Category Archives: Entrepreneur

When Staying True to Yourself Becomes an Excuse

We’ve all heard the phrase “I’m just staying true to myself”. Am I right?
Is it just me, or have you ever wanted to counter this possible excuse with, so are you really staying true to yourself? Let me explain. While staying true to oneself is honorable, there are times we can cleverly cloak a cop out by using the ‘ol “I’ll stay true to myself” phrase.

How to Recognize a Clever Excuse

 It’s classic and easy to identify.
 
You, or someone you know walked away from a goal or dream without a fight. I’m not talking about a short sabbatical to refuel and go at it again. I’m talking about completely quitting the race.
Imagine if you will, hearing about someone’s goals, dreams or visions with excitement. Imagine watching them make baby steps toward the fulfillment of those goals. Imagine getting behind this individual and cheering and encouraging them on only to have them share something like the following: “I’ve  decided to take another route. I’m simply wanting to stay true to who I am.” HOGWASH! You’ve got to be kidding? We’re invested in the fulfillment of this goal/dream. For crying out loud, don’t go down without a fight!

Why it Happens

Excuses happen. However, this need not be you. We need to be on the look out for WHY it happens.
The pursuit of happiness can:
  • be challenging and difficult for a season.
  • require something (grit, skill) that has not been previously accomplished.
  • imply the need to humble oneself and become re-educated to obtain the vision.
  • reveal that failure/rejection play a part in the learning process.
  • lead us to dump poor habits and embrace good habits.
  • become more disciplined and consistent.

Beware of the Banana Peels

We all have situations and circumstances that challenge our tenacity to stay true to who we are. Banana peels are the situations and circumstances that may cause us to slip and take us away from our once clear path.
Banana Peel
There are ways to shut down excuses. There are also ways to stay true to our self without forfeiting dreams be it health or entrepreneurial in nature.
 The following are tips to remain true blue to good ‘ol you.

 

  • Assess the situation- Have you thrown in the towel? Are you pursuing your dreams with consistent dedication? Do you feel excited about the steps you are taking?
  • Determine what actions to take- If you hit a bump in the road, it’s easy to say just keep trucking. But what if a tire flew off? This requires a new plan of action to take to get back on the road. Sometimes this requires a different perspective.
  • Ask for help- Any great achiever will tell you they had help along the way. It’s not a weakness. In fact, it can become like a secret weapon for overcoming. A derailment from a dream can be humbling, but what’s devastating is the fact that it can be done but life happened and nothing really changed when all along help was available.
  • Accountability- The concept of accountability isn’t always the most popular. When it’s taken seriously, accountability reminds us of exactly who we are and what it is we desire to achieve in this lifetime. Accountability helps us walk the path to fulfillment so once we reach the top, we’re not alone. In fact, there’s a community with whom to celebrate.
Chime In!

Have you come across other clever excuses that sound legit yet don’t best serve someone staying true to him or herself? What is it?

The Beauty of Failure

It may seem counter intuitive to find beauty in failure, right? It’s amazing that the world we live in highlights big wins- you know, the glamorous side of success. Here’s to being encouraged to celebrate what goes on behind our failures.  In whatever realm of life, failure points out vulnerabilities. Being vulnerable whether in a business endeavor or a romantic relationship doesn’t feel comfortable; nor should it.

Being uncomfortable is what pushes us to make a decision: do something different, try to maintain the status quo or scrap what makes us uncomfortable. By failing and being uncomfortable, fringe benefits begin to accrue.

Failure brings clarity.

You’ve heard it said before. Success leaves clues. Well guess what?

Failure leaves clues. Let’s use them to become more clear.

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If hindsight is 20/20, then take time to reflect. Ask yourself questions. If your an entrepreneur, you might ask yourself the following: Was I working with the correct people? How can I improve my business skills? How do I handle my weaknesses? How can I better lead myself and others to overcome?

Feeling a bit stuck in your health journey? Investigate. What if one very powerful revelation can help move you forward again? Try this. Fill-in-the-blank to get clarity. “The most important thing I should do to improve my health is…”  Courage cultivates clarity. Having the courage to ask tough questions or be nakedly honest can set aside the stress of failure and instead, provide positive lessons.

Failure is inevitable.

Everybody does it. Yes, we all fail. So why does it need to become a big deal? It’s doesn’t. The trick is to fail fast, and not slop around in it. Rather, we can revel in the ability to recreate a more desirable outcome.

Ever witness a child learning to walk and then trip and plummet to the ground and then laugh at the predicament?  We should take good notes! When this child is given a little encouragement he or she stands tall and begins walking like a little drunken sailor with bright eyes and a wide smile. The secret is to act as if a fall or failure is simply a rite of passage to the results we desire.

The-Beauty-of-Failure
Perspective is grand. Failure can be noble. Let us overcome the inevitable with giggles and a goofy grin, shall we?

Make failure a gift.

When we fail, we’re often harder on ourselves than we are othersl. So here’s a suggestion. Quit that already! As you would tell another, “it’s okay, you will do better next time,” or “you’ve learned so much from that experience and I’m sure you’ll apply that in the future”. While we can be supportive to the others, we aren’t always giving our self a break.

The-Beauty-of-Failure Give yourself a gift. Make that gift -kindness. Forgo being snarky with yourself. about a past failure. Failing at something is not the same as being a failure. Don’t camp out there. Gift yourself forgiveness. Gift yourself the liberty to move on quickly without drowning in what you coulda, shoulda and woulda done had you known different. Don’t waste time. It is precious, and so are you.

Chime In!

How can you find beauty in failure? Looking back, what clarity or treasure has failure brought into your life? Share with us! We’d love to learn from and celebrate you.

Always go for the upgrade!

Upgrade! It seems to be a heavily used theme in today’s atmosphere. Doesn’t it? We are always to be upgrading our life, our gadgets, quite literally everything.

Please understand, I’m not writing about the most obvious upgrading or shall I be bold enough to state over-consumption? It’s not about tossing out something that functions perfectly for the latest and greatest thingy-ma-bob. In case you’re wondering the thingy-ma-bob is that one thing that promises to deliver way more ease and social status for the sum of what’s inside of your savings account.

So what on earth do I mean when I refer to upgrading?

Let’s first peek into what a quick Google search reveals. Upgrade is a verb which refers to raising (something) to a higher standard, in particular (equipment or machinery) by adding to or replacing components. Often, it’s about improving, updating, making better or bringing about reform.

So why am I focusing on this word? Am I about to pitch you the latest iPhone or software update? Nope.

I’m actually pitching the idea of adding VALUE to our lives through the concept of upgrading. Yes, upgrading but not in the most traditional sense as we humans are not a piece of equipment or machinery. To be clear, you are already enough.

As humans we often mistake believing that our worth comes from our performance.

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I believe we can help others upgrade their life by adding value to it. For example, if you are a health professional you can add value by helping increase one’s health through education. If you an educator you can increase value in your student’s lives by creating opportunities to grow in the direction that adds joy and contribution to their life experience. These are the types of upgrades we all desire.

As entrepreneurs how can we offer value to those we serve? If we have customers who are wanting to create better results, we’re listening intently to how we can improve the customer experience? Is there a way one of our products or services could make a greater impact? How do we express that? Are we engaging in a dialogue on how we can best serve them? Is there a transformational event we can suggest that a partner may engage to upgrade his or her life? You see, there are always ways to add value and create better business. The notion of always going for the upgrade has zero to do with competing against others. In reality it’s all about helping our fellow humans develop and grow into the greatest vision they hold for their selves.

Not an entrepreneur? No problem.

Let’s pretend you’re on a health journey, and, aren’t we all? How then, can you upgrade to make the adventure even more enjoyable? Take quick inventory. How do you sleep? Have you noticed what foods boost your energy? How about the foods that rob you from your energy? How can you upgrade your rest and nutrition? What about your physical fitness? Happiness and mental health? What about your water intake? These are just a few ideas to get you thinking about how to upgrade your health, thus adding value to your everyday life. We can always go for the upgrade– not in the sense to create overwhelm or perfection but rather self-appreciation and self-care.

Dr. Paige Hunter

Chime In!

How will you upgrade your own life or the life of another? If so, what upgrades do you plan on making or offering others to create more value in the world?

 

Lies About Success and 7 Principles to Guide us to Happiness

We’ve believed lies about success. Most of us are brainwashed to think that success creates happiness. Yet deep down, we all know we get caught chasing the rainbow while forgetting to dance in the rain.

We also know that happiness is more than a yellow smiley face sticker. Happiness is the joy we feel while pursuing our potential. Sadly, happiness is often confused with success. It’s time we put our foot down and address the lies and and enjoy both happiness and success.

Seeing or hearing a message long enough makes it easier to believe. Some lies we fall prey to look or sound like this: I’ll be happier, once I make this promotion. When I finally complete this project, I can be happy. I’ll be happy when I marry the right person. I can truly be happy when I’m making X amount of money. As soon as  I eat that decadent slice of pie, I’ll know what happiness feels like. When I take that exotic trip I can be happy. I’ll be happy as a clam when I fit into those jeans. Does any of this sound familiar?

Why do we postpone happiness until a certain amount of success is achieved?

True confession: I’ve recently had to stop myself from such lies around pursuing success and postponing happiness. I postponed my own happiness while delving deep into a writing project. Even though I know my efforts bring about good; temperance was needed. I was holing myself up to accomplish the goal while rarely leaving the work cave. Isolation set in.

I stopped practicing what I preach. Balancing work and play was on the back burner. For a month, I was a hypocrite. Ironically, not one person even set a time frame for me to complete the work. I was lying to myself about what success must look like based on a self-imposed timeline. I fell for it. As a result, my happiness and well-being plummeted.

Fortunately I caught on and quickly and course-corrected– oh perhaps, over-corrected. You see, I started playing outside so much more that I even worked up a tan. Those of you who know how pasty white I can be will understand this major accomplishment. Tanned and tinkering right back into happiness, I felt fulfillment and contribution as the project was released to fly. Of course, we all know the moral of the story but we often need to remind ourselves of this:

dirty-little-lies-about-success-and-7-principles-to-guide-you-to-happiness

As I began snapping out of the false belief of successful accomplishments equal happiness, a bright orange book sitting on my bookshelf silently shouted and begged, ” Come get me! Pick me up! Pick me up now.” It was Shawn Anchor’s book, The Happiness Advantage and I strongly recommend it to you. As I read it, my recent “Pursuit of Unhappiness” made complete sense.

I’m quickly outlining the book’s specific, actionable patterns that predict success without losing the happiness. All of it based on research that began inside of Harvard and moved to the outside world. What it shows is that maximizing our brain, can maximize our happiness. Read about it in a nutshell, but trust me, the entire read is well worth it! In fact, it may cause a cathartic experience.

7 Principles to Guide you to the Happiness Groove

The Happiness Advantage

When we capitalize on positivity (feel good, fun, inspiration)  we can increase our performance and productivity. We can actually teach our brains to work from a biological advantage versus one that is negative or neutral.

Happiness does not orbit around success. Happiness is the center, and success revolves around it.

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The Fulcrum and the Lever

This principle teaches us that by changing or adjusting our mindset (the fulcrum) we increase our power (the lever) to be more satisfied and successful.

Look at it like this. Ever hear yourself or someone say, “I have to attend a meeting.”? The “have to” of course, implies the expectation that it will most likely be unenjoyable. Whereas a minor adjustment in the mindset could bring about more happiness. What if we chose to say “I am attending a meeting?” Word choice alone opens opportunity to learn, connect with others and possibly even enjoy the meeting.

Tetris Effect

We set ourselves up for failure when we allow our brains to get stuck in a rut that focuses on stress, negativity and failure. When we retrain the brain to spot possibility, we can see and seize opportunity anywhere.

When our brains constantly scan for the positive, we profit from happiness, gratitude and optimism.

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Failing Up

Teaches us that in spite of failure or suffering, we can learn to be happier or more success because of it. We all face defeat, crisis and stress: our brains can positively guide us to cope and bring about meaning and positive growth.

Our ability to grow from adversity is more than bouncing back, it’s bouncing forward.

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The Zorro Circle

Our rational brains can get emotionally hijacked by overwhelm and challenges. This principle teaches us to draw a small circle in the sand to regain control by focusing first on small bite-size goals and then expanding the circle into achieving greater goals.

On a personal note, after a four-year home remodel, and month-long research and writing project, the Zorro circle has me zeroing in on where I need to gain control and how I can effectively take action so I will not lose joy in the process. Nothing needs to spin out of control. I’m walking out of what became a massively cluttered office and closet by inching out of smaller spaces first and defending those spaces. I’m taking 30 minute a day tasks until it’s done. Then I’ll head to the garage. It’s not as intimidating as previously thought.

20-Second Rule

Long-term change is a challenge for most because we have limited willpower. Often we fall back into old habits and end up on the path of least resistance. The 20- Second rule explains that we can make small energy adjustments and bypass the lower path and replace it with the higher path via good habits.

Let’s take inventory of our many daily habits. Do these habits create happiness or place us in a rut? If habits are like investing money, are my  personalhabits creating positive returns in the years to come?

How can I make the right thing easy to do? Think faster too! Can 20 seconds make a big difference? I think so! Want to permanently reduce your pant size? Have healthy snacks at your fingertips. Prep food in advance so you can quickly access it from the fridge. Keep your sneakers right next to your bed, so first thing in the morning you can complete a workout without fumbling for them.

Social Investment

In the midst of stressful challenges many choose to isolate and hunker down to do what must be done. However, the greatest predictor in happiness and success lies in the social support we find by interacting with friends, family, and peers who help us achieve our greatest potential. We’re meant to thrive in community. When we understand we aren’t the Lone Ranger, we can rise above the cult of mediocrity and shine our brightest gifts.

Chime In! 🙂

Share with us in the comments below, what lie have you believed about success? Or is there a particular principle that beckons your attention today?

 

Wisdom and Sour Grapes

Whether you are an entrepreneur, wellness warrior or both, the factors of wisdom and sour grapes play a role in our lives. Allow me to explain. No one wants to play a fool; and no one wants to eat sour grapes.

Remember Aesop’s Fables?

Perhaps you remember this famous one. The story about the fox that tried in vain to snatch a cluster of grapes dangling from a vine just out of reach. The fox exerted himself jumping as high as he could and quickly concluded within a few attempts that “these grapes are sour, and if I had some I would not eat them.”

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And now you know where the term “sour grapes” originated. How often do we in our business or health journey run into this concept?

Have you ever found yourself like the fox retreating from the grape arbor declaring sour grapes?

Have you ever worked with someone who claims sour grapes? If only we could remember that the far-to-reach are worth a strategic effort.

Like the fox in Aesop’s fable, we humans experience a clash about the knowledge that grapes are tasty except when we can’t reach them. Then we may radically change our attitude toward the grapes to defend our behavior.

Beware of Sour Grapes

Friend, sour grapes can show up like this. We may set out on a health journey that includes a strategy of good nutrition and moderate exercise. Within the first three days we don’t notice any significant changes. We we are extremely hungry, behold! A burger and fries appears right in front of us and we go for it! Then, somehow we question if our new plan was really even making a difference at all. That’s sour grapes.

wisdom-and-sour-grapes

In business it can look like this. We sign up for a weekend seminar that promotes goal setting, increasing sales and soaring profits. We attend. We even apply some things we have learned. Two months later we wonder why our influx of income isn’t greater? We begin to suspect the sincerity of those who led the seminar. Maybe everything they do is driven by greed. Beware of sour grapes.

In walks wisdom. But first, what is wisdom?  It is the the ability to discern what is true, right, or lasting. Wisdom expresses itself from experiences, sound judgment and/or actions.

Do this to avoid sour grapes.

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Identify what it is you really desire.

At this moment, what “specific fruit” do you want to enjoy? Ask yourself, is this heart’s desire worth creating a strategy?

Is it worth consistency so you may savor the sweetness of it?

Is it worth the time you spend to enjoy it?

If “yes” is the answer to the three questions, the we are well on our way to savoring sweet success; not sour grapes.

Our world is often a place of instant gratification. We quickly want what we want, when we want it.

We want to be thin ,and yet we want a box of donuts. We want a bigger bank account with not too much work involved, Ironic, no? Yet it’s human nature! It’s also human nature to blame. Let’s not be those people– you know, the ones that blame when little to no effort is made. Let’s not be like the spoiled-sport fox. Let’s rise above it. Let’s own our place in every decision we make. That friend, is the inner workings of wisdom.

Let’s inspect any areas where we or those whose paths we may have crossed, cried “sour grapes,” Take note. Was a specific strategy in place to seize the fruit? Was the strategy being followed consistently within a realistic time frame?

Chime In!

Have you ever felt foolish like the fox and called “sour grapes” to quickly? (Tell me, I’m not I the only one.) In the comments below, tell us, what wisdom did you gain?

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