While You Might Be on the Journey to Work for Yourself, You Don’t Have to Go It Alone. About five years ago, I started out on this crazy journey to become an entrepreneur. I didn’t know what I was going to do, but I knew that I couldn’t keep working for terrible bosses and giving of myself in situations that were not replenishing me. I tried becoming an influencer and did pretty well, garnering over $5,000 in books and another $5,000 in yoga clothing and gear, in exchange for positive reviews. But I wasn’t able to monetize it and I didn’t see a sustainable career in it because it wasn’t me. I’m not saying that you can’t make a living through becoming a social media influencer, it just wasn’t the…
Learning to Say No to Yourself To stop creating stress and anxiety in your life A lot of different bloggers, lifestyle coaches, and popular influencers are chatting about learning to say no to other people in order to live a healthier, happier life. And that’s great. Many of us feel like we cannot say no. Somehow along the way we learned that saying no meant letting someone down, or hurting them in somewhere. But in a perverse reality not saying no actually hurst us far more. In my last post, I talked about When the Hustle Hurts, when I realized that in getting my hustle on (as many bloggers tout) actually hurt my chances of succeeding. This wasn’t because I think anything other than hard work brings success, but because, when emotions are involved, you can be hustling in vain. I’d like to follow…
Self Doubt, An Entrepreneur’s Constant Companion I know that as soon as I publish this post, there will be someone saying that this isn’t true for them. I maintain that you are either not being true to yourself, or you’re too fool hardy. Either way, if that’s what you believe, then this post is not for you. It’s for the rest of us, the dreamers. Starting a business has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life – it is quite literally, a dream come true. But that doesn’t mean that it’s been all sunshine and daisies. Everyone always talks about starting a business, but what about after the paperwork is filed? I’ve been up and running for about six months now and I’ve noticed a few things, about myself…
The Secret to Happiness Lies in a Simple Quote: Comparison is the Thief of Joy – Theodore Roosevelt This simple quote, is bursting of profound beautiful wisdom. Spoken by former president Theodore Roosevelt, these words are the secret to happiness, for which some people spend a lifetime searching. These three little words are the cure for melancholy, loneliness, and jealousy. This quote might not be the cure for clinical depression, but it is a source of joy and an inspiration for many who find themselves delving back into the sea of negative emotions. Almost every time that I feeling unhappy or devoid of joy, I can identify some person or situation to which I am comparing myself. It might sound overly simple and easy to scoff at, but I ask you to search, to explore the times when you feel a lack of joy. I hazard to guess that you…
I called it Writer’s Block But it was really fear. Reading Liz Giblert’s Big Magic taught me something very important about my life and about myself. Yes you learn something from most books, but when I learned this important lesson from the accomplished author, tears welled up and I felt a cathartic release. Someone understood me. She understood, on a very real and personal level what I was doing to myself. I am not alone in these feeling. In fact, there are many people like this all around the world. It was incredible. Before reading her book about creativity and living a creative life – which she calls big magic – I would have told you that the reason I was no longer creating art, working on poetry or doing anything else that involve self expression, was that I didn’t have the time and…
How is Starting Your Own Business Like participating in the Olympic Games? The Olympics have been on my brain quite a bit lately. They kick off on the day after my birthday (Which is today by the way). My niece has chosen the Olympics as a theme for her August birthday party. And two of my sister Alumni from Oakland Catholic are competing in the games. All of this reminds me of my mom’s favorite quote growing up. My mom had never played a sport, being one of eight kids there wasn’t much time or money for each of them to play a sport. My grandfather was a doctor and worked long hard hours in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood – and well my grandma…with eight kids to chase, she didn’t have much time either. My mom did and still loves to…
#AMWRITING Are You? You should be! I’m not sure if it’s the advent of self publishing sites or not, but lately it seems like everyone is writing a book…and I love it! I’m writing a book…you’re writing a book…Wait! You’re not writing a book? If you’re not, stick around because in a little bit, I’ll tell you why I think you should be. I’m telling you the truth right now though when I say that I am writing a book. I’m not sure if it will ever get published. I sincerely hope that it does, but right now, that’s not the main reason why I am writing. If at first you don’t succeed… Currently, I’m fleshing out my second…
One Lesson All Bloggers Learn Patience, Young Grasshopper Every blogger eventually learns an important lesson. No matter how excited you are about your website or blog, or how great you think it is, will take time and lots of hard work to become successful. The internet is not longer an “if you build it they will come” platform for content marketers and authors. Yes, there are more people using the internet than ever before and this means that you potential target audience is larger than ever…but, there is so much more content vying for their attention that you also now have more competition than ever. Now, I tell this to you not to discourage you, but rather to help inspire you. I want you to learn this less early, so that you can accept it and get to work without the false hopes and dreams that…
Learning to Ask Despite the Fear of Rejection A few years ago, I started my first website. It was a very exciting time for me. I was turning a very negative time in my life into a very positive and productive one. I started the website with the intent of sharing my journey as I fell in love with yoga, became a teacher and brought balance back into my life. As I blogged, I wanted to offer visitors more, more than just my story – information that could help them in their practice. So I started researching and writing articles, and decided to start reviewing products on the website. When I started practicing, I didn’t have a clue what the difference was between a Jade or a Manduka and I was sure that there were many others out there like me. I didn’t have the money…
Trust A Lifelong Practice Over the past two weeks, I’ve noticed a theme that has been occurring…We like to act like or maybe think that trust is a skill that once acquired, one has for life. I’ve got news for all of us – myself included. It’s not. It’s much more like a muscle that we work to build up, but without the proper exercise, that muscle grows week again. Or another way to think about it might be to liken it to a yoga practice. It’s not something that you ever really master. It’s a lifelong practice. One of the reasons that I love working with the team at Idea Hunt, (aside from having an inclusive and supportive global community that is awesome) is that they take their company culture seriously. One of the main…