I've just gone through a week-long period where everything I touched, metaphorically speaking, turned into poop. I had the "poop" touch. This is a family 'zine. If you're over 30 and can handle it, substitute the proper word for "poop."
I first noticed it when I reached for the bag of garlic powder I bought at Whole Foods, and it came out of the cabinet upside down and unlatched... making my kitchen floor look like the evidence room of the Hollywood Police Department. White powder everywhere.
The final straw was Wednesday night, when I reached for my laptop to respond to a posting on a forum, and knocked a full glass of Shiraz-Cabernet into my Fujitsu Lifebook.
I immediately turned it off and upside down- hoping for the best. The next morning, it was a rock. No light. Pushing buttons didn't generate any sparks at all. Dead.
I run all of my businesses from this laptop- I back up most of the important data, but this is the only one that has all the software I use. I made a conscious decision to create a "business in a backpack," and that's just hunky-dory as long as the laptop works. It's a recording studio, a graphics studio, a video editor, a web-page creator, and handles my finances... when it works.
Bottom line, I was out of business. How to turn THIS into something good?
I took the laptop to my computer guru and just took myself off the hook for a couple of days. Checked out.
There is a very comfortable coffee shop here in town, which has a computer and internet access. After taking care of the absolutely critical stuff, I found a spot in the sun on the front porch, with cigar, coffee and water at hand, and read a good book.
A non-internet marketing book.
I recommend it. The "poop touch" just went away.
I've been exhausted since the seminar... it was a hell of a way to spend my fiftieth birthday.
So, two days on a sunny front porch smoking cigars and drinking coffee... excellent therapy. I'm recharged and rested and ready to go.
Today my computer guru brought back the laptop- it's going to need a new keyboard, but other than that it's fine. I definitely dodged a bullet.
Tomorrow, I'll go back to my death defying schedule. There ain't no such thing as passive income. If there is, I haven't seen it. I work seven days a week on e-books, audios, web sites, coaching, and networking.
Except... I think... about once a month I'm going to pretend that my laptop got drunk again. Just turn it off, put it in the backpack, and put the backpack in the bedroom... and go to the coffee shop.
Here's the surprising thing: the world kept spinning. My coaching program filled up. People kept buying my products. Nobody really noticed that I was out of touch for two days... I took two days off and got away with it!
I may actually introduce the idea... slowly, so I don't startle myself... of taking a day off every week. I'll have to work up to that, though.
