Tear by Tear - A Tribute to Virginia Tech

I’d like to share this tribute to Virginia Tech with you…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/v/Yq5Xs6SxsVM]

Music by Sister Hazel - “Tear By Tear”

Lead or Follow

Being a follower is not something I ever choose to be. To venture out and try new things, in new ways, and be a little different from the pack has always been more enjoyable. If I try something new and fail, at least I tried. It is so much more satisfying to know that the effort was made, rather than not. If I try something new and succeed, then all is good and I’m now ready to take on the next challenge. To continue down the same path day in and day out, never seeking out new opportunities is mundane. Embrace change. Be a pioneer. Live life as if it is an adventure and try something different. You never know what you might find down the road less traveled.

~ Lisa Duhamel

blog.myspace.com/virtuallyready

Visit my Virtually Ready profile & blog on MySpace -

blog.myspace.com/virtuallyready

When Tomorrow Comes

blog.myspace.com/virtuallyready

When tomorrow comes, I will officially turn 40. Excuse me? Wasn’t it just yesterday that I officially became an adult? Well, of course not, but it sure feels like it. Looking back, the time has flown by. There were many happy times and many sad. Ever since my childhood, I always worked hard. My father owned a restaurant where all of the children in my family would help out.

In my 20’s, even though I continued to work hard (at this point, it included rotating shifts), life was basically a playground. Let’s just say that I was learning the hard way about the importance of a balanced budget.

In my 30’s, I became a parent and that surely forced me to adjust my priorities. It was no longer all about me, it was about my children and dedicating as much time to them as possible, still working and now trying harder than ever to make ends meet. There was a time though, during my separation in my early-mid 30’s where I worked as many as three jobs at once, all the while being a full-time, single mom. Phew! Thank goodness I made it through that virtually unscathed.

Flash forward to the past 5 years, when I was blessed by meeting a lot of wonderful people including an incredibly supportive man to whom I recently married. I sometimes wish that the events that have occurred over the past five years would’ve occurred sooner, but I completely understand that overcoming difficult times builds character and wisdom. So really there are no regrets and I’m happy that things have turned out the way they have.

Coming into my 40’s, I can visualize a bit more clearly as to what path I would like to take with my career and home life. It’s not completely cut & dry of course, but I have a much better idea than when I was in my 20’s. Even though there will still be plenty of “fun”, I’ll spend much more time concentrating less on my “social life” and more on my faith, health, family, home and my business than ever before as these aspects are definitely the most important from where I’m sitting today.

Best regards,

Lisa Duhamel

A Fresh Start

Spring has sprung!

At this time every year, I review many aspects of my life and business. It is a “Spring Cleaning” of not only the home, but of mind and business as well. Are things going the way they should? What has worked well and what has not? What changes need to be made and what should I continue doing in order to achieve my goals?

The most obvious place to begin is with basic organization. If I find that things are piling up too fast and I get too bogged down in one aspect, I’ll try to balance things out as best I can and trim where necessary. Ridding my desk and my mind of unnecessary clutter allows for clearer thinking and makes everything much more manageable. In this fast-paced world, we can sometimes forget to take time to readjust, but it is a necessary process toward progress.

Best regards,

Lisa

My #1 Virtual Assistant FAQ

One of the most frequent questions I receive from the public is, “What is a Virtual Assistant?”

I’ve been a Virtual Assistant long before I even knew that the title actually existed. I found out while doing some of my own online research that there is a whole industry out there complete with industry organizations, protocol, and supportive resources catering specifically to Virtual Assistants, also known as VA’s. There are a few different acronyms associated with VA’s as well. There are titles such as REVA - which is a Real Estate Virtual Assistant and PREVA - which takes the REVA title up a notch to “Professional Real Estate Virtual Assistant”. Once I learned about all of these new & exciting opportunities, I began to participate on a higher level by joining some of the more highly recommended associations and obtaining various degrees of certification. It was at that time I formed my own business entity and “Virtually Ready” was born.

Since I began working on my own as a VA over 9 years ago, I have had the opportunity to assist several different clients on a virtual basis in various industries including Human Resources - (Online Employment Advertising & e-Media), Non-Profit (Online Research & Data Maintenance), Business Brokerage Real Estate (Virtual Administrative Assistance), and Web Design as well as Volunteer Music Promotions (I have a background in Radio Admin & Promotions) and Non-Profit Organization Assistance, all of which I am passionate about to some degree. My biggest love is web design and most recently, MySpace assistance has been enjoyable as well. Any opportunity to utilize creativity gets a “two thumb’s up” from me. When it comes to my career, I am never afraid to JUMP RIGHT IN and begin something new. In fact, I love a challenge and thrive on the idea of moving forward and constantly improving one’s self and business methods.

So with that said, as a Virtual Assistant, I assist other businesses and/or entrepreneurs with their business and I do so successfully from my home office, virtually! There are many ways a Virtual Assistant can help a business achieve a variety of tasks. If there is ever anything I can do to help someone else improve their business, I’m more than happy to do so.

To your success!

Best regards,

Lisa