Growth Sparks
“Education is the ability to meet life’s situations.”
Last week while quickly picking up some dinner items at the grocery store, I heard a short and sweet conversation between a father and son. The father said to the 5 year old boy in a very exuberant voice, “No, Uncle Jimmy is an entrepreneur!” The boy replied, “THAT’s cool!”
It really made me smile inwards at the connotation that the term Entrepreneur has taken on. This father and son conversation sparked memories of when I was a child myself, when both my dad and his sister (my Aunt Norma) were “entrepreneurs” - although that term was never used.
I simply knew that they both were very enterprising with quite a variety of businesses between the two of them along their way.
They even opened businesses right next door to each other. My dad owned a construction company, and my Aunt owned the beloved, Busy Bee Restaurant.
It got my cousins, myself and my siblings to engage in playing “business” as we emulated our parents.
Anyone who has ever worn the title of Entrepreneur knows it can be at times anything but glamorous. Having now officially worn worn the Entrepreneur hat consistently for the last 30+ years, I feel that in many ways it’s just like parenting with the physically exhausting cute baby and toddler years, followed by the mentally exhausting teenager years. You simply have to grin and bear it at times, knowing the love deep down will get you through. Knowing as well, how much a part of you it can become.
The truth is that through all of the rain and all of the fires, those of us that lead the life of an entrepreneur can’t really imagine doing things any other way. In fact, Aunt Norma’s restaurant ended up having major fire damage that resulted in it closing down permanently. She put the restaurant idea on hold for a couple of years and dabbled in a few other things before a new opportunity happened in a another city and she was back in business. That restaurant as well was quite a family affair. She was able to move past the set back of losing everything and rebuild. Something she did a number of times in her life.
What I believe gets us past the “fires” is not self-medicating, but rather self-educating. I try to learn at a minimum of one new thing a day, as it makes me consistently stronger in every way. This constant learning allows the good air to come in and lets the bad air out. How about you?
With the abundant days of summer before us, how do you plan on growing and what education do you commit to learning over the course of the summer months ahead? When we are constantly growing physically, mentally, and emotionally, we are able to meet life’s challenging situations when they unexpectedly flare up.
Here’s 3 options for you to spark growth:
1) Physical - Restoring Strength Summer Camp
I joined this fun and highly beneficial program last year and will be definitely be there again this year. Pay attention to your body, learn a lot about what makes it thrive. For those of you in the area there is also the additional benefit of having some great Boulder hikes . Come join us and I would love to have the opportunity see you in person! http://www.restorationfitness.net/90daysummercamp
2) Mental - Marketing Mastery Program
Take a deep dive into how to make the marketing arm of your business super strong in this digital age. Learn more about this program at http://victorycircles.com/marketingmastery
3) Emotional - Explore New Things
Commit to going out and doing something you have never done. This could be eating at that recently opened restaurant, or it could even be as simple as taking a different route home from work or saying hi to your new neighbors down the street. Once a week is ideal, but even once a month will provide growth. You never know what you might uncover!
The night of this last full moon, my husband Ed and I decided to head up Flagstaff Mountain here in Boulder to watch the moon rise over the eastern plains. I have seen a sunrise many times before atop this overlook, but as we got up there in the early evening, it occurred to us that in all of the years we have lived here we had yet to see a moonrise at this spot!
We brought a little sushi picnic and it was a simple yet awesome date night. As you can see, I got some really great shots of the local animals that joined in our fun of watching the moon rise ;)
Here’s to a most excellent summer ahead!
