Focusing on negative

    I have been thinking the past few days about something that I know plagues me and I can only assume has the same affect on others. I started paying a little more attention after our last Dog meeting. When we went around the circle so that everyone could describe where they were most of the conversations focused on the negatives. All of the things that were a struggle and that we were failing at. I know that the purpose was one of support which drives the focus on the negative and it oddly feels better to let those issues out. Solely focusing on the negative however can have even worse effects than the initial issues that caused a requirement to not be focused on.
     Focusing on everything you are failing at can quickly lead to wondering why you are doing or trying to do something in the first place. It is important to take a step back and see the failure for what it is, a chance to learn, and then move on. It is also equally as important to look at the wins to reinforce the fact that you are capable. You got this!

You are not who you were a year ago

     Starting my own business has seem to given me a renewed sense of purpose. In many ways I am back to where I was a year ago. I am awake before the alarm, at 4:45. I am doing sit-ups and push-ups every day. I have been reading a ton doing research and I feel great. In order to try make sure that I can sustain this I have started watching, or more like listening, to a 10-15 min motivational you tube video fist thing while I start doing work. There are millions of them to choose from so I usually pick a random one and let it play so I can continue working. The messages are generally all the same no matter which one you see or hear. The one thing that changes is the perspective.
     This is very much like every other thing you need to learn. The information doesn't change. Having the information relayed slightly different can make all of the difference in the world when you are trying to learn something or see a certain point. The video in the link below touches on a few things that we discuss regularly but with a little different spin on it. It is a bout 10 min long and there is a little language.

watch the video - there is some language

     The guilt that can spin off of regret can be overpowering. If you can change the way that you interpret regret and see these things as learning experiences it can eliminate the guilt.  "Yes, I did/didn't do these things in the past, and that is not who I am anymore." Starting over. Every day. Fighting the resistance because you are not the person you were a year ago, a week ago, or even yesterday. If you can reflect on every experience, good or bad, and allow it to become a learning experience the possibilities for growth are limitless. 

Continued Learning

     For the past few weeks I have been working with ATB. More like they have some money, I need some money and I have been asking them nicely to share. I have learned lots of things since this program started.

     Instead of completely draining my savings I have been trying to get a business loan so that I can draw a salary from that. I started dealing with ATB because in my search through government sites looking for capital they were the one bank that the government had links for. I had an appointment set up to meet the small business loans person. I received a phone call from a completely different person which seemed off at the time because there is only one business loans person that moves between the Stony Plain and Spruce Grove offices. I agreed to meet this other person and am glad that I did. I had no clue until this meeting that ATB has a bunch of free services for Entrepreneurs. In Edmonton they have a Entrepreneur Center that offers classes, work space and even board rooms that can be booked free of charge. For the month of August they have some of the staff from the Entrepreneur Center working at the Spruce Groove branch which is why I got the phone call that I did. This initial meeting has spawned numerous other meetings and chances to advance my newly formed business venture. The next day I met with a business adviser at the bank. He was able to provide some direction on where my focus should be. During this meeting he was able to refer me to another associate from the Entrepreneur Center that used to do private consulting as well as introduce me to a few different associations whose main purpose are to help people advance their businesses. I have had some phone conversations with a couple of the groups and have some meetings and classes set up to attend over the next few weeks.

There are a couple of things that I have had the opportunity to take away from these encounters.   

     Stepping out of your comfort zone can yield amazing opportunities. One of the larger fears that I had wanting to start my own business is having to constantly deal with new people. I am not super outgoing. I have always struggled with "small talk". I have been a minimalist to say the least when it comes to conversation and that has been a road block to interacting with new people. Being "forced" to get past this has made it easier to continue and I have been able to do some things and talk to some people I may not have a few weeks ago.
   
     The other is the one, probably most important requirement we all have. I have had some difficulty seeing it in the past but my interactions over the past couple of weeks have helped open my eyes. When complete strangers can show so much interest in helping you succeed it helps provide the faith that it will work out. The small acts of kindness that we do every day, I believe, do the same thing for the recipients of these acts. In a world that seems to becoming more and more self centered and reliant on instant gratification, knowing that another being cares enough to do something without the expectation of reward is a powerful thing.

Starting Over - Again

     For the past six weeks I have been unemployed. It was my own doing as I left my job before going on holidays at the start of July. The past three or four weeks I have been putting together everything needed to start your own business. It has been a very steep learning curve. I have managed other peoples businesses but until now have never had my own. As scary as it was to leave the safety of working for someone else, I am more glad than ever that I did make the leap.
     In the consulting that I am doing, or working on doing, we do something called gap analysis. This involves finding the gaps between the current state and the desired state. You can then develop a plan to get to the desired state by filling in those gaps. This week I started to do that to my own business. What do I require in order to get from where I am today to getting my first client? This has been a great experience and has started me learning about a lot of things that I never had to deal with in previous roles. Every morning when I get up, I look at the Plan and see what has yet to be complete and what the next steps should be. This allows me to make a list of things that I need to accomplish throughout the day. It feels goo to be able to cross a bunch of things off throughout the day as well. I have also been keeping notes in this sheet for every task that I enter. Keeping this journal also brings some sort of inner piece. It is like it seems to make the tasks more relevant.
     With having to learn so many new things, it has reminded me how much I enjoy it. Learning is one thing that there never seem to be enough time for with all of the day to day things that come with managing a business. I have always heard the term "sharpen the saw" and thought that I was doing a decent job with continuing my education. I now have a different outlook on this. There are so many things that can be learned that don't require a classroom. A half hour of reading about a subject you want to learn about or a conversation with someone who has been thorough what you are trying to do can be extremely educational.
     This has been the first good week that I have had in a long time. I both physically and mentally feel good. Being in a better mental frame of mind has allowed me to do some things this week that I have been putting off. Physical stuff is still hard as I still seem to have lots of tail bone issues but instead of using that to just not do anything, this week I found a way to start over. I started doing leg raises instead of sit ups as I still can't roll over my tail bone. These hurt way less.
     I still can't do correct stances and a side heal thrust is a definite no no but there are some things that I can do. These things I plan on putting on to my daily task list so that they become part of my daily routine, again.