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We live in a very anxious time.
Some of the stress is justified, I guess, but when I look at what’s happened for the last decade, or two, or three … a lot of what I felt at the time didn’t really make anything better.
So I try to maintain a little perspective.
Read the rest of this entry »I’ve seen a growing number of conversations recently about certain industries which tend to be collaborative. Here in northern Colorado, one of the most popular is the micro-breweries, who tend to be open, sharing, and generous.
That might seem odd because there’s a high concentration of these businesses here, but it’s still the mindset of how they work. It’s attractive, energetic, and creative.
Others have noticed that our community of startups seems to be MUCH more collaborative here than in, say, the San Francisco Bay Area. When people travel there, they notice that the environment seems much more competitive and protective.
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Our dryer broke down yesterday, right in the middle of doing laundry. So I had the joy of sitting in the laundromat feeling quite annoyed.
It’s not like I didn’t have work to do!
But business DOES impinge on personal, and vice versa. If you just got beat up by a customer, there’s a good chance your family is going to feel the aftereffects.
We’d like to think that we can neatly compartmentalize these things.
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SOME DAYS YOU WONDER if it’s even worth getting out of bed.
Yes, frustration happens. Customer problems. Employee problems. Inventory screwups. The bank called. That lovely notice from the IRS.
This kind of stuff can send you into a serious tailspin. For weeks.
WE SEEM TO HAVE a whole lot of things going on right now. Clients. Projects. Presentations. Prospects.
And, for whatever reason, I’m hearing similar things from a lot of other people as well.
This happens. But how do we keep from getting stressed out when things are super busy?
T
here are days when it all feels hopeless.
I get that; it happens to all of us. The question is: how do you know when to pull the plug entirely, rather than just suck it up?
Here’s where you want to start:
THE CUSTOMER IS COMPLAINING. That employee didn’t show up for work. It’s getting near tax time and you’re not sure what that’s going to look like. And the dog needs to go to the vet.
And that’s just in the first 15 minutes this morning.
Running a successful business is a challenge every minute of every day. Guess what? The buck stops with the business owner, so it seems like you’re sucked into EVERYthing.
There’s a way to deal with this, and I’m not talking drugs.
MANY YEARS AGO I started using the concept of “Just-In-Time Worrying.” The basic idea is that there’s an appropriate time to worry about something, but often people make it into a protracted period of unfocused anxiety.
And, with perspective, you might even discover that something isn’t worth worrying about at all.
For me, it’s often a spiritual journey. Read the rest of this entry »
OUR MODEL OF BALANCE tends to be quite static.
Stable. Unchanging.
Unachievable in real life.
Because, in real life, you’re constantly running. Things are changing every minute, every day, every year.
The very instant you think you’ve achieved stability, it gets destroyed by the things you’re doing and what’s happening in the world.
EVERYTHING IS A DISASTER. 
Or at least it seems that way.
But you get a different perspective when you’re able to reflect after the fact. It’s human nature.
We’re expert at focusing on the detail. If we didn’t do that, the magnitude of everyday experience would overwhelm us! But it also means that we shut out 99% of the world to focus on the 1%.
Especially when it comes to problems.
The Values-Based Business 