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Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius

I’m a sucker for an underdog story.

Now, I’m not a ‘cry at the movies’ type of guy. But every time ‘Rudy‘ comes on and they cheer him onto the field, I start balling like a baby. Now it isn’t because I’m a guy and it’s a football movie, it’s much more than that.

It’s about a kid with few natural gifts and very little means who dreams big. He gets knocked down over and over again. Yet, he still gets up ever time. No matter how many people tell to quit, he never does.

Sound familiar? To me that’s the story of the struggling small business owner. That’s the story I love. The story I relate to.

My point:
We each find inspiration in different ways. For me, it may be watching a movie or reading a business biography. The trick is to find what inspires you and to leverage that energy to keep yourself going.

For many people, this is can be an extremely difficult time of the year. The holiday season has past, the credit card bills are coming in, our diets our slipping, the days are short and gloomy — and we’ve got the whole year ahead of us. It’s daunting.

So if you find yourself feeling unfocused or uninspired — take some time this week to reignite your love. Revisit your favorite books or movies. Call up a mentor. Use every took at your disposal to stoke those fires so you can tackle your work with zeal.

Don’t let yourself go into work dreading the week ahead. If you aren’t having fun, step back and figure out what you need to do to change that dynamic.

Paul over at Idea Sandbox wrote an absolutely wonderful article on paving your life’s roadmap. It hearkens back to similar concepts, ala David Allen’s Treasure Map etc. But this is perhaps the most detailed ‘one page’ I’ve seen yet.

I tend to learn from other people’s examples. This article provides a ton of juicy visuals you can follow along with as you build your own roadmap.

Paul calls out these basic steps for building your roadmap:

1. List Your Passions – Make a list of all the things you are passionate about.
2. Identify Values – Group your passions into themes.
3. Set the Situation – Determine what conditions should exist for you to feel you’re fulfilling your Values.
4. Reveal Action Steps – Identify what daily activities you should be doing to fulfill your Values.
5. Visual Report Card – Draw a graph to visualize and assess your current status. (Don’t worry, no drafting tools required).
6. Take Action / Follow Your Roadmap – Now that you have the keys. Get behind the wheel and follow this plan to drive your life.

It then goes on to explain in detail how to approach each of these steps.

If building you own Roadmap is something you’ve wanted to do, but never knew how to start. I highly recommend this great article.

Learn how to Pave Your Life Roadmap.
photo credit: donnas_diddlens

Whatever you can do, or dream you can begin it; boldness has genius, power and magic in it.
Johann wolfgang Von Goethe

I coach business owners on the business planning, goal setting, and the importance of having outcomes established before acting.

But there’s a time for planning and there’s a time for action.

I say we make today ‘Get It Done, Monday.’

Some questions to get you started:

• What have you been wanting to start on that you just haven’t had the chance?
• What project, while important to your business, has just sat on the shelf with little or no movement on it?
• What would you do if you HAD to get it by Friday? What if you had to get it done today?
• What does ‘done’ mean? What’s your successful outcome?
• What resources would you need? What resources do you have?
• How many hours would it take of your time?
• Where would you start? What the first thing you need to do?

Good luck and have a great week!

You have established your small business, chosen superstar employees and are well on your way to success. People have chosen to work at your company for a variety of reasons, but one of their primary motivations is likely the small company feel — they believe they can really make a difference. Probably, working at your company is more than just a job to them, but rather something to which they are committed.

In addition, yours and their dreams are big you both want the company to grow and succeed. But how can you ensure that you keep that small company feel that you and your employees cherish while still growing?

Culture can be a particularly important consideration for small businesses. A healthy company culture may increase employees’ commitment and productivity, while an unhealthy culture may inhibit a company’s growth or even contribute to business failure. In a healthy culture, employees view themselves as part of a team and gain satisfaction from helping the overall company succeed. When employees sense that they are contributing to a successful group effort, their level of commitment and productivity, and thus the quality of the company’s products or services, are likely to improve.

In contrast, problems with the corporate culture can play a major role in small business failures. Employees in an unhealthy culture tend to view themselves as individuals, distinct from the company, and focus upon their own needs. They only perform the most basic requirements of their jobs, and their main and perhaps only motivation is their paycheck. Some warning signs of a failing company culture particularly in the small business realm include increased turnover, a lack of honest communication and understanding of the company mission and declining quality and customer satisfaction, to name a few.

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