From the category archives:
Why is it that only writer’s seem to get “blocked” in a socially acceptable (at times even romantic) way. You never hear about mechanic’s block or line cook’s block, damn writer’s and their dramatic ways! Well I decided today that entrepreneur’s can get “block” also but unlike the pie in the sky literary elite, we actually have to get over ours… and fast.
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Serious
I’m sitting at a cafe in the heart of Seattle, the last few days have been an awesome adventure traveling with fellow bloggers & entrepreneurs Andi & Collin. As I sit here I just think Wow, I could never, ever go back to a 9 to 5 because the freedom and happiness I get from doing what I am doing is overwhelming at times.
This is a feeling I want each and everyone of you to have, hopefully sooner than later. If you get amazing amounts of fulfillment from your 9 to 5 job than that is great – and you’ve already arrived. But if you are still doing something you don’t wake up loving – you need to take a serious look at your life and think Is this really how I want to be spending hours I will never get back. Just remember, our time on this Earth is limited… every day, every hour and every minute is precious.
Funny
As I was writing this a guy came up to me and started talking, the ONLY way I can describe the situation that ensued is through this amazing Mad TV video below… he even commented on my up-do.
Story Time!!
I was talking to Collin on the drive out to Seattle about my writing and how much of what I write goes unpublished and saved in my own ‘vaults’. I write a TON of fiction – often sci-fi – usually funny, sometimes morose, but it is what drives me. Because this is a whacky, all over the place post I decided to finish up with a short story I wrote a while ago. You may like it, you may hate it but it is liberating to have a place where I can post it so deal with it, my lovelies.
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This is a short video where I describe the awesome method I use to solve problems, find inspiration & literally get work done while I sleep. It is based on the principles of psycho cybernetics and if you dig this video I highly suggest you either read or listen to the audiobook version of New Psycho Cybernetics.
The Idea Incubator from maren kate donovan on Vimeo.
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Fudge man. That is all I can say. So in all my wisdom, I decided to change all my categories on Escapingthe9to5.com to start moving towards the site update I’ll soon be implementing – what I didn’t know was that in doing this I messed up tweetmeme and the facebook share plugin so EVER post reset to zero 
and I think my links are all broken now!
FUDGE!!!
But, what can you do, when my virtual assistants (I heart them!) come in later today I’ll be on Skype sobbing and they’ll come up with some kind of ingenious plan, because they’re brilliant – while I on the other hand should never be let near my websites without adult supervision.
NEXT MATTER OF BUSINESS…
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I cried, I argued, I tried to reason with myself… but in the end I knew I had to make Sophie’s choice – but not about my baby, but instead my business (even harder since my biz’s are my babies!). My productivity has been in a tailspin for the last month but in the last 5 days after my heart wrenching decision productivity has sky rocketed, profits have jumped and my biz is stronger and growing faster than ever. If you are feeling overwhelmed or going in too many directions please watch this video…
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I’ve just been reading Seth Godin’s book All Marketer’s are Liars where the gist is that to convey your point you must tell a story, not just share facts. So in that vein, I’m going to start this post off with a story…
I got my start in the mint business at the tender age of 12. By mint business I mean I got together a group of kids from my neighborhood and created a ‘business’ of picking wild mint, tying ribbon we got from our homes around them and selling the bundles for a quarter each around the neighborhood. As you can imagine it was a flop. After raking in a whopping $1.75 for 3 weeks of work I shuttered the doors so to speak and let my entrepreneurial spirit lay dormant for several years.
At 18 I tried my hand at selling on eBay and within a few months was bringing in $5000 + a month selling trinkets with profit margins that were insane. Life was looking up, until at 20 because of my own negligence eBay ban me and once again I had failed epically.
Now let me bring you up to the present day, I just turned 25 and I have under my belt about 15 failed businesses from birth till now. These businesses range from kiddie enterprises like the mint thing, to a website I put 3 months of work and about $6000 dollars into that sold a whopping $150 over it’s lifetime in product.
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I did this video a few weeks ago and didn’t really promote on Youtube so I wanted to make sure any of you who didn’t see it got to.
This video is all about the WWW principle, an idea that I believe is truly life changing and can completely re invent your purpose in life within a few hours. I was reminded of the importance of this video today while I interviewed the amazing author’s behind How to Be Rich & Happy – an interview that will be airing on this blog soon and a book I truly recommend you to read.
Tim & John, the co authors of this book, coined the ‘whenever, whatever’ idea and explain in the book how it applies to living a happy full life. In this video I’ve expanded it to encompass one more W.
Trust me this concept can rock your world… it did mine in a big way.
Hope you enjoyed it! If you have any questions, comments or testimonials please feel free to leave them below! I love interacting with you all almost as much as I love hot dogs (which is tons!).
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So today is my birthday! Thanks for all of you who wished me happy birthday yesterday (I mistakenly told people that was my birth date because I forgot the actual day!). I just wanted to post this to tell everyone who has read escaping the 9 to 5 for a day, or a year – thank you, from the bottom of my heart!
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So late last night, clad in my jammies and caring a warm cup of tea, I worked tirelessly on a very special offering for you, my lovely fellow escapees of the 9 to 5. What is the offering? I’m getting to that! But first let me tell you about my quarter life crisis.
I’ve been avoiding telling anyone this but May 27th of this month I’m turning 25!! Aaaaahhhhhhh!!! All this turning a quarter of a century old has made me think lately about what I want to do with my life and what kind of impact I’m having on the world.
More or less for the last week I’ve been going between stages of serenity and insane ‘I’m getting old/I’m not far enough ahead’ freaking out. I blame it on our darn westernized ‘work ethic’ which takes no time for chill pills and lazy afternoons of espresso drinking like the Europeans. So what did I decide? I need to go to Europe, stat.
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This is a guest post by Eric at My 4-Hour Workweek and something that will help a great many of you become and stay successful!
Looking forward and really wrapping your mind around your goals is what will allow you to be successful. Being able to put your goals in writing and constantly remind yourself of them is a key motivating factor, in my opinion.
You’re probably familiar with a standard goal-setting process. Throughout school and in the workplace, we’re taught to set goals, and even forced to set goals. Often, this is seen more as an administrative burden, rather than something you want to do because you believe in it. The standard goal-setting process goes something like this:
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