Entrepreneurial Nightmares or Sweet Dreams? by Ruth King If you are like me, there are times you can't sleep. You're sleeping like a baby...up every two hours. Most of the time it's the stress and worry keeping us up. Those are the entrepreneurial nightmares. Other times we are so excited about what is going on with our business that we can't sleep. Those are our sweet dreams. Either way, the lack of sleep affects our ability to function properly at home or at our business. So, how do we get more sleep? For the excitement that keeps us up, I have found that usually my mind is racing with ideas. I keep a pad and pen by my bed. When I wake up in the middle of the night, I write those ideas down on the pad...without turning on the light. Why? Because turning on the light will thoroughly wake you up And you won't be able to go back to sleep easily. Yes, in the dark, the notes and ideas look like a 3-year old wrote them. However, they are clear enough to jog your memory when you wake up at your normal time. Then you can write a more lengthy description. If it is an entrepreneurial nightmare I also try to write down the thoughts in the dark. One of the best ways that I have found is to stop focusing and worrying about what bad things could happen and focus on what I want to happen. During the tough times as I was building my business I was constantly thinking, "I'm tired of being broke." I was focused on being broke. Then one day I realized that I needed to stop thinking about what I didn't want and focus on what I did want. The ideas started coming to me (many in the middle of the night) And I stopped being broke. Did it happen overnight? Of course not. However, once I started thinking about where I wanted the business to go so I wouldn't be broke, it slowly got there. And, my attitude changed a lot! I slept better and had less entrepreneurial nightmares.    To contact Ruth King call 800-511-6844 or send an email to ruthking@hvacchannel.tv This article is reprinted from the August 21, 2005, issue of Contractor Cents. "Copyright 2005, Ruth King. All rights reserved. Contact Ruth King at ruthking@hvacchannel.tv or 800-511-6844."