Who Needs Spring Break...Break When You Wanna

I ALWAYS HAVE WORK TO DO.  As an entrepreneur there is always something that needs to be done.  Even after a gratifying success there is still the next goal that needs to be met in order to keep your business running for years to come.

When you worked for someone else you knew exactly how much time away from work you would have.... 2 weeks the first year maybe 3 weeks for some of you.  You had to schedule vacation time to accommodate doctor's appointments and match when your kids were out of school.  This week is Spring Break for most and you would have had to compete with every other employee to get your vacation request in and hope that you got the time off.

Well now you've launched out on your own and it's time for you to realize that YOU are your boss.  Feel free to go with your kids on a field trip.  Allow yourself to have a spa day or day of golf.  YOU control your schedule so it's Spring Break feel empowered to block as many hours as you like to spend quality time with your family.  

Why should you feel guilty about time away from the work?  I promise you the work will be there when you return AND you will be rejuvenated AND it will be easier to remember why you work yourself so hard.  As an entrepreneur you can provide financially but you also have the liberty to provide emotionally.  So, feel free to ask your boss for some time off.  Personally I'm on my way to the beach the moment this post is over.  Ta Ta

Shirley Crawford

2nd Chance Consulting

   

Shirley E. Crawford
Small Business Whisperer * Speaker * Lecturer
The tools and resources that your business needs  to succeed

2nd Chance Consulting
Your 2nd Chance at a first impression
804-426-1515

Beware of Dream Killers

Several years ago while I was a consultant heading up a mentorship program for PAL (Police Athletic League) I often talked to middle school students about their hopes and dreams.  One of my favorite exercises was to ask, "What do you want to be when you grow up?. "  

The answers were pretty standard...football player, singer, movie star with a few answers of teacher slid in for good measure.  My counterparts once observed that these were unrealistic and that I should discourage the children from those arenas to more "practical, obtainable" occupations.

While this might sound logical it offended me in ways that are hard to explain and my sharp, but polite, retort probably seemed out of context but I know these dream killers from personal experience.  When I was a 6th grader at Thomas H. Henderson Middle School I was an awkward, violin playing, walking down the hallway with my nose in a book reading, volleyball playing and track running  straight A student.  

As was standard we each had a visit with the guidance counselor.  I was freakishly excited to hear her "guidance."  I sat down and this women who I had never met before and never saw again proceeded to tell me, with the kindest of smiles, that while my grades and activities were great that I had better consider learning a trade and potentially consider trade school since college would probably not be an option for me.  

I can still feel the chill from that day as I sat there shivering in her office.  But today I thank her as I left that office MOTIVATED to not only go to college but to succeed, to never be mediocre and to be more successful than her.  To this day I still bear that slight and so when I stood at my middle school alma mater Henderson sharing hope and vision with future generations I can't allow someone to even think about killing their dreams.

As I shared with every group that did that exercise the size of the dream is irrelevant.  The most important piece is how bad do you want it and what are you willing to do to get it.  I talked them through the steps and requirements of their desired professions and helped them create a timeline and checklist.   They left those groups with a goal which often led to higher grades, attendance and attrition rates.  

For your business you have a goal, a dream and a vision.  Don't allow others who are too afraid to try, too afraid to succeed impact your decision to try, to succeed and to prove them all wrong.

Shirley Crawford

2nd Chance Consulting

   

Shirley E. Crawford
Small Business Whisperer * Speaker * Lecturer
The tools and resources that your business needs  to succeed

2nd Chance Consulting
Your 2nd Chance at a first impression
804-426-1515

I'm Going To Be A Millionaire

I have decided to become a millionaire.  You might think well who hasn't thought to become one before and the answer would be me.  But outside of not making that a goal I'd simply defined my success in measurements other than money and that's what I got successes other than money.

This week I made the decision and I have the exact dollar amount in mind and I shall achieve it.  One might wonder why I will when others haven't.  Frankly others only thought about it.  Ideas are not decisions.  Ideas are intangible and fleeting as air.  Like a puff of smoke, they surround you and evaporate.

A poorly executed plan is still 100% more likely to succeed than a never executed idea.  I respect and appreciate the dreamers, the visionaries...the idea people BUT they are simply the philosophers on the corner extolling ideologies.  My truest love is for the doers.  The crazy, let's try it and see "action" people. 

The world might count your losses now but your victory is in your fearlessness, your faithfulness and your ferocious dedication to something better.  The world might appear to mock you but know that they respect you and only ridicule you because your life makes them question theirs.  They want to see you succeed to see that it can be done but they want you to fail to justify their lack of action.

So, do this for you.  Do this for yours.  Join me on my journey of future millionaires or future impacters of the world.  Yep it's just that simple.  Dream, Plot, Plan and Make It Happen!