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Almost everyone in this industry has come in here with the same hope ... dream ... and aspiration. We've all started with the idea that working from home is utopia.

There's no fighting traffic while we commute to our day job. There's no being stuck in crowded buses or trains with hundreds of complete strangers who invade our personal space. There's no grumpy boss to answer to and we can work at our own pace and make plenty of money.

Yes, all those things go towards making the thought of working from home the closest thing to heaven on earth that we're ever going to find. And when you first start out working from home it certainly does seem like that.

You only have to commute from the bedroom to wherever you have your computer set up. You don't have to share your personal space with anyone else and the only person you answer to is yourself.

Of course you're now not getting those regular paychecks anymore ... you know the ones that arrived every week or month and that you used to put food on your table and keep a roof over your head but that's not a problem is it? After all now you're going to be earning some real money selling online aren't you?

Sadly, after a while reality begins to set in. One day you wake up and realize that you're working far harder now than you ever did back then. Maybe those sponsor checks that you thought would be so fat aren't quite as fat as you had hoped. And those people you used to hang out with around the water cooler or in the lunch room aren't there anymore and suddenly you're beginning to feel just a little bit lonely too.

That's when you really hit the wall. That's when you realize just how tenuous your income stream really is. Just one bad month of sales and the sponsor checks are looking decidedly thin ... if not downright anorexic ... and you're becoming scared. And when you're scared about the future and about your ability to survive you start to lose that creative streak that you used to make money.

You start to feel very alone and maybe even getting out of bed in the morning is becoming a problem. And when you sit down in front of the computer it's hard to get started on the work you had planned. Your motivation has gone and it's quite easy to go through the day without achieving a single thing.

You never imagined back when you had that dream of becoming your own boss that the reality could be like this but that's the way it is and when you reach this point your survival is really in doubt.

So what can you do to avoid reaching this point in your work-at-home career? What do you need to ensure that your business is successful and your dreams come true?

Well apart from the things that are unique to this industry ... the marketing skills and webmaster skills ... there are three things that you will need to survive and be successful and if you don't have them then you had better learn to develop them fast!

Those three things are drive, belief in yourself and optimism.

You need to be able to set your goals and then push through all the hindrances and attain those goals. You need to be able to get up day after day and focus totally on what you want to achieve for that day. Allow yourself to be distracted and you will soon be struggling

Never let self-doubt creep in. The moment it does you are in some serious danger of failing. I know that Steve often doubts his ability to do something ... something that he's very good at ... and he needs me there to push him along and to encourage him. Once he has that encouragement he can get on with the job. But if you're working alone and don't have anyone to push you along then you really do need to have belief in your own abilities to achieve your goals.

And while we're talking about self-belief let me warn you to be on the lookout for those who want to bring you down by questioning your abilities. Sometimes that can be quite a healthy thing to do but your enemies will use that tactic too because they know that when you doubt yourself then they're very close to taking you out of whatever their equation might be.

Finally you need to be optimistic. Yes you need to stay positive even when the sponsor checks are getting thinner and thinner. The moment you lose that optimism you're done for so stay positive and trust in your own abilities to achieve your goals.

And if you think that I'm just spouting a heap of BS here let me tell you that I'm where I am today simply because I've stuck to those principles. I could still be doing a menial job in some crappy city but I knew I could do better and I know that I've still got a lot further to go ... and you can get there too as long as you have drive, self belief and optimism.