time to work on a business project, website, blog, real estate, or the stock market make sure you spend time with your spouse first. Build a rock solid habit of spending time together each day. When you work on love, respect, forgiveness, and communication you are amending the soil of your hearts. It is from this place that you can work on your mind and gain control over worries from all the pressure and start to dream.

Pressure from expenses and lack of time motivates us to seek relief.

Relationship provides balance.

Inspiration allows creativity.

Toward your work at home success,

Karen Skoog

It was a Saturday afternoon and John had just come home from a side job. I had wanted to go for a drive in the mountains. Maybe we could eat out with the kids. And wouldn’t it be fun to get a motel somewhere and make a weekend away?

But John was reading a book and I saw the book start to drop towards his chest. I had been sitting on the floor talking to him, trying to convince him it still wasn’t too late to get out for the weekend, but he said he was tired and it didn’t make sense to go.

So I went back to finish the dishes, feeling angry and frustrated. We were always so short of money John had to take these side jobs. They weren’t even to get ahead, they were to get by. It was crazy of me to think we could afford a meal out and the gas to drive much less a motel room – even if it was motel 6.

I fumed and angry words crashed around my thoughts. Suddenly I flung the plate I was washing into the sink and shattered it to pieces.

 It’s not such an unusual situation. Our kids were little and I was home with them. When Dad did get home from work the kids and I were ready to get out and Dad was ready to finally be home.

When Dads are at work all day and even part of the weekend it is pretty hard for the couple to feel connected and to meet each others needs.

It’s great to have Mom at home. So many times the solution to financial difficulties is for Mom to go to work. I have had to do it many times, and if you have an end in mind it can patch you through hard times. However, we have a goal of both Mom at home and Dad at home as well. Now that our kids are growing up it becomes even more important as grandkids enter the picture.

There are a few ways to do it and we have been on a journey to discover the best for us.

Toward your work at home success!

Karen Skoog

Recently I planted my first garden since childhood . I was familiar with the basics but the experience taught me some unexpected lessons.

I started my garden by analyzing a soil sample. Then I broke down the soil with a single bottom plow mounted on a two wheeled tractor. After plowing I then tilled the soil and added in amendments such as manure and straw. Looking through an old box of seeds I picked out several handfuls of seed packages, then returned to the garden to make rows and plant my seeds.

Everyday I went to water and look for starts. The potatoes which I planted as an afterthought came up first, then one by one other rows began to fill while others did not. The weeds wasted no time and quickly filled the garden to full capacity.

Reflecting back on this I realized many different things and they are as follows……

Gardening is hard work

Amending the soil is necessary

Old seeds don’t always grow

Not every seed planted grew

Weeds were hard to distinguish from good plants.

Weeds impeded the growth of good plants

You don’t know which plant will come up first

That which grew is fun to see progress and delightful to eat

As I am exploring new home business ideas this gardening experience was very useful to me. I realized that is is important to analyze my own skills, talents, interests and abilities and be honest in what areas I can delegate and what kinds of education I need. Sometimes it is necessary to break up some of that stuck-in-the-mud, hard-as-rock thinking before anything can be added to it. Then amending the soil of my brain with attitude adjustments is vitally important if I want to see real growth. When I open my mind to possibilities of how to make money from home these ideas can be planted and take root. But often weedy thoughts quickly come to choke out those new ideas. Sometimes, like my potato crop I put in as an afterthought , that idea I marginalized turned out to be my best return on investment. I have found these weedy things include doubts, fears, anxiety, and other peoples negative comments like, “You can’t do that”. If some of those good seeds take root and start to grow it is very important to water them with positive people; those who will encourage you and see the vision. One way to do this is to find a mastermind group and continue your education. Sometimes one can plant a variety of ideas and not know with certainty which will pop up first or be a most successful for you. I have found I often have focused on the wrong plan while missing the one that will produce the most for me. Stick with the winner which will bear fruit. In the end if you stay focused, do the hard work of weeding out what doesn’t work while planting more of what does work and keep amending the soil, you will be rewarded with the sweet treat of success which will be a delight to all who share in its blessings.

John