I came across a blog post today that asked this question:  How do you know when you should just give up and realize that what you’re doing isn’t for you?

It got me thinking since I’m new to the whole blogging thing…

In the article, the author asked if there was something we had quit before.  Yes, there was.

Somewhere around the beginning of 2004 or maybe the end of 2003, I walked away from a lucrative personal development network marketing business that I assisted in growing from the ground up.

When we started that company, it was about showing people that they could generate an income that would get them out of their job and living a life that they never thought possible.

So why did I walk away?  Because somewhere between 1999 and 2004, it had changed.  It was no longer based on what we had built it on…it had become more about the money than the people we were assisting.

When I started, we told people, “Hey, start where you can, reinvest in yourself and your business, and grow it as you go.”

I walked away because it had turned into, “Hey, if you don’t have $20,000 to get your business started then you’re not serious…maybe you should go somewhere else.”

I had never forgotten where I’d come from or what it had taken for me to get from being unemployed to having a $50,000 day.  And I made it point to keep people around  me who were more than willing to remind me if I ever DID forget!!  It was time for me to move on.

I’m just not built that way.

When I walked away, many people who I thought were my friends/family, walked away from me, so I’ve never looked back at the industry as a whole, as a way to continue my income.

I spent 4 years looking for online marketing information, marketers I could connect with and trust. As I’m sure you’re aware, there’s more bad out there than good, but I knew there had to be people out there with integrity and a willingness to teach what they knew without feeling like someone was going to “take their spot”…people who understood the whole abundance and prosperity thing.

Well, it’s taken longer than I thought. In 2007 I went back to work…thought I’d go play “trucker” for a while and build my business back up while on the road.

The first 2 years was fun. I LOVE driving a big rig. What I’ve had enough of is the lifestyle.

Finding time to exercise regularly, eat healthy, or even handle the basics of life like grocery shopping or going to the post office is nearly impossible. It’s tough to find places large enough to park a big truck…or anywhere that companies/cities haven’t put up “No Parking” signs to keep trucks away.

It amazes me the way truckers are treated, given the time they spend away from their families so that others have what they want available (groceries, household goods, Christmas gifts, etc.).

Needless to say, it’s no longer fun and my first goal is to get back to working at home.

I miss traveling the world when I want, eating the way I know is healthy for me, and exercising regularly. And yes, there was a time that I had started feeling isolated and a bit “social-phobic”. That’s when I started finding things to do on MY terms.

My son and I started working for a couple of security companies that did concerts and sporting events so we could get out around people on the weekends we wanted (not to mention onto the ground level of the Rose Bowl and such!).

I hooked up with a pet-sitting company that let me choose when I wanted to be available for customers to watch their animals while they were away from home.

And I signed up for a few classes…hip-hop dancing and then country line dancing.

At the beginning of the year, I found some marketers that I now follow – people I trust because they tell it like it is. I’m now in the process of learning how to build an online business and it’s taking longer than I like, simply because of time limits I have after 18 hour work days.

Giving up? NOT an option.

I’ve learned that it’s possible, even for a single mom from a lower middle-class background, to earn more in a day than I used to make in a year as a computer programmer. I know what it’s like to travel the world and there’s a lot more places I wanna see!

I intend to build a business that’s sustainable for my family and future grandkids so they learn that life is more than just the sidewalk under their feet and a 9-5 grind.

So, whether it’s my Baby Boomer or GenX traits that keep me moving forward, or just plain old-fashioned stubbornness it makes no difference as long as I just keep moving forward!

Warm regards,

p.s. What it is that keeps you moving forward when you reach a point of feeling like what you’re doing isn’t working?