Goals.

And here comes the new year full of hope. Yet we step into it with trepidation, don't we?

We make all kinds of promises to ourselves - we will remake ourselves, we will change habits, we will do things differently, we will lose weight, we will eat healthier...

Nah.

. I don't believe a vague resolution works. I think resolutions fall on the wayside as we trek along to some new, easier to follow interest.

So how do we make that change we so badly want?

Think of it this way.

We have a house to clean. It's a massive task. We tackle it one task at a time, one day at a time.

How will this way of thinking work?

I plan to set goals...realistic goals. And, one by one, I will list the tasks I need to do to achieve those goals. For example:

GOAL:

Publish book 2.

Tasks:

Finish book cover.

Format manuscript.

Double check for errors.

Upload manuscript.

GOAL:

Market manuscript.

Tasks:

Write letters to Mr. / Mrs. / Media

Read excerpts from book on x, y, z platforms

Etc.

I plan to rate myself, each week, 1 to 5, to assess how I've done with each task.

Doing this has worked for me, and it anchors me to the goal. It's fun to see how I've progressed.

(Apparently, career coaches earn enough teaching people these skills. Would you consider being a coach?)

Wishing you all the best for 2025!

A time for giving.

It’s that time of the year when millions of people around the world will be shopping, looking for gifts for bosses, coworkers, friends and family. (I pray no one goes into debt.)

Apart from Christmas and birthdays, what are the other times that are perfect for giving presents?

For the past few months, I’ve been the recipient of gifts…one big gift, a sewing machine, and many small gifts, including help from siblings.

You see, for the past year or so, I hit a bad spot and was feeling at a loss. Even my effervescent Pollyanna-self felt as if she needed a boost.

Suddenly, as though they had colluded to help lift my spirits, a friend, my family, began sending these gifts. My brothers helped in other ways.

This has made me think…if people in my life are saying to me, you deserve, you’re special, then it’s my turn to show them that I am going to do my best to succeed. I would be a gift to me, to them, making them, myself, worthy of all they’ve done for me.

Next week, I will share with you photos of some of the gifts I have received, and I will share ideas for gifts that cost practically only a few dollars (or whatever your currency is).

In the meantime, read more here: 

Nothing like love…

Also, check the Money Tab where I will share ideas you can use to start a gift-giving business.

Love letters etc.

Today, in between doing the laundry, I’ve been thinking about these charming stickers at lisi-tana.

They’re on my mind for a couple of reasons. First of all, they’re cute! Another reason? They’re plastic-free - they’re not coated with plastic. Oh, there’s a third reason…I’ve seen people online saying they have so many stickers and they don’t know what to do with them.

Man!! How can anyone not know what to do with stickers? There are so many ideas running around my head. Let me share a few with you.

You can make the coolest invitations with them. You can create the sweetest notes. Paste them on coloured cardboard, write your notes, recipes, letters, invitations, and decorate them with stickers!

Take cardboard boxes, cut them into small shapes, paste white paper on one side, write your thing. On the other side, decorate with sketches and stickers!

How about empty plastic bottles? Cover the labels with coloured paper or fabric, and on the rest of the bottle, paste your stickers. In the bottles, put your rolled up notes and send them off to friends and family, customers.

That’s right. Customers. If you run a small business, you can use stickers in so many ways. The possibilities are ENDLESS! 

Got to go, more laundry awaits. Before I go, let me share this charming tale about suitors and letters:

MATCHMAKING. (Don’t forget, matchmaking itself is a biiiiig business…you can use cards & stickers for this too, right?)

Hunting for treasures.

Recently, I’ve been writing about treasures all because of a book marker that I found. The book marker said: 

This led me to thinking about a list I’d written. It included: sunlight on the stream of water falling from the bathroom shower; ice tinkling in a glass of water; sea breeze. You can read it all here:

Treasure Hunting.

As usual, when I’m writing, my mind begins to link the topic with a book or a story, a song, a memory. So off I went, remembering books, and the time my mother dreamt she’d discovered a tin can of diamonds. Oh my goodness! When I think about all the things I could’ve done if I had found those diamonds!

For your reading pleasure, here it is, A tin can of diamonds.

Daydreaming about treasures led me back to asking - how could some enterprising person start a treasure hunting business? What should people hunt for? What are treasures? Could it be a hunt for honey or fruit in the wild? Could it be trips to unknown places? Or a hunt for unknown storytellers and musicians and artists? Could the treasure hunt be a game that you’ve made up?

Life is so full of possibilities!

Home. Again!

Can you guess I’m obsessed with HOME?

It’s the one place I do not take for granted. It keeps us warm (in the cold weather), shades us from the heat. It’s our shelter, our haven. When the sky opens up every barrel of water and dashes it on us, we can be cosy and dry at home, drinking soup, watching a film or reading a book, playing games.

A wonderful home can be our restaurant, our library; it’s the gathering place for friends. Home was exactly this for my siblings, cousins, friends and me. My mother baked bread every Saturday, and our family home was filled with laughter and chatter as we ate bread with butter, drank tea.

Is it any wonder than I would write books about home life? Or that I would write memories of home, again and again? It’s my dream to see every child around the world in a safe home filled with delights. Let’s celebrate those parents who have managed to give their children a loving home.

I invite you to read more here:

Home Soup.

Now, here’s a thought that I’ve shared before: what if you could run a business that has the feel of home? I can think of so many things that can be done with this space to make it cosy.

No power!!

These past few weeks, I’ve been worried about the damages the hurricane season would bring to my family in Florida! I can’t wait for this season to end without any mishaps. 

Often, the after effects of a hurricane can be horrendous - drinking water shortage in the midst of hot temperature. Electrical shocks are also a risk despite the unending power cuts. 

I’ve survived one hurricane, and that was enough! If I’ve ever taken the simple things for granted before, I knew how vital they were after that hurricane. 

Another lesson I remembered was the importance of play, of seeing the humourous side of things, so after Hurricane Milton rushed away, I wrote this:

A li’l bit o’ madniss.

Now, speaking of power cuts…not necessarily caused by storms and hurricanes…would you think of deliberately making a space without electricity? Do you see any business opportunities in that? 

The business of caring.

Whoa!! My mother is 88! I still can’t believe it. Once upon a time, when she was 69, I thought that was old. (Forgive me, all 69 years old people out there.) In my know-it-allness, I wrote:

For quite a while I been seeing li’l signs of age coming on in she. These signs does scratch like a long-claw creature at me window in the night, wanting to creep in. I does get impatient, and I does push she to be aware, be conscious, pay attention. But now and then I does wake and see that me impatience is wearing a mask, and behind the mask, it is really fear stalking me. I witnessing a strong woman becoming a li’l fragile with the years.

So we trundle along, she age-ing, me fear-ing. I want to grab the steering wheel from she so that I ain’t got to worry when she drive into town alone. But I know that taking away a person independence is the worst thing to do. Besides, she gon put up such a fight I gon be the one huffing and puffing on the floor.

I decide that, today, rather than quiver with fear, I gon rename she birthday Affirmation Day.

Maybe one day, I gon find in me some of she courage, I ain’t gon quiver like coward whenever life dash two hard blows ‘pon me. I gon stand firm like she.

That, my friend, is an excerpt from a book about life with mother. You can read the book here: Big Ole Home By De Sea.

Mum watering my sister’s plants.

Life with the elderly can suddenly shift from fun to difficult. Many caregiving-offsprings have to resign from work to care full time for their dear loved ones. Sometimes, they need assistance and this, dear Reader, is where you can come in. There are just sooo many jobs in the caregiving business. I’ve even heard of entrepreneurs starting their own businesses, hiring staff to go out and do the actual, physical care. 

I must warn you, looking after the elderly requires TONS of patience and empathy. You have to be willing to listen and to know how to respond. 

And that, dear Reader, is where the training business comes in…if you can teach others how to care for the elderly, that’s your business right there.

If you’re a daughter caring for your elderly loved one, here’s a site that might help you: https://daughterhood.org/newsletter-archive/

All the best in everything you do. Sending light and love.

P.S. (Remember to check the MONEY tab for ideas to start your very own business.)