What is Nine to Five?

Restored from the Empower Network archive (2011–2017), lightly edited to meet our current advertising standards. Views are the original author’s.

Took a little walk this afternoon with my little buddy Charlie and reflected on the past year of my life.

One year ago today, everything started changing…for the better. Went through some rough times but knew that if I persisted, that eventually it was going to get better.

And it is getting better, mostly because my thinking and my mindset is getting better. Life still comes at us like a bullet, it is learning how to deal with those times that creates the changes that we want and need.

So back to my original question, what exactly is nine to five? I know what it means and I know that it is a song by Dolly Pardon and a musical and….etc….

But what does it mean to you? To me it meant nothing because I never worked nine to five in my life, I was always working multiple jobs, or working in restaurants which meant that my nights and weekends were not my own, and then for the last 20+ years I was working in a Corporate environment that believes that the more you work, the better of an employee you were. At least that is what I took from it and I know I am not the only one.

My day would start anywhere between 5 AM and 9AM and end anywhere between 8 PM and 2 AM (Yes, 2 AM). And this was usually 6 days a week and if you counted the time that I spent at home on my laptop trying to get caught up on e-mails or progress reports then it would definitely be 7 days a week.

And I thought that was normal!!

A year ago I made a decision that something had to change. I had just been fired from a job of over 20 years, I had no family life to speak of, Michelle and I were basically in the process of splitting up and I had no idea what I was going to do. I was completely lost.

My usual method of dealing with things was to blame others, never actually looking at the role that I was playing in things.

So I was sitting at home watching a TV show, and on this show one of the characters realizes that her life was in shambles and that she needed to get some help, because her addiction had led her down a really wrong path.

That was ME! She was describing me!

I have mentioned in many of my blog posts that I am in recovery from drug and alcohol addiction. I had chosen that path and had tried to hide it from everyone, and the only way to really do that is to isolate myself. Not going to go into any stories of my exploits right now, but suffice it to say that my addictions were controlling all of my thoughts and actions.

So I got help. I started meeting people that had been through the same kind of issues that I was going through and they wanted to help me, with the only condition being that I follow their suggestions and when I was strong enough, that I would start helping others with the same issues. So I did. I went in with an open mind and I listened and I learned…..and things started to change

I started taking accountability for my actions and dealing with life head on instead of trying to hide from the truth. The truth being that I cannot do this alone, that I will always need this support and guidance in order to live a happy and productive life.

While looking for a job online, I started coming across these opportunities to make money online. So I started to look into them and started to buy some of the courses that were offered and I really liked what I was seeing. But I wasn’t succeeding at any of them. I was watching the videos and reading the pdf files that they sent out, but when I had questions there really was not any help. Seems that most of these online courses are just the most recent project of these online gurus who promote it for a few months, and then move on to a new project, leaving their “students” to either follow them into the next project (more $$$) or fend for themselves.

Then in December, I came across a video of this guy in Georgia who was talking about a system that he was using that was changing his life. Figured it wouldn’t hurt to check it out so I signed up for the trial and I knew that this is what I was looking for. From the beginning they were very clear with me that I was not going to get rich quick, and that all of my potential success was completely reliant on how hard I was willing to work at it.

Then I met my TEAM.

Yes, we have teams of like minded people that support and help one another, celebrate all of each others victories and are there with encouragement when someone hits a wall or doesn’t see the vision any more. We meet 3 times a week and are constantly chatting it up on Facebook, and then quarterly we get to meet up at events that the company puts on and mastermind in person. They have become more of an extension of our family than anything else.

And one of the breakthroughs that I had recently was that this is NOT about making money. This is about making changes. Changes in my mindset, changes in my vision for me and my family. It is amazing just how similar the two support systems that I am involved with, one for my addictions and one for our business, are so much alike. Both are about changing the way that I see life. That my thinking had been the problem all along, AND that it was OK, that I did not have to think that way any more. That there is a better way.

If you would like to know more about this smart SYSTEM that we are using to help change our lives and that is changing the lives of thousands of others, then just , enter your e-mail address and then watch a couple free videos.

If you are looking for change, maybe you just found it. This is not for everyone, there is work involved as well as investments of time and money, but if you are serious about making a change, then you are in the right place!

If this is not for you, I completely understand. But if you know deep in your heart and soul that you need something different, that the meaning of 9 to 5 means as much to you as it did to me, then you owe it to yourself to CHECK IT OUT

So back again to my original question, what exactly does NINE to FIVE mean to you? Looking forward to your answers in the comments below

Make it a great day

Mark

Mark and Michelle Eaves