What’s next? I was daydreaming with the TV on. What would my next career be? Just then, I noticed a segment about a woman who had moved to Europe and started her own business. There she was, working on her laptop, outside in the town plaza and it hit me; that’s what I want to do!

I want to work on my own, just me and my laptop; no store front and no employees. I want to set my own hours and be able to work from anywhere. But, how? When? Where? I had no laptop and no vision of what I would do, but I decided that I would not let doubt creep in and ruin my excitement.

Now that I had something to focus on, I could start practicing positive thinking. I made up a mantra that I said every morning when I woke up. Every night, just before I fell asleep, I envisioned myself working outside on my laptop every day, successful and happy, noting every detail as if I were in a movie. I had set the stage and would let my subconscious take care of the rest.

One day, while flipping through the newspaper, I noticed they were advertising a blog class for beginners. That was it! I signed up for the class right away and got the last spot. Only one slight problem: it said to bring a laptop and I didn’t have one. I borrowed one for the evening, but what about going forward? The laptop was an integral part of my plan. It represented the freedom to move about. No time to be pessimistic now, I just kept practicing my positive thinking.

The class inspired me and gave me the fundamentals that I needed. I started making notes and getting excited. Even though I was not looking for any investors, I decided to take the time to write a business plan in order to map out my strategy (after all, ultimately this was to be a money-making proposition). I had never written one before, so I gathered a couple of “how to” articles and went to work. The exercise was invigorating. The fact that I still did not have a laptop and did not really want to spend the money for one right now did not deter me. I just kept on with my positive thinking.

Then, one day out of the blue, Mr. Wiz* came home from work and excitedly told me about a new sales contest that his employer had announced. Each salesperson would receive a percentage of their sales for the next two months that could be used at an upcoming auction. To further spur them on, salespeople were asked to turn in a list of items that they and their families wanted, for inclusion in the auction.

We researched laptops and Mr. Wiz turned in the information. I was counting the days until the auction. What Mr. Wiz had not told me until the evening of the event was that he had the highest sales for the time period. When I left the event that evening, new laptop under my arm, I felt as if I were in a dream. Then I realized that I was; a dream of my own making.

Since then, we retired early and moved to Austin, Texas. It took a while to get settled, but now here I am, sitting on my patio every morning, typing on my laptop and writing for my new blog. What’s next?

*Who’s who? See “Cast of Characters” on the “About” page.