Every now and then I’ll get someone who unsubscribes from my newsletter with the comment that “no one really works at home.” This statement baffles me. While there was a time that it was difficult to find people who made a good (meaning can live on it) income from home, today its easier than ever to find people making a living at home. I run into people all the time online and off, who are telecommuting or running a home business. So I always wonder, how come other people aren’t running into them? How can they go through life and not run into one person who’s really working at home? What do they think I do? After all, they had subscribed to my work-at-home newsletter. Did he really think I didn’t work at home?
I’ve decided the statement is more a reflection on how confident the person is about his own ability to work at home. In essence, he doesn’t think he can work at home. As Henry Ford said, “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.” Working at home is about 95% attitude and 5% effort. If you don’t think it will happen, it won’t.
Its too bad, because working at home is not that hard. It can be frustrating and disappointing. It can involve doing things that seem hard because they are new or out of the comfort zone. But its not rocket science. Anyone can do it. But not everyone does. How can they if they set themselves up for failure by making statements like “nobody works at home” or feeling that working at home won’t happen for them.
Here’s the truth. People do work at home. Millions of them. But they didn’t simply sign up for something and they don’t do menial jobs like lick envelopes or process email. They do real jobs and businesses that offer real products and services.
Anyone who thinks working at home doesn’t exist needs to get out more. Start talking to people about what they do. I know someone who works at home as an assistant to a Realtor. Another telecommutes for a financial company as a writer. These are people who live in my neighborhood. You can find more online in mastermind groups or forums. Sure, some are just out to promote the next great work-at-home scheme. But hidden among them you’ll find people like me, who really do make a living at home.
