Lessons from the Gold Coin

The headlines blurted out the news: "Gold Coin Could Fetch $100,000." The story told of a gentleman in Arkansas who purchased a roll of the new Sacagawea gold dollars from a bank. To his surprise and eventual delight, he discovered that one of the coins had the correct back but on the front was the impression that is stamped on a quarter. It is reported to be the first error of its kind in the 208 year history of the United States Mint. Plans are under way to sell the coin at auction and experts say it could fetch as much as $100,000.

I believe there are several lessons which those of us who work from home and those who want to can glean from this incident. Please carefully consider with me the following.

GREAT THINGS CAN HAPPEN TO YOU

Right now there are several million men and women who are at a regular "job" but who would much rather strike out on their own and open a home-based business. Why don't they? Certainly there are several reasons, but in my opinion, at the top of the list is fear of failure. Feeding that fear is the nagging notion that "Nothing great ever happens to me." Tell the truth now. When you first heard the story about the gold coin, how many of you said or heard someone else say, "It must be nice. Nothing like that ever happens to me."

Many times, the reason we don't receive is because we don't expect. Stated another way, we find that for which we're looking. If we don't expect a home business to be the greatest thing that ever happened to us professionally and financially, then it never will be. If we envision ourselves slaving away at a "nine-to-fiver" five days a week for the rest of our lives, then that's all we're ever likely to get.

I'm not saying the gentleman from Arkansas went into the bank expecting to make such a find. I'm simply asking you to consider the question, "Why shouldn't great things happen to me?" I'm glad the coin wasn't discovered by a prominent person like Donald Trump or Ted Turner. It just goes to show that each of us, not just a privileged few, is a candidate for having great things happen in our lives.

If you are wrestling with a fear of failure that is keeping you from launching a business from home, perhaps it's time to sit down and take a look at your frame of mind. If you're already in business from home and you're doubting yourself, it's time for you to do the same. Great things can happen to you.

KEEP YOUR EYES OPEN

This ties in with the previous point. Again, I don't believe that the gentleman went into the bank looking for this particular coin, but he did have the presence of mind to recognize its uniqueness when he saw it.

Opportunity is all around us. We must become observers. We must keep our minds and eyes wide open. The business opportunity for which you've been looking or the opportunity to expand your current business may be staring you right in the face.

THE BANDWAGON IS MORE CROWDED NOW

All I have to support the following assertion is my years of observing the human race. Here it is: Since the discovery of this coin, the number of people looking for errors on coins has increased dramatically. Some have even gone out and purchased rolls of the gold dollars to see if perhaps there were two mistakes made. Mark it down. It's happened.

On one hand this is fine because it's an indication of people looking for opportunity and keeping their eyes open. On the other hand, it's a lottery mentality that is fed by a desire to get rich with little effort.

It's sad that so many view business opportunities as chances to get rich quick. If you don't believe that this is a popular viewpoint, just take a look at some of the hype that you see on the Internet or that you receive in your mailbox. It's absolutely ridiculous. Nonetheless, every day scores of people are buying this skewed view of working from home.

The cold truth is that your $100,000 "windfall" from a home business will only come after a considerable amount of effort and time. Success from business at home is the result of diligence, not luck or fate or any such uncontrollable circumstance. In the words of one wise individual, "The best way to predict the future is to invent it."

MISTAKES HAPPEN

Finally, let's note that even the biggest and best of us makes mistakes. The Mint misprinted a coin and all it really cost them was a little pride. Coca-Cola introduced their new formula a few years back and it caused a major uproar and eventually led them to "reintroduce" the traditional drink. When a major league baseball player commits an error that loses the game, tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of fans see it and, in many cases, will never let him forget it. So, you see, there are mistakes being made out there. Some are memorable. Others are not. Some are disastrous. Others are insignificant.

You're going to make mistakes in a home business. Do you suppose the Mint is going to close its doors because of this error? If they're not, then why should any of us toss up our hands and surrender when we make a mistake? Consider the mistakes you make in your home business to be the building blocks to your ultimate success. Our mistakes are often our greatest teachers.

YOUR "$100,000 GOLD COIN"

So there you have it - lessons from the gold coin. My wish for each one reading this is simply that you will realize that YOUR "$100,000 gold coin" is probably within your grasp at this very moment. Don't go digging in your pocket for it. Dig much, much deeper than that. Look inside yourself to find the courage and determination it takes to launch your own business. Search diligently to find what type of business you want to own. You CAN be successful in business from home. If not, why not?