Cut down on the "What ifs?" in your life!

Decision-making is an integral part of our lives. We do it all day, every day, although most of the time we aren't even aware that we are doing it. That is because many of these decisions are easy and don't necessarily involve any drastic changes: Should I buy this brand or that brand of butter? Should I check my emails before or after my shower? Which route should I take to work today? Should I have eggs or cereal for breakfast?

Some decisions, however, have life-altering consequences, and because of fear or lack of experience, sometimes we choose to procrastinate instead of making the right choice. Should I get high with my friends or say "NO" like my parents taught me? Should I face up to that bully or lay low and hope he finds a new target? Should I accept this new job even if it means moving far from home? Should I start my own business or be content with a regular paycheck?

Then, once the moment to make the right decision has passed, the "What ifs?" slowly start to creep into our subconscious and then into our conscious mind. What if this was my golden opportunity and I let it pass me by? What if I had listened to my parents? What if I had accepted that new business proposal? What if I had taken a chance? What if I had been braver or bolder? What if I had followed my dream instead of bending to conformity?

"What ifs?" plague our lives, but we usually manage to push these regrets to the back of our mind, especially when we know, deep inside, that we've made the wrong decision. The problem with trying to forget our mistakes, instead of owning up to them and learning from them, is that when we are faced with a new opportunity or challenge, we are doomed to repeat these same mistakes, again and again, unless we learn to conquer our fears and misgivings.

That's why I've taken to heart what a very wise man once told me: "At the end of your life, you'll regret many more of the things you DIDN'T do, and far less of the things you DID do, because the things you'll have done –good or bad– will have taught you important lessons and made you grow into someone I can be proud of, and that's what this life is all about".

It's true, life is a learning experience and the more we learn the wiser we become. Although it takes a lot of courage to take action and deal with the consequences of our actions, if we never take chances, how will we know what we've been missing? How will we know what our full potential could have been if we insist on making the wrong choices or no choice at all? It's like the lotto: it's a gamble, but we'll never win if we don't buy a ticket!

So let's try to cut down on the "What ifs?" and regrets in our lives. Let's be bold and make the right decisions; the choices we know in our hearts to be the right ones, even if they aren't the easiest.

Have a great week, and if you decide to visit my website, please do so with an open mind. That way, you'll have one less "What if?" in your life to deal with.

The perks of working from home!

Having an online business has it's perks: you can work from home and keep your own hours; you don't have to dress up since nobody is going to see you anyway, except maybe the mailman or the gardener; and you don't have to sit in traffic for hours on end to commute to and from the office. Instead, you can take all the time you need to plan your day's activities, while you calmly drink your morning coffee.

In addition to the comfort of working from home, the cost to set up and operate any online business is downright negligible: you just need a computer/tablet/smart phone and an internet connection. You don't need to rent office space, pay for permits and employees, and you save tons of money on gas, car maintenance and/or repairs. All the money you earn is for you… and the taxman of course.

The good news is that –at least here in Mexico–, when you work from home, you can deduct a portion of your home expenses, like utility bills and phone bills, some groceries (sugar, coffee, toilet paper, etc.), all of your office supplies and even part of your monthly rent. I don't know about you, but I definitely like this extra perk, given the drawbacks of not having a regular paycheck.

I've worked from home since 1993, first as an independent service provider for clients in the Mexican book publishing industry, and then as a freelance English-Spanish-English translator. It's been great, even though at times I've had to struggle to make ends meet. Nonetheless, I prefer the freedom of being able to work when and where I please, even if it means having to work really long hours sometimes to honor my commitments.

Given my long history of working online, I guess it was only natural for me to gravitate towards another kind of business that I could do from home to further supplement my income. The opportunity came along when I least expected it, but I'm glad I decided to try my hand at SFI (Strong Future International). It's been a really great experience so far.

It's amazing how many people I've met over the internet since I started this new business, and how friendly and generous they all are. It's like an exclusive club of people helping people, who understand exactly where you're coming from and what you are trying to accomplish. Thank goodness I have them, because my friends and family get this really blank look on their faces each time I talk about SFI!

Of course, not everyone is equipped to work independently, either because they need the security of a regular paycheck or because they need a boss to crack the whip once in a while in order to stay focused. But for those who are willing and able to set up an online business or have a few hours a week to spare from their regular J.O.B. (Just Over Broke), this is the best of both worlds!

Like my mom used to say: "Don't put all your eggs in one basket my child. Diversify!"

Have a great week and don't forget to visit my website for more information about SFI!

I'm a Top Author at SFI!

I just have to share this week's good news with you! One of my answers in the ASK SC section at SFI was just voted Number 1!  I am finally a Top Author!

You must be wondering what the heck I'm talking about. Well, the ASK SC section is where affiliates learn the most about SFI by rating the answers to a series of questions posed by fellow affiliates. They vote YES if they find the answers useful and NO if they don't. It's that simple.

These questions cover many aspects of the day to day business at SFI, such as which marketing methods produce the best results, how to advance in rank, how to be a good Team Leader, how to make the most of what SFI has to offer, etc. etc. There are no wrong answers, but obviously some answers are better than others. The fact that so many of my peers found my answer to be the most useful is absolutely awesome!

The more I read, the more I learn, and apparently sharing this new-found knowledge also helps me advance at SFI, because the best answers are awarded points, which help me maintain my Bronze Team Leader status. And to top it all off, these points also earn me more shares in the TripleClicks Executive Pool, where 40% of the total Commission Volume from ALL sales is distributed among every Affiliate who reaches Executive Affiliate rank or Team Leader status each month.

I've always known that knowledge is power, but this milestone proves it. It's done wonders for my self-esteem and motivates me to work even harder, in order to better understand what I'm doing and continue to pass on some of that knowledge to others. That's the beauty of SFI: The more you learn, the more you earn!

That's all for now! I'm off to watch my hubby play the Blues at the best beach bar in all of Playa del Carmen, Mexico. It's called Wah Wah Beach Bar & Restaurant. Stop by and visit the next time you're in this part of Mexico.

Have a grrrreat week!

College Students with Six-Figure Incomes?

At SFI, the best place to find the answer to most questions is in the ASK SC section. As I was rating my daily quota of answers the other day, I came across a very interesting question about whether students 18+ should start an online marketing business at such an early age.

The answers I read were pretty enlightening. Although a few people worry that starting an online business so young might distract some students from their studies, I found that most people are of the opinion that they should go for it; in fact the earlier, the better. I share that opinion because I believe that this generation is equipped to think ahead and has the tools to achieve whatever it sets out to do.

Nowadays, young students are facing and will continue to face plenty of economic hardships, both before and after graduation. Some parents will bear the brunt of that hardship, but in many cases it's the students themselves who will have to work harder than ever to finish their studies. They may even have to take out loans to pay for tuition or just to make ends meet. These students shouldn't have to deal with that added burden once they graduate.

Starting an online business at a time in their lives when they have such huge possibilities for success, to me, is a no-brainer. Where else can they find thousands of dynamic and like-minded individuals to help them duplicate their efforts, if not at a university or college campus?  

Tenacious and ambitious students have everything and everybody they need at their fingertips. I'm not saying that this will appeal to everyone, but among the thousands of students at their campus, they will surely find enough people with whom to start a business that will allow them, and their team, to generate residual income that will continue to grow long after they graduate.

Learning how to start an online business means adding another subject to their class load. I know that sounds difficult, but the good news is that this free training program does not include mid-term or final exams. Another distinct advantage is that they can "Earn while they Learn". I'll bet none of their other subjects have that kind of appeal!

They won't even have to spend a dime for the first couple of months if they do things right from the very beginning. Almost from the start of their training period, they can learn how to recruit people to become part of their team and how to promote and sell products online to earn commissions, which they can then use to kick-start their business and keep it growing without having to invest any of their own money.

It only takes 1 leader to organize his or her group. As soon as this group starts to get results, the students around them will want in. Once this phenomenon occurs, their business will take off like a snowball rolling down a mountainside: they will be unstoppable! Heck, considering that most students invest 4-5 years in a college education, I have no doubt that the most ambitious among them will already be earning six-figure incomes by the time they graduate.

This is not a pipe-dream. This is what today's new entrepreneur can accomplish with just a computer/tablet/smart phone, an Internet connection and a large number of young ambitious people who are willing to invest a little time and money in order to live the rest of their lives free of debt and economic uncertainty. 

Furthermore, this phenomenon could catch on at any number of universities and colleges, because young people from all over the world are enrolling at SFI every day to learn how they can get their share of this infinite source of wealth!

For more information CLICK HERE.

Have a great week!

PS I still have some Gift Cards left, so if you want one, just visit my website.

The danger of doing everyday business online

It's amazing how frustrating doing everyday business over the Internet can be sometimes. This week I was tricked into giving out free Gift Cards to complete strangers who are just in it for a fast buck, and on Friday one of my email accounts was hacked. At TripleClicks I was going nuts trying to figure out how to select an alternate billing address, but got no real solution from their IT department. And to top it all off, my Internet service feels like it's going through menopause: all ups and downs and zero stability.

I stopped the Gift Card issue in its tracks by putting a buffer in place where it will be harder for freeloaders to take advantage of something I want to share with honest, hard-working folks. I corrected the e-mail situation by changing my password, so that nipped the problem in the bud and my email is back to normal. I managed to fix the TripleClicks issue all by myself by poking around my account settings until I discovered what I needed to do.  As for the instability of my Internet service, there's really nothing I can do about that, so I'm taking a 'Chill Pill' and hoping it improves.

All around us there are predators who have nothing better to do than to make our lives miserable. You hear about this or that big company getting hacked. You hear horror stories about ordinary people whose emails have fallen into the hands of unscrupulous people. And then it happens to you, and you don't know why they would target you in particular. You're only a small fish in a very large pond full of more appetizing victims. Why pick on you?

Well, that's one of the danger in this modern era of global online communication. There's really no way to totally avoid this danger unless you decide to disconnect completely from the internet and go back to using land lines and sending letters by post –that may or may not arrive this century, depending on which part of the world you live in–, to keep tabs on what's happening in the lives of your friends and loved-ones. Or you could go back to conducting sales like they did in the past: travel all over the country to promote and sell your products door-to-door.

Well I am not about to be bullied into surrender. Things go bad but they eventually work out, so I will continue to conduct my business online; I will continue to follow the ups and downs in the lives of my nearest and dearest on Facebook; I will continue to send emails because it's the fastest and most efficient way to communicate with clients. To hell with all these idiots who plague the internet with their underhanded schemes and stupid pranks.

My advice: keep changing the passwords to every site you use once every six weeks or so. There's a reason why banks ask you to do this, at least that's what they do here in Mexico. It's because online security has become a major problem. I no longer have any doubt that, in the next few years, more and more people out there will try to screw with our accounts or wreak havoc at many of the online sites we use to conduct business or for entertainment.  

The good news is that companies big and small are aware of this danger and are continually creating more efficient countermeasures to thwart these security threats. But you also have a role to play: stay alert and avoid clicking on suspicious links you receive in your email; keep an eye out for shady deals that sound too good to be true; and please, please be careful how and to who you give out your personal information!

Well, I feel better now! Thanks for letting me vent! see you next week, unless someone hacks my Google account too… NOT!!!!!!

Have a great and productive week!

PS Speaking of giving out personal information, I assure you I can be trusted, so go to my website, fill in your name and email address, and get one of those free Gift Cards I am offering while they last. Don't worry, your information is safe with Weebly –my website host–, and with TripleClicks.

SFI is going places in 2014!

I am thrilled to be part of such an amazing company. SFI is truly unique! 

I won't bore you with my take on how important this company is becoming and how fast it is growing. I'd much rather you read about how well SFI and TripleClicks did in 2013 and their great plans for 2014 in the link you'll find at the end of this post. 

If the article in this link doesn't catch your eye and make you sit up a little straighter, I don't know what will. SFI has been a God-sent for me and apparently for 1.5 million people around the world. I never imagined that I could land in a place where everyone is watching everyone else's back, and where everyone is rooting for everyone else's success. Amazing!

At SFI all affiliates are equal, whether they come from the US, Canada, South Africa, Nigeria, France, UK, Russia. We have affiliates from 190 countries! There is no bickering, no in-fighting, no looking down on anyone. You spend what you want, you do what you can and no one will criticize you, yet tons of people will try to help you if you ask nicely.

If ever there was a place where people from all over the world can feel comfortable and welcome, it's SFI and TripleClicks. We are a world community with no boundaries, no barriers, no frontiers and no limits on how far we can go.

Enjoy the article and have a great week!

 http://news.sfimg.com/2014/04/10/what-a-year-and-what-a-year-2014-is-going-to-be-2/

PS Visit my website for more information and a free Gift Card you can use at TripleClicks

229 winners share a 35,164 TCredit Zackpot!

The inaugural Eager Zebra™ Time Machine contest at TripleClicks accumulated over 35 thousand TCredits* in its first "Zackpot"!!! 

Even though many TripleClicks and SFI members don't know much about US College Basketball or March Madness, 229 people from all over the world managed to correctly predict the answer to this question: "How many total points will be scored in the national semifinals of the Men's NCAA Basketball tournament on April 5th, 2014?". Amazing! The right answer, in case you hadn't heard, was 263 points.

I wasn't among those lucky 229 winners but I came close! That's why I'm already participating in the brand new Time Machine contest which is about movies this time. The question is: "For April 2014, what percentage of total ticket sales will the #1 movie account for?" This contest ends on April 25th so cross your fingers and wish me luck! And speaking of luck, I'd like to share some with you, so if you are a movie buff and would like to participate in this contest, please visit my website and grab a free Gift Card.** You'll get 6 opportunities to predict the right answer. Good luck!

The Eager Zebra game division is planning several new games for us in the coming months. In fact, they've already announced one that you can play and win multiple times a day. I don't know what kind of game it is yet, but the good news is that each game will last less than one hour, so it's probably the kind of game that depends less on luck and more on strategy or maybe general knowledge?? Whatever it is, I'm looking forward to giving it a try during my multiple coffee-breaks, ha ha! What can I say? I'm an online game junkie! And it's not like I have a boss looking over my shoulder!

As for other news, I made Bronze Team Leader again, Yay! I'm looking forward to getting some new Second Home Affiliates to strengthen my team. Second Home Affiliates are just as important as Personally Sponsored Affiliates because you can still qualify for commissions and Matching VersaPoints from their activities, which helps you advance in rank and earn more money. I like that and also the fact that they get assigned to you for free by SFI as a reward for having maintained Team Leader status.

This system can sometimes seem complicated to a newcomer, but the concept is easy enough to grasp. It's all about learning and applying what you learn, then forming your own team and passing that knowledge on to each team member so that they can do the same for their own teams. A strong and active team will help you duplicate your efforts and your earning power, and although it's not something that happens overnight, it's well worth the effort. 

I am learning new and exciting ways to do business online and I think I am holding my own in this new era of globalization. I have people young and old, from all over the world on my team. I'm especially amazed at how affiliates who are well over 50 take to this business. They may not be very computer savvy, but many of them become real marketing experts thanks to their experience in the workplace and/or business world.  Some of them are retirees who decided to put their knowledge and experience to good use here at SFI, instead of just settling for a meager pension and a dwindling savings account.

It's comforting to know that I have found a great way to earn extra money to put aside for my golden years. Planning ahead sure beats running out of options as I get older and job opportunities start to shrink at an increasingly alarming rate.

Have a great week!

*TCredits are TripleClicks currency. You can use them to buy products, list and sell stuff you no longer need, or participate in penny auctions and games. You can also use them to download music and vote for your favorite songs in the Song of the Month contest.

**Sorry… only available to non SFI/TripleClicks members