The Educated Emotion

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Good Morning Sunshine

In general, entrepreneurs and small business owners tend to practice healthier lifestyles. That may be because many entrepreneurs understand that losing time or illness can hurt business. Still, that healthy lifestyle is not the reality for many startups or female entrepreneurs who tend to have increased demands on time and unique challenges that can leave them depleted. Fresh and New Spring is a good time to think about beginning a new project or starting over , and Monday is a good time to begin a new project. But, most small business owners do not have a clean break between work and play, week and weekend. Friday is not the jubilant release and Monday morning does not always bring the refreshed promise that we see and hear around us. However, each morning is actually a new opportunity to start again. Whether you practice yoga, journal, exercise on the treadmill, or just still -- find some time to rejuvenate this morning so that you can have enough of you left at...

Inspiration for Entrepreneurs via the Olympics

With the help of Social Media, we are all surrounded by discussion about the Olympics! The only people talking online about the Olympics more than the United States are Great Britain and Australia. The media has been struggling to keep up with all the news, controversy, and highlights. Handball Event at 2012 Summer Olympics. Photo by: los_bandito_anthony Recently, one of my clients pointed out to me that there are a lot more competitions in the Olympics than he was privy to via his local television networks or newspaper. Out of curiosity, I looked it up and found that there were some 36 competitions with everything from Beach Volleyball to Shooting. It would be nice if there was more time and attention afforded to some of the other sports represented at . There are some really talented and dedicated folks competing. It is inconceivable how much they all sacrifice to participate. It is inspirational to me even before execution or finding out who wins...j...

3 Sweaty Lessons for the Entrepreneur

When the remake of the movie, Sparkle , arrived to theaters, I had to watch the 1976 version just one more time. This has been a favorite since I first watched it as a teen almost 20 years after it was released. Every time I watch the movie something different stands out. This time that I watched it, I noticed how sweaty Stix, the character played by Philip Michael Thomas, was when he hugged the girls mom. It was at the point that I experienced an epiphany as to why this movie impacted me so much. Here are three sweaty business lessons that I learned from the movie: 1. Sweating is Natural In Sparkle, when Stix came to Sparkle's debut and hugged her mom he was sweaty. She didn't turn him away. In fact, she gave him a full embrace while in her finest threads. He had made a mistake and she knew it, but he had survived it and she was encouraged. As a entrepreneur, I have to put in my sweat equity to get my business off the ground. There aren't ...

The Purpose of a Vision

A Full Moon, taken around midnight on August 1, 2012, several minutes after it reached its fullest phase. Have you ever witnessed something so breathtaking that you wanted to capture the image and share it with the world? At the top of August, I was outside when the moon became Full. It took up the entire sky. Due to street lights and limitations with the photography (lacking proper equipment and skill), I was unable to capture the full glory of the moon. But, whenever I look back at this photograph, I am reminded not only of what I can see in the picture - but the memory of what I saw that night. Similarly, most entrepreneurs and businesses begin with a vision. But one of the key purposes of a vision, is being able to share it. If a business is unable to communicate that vision with stakeholders, prospects, and employees - the purpose is lost. Here are a few necessaries to capture that vision to share with others: Focus - In order to focus, y...

Starting with a Blank Page

One of the hardest things to do is start fresh, start anew. As an entrepreneur, you will inevitably find yourself in situations where friends, family, mentors, former coworkers...are simply unable to help. That is because you are doing something different, something that has not been done before. A Template For Life In an excerpt from a poem I wrote in 2010, "Blank Pages and Empty Rooms" I weigh the pros and cons of a blank page. I was raised on templates. There is a way to cook, to bake, to love, to study, to be a lady. As an adult, that has been expanded to include a way to eat, walk, talk, write a contract, and even begin a business. As much as I complained about all these "rules" of society, I realized recently that I had also been comforted by this structure. As an entrepreneur, I have had to reexamine my fears of the blank page. In the planning stages, I still had templates to rely on - business books, business plans, financial sheet...

How Monday Mornings Can Kill Business

Monday mornings come every week; they are just crazy like that. But, did you know that they can kill productivity for the entire week? I didn't know that either -- until I reached the end of my first year in business and realized much of my year had been just a string of bad Monday Mornings . Here are four things I learned over the course of my first year: It Was The Night Before Monday and All Through the House.. Whether you have 3 hours or 15 minutes, a little preparation on Sunday evening can help in big ways on Monday morning. For me, that is often just 15 minutes creating a to-do list or journaling. Laurita Thomas, who is the associate vice president and chief human resource officer at the University of Michigan, spent several hours each Sunday in her office, preparing for the week ahead for the first few years in her position. "I don't do that anymore" said Thomas, "but I do spend time each Sunday evening preparing for the week." Schedule ...