It's so important to remember to enjoy the ride of life and work.  Savor new relationships, celebrate the wins, cherish the hard moments that lead to breakthroughs.  All of it is part of a journey, a long ride, that we have to remember to be grateful for so that we can endure the highs and lows.  

Disappointments lead to new decisions and opportunities so we have to learn to enjoy those too.  Being an entrepreneur is challenging but we all chose this ride because we had an idea of something that we wanted to accomplish, so remember to enjoy it!

So much of how we feel about what we do is about the lens that we are looking through.  With just a slight tweak of perspective, we can go from feeling negative about something to feeling optimistic. We constantly tell ourselves things and integrate experiences to have meaning.  A small shift in how we view an action, relationship, experience, or frustration can dramatically change our energy level towards ourselves and our work.  Often processing with a friend or professional can help us see these patterns and shift to a more positive and productive outlook.  

Summer is a great time to refresh.  Everyone seems to be on a more relaxed schedule so why not join the party if you can!  A time to breathe, reflect, enjoy friends and family.  The pace is different in the summer and sometimes if we try to do business as usual it can be frustrating because other people's schedules and efforts often change in the summer.  Instead of fighting against this tide, try to embrace the pace, be productive when you can, and maybe relax a little too.  Sometimes it is actually when we are not working that we have a "light bulb" moment so embrace summer and see what epiphanies come to you!

Life is all about relationships. Friendships, work relationships, acquaintances, mentors; life literally boils down to communication and connection.  We are constantly connecting with others and deciding moment to moment what our impact is on the world around us through our interactions.  

Life is richer and more productive when you find meaningful connection with others. Whether interacting with customers, strategizing with employees, or chatting at a networking event,  try to stay in the moment.  I recently heard someone say that they look at networking as a time to make a new friend.  When seen through this lens, networking becomes a time not for superficial conversation but instead for genuine connection. When looking at our daily lives this way, I find it much more enjoyable and satisfying.  

My word for the new year is "present".  I want to be present in the moments that I am living and working.  This also means to be focused and not distracted.  Whether in a conversation, meeting, speaking with a customer, spending time with my children, writing an email or talking on the phone, I want to try my best to be present.

Being present takes work because we are all so distracted by our phones and the overall juggle of life.  Our minds constantly jump around to all of the things that we need to be doing.  We also tend to think about what is next or what we are working towards when it is equally important to think about what we are doing right now.  Being intentional helps me to accomplish goals so stating that my word for 2019 is Present has already impacted my days in the first week of the new year.  I feel myself correcting or re-centering when my brain isn't truly focused on the moment.  Picking a word or mantra for the new year is a great way to reflect on how we want to better ourselves and our day to day experience.  I highly recommend it!

 As the year comes to a close, it is so important to reflect.  Celebrate wins, think about what has been accomplished, and also ponder what didn't get done.  What were your disappointments?  What have you been putting off? What did you overcome?  What big decisions did you make? What do you wish you had done differently? What are you most proud of?

When you take the time to reflect and pause, it is always amazing to see how far you have traveled.  It also can get you energized for what is to come and prevent you from making the same mistakes.  Regrouping and reflecting is necessary for refocusing and setting goals for the new year.  Don't focus on the negative, note things that you wish had gone differently and then pivot to action.  Gain some clarity on your year and get geared up for what is to come!

It is so important to be open.  Open to people, ideas, opportunities, mistakes.  Being open is being aware.  Being open is seeking knowledge, learning more about something, exploring new situations, and finding out answers to questions.

It is very easy to close ourselves off into our world, our businesses, and our work, but if we forget to look up and look around we miss new connections and new possibilities.  Being open allows us to explore, get energized, and learn from others.  There are so many doors that are open for each of us if we are open to them, so remember to be aware and engage with the world around you and seek out new people and experiences that can enrich your world.  It may be meeting a new mentor or friend, it may be an idea that someone suggests that you hadn't thought of about a direction to take in your business, it may be reflecting honestly about a critique, or it may be just deciding to try something new!

Failing is a core element of success.  We all fail and we all fail often.  Perhaps we choose a path and it ends up being a dead end. Perhaps we are told no by someone that we really wanted to say yes.  Moments of failure and disappointment are critical to success.  They teach us who we are are and where we want to go.  The lessons that we learn guide us through our next critical decisions. Failing leads us to reflect, make choices, persevere, and often pivot.  

The key is to learn from failure and not have those disappointing moments weigh you down.  Failure is a stepping stone to success.  Use those moments to propel you forward, armed with new and important information.  Often, we learn more from what didn't work, than what worked.  These lessons are fundamental to success and need to be seen as creating wisdom and making you stronger.

In whatever we do, it is so important to find your community.  Actually, to build your own community.  Whether it is tapping into entities in your town or city, networking with friends or friends of friends, or finding other mentors and resources to draw from, building a community of support is essential to success.  

Your community can be made up of people who offer varying levels of support.  Some people can be people who offer advice or referrals, some can provide answers to fundamental questions from a place of expertise, some can be people who know you well enough to give honest and direct feedback. All of these types of resources are essential to feeling knowledgeable, connected, and on track.  A community is also always in flux so keep finding the right make-up of people to support you in your endeavor.  Be open to meeting new people to add to your community and take advantage of resources that are available to you.  Entrepreneurs often feel isolated, and it is up to us to be open to the support around us and to create our own community.

After running Myself Belts for over a decade, I have learned the cyclical nature of my business.  June is always the quietest month, with its post school/summer/shorts/dresses/casual vibe.  For many years, June stressed me out.  I hated that it was so quiet and yearned for a way to increase June's business.  I worried...what if business doesn't pick back up??

After a few years I learned that the back to school season quickly comes in mid-July and perhaps instead of spending June feeling down about the quiet, I should instead embrace the quiet with confidence.  I know we will be busy again in July, so perhaps I should use the quiet time to plan, regroup, and reflect.  What would it feel like to enjoy the quiet time?  
Embracing the quiet with confidence feels pretty great.  Seeing friends who I am often too busy to have lunch with in the middle of the day.  Reading a business book that I have been meaning to read.  Strategizing with employees about better practices for fulfillment or customer service.  Or just enjoying my family and the peaceful moments.  Shifting my feelings about June have been remarkable because it has been a shift in my core, not just in action but in true feeling.  I am not self-conscious about our "quiet month".  I own it and see the beauty in it.  I hope you find your peaceful moments too! 

Moving forward.  Each day all you need to do is move thoughtfully forward.  Baby steps may seem small, but it is amazing how far they take you over time.  Taking concrete steps each day propels you through your entrepreneurial journey.  
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So although you may feel that you haven't taken huge leaps, each decision, phone call, connection, light bulb moment, and realization is moving you forward. The only thing that stops movement is inaction, so keep taking baby steps!

As we look to the future and all that we want to accomplish, we often we forget to appreciate how far we have come.  We are so focused on our goals that we sometimes don't focus enough on the present.

Taking a few minutes to realize and own the many successes that have brought us to today, can help to make us feel the strength needed to take on the challenges of tomorrow.

The new year is an exciting time.  It feels like a blank canvas, a time when we are encouraged to set new goals to reach toward.  It's a time when we often re-center ourselves, think about what is important and what we want to prioritize in both our work and our personal lives.

I love the energy at the beginning of the year because everyone around us seems to be having the same internal conversations.  We are all rooting for each other and there is an abundance of enthusiasm for taking chances and stepping out of our comfort zone.  Think about your goals and dreams and what it will take to reach them! 

Honesty is critical to moving ourselves and our businesses forward.  Being truthful with ourselves about our worries, fears, and insecurities is critical to success.  When we are honest we know where we stand, as we are standing on a solid foundation. When we are planning honestly and strategically, we can seek out the proper help we need and also discard what is not working.  

​Being honest with ourselves is not easy.  We often don't want to admit our true worries and we don't want to face our weaknesses.  We want to feel strong.  But actual strength lies in truth, and only when we are honest with ourselves about what we really want and what is truly in our way can we get there.

We are often way too hard on ourselves.  We need to decide to give ourselves a break and cut ourselves some slack.  There are some days and weeks where we won't be as productive as we had hoped, when we we didn't do what we planned, when we didn't rise to the challenge, when we let ourselves down.  It is crucial that we don't sit in that space.  You can't dwell in the past.

Each day, we wake up to a new day and a blank canvas.  If today wasn't what you hoped it would be, channel that to  tomorrow. Start each day with a fresh energy.  Start a new list, give yourself new deadlines, and work from a place of empowerment.

I read a quote recently that really resonated with me about energy.  It was in the book Insight, by Tasha Eurich. She discusses "fit" with people, jobs, family, etc.  She poses a question, "at the end of the day, is your environment creating energy or taking it away?".  

To me, this is a pivotal way to thing about our lives as entrepreneurs. The goal is to create energy and success, and therefore we want to analyze what nurtures and hinders our goals.  Reflecting on the elements and people that provide energy to both ourselves and our businesses, provides an important level of awareness that can help to move us to a path of feeling empowered.  

As an entrepreneur it is often hard to focus.  There are so many aspects of our business that pull us in different directions. Aside from daily work, we also carry the business vision and need to find time to focus on higher level strategy. These many forces can be distracting and can make us feel overwhelmed.  

​There is an element to entrepreneurship that requires feeling comfort in the chaos. There are, however, ways to maintain focus and feelings of control. Having an overarching plan (weekly,monthly,etc.) can serve as a guide amidst the craziness of running a business. When an entrepreneur functions knowing that there is a strategic blue print, focus is maintained.  There may be days and weeks that go awry, but the plan is in place and this keeps the business owner on course and empowered.

Emotion.  It is the root of all that we do.  It motivates us, hinders us, confuses us, and empowers.  Feelings affect everything, even in business.  Taking the time to understand our motivations and insecurities helps to clear the path for success.  

Once we have clarity about ourselves and our goals, intentional decisions can be made.  Whether it is journaling, talking with a friend, or consulting with a professional; examining one's feelings surrounding work related decisions and relationships are critical.