On to investing in my learning and education to develop (thanks Craig)! 
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

So we have spent the week addressing fear, the causes of fear, how perfectionism can cause fear, but now that we know all these things, what are we going to do with it?  I tell you what I am going to do.  I am going to “feel the fear and do it anyway!”  Will you join me?  Acknowledge your fear, accept your fear, and then move forward anyway.  You will be amazed at all your successes!

Doing it anyway,
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

How many of us allow our fear of doing something wrong hold us back?  I believe at times we put much higher expectations on ourselves than anyone else.  We are harder on ourselves and expect more of ourselves than we do anyone else.  I know at times when I have messed up, I have just beat myself up about it, until I was sick in my stomach.  Truthfully, 90% of the time, people either don’t notice or don’t care if we aren’t perfect.  In fact, it is a relief to others to see you as human! 

So the next time you don’t do something because you are afraid of not doing it “right” or “perfect” suck it up and as Nike says, JUST DO IT!  You may just be pleasantly surprised.

Just Doing It!,
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

I loved this quote because the majority of us hate having to pay taxes, yet when you think about it, we could do have to pay taxes for our guilt.  We are afraid that our guilt will come out in another way, or that if we fail, we will be guilty of letting down others.

How many of you have let your feelings of guilt drive you not to do something “risky” in your life or business?  Were you afraid of the outcome?  If it isn’t illegal or will kill you, why do you let that tax overcome you doing something?

When I had my daughter, I didn’t want to go back to work.  Yet, I was afraid if I didn’t, I would fail my family, therefore, placing the guilt of that failure on my mind.  Luckily, I am of the Courageous descent (see yesterday’s post), and I took the plunge anyway.  I am not saying it was always easy, that I was never afraid, or I never felt guilty.  Our first Christmas we had no money to buy a tree or gifts.  There was huge guilt on my part for that.  But, I got over it, realizing the gift I gave to my daughter by being home, was worth so much more than giving her tangible gifts, but not being there for her day in and day out.

Your turn - What fear have you allowed to take over your conscience?  Did you act on it or did you ignore it?  What was the result?

Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

To begin to overcome your fear, you must first look at what you are afraid of and why?  Most of us are afraid because of a past experience, something we heard, or even the fact that it is an unknown!

So let’s spend this topic discussing what we are afraid of and why?

I have a funny one.  I am TERRIFIED of mice.  This is somewhat common, but I seriously am petrified of them.  If I even know that a mouse has touched something, I will throw it away.  Once, we had a mouse that had gotten into our house.  I had heard it, and went to look for it.  All of a sudden, I spotted it.  It’s big ears and eyes were peaking over the toaster.  Out went the toaster, along with a very serious threat to my husband that if there was ever another mouse in our house, we were moving.  (So far, no more mice, and we are still living here.)

What caused this over the top fear?  When I was little, we had to drive the trash to the local dump.  So, I went with my dad one day.  Our trash cans were kept out in our garage (I lived out in the country in Iowa - mouse haven).  Apparently, our trash cans had gotten infested with mice.  I looked over, and saw a mouse run across my dad’s foot. I started screaming, and then all of a sudden, they were everywhere, including one hanging down from the dash.  I managed to grab an ice scraper and started beating at them.  My dad thought it was hysterical, so he decided to run his hands under my legs, making the sensation of a mouse.  I literally tried to jump out the window, and my dad saved me by pulling me back in.  Since that time, I have been extremely, over the top, petrified of mice.

Your turn - What are you afraid of, and why?

Your Mice Passing Out Blogger,
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.
- Jean Paul Richter 

Let’s break these down into how these three types of people work in the business world.

Timid - This person will more than likely never become a business owner.  I just can’t see how they would be able to take the first steps in establishing a business, such as figuring out what their talents are, how to turn their talents into a business, how to get their business out there and market it, etc…  I envision this person a someone who dreams of a business idea, but never actually steps out and puts it into place.

Coward - This person is a little harder to identify.  I envision them as someone who takes the steps to open their business, but is too afraid to let go of the reigns and let the business go down the path it is meant to.  They may be afraid of growth, expanding their business model, success, failure, etc. This fear holds them back.  Maybe they don’t quit their day job.  Or they don’t take the large client that would mean bringing on new clients…

Courageous - This person goes for it. They may not even take time to analyze the risks when something pops up.  They are continually following a new path, expanding their business model, quitting their job to work full-time on their business (even though they don’t have any clients or even a website).  Don’t get me wrong, these people are not dumb and reckless, as I envision them making long range plans, and not turning down a path that doesn’t seem right.  They are just the ones who “feel” it in their gut, or do a brief analysis, and they go for it.

Be truthful with yourself.  Which of these are you?  My guess would be if you are here, then you are either the Coward or the Courageous.  Please don’t take any of these as negatives, because truthfully, we need to have some of each to have a functioning society. The Cowards would be great partners for the Courageous, because they could reign them in a little. The Courageous on the other hand, would drag the Coward along.

I personally think I fall into the Courageous.  I am a doer.  I get an idea, and I go in feet first.  When my head actually gets to the idea, sometimes it is mad at the feet for not consulting it first.  I love my business, the winding and different paths that it has taken, and I look forward to all the new paths in my future :) 

Your turn - Which one are you?  Once you address this question, we can move onto addressing your fears, as it will be different for each “type” of person.

Until tomorrow,
Courageous at Heart (and Feet)
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

I think that once we truly accept this statement as a fact, we can begin to enjoy the changes that come into our lives.  We no longer have to fear what changes will come tomorrow, but as we discussed this week, we can embrace those changes, and use them to our benefit to grow in new ways, and have wonderful new experiences!

Share with us how you plan to embrace changes in the future.

I plan to embrace changes in the future by meeting them head-on and instead of whining about them (yes, I do whine!), analyzing the changes to see how they can make me better, stronger, and even more successful.

Changing for the better,
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

Needless to say, I was excited to take the survey.  I think the more statistics we can pull together, the greater we can grow our industry.  I answered the first series of questions, and one of the questions was very interesting and got me thinking.  The question was something along the lines of, “Virtual Assistance is the profession of ADMINISTRATIVE experts who work in ongoing, collaborative relationship with clients providing administrative support across the board.”*  Of course, I marked the answer “disagree,” because I offer more to my clients than just administrative support.  Unfortunately, I was booted out of the survey and was not able to finish the rest of the survey.  I hope that I was not just booted out because of my differing opinion as that would make the study (and any statistical analysis of the results) completely invalid.

This question started me thinking…

What is the definition of a virtual assistant? 

The International Virtual Assistants Association (IVAA.org) defines a Virtual Assistant (VA) as:

“A Virtual Assistant (VA) is an independent entrepreneur providing administrative, creative and/or technical services. Utilizing advanced technological modes of communication and data delivery, a professional VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise from his/her own office on a contractual basis.”

Please note that they specifically mention administrative, creative and/or technical services, not just ADMINISTRATIVE.  They also specify that the VA assists clients in his/her area of expertise.  This does not mean specifically administrative.  While most Virtual Assistants do offer administrative tasks to their clients, most do not specialize in general administrative tasks.

But we should not be limited by the definition of an administrative assistant.  We shouldn’t be tied into defining ourselves right now – or at the very least not “setting in stone” any definitions we use for now.  As technology advances, and more small business owners and consultants partner with VAs for their needs, we will keep redefining our new industry.

“Traditional thinking is all about ‘what is.’
Future thinking will also need to be about what can be.”
~ Edward de Bono

Read full article at http://www.virtualvacoach.com/newsletter/9-08.htm

I would like to open this post up to all virtual assistants and those who work with virtual assistants in an open, professional conversation about, “What is a Virtual Assistant? And what services are clients looking for when they are looking for a Virtual Assistant?”

Okay, so you have been following the posts, and you think I am crazy and obsessive about change.  That’s okay, it may mean you are just not quite ready for change.  Truthfully, change can’t happen until you are ready!  Change can be scary, I agree, but I personally would be bored to death if everything remained constant in my life.  I am always looking for ways to change and improve, as there is always room for self-growth.

So, are you afraid of change?  Take a tiny step forward.  What is one simple thing you can do to make a change?  Can you cut up your credit cards, buy some REAL fruit at the store instead of fruit candy, research that business idea that has been stagnating at the back of your mind (research does not mean you have to actually start it right now).  Remember, this does not have to be major.  Take the baby step theory and pick something you can successfully change.  You will find you love it.

Truthfully, right now I can’t think of anything I can change.  I can share that I recently made a change in my health by joining a gym.  I now go to the gym 3-5 times a week, and am working for a healthier life.  (The hot tub there is great incentive to keep going and is a great reward!)

Your turn - what change can you start making today, right now…

Changing daily and LOVING it,
Patty Benton
JERPAT
www.professionaladminteam.com
www.virtualvacoach.com
www.virtualbizgroup.com

Reformatting your Windows computer is usually the absolute last resort and is often done unnecessarily.  I was recently forced to reformat my computer, as well as my wife’s computer.  There were some lessons learned that came about after reformatting and trying to get the computers back to where they were before the reformatting took place. 

First though, some reasons you might have for reformatting a computer is as follows:

- a corrupted hard disk driver that prevents your drive from mounting  

- severe virus damage to both data and system files  

- creating new partitions on your hard drive

Here are some recommended things you need to do in order to prepare to reformat:

1. Backup your computer.  My wife and I use 2 sources.  We use an external source, which is a 250 GigaByte and a 1 TeraByte external harddrive.  My Father-In-Law just purchased a 1 TeraByte External harddrive from MicroCenter on 9/26/08 for $159.00.  You can find it online at:

   http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0294418 

2. We also use a service called Mozy (http://www.virtualvacoach.com/resources/mozy.html).  Mozy costs $4.95 per month per computer and it backs up to their online servers.  You specify what you want Mozy to backup when configuring the tool.  Once you have configured it, it may take awhile for the initial backup.  Future backups are quicker, because it only backs up changed or new files.  Mozy has SAVED US many times!!!  You can read more about their service by going to http://www.virtualvacoach.com/resources/mozy.html. 

Here are some other things you need to remember to backup before reformatting:
 
- If you use Microsoft Outlook, backup your Outlook.pst file.  If you use some other email tool, find out how to backup the major program for that email tool.
 
- If you use Internet Explorer, backup your Favorites.  You can find it in this directory:  C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name.  If you use some other browser, find out how to save the favorites for the browser.
 
- If you have shortcuts on your computer that you use a lot and want to backup, go to this directory to find it:  C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch Outlook
 
- If you want to backup all fonts, go to this directory:  C:\WINDOWS\FONTS

3. Make sure you have your restore disks that came with your computer and the programs you installed on your computer.  Make sure you also have anti-virus software to load back on the computer. 

   If you don’t have restore disks, you will need a way to reformat your computer.  I have used reformatting software from this company: 
   www.whitecanyon.com and the software is called:  WipeDrive.  It costs about $39.95.  If you buy this software, they have instructions on reformatting your computer, depending on which operating system you use. 

   Example:  The following link shows you how to reformat for Windows XP: 
   http://www.whitecanyon.com/wipe-your-hard-drive-reinstall-windows-xp.php  If you have to use something like WipeDrive, you will have to download all of your drivers.  To find all the drivers you will need to download for your computer, do the following:  Control Panel - System - Hardware - Device Manager - right click on each component - properties - Driver - write down the component name and Driver Version. 

   Also, you can download a program from (http://www.belarc.com) to figure out what is on your computer: 

   If you do not know the brand and model of your device, you can check using the
   System Information utility. To do so, follow these steps:

1.     Click  Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories  

2.      Point to  System Tools and select System Information

Explore under the System Information group list to identify the devices.

Once you have downloaded the necessary drivers and tools into your computer, back them up.

4. The next thing that I do is take a snapshot picture of my desktop, because I want to make it look just like it did before I reformatted. 

At this point, you are now ready to reformat.

Just remember, after the reformatting is done, the time consuming part is getting everything back on your computer.

Good Luck!

Jerome Benton is the owner of JERPAT Web Designs, http://www.jerpat.org. He specializes in web design and has partnered with his wife’s virtual assistance business to give every company the quality services they need at an affordable price.