For almost 3 months I have been eating a 90% vegan diet. I feel pretty great. I’m finding that I have so much more energy, my mood is consistently good, I haven’t gotten sick even though I’ve been surrounded by people with the flu, AND I weigh less today than I’ve weighed since I was about 19 years old.

I share this with you not to brag – but rather because, for me, this has been a pretty significant breakthrough that I think brings lessons I can apply to other areas of my life. For as long as I can really remember, certainly since high school, I have struggled with food and maintaining a healthy diet. For years I have known that I wasn’t eating particularly well – but dealing with it in any sort of lasting and meaningful way – has always seemed more than a little bit overwhelming. At least twice a year, I’ve discovered a new book at Barnes & Nobles, with the latest low carb or high protein or food combining “solution,” and have convinced myself that finally THIS is the diet I am going to follow. THIS one will be the answer to those extra pounds. THIS time I’m going to stick with it. I get started with a vengeance, making lists, hitting the grocery store, sorting through new recipes. And time after time, usually in less than a month, one day “off the diet” turns into 3 days, which turns into a full week…you get the picture. Read more »

I arrived this afternoon to pick up my 2-year old from preschool. As I generally do – I hung back in the doorway so I could observe him for a while before he spotted me. He was sitting at a table with a small group of children doing a craft. A little girl next to him was using what seemed to be the only glitter stick and it was obvious that my son was practically desperate to get his hands on it. Like all parents – we’ve tried to encourage the idea of “waiting your turn” and I’m certain his teachers work on this as well. It was incredibly funny and precious to watch as he valiantly struggled to exercise patience. Picture him – eyes glued to the glitter as though willing it to come to him – while sitting on his hands, literally trying to force himself not to reach out and snatch it right out of the fingers of his classmate.

It was wonderful watching him try so hard and as I stood there, I realized that even 35 years later in life, I too struggle to wait – and to let things happen in their own time. As I speak with entrepreneurs, I find that a common ailment amongst us, is patience. We want our efforts to pay off now! We want to see our labor unfold into immediate success. Small business owners often must work months and even years at a time before achieving the goals we’ve set for ourselves. And while it’s not quite as simple as sitting on our hands, we too must find a way to stay the course, even when things take longer than we would like. Read more »

We live in a society that is all about focusing on what we don’t have.  Commercials, magazines, movies all remind us that we can be thinner, wealthier, smarter and have more STUFF.  Here’s the thing.  I don’t believe that it is bad to strive for more.  After all – isn’t wanting more freedom, more inspiration and more money, what led most of us to become entrepreneurs? Goals keep us moving forward – they give us a sense of purpose and direction and ultimately serve as guidelines for building success as small business owners.  I think that when it comes to finances, we should all strive to create wealth, not just because of what it will mean in our own lives, but because of the difference it will allow us to create in the lives of others.  However, consider how much more powerful it is to strive for more from a place of happiness with what you have already created, than to constantly struggle to improve, while depressed by a perception of all the ways in which you have failed. Read more »

How do we define success for your small business? And, more importantly, what does it take to achieve it? It will differ from person to person, and from business to business, but I want to give you one key to what it takes that applies across the board:

“The secret to my success is determined by my daily agenda – by the daily decisions I make, and the daily disciplines I practice.”– Dr John C. Maxwell

I heard that statement a few years ago, and it is something that has always stuck with me, because I fundamentally believe that it is true. Another way of saying it is that, if what and where I am today is a direct result of my previous actions, what I am tomorrow depends on what I do today. The problem is, most people underestimate what they can do today, and over estimate what they can do tomorrow. Read more »

One way to success as a small business owner, network marketer or solo entrepreneur is to act like an athlete.

Have Discipline – a wonderful aspect of being an entrepreneur is the freedom to create your own schedule. For the most part no one dictates when you have meetings or when you start and end your workday. However, for many entrepreneurs this freedom is also their curse as they struggle to develop the daily disciplines that lead to success in any small business.  We cannot imagine the Olympic runner pausing between laps to check his e-mail or agreeing to grab coffee with a friend in the middle of a scheduled training session. Likewise, as you plan the daily and weekly activities that will result in growth and business progress, block out concentrated work periods where nothing is allowed to interrupt. Read more »