The Small Business Workshop

Just another WordPress.com weblog

It is time to retire your smoking habit.

This Thanksgiving Day marks my sevent week smoke-free. I kicked the habit. I’ve done it, and I have to tell the world! www.icanquitsmoking.org

As most smokers, I started smoking when I was a teenager. It began slowly, a celebratory cigar from time to time and blossomed from there. At sixteen I was smoking cigarillos because I “liked to flavor”. By eighteen, I was a full fledged Marlboro fan.

I smoked for the next twelve years. Through two colleges, one trade school and several jobs, I was a smoker. I was a proud smoker. I smoked because I liked smoking, not because I felt that I had to have it. I wasn’t obnoxious about it, if I knew that someone present was easily bothered by smoking, I’d simply not smoke.

Recently, during a discussion with my girlfriend (who smoked at the time). We decided that we should try to kick the habit. It stems from several issues. The three important ones are:

It’s proven to be bad for your health (seriously……)
As taxes increase, it’s a very expensive habit (close to $400.00/mo for the two of us)
We’ve decided to attempt to get pregnant (yeah….we’re that couple)

She quit about a week before I could bring myself to do it and she did it like a champ. Not even the first single complaint from her. I couldn’t have been more proud. Finally, my turn. I went through the house and got rid of everything that could even lead to thoughts about smoking. Lights, ashtrays, matches, cigarette packs (full and empty), cigars, cigar boxes, posters, magazines. Anything and everything that had anything resembling a cigarette, someone smoking a cigarette or someone talking about cigarettes.

The first day was the hardest, and it wasn’t even all that hard. The “habit” that I needed to break was the physical act of buying the stupid things. Re-programming myself to not be tempted to pull out a cigarette at those pre-determined times, like all smokers do. You can’t fool me folks, I use to be one of you. I know how this works. Some of you are a first thing in the morning smoker, some of you are an after dinner smoker, after sex…..the list goes on. These are the things that I had to tell myself not to do anymore. It really had very little to do with cigarettes, other than telling myself that I need to find something other than cigarettes to enjoy at this times.

Going into it, I felt a little overwhelmed having heard for many years that it was tough to quit. Having seen many ads pertaining to nicotine gum and patches. I figured that I had my work cut out for me. The more I didn’t smoke, the more I realized that I didn’t need to anymore. I feel cheated by mainstream media in that I didn’t go through this period that they claim that the gum and patches will help you through. I’ve deduced that the gum/patch companies are subsidiaries of the Tobacco Companies. Would it surprise you?

As the days progressed it was easier and easier to manage and after 3 or 4 short days. I was loving the no smoking thing. About a week into it I was noticably breating better and it continues to improve as everyday goes by. I’m sleeping better. According to nonsmoking family and friends, I smell better. My sense of taste has improved to the point that I feel like I’ve never eaten anything before because the taste of just about everything blows me away. Most importantly, I’m happy. I’m truely, genuinely happy that I have kicked this God forsaken habit and I encourage every single person to take my advice and throw away your cigarettes right now. Do not delay. Do not schedule. Do not make excuses. Just give it up.

From personal experience. It takes more effort and will power to smoke than it does to stop smoking. If you don’t believe me, try it for yourself. You will not be disappointed.

November 27, 2009 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , , , | Leave a Comment

Passive Income: Internet Marketing

In today’s world, most people are constantly struggling as they muster through, day to day. Some people work in office buildings where they interact with coworkers and chip in on projects. Others drive trucks or push law mowers, rarely interacting with others. The only similarity between the two is that if there was another way to make money, they wouldn’t clock in every morning. Therein lays the question: What can I do to make sure that I never have to report to work for someone else, ever?

That question has left the lips of most likely a very very large percentage of the world’s population but only a few have figured out a way to make this happen. We could discuss different ways to branch off and enter the world of business ownership on your own but that topic has been covered to the point of ridiculousness. What I want to discuss is passive income.

Passive income is income that is generated with little to no effort required on the part of the beneficiary. Passive income can be generated through various means. Real Estate, stock markets and other financial investments are great but take years to master and can be expensive to learn. Today’s digital world has provided another form of passive income generation, websites. There’s a niche in every market and you can cash in on all of them! http://www.nichemodulate.com All you need to survive in the World Wide Web is a digital product, a website and a steady flow of visitors to the site to purchase your product.

Many people are finding great success with authoring their own eBooks and Guides on a variety of topics, and offering them for sale on their websites. Anyone can take this route; simply write about something you know. Knowledge of internet marketing will help your success. http://www.sbwonline.com offers a very extensive collection of books, guides, forms and tools to help you understand the trade better. From search engine optimization to website traffic tactics to forum marketing and much much more!

Internet marketing can be time consuming at first, but if done patiently and correctly will yield great results and provide a passive income generated through your website that could potentially last the rest of your life, leaving a legacy to pass on to future generations. Visit http://www.businesskittoday.com to get started with your automated, money generating website today!

Adding Google Adsense as well as several other strategic ads placed throughout your websites will only increase your ability to monetize your websites and blogs. The possibilities are virtually endless!

November 27, 2009 Posted by | Uncategorized | , , , , | Leave a Comment

   

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.