Beliefs and Views Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Nuggets of Wisdom from 40 Years of Self Employment

Do you think of yourself as a positive thinker?

April 19, 2021 No Comments

I am a positive person. Why? What made me that way?

The Beatles were together as a group during my formative years from 1960 to 1970 (when I was 10 to 20 years old) and their music really influenced me. I even had a poster of Paul my favourite Beatle hanging in my bedroom.

Most of their songs were positive from She Loves You to Good Day Sunshine to Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da. Do you know the song Let It Be by the Beatles?

I watched James Corden’s “Carpool Karaoke” in which he was driving around Liverpool with Paul McCartney https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjvzCTqkBDQ . Each time they sang a song I laughed or cried. Every one of them reminded me of my youth.

I started thinking that perhaps Beatles’ music affected me in another way than I had thought. Could it be another of the reasons I’m so positive?

When I say positive, I don’t mean “Pollyana-ish”. I’m not positive all the time. I’m human and sometimes I feel down – but not for longer than a day or two. I always look for something good in everything that happens. There’s sunshine behind every cloud.

Positive thinking allows me to be self employed, look for the good in everything that happens especially when it’s a “bad” thing, not take things personally, look at problems as opportunities for learning, have hope that the pandemic will end, be curious, and so on. (More about positive thinking to come in another post.)

Was I born a positive thinker? No. No one is.

So be positive and as the Beatles say “Here Comes the Sun”. Here it is for you to listen to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mc1ta1UMGeo

Beliefs and Views, Small Business

How to make technology your friend

April 9, 2021 2 Comments

Do you see technology as a friend or foe?

When I was a kid in the 50s and 60s, all phones were black and had dials, typewriters were manual, cameras had film and music was on records. Now in 2020, phones are “dialed” by tapping on them, typewriters don’t exist, your phone is your camera that takes photos and videos, and music is on mp3 players. Oh how technology changes the way things are done! By the way, why do we still say that we dial a number when we actually press buttons? Hmmm.

All of these were technology AND everyone knew how to use them. So why are many people afraid of technology today? There are lots of reasons even if people use it often.

it’s too difficult to learn
I don’t need to use all the features
I can’t learn/ use it
I’m too old
I don’t have time to learn it

**Picture from pixabay by TheDigitalArtist / 7307 images**

It comes down to the fact that all of us have difficulty with change. In the 70s people said “I’m not mechanically inclined”. Now they say “I’m not technically savvy”.

My belief then as now is that it’s mindset. I don’t know who said “if you think you can, you can and if you think you can’t, you can’t” or something like that.

What can YOU do?

First and foremost you can change the mindset that you have that says “I can’t do technology.” In order to do that, there are several things you can do.

1. take one technology and learn what it can do and what it can do for you in your business or personal life. As an example, let’s use smartphones. A smartphone can be known as a mobile or cellphone. It has an operating system (like a computer does), can allow you to take photos and videos, record notes you may have, check and respond to email and look at posts and websites. It can be your media player (mp3s), it has a touchscreen and can run 3rd-party apps. Decide which apps you need. Become a knowledgeable consumer.

2. find an expert who won’t use “geekspeak when talking with you and will explain things to you until you understand.

3. find someone to do it for you. I tried my hand at programming several decades ago and decided it wasn’t for me. So whenever I need a new website, I make a list of the features I need, then do due diligence on the person I choose — and voila — it gets done for me!

I know what I want, my web designer answers my “techy” questions as I have them and then teaches me how to use it and how to make content additions or changes myself. And I don’t have to do any programming!

It starts by having an attitude where you say to yourself “I can’t do it so I’ll hire someone who can.” There are lots of things we think we can’t do but in reality we aren’t willing to spend the time needed to learn that thing. But hiring someone could be worth our while. We should be doing the thing we love to do!

Have I succeeded in convincing you that you need to change your attitude? What have you done?

Originally posted January 18, 2015

Beliefs and Views

Treat people with kindness

April 3, 2021 1 Comment

Did people used to be kinder?

I was born in 1950 in London, Ontario, Canada and learned from my mom and dad back then, that you should be kind to everyone. Mom would often talk to complete strangers no matter where she was – on a bus, at a doctor’s office, at the grocery store, or on the street. She had a smile for everyone.

Society in general in 2019 didn’t seem to show that kindness. Was it that the social norms changed? I hope not.

Then along came the pandemic and lockdown. People became kinder and a lot more helpful to all others.

Before the pandemic, people spent more time looking down at their Smartphones and replying to messages than looking up and speaking to people around them. And when they did look up, it was too often to say something unpleasant.

Do they still behave that way now that more people are “out and about” albeit it with masks and distancing here in Canada?

I hope not. My wish is that people remember their kindnesses and helpfulness to everyone.

I had a debilitating stroke in 2005 when I was 55 and have poor balance (among other things) for which I have to use a walker. Since then, I’ve personally experienced the kindness of people – opening doors for me or offering to reach something in the grocery store or to help in general. During this pandemic when I don’t go out since I’m at higher risk because of my health and my age, friends call me to see how I’m doing and if they can do anything to help.

Here’s another example from my life …

My mastermind group sent me a spring flower basket on April 26, 2020. It was a wonderful surprise and I smiled every time I looked at it. When the flowers in it died, I gave the bulbs from them to my brother to plant in his garden and he took the ivy and the pussywillow in the basket and planted them in a pot for me.

I think it’s how you CHOOSE to see the world around you. I see kindness. Don’t get me wrong. I know there is evil too. I watch the news.

I choose to be kind because I can. It doesn’t matter how others respond to it, this is what I choose to do. Because I can.

What do YOU choose?

P.S. My favourite song is Somewhere Over The Rainbow. I believe and know because I’ve seen it, that after every storm is a blue sky and a rainbow. I grew up on Rainbow Avenue. Is that a coincidence?

Beliefs and Views

Fear or excitement .. YOU choose which one

March 9, 2021 No Comments

photo by hanos-papazoglou-lgg_OWohtio from unsplash.com

Can the same incident cause fear in one person and excitement in another? The answer is yes.

In the early 1990s, I took a course called Mastery of Learning. To illustrate a point he was making, the instructor, Chris Welsh used a story from his own life as an example.

“Imagine this”, he said. “You’re in a small plane, learning how to skydive. You’ve had lots of training in a classroom on the ground and now you’re in the plane and about to jump. Oh by the way, you’re over the water near one of the islands of Hawaii and need to jump so you land on the land.”

“You step out onto the wing, holding on to the strut. Physically you feel sick to your stomach. You get to choose whether that feeling is fear or excitement. The physical feeling is the same for each one. You choose your emotion.”

I’ve remembered that story many times in my life. Each time, I remind myself that I get to choose the emotion – fear or excitement.

The choice is yours. What do YOU choose?

Beliefs and Views

Make someone’s day with a thank you note

February 19, 2021 No Comments

Do you send thank you notes?

One of the things that puts a smile on someone’s face is receiving a thank you note by physical mail.

Have you received them? How did you feel?

Writing the two words thank you is a powerful way to create and build a relationship.

It could be a message of thanks to someone you’ve lost touch with, a friend, a relative, a former manager, old co-worker or client. Maybe it’s a note to someone at a networking group you were at or to someone who did you a favour. It could be to a family member telling them of a lesson you learned from them.

It benefits both of you.

An article by Laura Vanderkun quotes from research she did. “One study found that people underestimate how happy recipients will be when they receive thank-you letters.”

Don’t just send an email. Take the time to write and mail a thank note. The person will smile and feel warm and fuzzy all over when they receive it.

They will think of you. They may even call you and thank you 🤗

Published as well in medium.com

Beliefs and Views, Small Business

How being a schoolteacher prepares you for entrepreneurship

February 17, 2021 No Comments

photo credit: Cultural viewpoints from around the world from photopin.com and flickr.com

You’ve probably been a schoolteacher if you’re a woman over 55.

I was born in 1950 when women had three career choices. You could be a school teacher, a secretary or a nurse. I chose to be a teacher since I knew even then that I wouldn’t be one forever.

Since attending university in the late 60s and early 70s, I’ve wanted to have my own business. I taught elementary school for 8 years from 1972 to 1980. Little did I know then that teaching would give me the skills I’d continue to use as a business owner.

In the summer of 1978 I taught how to use computers in the classroom as a course to other teachers BEFORE you needed credentials to teach it. Nancy Murray a Superintendent in the Windsor Separate School Board took a risk on me. I had 40 elementary school teachers in my class that summer. That was the beginning of my self employment journey. I’d started.

Being a teacher is one of the best things you can do.

Many of us have been teachers and most don’t know that teaching prepares you to become an entrepreneur who starts and runs your own business.

Here are some of the many skills that teaching gave us.

being “teachable”. Learning what you need to know through professional development.
short term and long term planning. (Do teachers still create “day plans” and “weekly plans”?)
running a large group. When I started in 1972 I had 42 students in my first year. Did that ever prepare me!
risk taking
persistence
patience
goal setting. You set goals for yourself each year, for the class and especially if you taught special education as I did, you set goals for each individual student as well.
speaking to a group. You know how to speak to a group and if you had the courage, you also spoke to groups of your peers.
educating!!!
how people learn. As a teacher it was in the curriculum at teachers’ college.
how to research offline and online
“reading, writing and of course arithmetic”
creativity. You had to make do with what you had and therefore if you didn’t have something you used your creativity to make what you needed from what you had.
listening to and knowing the individual needs of your students/ clients
… and of course …being your own boss (I guess that’s why I liked Special Education so much.)

I could go on and on.

Do you see how as a teacher you have the skills needed as a business owner? What you don’t know yet is how to start a business but you know how to learn, don’t you? Well that’s all you need.

I and most entrepreneurs didn’t take courses on how to start a business. They and I learned what we needed as we went along using trial and error. Sure we made mistakes. Didn’t your students when they were learning? We read books, took classes, attended conferences and hired coaches.

Take a risk and start your own business. Ask for help when you need it. And keep learning. That’s what keeps us young!

As the Nike slogan says just do it .

What else would you add to this list?

Originally posted October 23, 2012

Beliefs and Views

Treasure mundane moments

February 13, 2021 1 Comment

Having tea and cake — photo by roman-kraft on unsplash.com

(This post was written pre-pandemic AND it’s even more true in the second year of it.)

One of my brothers and his wife had driven from my hometown of London, Ontario to Toronto to pick up their son for his Christmas visit so I had lunch with all of them before they drove back. We had great food, a stimulating and funny conversation and had the waitress take pictures of the four us. All in all, it was a really pleasant time.

This supposedly small event was a really big one for me. I don’t get out often because of the stroke so what are everyday events to others are huge for me.

Here are some examples of what you may think of as “everyday” activities that people take for granted.

going to a grocery store,
having a conversation via phone or even better a video call (I use zoom, facetime and facebook messenger),
having lunch with a friend either out in a restaurant or at your home,
going through old photo albums alone or showing the pictures in them to someone,
getting an unexpected phone call,
getting an email with a surprise gift – not for your birthday or Christmas but “just because”
watching a movie with family at their home
going to a dentist appointment
getting a “just because” card by PHYSICAL mail
going to a doctor’s appointment

They’re all opportunities that may seem mundane and so we take them for granted.

Writing this article reminded me once again that what’s most important in life is to live in the present.

In the story I used at the beginning of our Christmas lunch, people were outside the restaurant rushing to do their last minute Christmas shopping but my family and I focused on being together.

Remember ….

Appreciate every moment that you have.

Each is a gift so don’t squander them.

Be aware and be present.

Take a picture so that when you look at it later you’ll remember the feeling you had.

Give your future self the joy of rediscovering the feeling you had in what seem like everyday moments ❤️

Beliefs and Views, Small Business

Do people come to you for info? Are you a resource?

January 19, 2021 No Comments

Whether you’re a novice business owner or an experienced one you already may be known as a resource. When I was a schoolteacher and now in business, people always think of me as someone who has heard of nearly everybody or everything. And if I don’t know something or someone I suggest someone who knows. That makes me a resource.

So if I can’t help you then I can recommend someone who can. You may need a copywriter, a cleaner, a massage therapist, a photographer, a web designer, a lawyer or something else.

After all, I’ve been in business and networking for 40 years so I know lots of people!

How to give someone the name of people you recommend

Send an email yourself. Put both people in the “To” line. Introduce them to each other. Tell where you and the referral met and why you think the referee and her business could use her services. Then leave it to them.

Always ask that they use your name

The person will remember who you are and it becomes another way to build relationships. When the time comes that they need your services they’ll think of you. Who knows?

Here is an example of how it can work

I was at a networking event and told a colleague that I needed a cleaner. She brought me a flyer of one who was at the networking event we were attending. I saw the name of that network event’s leader Deanne Kelleher of Kaos Group as a referral in the brochure so I asked Deanne about them. She said they’re really good. But there’s more! She said that if they weren’t right for me she knows others.

So I called the cleaner and used her and her work was great!

Remember that you need to describe what you need as precisely as you can when you ask.

As women, we’re good at giving, aren’t we?

What service did you need and someone gave you the name of someone she uses or knows. It happens all the time! Comment here and share their contact info with everyone.

Originally posted on March 10, 2012

Beliefs and Views

What DO you or I have control over?

January 4, 2021 4 Comments

I have always dreamt a lot. The stroke in 2005 resulted in poor balance and other limitations and as a result I use a walker. However, in my dreams, I rarely have a walker.

The following was one of the three or four dreams since 2005 in which I was using my walker.

I usually remember my feelings during and after a dream and several details of it. So when I woke up, I spent most of that day figuring out what it was teaching me. I think the overriding theme of it was control and the lack of it. I can’t take control of my health, my ability to do some physical things myself, the need for infusions every 2 weeks, and my ability to drive.

I didn’t want to dwell on the list of things I don’t control but I needed to think of them before I started to make a list of things I CAN control.

No one has control of everything.

Things happen. As the saying goes … “the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry”. Why do so many people tell you to plan especially when you’re in business for yourself if planning doesn’t work?

Well it does. Write a plan, stick to it AND be flexible enough to change it when something unexpected happens.

But I digress. This article is about control and I don’t believe that one has it in life. However, you CAN control how you react. I have had many personal experiences of this.

Examples

In the first year after the stroke in 2005, people often asked me if I ever thought “why me?”. I would answer ”maybe once for a few hours when I was in a rehabilitation hospital”. At the time I didn’t think this an unusual answer but I’ve learned since that many people who have strokes become depressed because they can’t do things they used to.

I’ve always believed that one can choose a positive or CAN DO attitude or depression or “why me?”.

Another example is driving which I can’t do any more. I choose to take taxis or to call friends to get a ride. That means planning AND asking for help.

You can choose how you will react and behave so you DO have control.

Here’s what I CAN control

Much of what I eat

Dressing – what I wear

What I read – books, ebooks, emails, social media posts, blogs etc

What I have around me in my apartment

To whom I send cards

The people I call or spend time with

What I take photos of

What time I go to sleep and then what time I get up etc…..

AND my reaction to the many things I can’t do because of the stroke and to the many things that happen to me.

You get the idea. I focus and give my limited energy to things I CAN control and not those I can’t.

What’s your opinion? What CAN you control in your life?

Beliefs and Views, Small Business

How fishing is like entrepreneurship

November 14, 2020 No Comments

How, you ask? Have faith in your dream!

I watched the movie “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” and to me, the theme of it was to have faith in your dream. In summary, Fred Jones played by Ewan McGregor, is a fisheries expert and academic who works for the British government. When he’s approached by Harriet Chetwode-Talbot played by Emily Blunt with a plan to introduce salmon into the waterways of Yemen for the purpose of sport fishing, he laughs off the scheme, claiming it impossible.

The movie is based on Paul Torday’s novel, a political satire that was a best-seller in the UK. It’s an English movie too and I love them because they aren’t full of “blockbuster” film qualities as American movies are.

How is it like entrepreneurship?

When you fish you have to wait a long time to catch anything, don’t you? It could take 100s of hours before you feel that magical tug on your line. But you do it anyway. You may go fishing to enjoy nature and its beautiful scenery and the sounds of water flowing and for the stillness fishing creates in you. There are no phones ringing, no email and no noises of a busy city – silence.

This is a lot like starting your own business. You believe in your idea but like fishing it may take a long time to reach success as you’ve defined it. You persevere anyway. And you have patience.

Entrepreneurship means that you see problems as mysteries to be solved no matter how long it takes.

I was re-reading one of Tad Hargrave’s posts recently. This one was about Slow Marketing.

In it he describes how marketing or building your business is like having a cup of tea. One sips tea. One doesn’t gulp it like one does coffee.

So have faith. Believe in your dream. Persevere. Be patient and wait. Success will come.

Tell us about one time when you believed in your dream – when others around you were saying “Give it up”.

Originally posted March 27, 2012