Sometimes, just when you think that you have a major decision all figured out, something happens that causes you to change course. In my case, I am in the process of making a major decision about one of my home – based businesses. I had thought that I had figured out which way to go with it, but once I started thinking about how proceeding in that direction would affect the total picture of my life and my family’s life, I realized that my initial thought about which way to decide might not be the best choice once all things are considered.
The big decision involves deciding whether to keep my law practice license active or whether to switch it over to inactive status. My law practice is tiny by necessity, because I am a full time stay – at – home mom. At the present time, I am working on wrapping up the one case that I currently have on my plate and do not have plans to take any more.
Some of the clearest thinking that I have been able to do about the relicensing decision has been during conversations with my husband. He is the one person with whom I can talk about anything, and when I talk to him I find that I explore the subject matter at hand more thoroughly and in more of a big – picture way than I do when I think about it on my own. I also think more about the numbers part of the decision when I am talking to him, because sometimes when I am just thinking about it on my own I sort of conveniently ignore that aspect of the situation.
To make a long story short, I am now most likely not going to keep my law license active. The main factor in that decision is the sheer amount of money that it costs to keep the license and pay for continuing education classes as well as insurance. Since I spend so little time practicing law, what little I earn from the time that I do practice would go right towards paying to keep the license active. In comparison, my writing business costs next to nothing to operate and I can work at it exclusively in my free time after the kids go to bed.
If you are in the position of making a big business decision, do yourself a favor and talk it over with one or more people that you trust, such as your spouse or a close friend. Sometimes, those who have your best interest at heart are also those who keep you honest at times when you might be ignoring key information that should factor into your decision, like I was.
Photo by xenia on morguefile.com.