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Don't worry, this article isn't going to tout the next great do-nothing-make-money-at-home scam. In fact, it's not going to steer you towards any particular method for making money at home. So how can I guarantee you'll work at home without providing details on the "best" work-at-home options? Because successfully working at home isn't found in the program. Its found in YOU! If you follow the steps outlined below, you can successfully work at home - guaranteed!

Step One: Give up the idea that you'll sign up for a job or home business and the money will follow. Jobs require skills and experience, and you must go through an application process to get them. Home businesses require marketing, providing a product or service, and more marketing. Any ad you read that tells you 'We'll build your business for you' or 'sign up to make $100's doing surveys' (or typing, stuffing envelopes or anything else) is selling you something and it ain't work. Everyone I know who works at home, works hard. They don't lick envelopes, surf the net, or type ads. The do real jobs they earned or they run real businesses like the CEO they are.

Step Two: Decide how bad you want to work at home. I used to ask people I consulted with to rank their desire to work-at-home. A ten was "I absolutely HAVE to work at home and will do anything to make it happen". A one was "Working at home would be nice, but not necessary". I would get many "10" answers, but when we would begin to process ideas I would hear, "I can't do that", which really means "I won't do that". Part of the problem was alluded to in step one, which is the idea that finding and succeeding at working at home involves signing up and getting paid. People say they really want to work at home, but not if its hard. The problem is, working at home is work. A lot of work. And it takes a great deal of mental energy. Its full of challenges and frustrations. Most people I talk to (90-98%) don't want to work at home bad enough to challenge themselves. If they can't sign up and make money, then they don't want it. If you REALLY want to work at home, you have to be willing accept the challenge and do what it takes. It doesn't mean you have to be a salesman and make cold calls. But it does mean that you need educate yourself, invest time and money WISELY, and keep your eye on the prize when the going gets tough.

Step Three: Make progress not excuses. "My son is sick," "My father-in-law was hospitalized," "My computer crashed," "The weather is bad," "The economy is bad," "I have no time," "I have no money." Everyone - you, me, the neighbors - everyone has challenges in their lives. And I can guarantee that stuff will happen that will get in the way of your goal too. The difference is that some people use these excuses to let go of their goals and dreams while others figure out how to work around them. On Monday I had an appointment to get my car fixed and then I ran errands. Later that day I had to return to town to buy my son's birthday present, but I still got an hour or so of work done. Tuesday I had to supervise while my children baked cakes, and I had an unscheduled phone conference with a company I do contract work for. Still, I was able to get a few emails out for my business. On Wednesday it was my son's birthday and my husband and I took the day off to spend it with him. But that didn't stop me from getting up a little earlier to do some work before my son woke up. Thursday I had to teach a class, take my kids to business day at school, and run some errands. Yet I wrote the draft of this article and prepared for a teleseminar. The point is, if I let all these activities get in the way of work, I'd be commuting to a job. If I blow off my work, I won't get paid. The same is true for everyone else. So if you really want to work at home (see number 2), find a way around the challenges. Work on goals or marketing tactics while sitting with a sick child. Carry a book that can teaches marketing or running a small business with you and read it during waiting times (I brought "The Secrets to the Millionaire Mind" with me to my kids doctor appointment this morning). Find a computer at the library you can work on. Don't wait for time, make and take it!

Step Four: Make a plan. Its easy to let challenges stop you before you start (see number 3). This is particularly true if you don't know exactly what you should be doing. Life is busy, so you need to schedule time for your work-at-home goal. Take an hour before work or during a baby's nap to list your goals, determine the action steps needed to reach that goal, and set dates for completing the steps. I use a planner on my computer and write down EVERYTHING I need to do in my life...personal and professional, and I assign every activity a date by which it needs to be done. This way, every day I'm getting something done and always moving towards my goal or at least maintaining my momentum. If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. You don't want to fail, so make a plan.

The truth is, finding success working at home has less to do with the opportunity you choose and everything to do with YOU! As long as you choose something legal and that will actually make money if you do the work, it doesn't matter if you sell stuff on eBay, join a network marketing company, get a work-at-home job, or anything else. The key to your success is to understand what working at home involves, having the desire to succeed, working through the tough times, and having a plan of attack.

About the Author: Leslie Truex, aka The Pajama Mama, is a busy work-at-home mom who has been helping others work at home in a job or home business since 1998. Get her Jobs Online Toolkit free with a subscription to her weekly work-at-home jobs and news ezine at Work-At-Home Success