Travelling away from home can add a little bit of glamour to your business role, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t come without a ton of stress and strain. Working away from the office, being out of your comfort zone and missing out on time at home with your family is definitely exhausting and can take the shine off of the sparkle associated with a jet-set lifestyle.

As a businessperson, you know the importance of acting efficiently and assertively when you travel. However, going abroad on business on your own may feel a little daunting. Rather than getting caught up in the worry of globetrotting solo, relax the night before your flight in one of the Heathrow hotels from Travelodge. Having an extra day on either end of your travel will help you feel more refreshed and better adjusted to the time zone you are in.

Here are some additional travel tips to help you on your journey!

Travel Tips:

• Make sure your luggage fits the standard cabin bag measurements and requirements. This can significantly cut down on the time it takes you to check in, meaning less of your valuable minutes are spent waiting around for before you fly, and collecting your bags once you reach your destination.
• When at home, keep this baggage aside, specifically for business purposes, and keep it topped up with travel essentials. When the time comes for you to travel again, simply top up your bags with suitable attire for your trip, grab your documents wallet and head out to one of hotels from Travelodge.
• As well as suitable luggage, it is important to know how to pack effectively.
• Take just one additional pair of shoes to those you are travelling (black, dark blues and greys wear and travel well and are great shades for business appointments).

• Pack clothing that doesn’t crease easily, such as cottons, giving linen a miss no matter how hot of a country you are travelling to.
• Depending on your designated destination, wise up on the time differences and the affect this may have on your sleep. Nothing is worse than going into an important meeting, jetlagged and unable to concentrate.
• Force yourself to get some sleep on the plane, should it mean that you are back on track when you land abroad. In contrast, it is also important to stay awake as long as possible if the time difference suggests you should do so.
• Don’t forget to stay refreshed. Buy water, fruit and healthy health bars once you pass through security and snack on these during the flight. Try to avoid any unnecessary salts, alcohol or processed foods during your journey.
• Last, but not least, go abroad worry free for your next business trip –- book hotels early, and check out our Travelodge Deals Page for guaranteed lowest rates!

Today’s blog post is about something I feel is Incredibly Important.  It is about shifting — not just shifting one or two beliefs, but it is about changing the way you see the world, your role in the world, and how to better serve.

I have been a Wayne Dyer fan for quite some time.  I have followed his various publications on psychology, spirituality, and various ideas about business and life.  But, it wasn’t until I watched the movie, The Shift that I fully resonated with every word that he spoke.

Dyer speaks about “shifting into a life of meaning”, and the various attributes of this change.  We are no longer motivated by ego, materialism, or even prestige.  We crave solitude, peace, and our whole way of being changes, too.  This is exactly what I have experienced in my life, and want to share some of Wayne’s powerful lessons with you.

A Strong Desire to Be Alone

“Being Alone with Source is not just about feeling good, it’s about a new awareness of my own divinity and what it’s capable of achieving.”

I firmly believe in order to tap into our own creativity, we must be able to spend time alone.  In this time, we can get away from what the world wants from us, and get closer to our own inner thoughts and desires to create what comes through us.

A Pull to Spend More Time In Nature

In nature, we become very aware of the intricacies of the Universe.  Every time I go for a run, or spend time in the ocean, I feel as though I am touching divinity.  Dyer explanes that part of our shift will lead us towards a new awareness of our own divinity.

Realizing that we came from divinity helps us to understand our role we are playing here, and allows us to realize that we, are in fact part of the divinity we see all around us.

Communing With Divinity

“Do you think divinity has any limits?”

Dyer speaks about the importance of meditating, or having quiet time every day.  Regardless of your religeous or spiritual beliefs, we all have the ability to communicate with the divine source that is always available to us.  Being grateful for what we have, and spending time focusing on what we want, or what we need help with will always make us feel better.

And, getting in touch with our ‘limitless divinity’ allows us to see resolution, have faith, and keep going in our darkest hour.

Changing Your Attitude About Life

I was raised in America where the motto might as well be:  Go out and see what you can get from life.

I grew up hearing sayings like:

“The squeaky wheel gets the grease”,

“The early bird gets the worm”,

and “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.”

All of these imply that you need to get out there and force your way into the world and push until you get what you want.  Having lived that way for many years, I can now admit that I have a much simpler, softer approach to life that is much more peaceful.  And, I absolutely love what Dyer hast to say about it:

“Let yourself be lived by life.”

Changing Your Attitude About Ambition

Now, this doesn’t mean we need to just sit on our butts and do nothing.

But it does mean, for example, that we can put Peace higher on our list.  Living a peaceful life has become the most important thing to me.  And while I could be out forcing myself on every opportunity available, I’ve found more recently, that I actually really need to care about each new acheivement and it needs to fulfill some greater aspect of my being.

“As we move into the meaning phase of life, it’s not as though you no longer are ambitious it’s that you have ambitions with meaning, you’re ambitious about other things.”

Letting Go of Ego

As we begin this shift, we invariably need to move away from our usual motives for doing things.  Moving away from ego…

“… competition, being right, basing who you are on what you have or what you do, needing to win, doing things for alkilades, needing people to like you.”

And moving more in the direction of inner peace and having a life of meaning.

Shifting Into a Life of Meaning

Many of you may have had what Dyer calls “Awakening periods”, moments of realization where clarity comes through, and our inner knowing takes over.  He explanes these as “monumental vivid moments of realizations”; and I know just what he means.

I had one of these several years back when I awoke in the middle of the night, cleared off my dining room table, and wrote out my entire consulting program from start to finish.  I have since spent the last 7 years teaching this to other people around the world, and while some of the methods have changed slightly, the overall system has not.

Once you have dedicated yourself to a life of meaning, it then becomes overwhelmingly important to share it with others.

Sharing Your Greater Purpose With Others

Eventually, what will keep you going will be this feeling that is stuck in your gut.  It drives you.  It tells you that you are here to do something big, that you have a purpose, and you are here to determine what it is and find a way to share it with the world.

You may or may not know how you will make money from this, but that will not stop you.  You will continue to give, and serve, and showcase your talent to the world…

No Matter What.

In that process, you will realize two things:

You Are Divine!

“So, the fundamental truth is that you must be like what you came from.  If you came from divinity, you must be divine.  If you hold your hands up and say these are the hands of god, then what does God do whith his hands?  God is just giving, that’s all God knows how to do.”

Once you accept that you are divine, then you realize your own importance.  This is the breakthrough moment when you realize fundamentally that…

You Have Something Important to Offer

“You shift your thoughts from what can I get to how can I offer:  How May I Serve?  If your attention is off yourself, and about giving, the Universe will respond by giving back to you.  The Universe will say ‘How May I Serve You?’”

And this is the point where the Universe realizes that you are for real.  And, you will be supported.  It is not logical, but I have experienced this time and time again.  Each time I begin to feel the fear set in of how I will be taken care of, I go back to service, and I ask myself:

How can I give more?

What do I have that I can offer right now?

And, just as I am writing this now, I know that it is truth…  when you are in a place of service, you are taken care of.

“…you have to be in a place of service, yourself.  That’s when the transition is complete.”

Start Watching The Shift For FREE NOW by clicking here 

Have you started to experience “The Shift”?  Please share your experiences below!!! 

**also, don’t forget that if you want to make your own personal shift, there is still 24 hours left to Sign Up For My Very Discounted Video Course!!!!

Some people believe that the world is going to end soon… and others think there is going to be a major spiritual shift towards enlightenment or empowering humanity.

While the second choice sounds much better to me, it got me thinking, if the world is going to end…

Do I have any Regrets??

If the world were to actually end on December 21st, I would go in peace, knowing that I followed my dream, saw just about every destination I ever wanted to, and ran, jumped, climbed, dove, danced and played everywhere I went… BUT

My only regret, as it turns out, would be for you. My biggest regret would be that more people could be experiencing this kind of lifestyle of happiness and freedom and are not. Many of you are still stuck in the idea that I was for so long… trying to make yourself fit into a system and structure that is not right for you. Wanting more freedom, but not knowing how to get it.

Personally, I felt like I was failing at the system, but, eventually, I realized that the system was failing me.

I needed more, wanted more, and was looking for another way… and, I found one.

My biggest regret would be that I didn’t make a bigger fuss, drum up more attention, and put an offer out that nobody could refuse.

Bringing it to the Masses

In order to encourage you to get started on your dream lifestyle and business Now, instead of later… I am doing a very special promotion…

The end of the world — beginning of spiritual enlightenment blow out sale!!!!

( I hope you are laughing, even a little bit )

The way I see it is this: It is a Win Win investment. You can get started now, and learn more about yourself than you ever have, and be ready for sharing your purpose with the world. It’s like a Spiritual Head Start.

By signing up below, you get 10 free days, and then it is only going to cost you $9 a month to stay in the program. This includes over 40 videos, 10 workbooks, and countless forum tutorials to keep you updated on the most effective ways to grow your business online.

Your Biggest Regret?

Your biggest regret would be the same as mine, knowing you are here with great purpose, and knowing that you could have taken more action towards sharing your gifts with more people, but you didn’t. You didn’t because you were scared. You took your gift for granted and you kept it to yourself.

My challenge for you is to overcome your biggest regret. I have made this program so affordable and simple that ANYONE CAN DO IT.

Invest in a program that will help you clearly define how to turn your passion into profit, design the lifestyle that you have always wanted, and learn the necessary technology to Work from Anywhere in the World.

Click on the 9 to learn more, or the “BUST FREE” Button Below to get this Limited Time Offer!!!

**This program has been sold for $1500 in the past, or $6,000 / year if delivered through personal coaching. My biggest hope is that you will take advantage of this special offer while it lasts, and start working towards your true belief, right purpose, and develop enlightenment in your business and your life!!

If you are like me, which I’m very sure that you are, you may be at a point in your life where you are getting very fed up with The Hype.  By “The Hype”, I mean this:

We are Constantly Being Sold Something.  

Whether it be an idea, a product, information or a destination… the world seems almost at a point of bullying us into a particular direction and trying to make us feel inadequate in one way or another.

Most of the time, I’m annoyed.  I’m bothered by the fact that the media seems to think that I need something that I don’t — and lately most book titles, ad campaigns, and even blogs have been a constant brigade of emphasizing the things that We Don’t Have, or things we Don’t Know How To Do.  Apparently (or, Aledgedly, as my friend Claire likes to say) we don’t seem to have much of anything!

We don’t know how to house ourselves or feed ourselves, or buy the right things, or work in a fast enough way, and we don’t have a six-pack stomach either!!  Can you believe it?!?

One of my clients recently wrote a post that I absolutely love… Do You Really Need to Do More to Achieve More?

And after reading A Feeling Oriented Life – Why I Threw My Garmin Forerunner Off a Cliff, I got inspired enough to write this post.

I just wanted to let you know (in case you didn’t already) that all of these media people are messing with you.  Like, a lot.

The only way that they are able to sell anything is to make you feel like you have to buy it — and the easiest way to manipulate someone is by telling them they are doing something wrong.

But, here are the Facts that I’ve learned about life outside of the Western gravitiational force of Wrong…

You are doing a lot of things Right.  And, you are already fucking awesome.

If you are able to read this post, it means that you are Alive!  Hurray!!  Let’s start there.

Staying Alive

The only things we really need to stay alive are food, water, shelter, and hopefully a decent toilet (preferably not a squat toilet, I still pee on my feet with those).  We need some clothes, nothing fancy, and I’m guessing you’ve got more than enough now for a lifetime.

Part of staying alive is having some kind of income, so we can keep eating some kind of food, and living in some kind of shelter, and wear some kind of clothes.  Check.  Done.  You are Fabulous.

Enjoying Yourself

Since living abroad, and being stripped down repeatedly to the barest of essentials, I have realized that Society, or The Hype has brainwashed us so badly that we don’t think we can eat, shit, or sleep right.  THERE IS A BETTER WAY!!!  It screams, and we line up to buy the next bit.  But, if you are past all of this, and over all of the hype like I am, you can stop playing the Perfection Game (where nobody ever wins) and go and line up for the Fun Game (where the people are all crazy – but in a good way) and start to enjoy yourself a little more.

Enjoyment comes from Allowing Yourself to Enjoy…

It doesn’t come from having more, doing more, or being more.  It comes from within you–letting yourself be imperfect, and enjoying the fact that you are allowed to.

We are all contradictions .. beautiful contradictions

I had a laugh this morning because I have an ashtray beside my running shoes.  I like to smoke cigarettes  sometimes, and I like to be healthy.  So what.

Let yourself be and do stupid things.

This is what keeps you laughing – knowing that you had a bit too much fun on occasion and that no matter how many books you have read or degrees you aquire, you can still go out and kick it with your friends.

Bacon is good.

No matter what any health fanatic says, it is yummy, and I am going to eat it and like it.  I love going to eat with my friends that love food.  My friend Petra actually claps her hands when she loves her food, it’s amazing.

Work is necessary.

But don’t be too serious about wrapping your whole self-image around it, because it is just what you do for food.  If you can do less of it, love it, or leverage your wages to work less, even better.  I’m taking the next two months “off” just to climb and hang out because I feel like it.

Renting is awesome.

You don’t need a big fancy home, been there, done that.  You need a roof over your head, and if someone else can fix it, even better.

Having a goal is good, but enjoying what you have is better.

Try not to metrix-ise your whole life and quantitate every aspect of your being, or you will just end up feeling like you aren’t being/ doing / having enough.  Which, for the record, is exactly what The Hype wants you to believe.

Re-prioritize your life based on how you feel.

If said activity makes you feel awful, stop doing it.  Focus your time on activities and work that you do actually enjoy, and let yourself sink into a natural rhythm doing the things that you love.

Move your body.

Find ways for your body to express itself that feel good to you, and it will make you even happier.  Spending time in nature is awesome, and working out is great because then you can eat more bacon.

Stop letting Society dictate your life.

You know what you like and enjoy already, and if you can minimize the loud push and pull of what ‘everybody else’ is doing / saying / believing, you will hear your voice a little bit louder and begin to trust in the fact that you can do what you want.

All of these things will add to your overall enjoyment of life, reduce your stress, and allow you to appreciate the amazing things that are already available for you.  And you don’t even have to pay $19.95! (because you are already effing awesome.)

We may think that we are complicated individuals.  At times, we may feel separate from others, or that nobody understands.  And, at times, even we may not understand our own actions.  When it comes down to it…  Why do you do what you do — and act how you act?

While you might first consider this to be a difficult question to answer, it is really not.  People are all motivated by one factor:

We Want To Feel Good

It is a Universal fact.  If we have a chance to do something that feels bad, or something that feels good, we will almost always lean towards the situation that feels better!

Where this can get confusing is that we may not understand another person’s actions–because we don’t understand what it is that feels better for them.  However, I had a rather large breakthrough when reading a book by Jerry and Ester Hicks, The Amazing Power of Deliberate Intent:  The Art of Allowing.

This book encourages us to enjoy life, make your intentions clear, but mostly, to understand that our ability to identify our emotions will ultimately help us to realize where we are, and what will make us feel better.  (Remember, we are always wanting to feel good, or better, so the higher we go on this scale, the closer we are getting to our happiness.)

One of the big takeaways is the Emotional Guidance System.  This is a list of emotions from one, feeling the best, to twenty-two, feeling really horrible.  As previously mentioned, we *and everyone around us* are always trying to climb this scale.

Emotional Guidance System Jerry & Ester Hicks

1.  Joy/Appreciation/Empowered/Freedom/Love
2 . Passion
3 . Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Happiness
4 . Positive Expectation/Belief
5 . Optimism
6 . Hopefulness
7 . Contentment
8 . Boredom
9 . Pessimism
10. Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
11. Overwhelment
12. Disappointment
13. Doubt
14. Worry
15. Blame
16. Discouragement
17. Anger
18. Revenge
19. Hatred/Rage
20. Jealousy
21. Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
22. Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness

Have a look at this list, and consider the following:

If you were angry with someone, and feeling hateful, didn’t you feel a little bit better having a thought of revenge (what you would like to do or say)?  Then, maybe you were angry for a bit – eventually got yourself back up the scale to disappointment and worked your way up to feeling good again.  We do this without even recognizing it.  However, we are always attempting to move ourselves up this scale or at least keep ourselves feeling as good as we are.

If you were feeling really good, and someone made a comment to make you feel worse, wouldn’t you do everything in your power to build yourself back up to where you were?

Life can be seen a constant struggle to feel better–or–a constant opportunity for allowing the best of each moment to sink in.

“Mining the moment for something that feels good, something to appreciate, something to savor, something to take in, that’s what your moments are about. They’re not about justifying your existence. It’s justified. You exist. It’s not about proving your worthiness. It’s done. You’re worthy. It’s not about achieving success. You never get it done. It’s about “How much can this moment deliver to me?” And some of you like them fast, some of you like them slow. No one’s taking score. You get to choose. The only measurement is between my desire and my allowing. And your emotions tell you everything about that.”      – Abraham

When we learn to emotionally balance ourselves and feel good or hopeful about ourselves, our future, or what we want, life feels better!!

This works well with the idea that in order to get what we really want, we need to be feeling good about it.  It makes sense that like attracts like, so our biggest job is to continually try to elevate our mood and emotions so that we spend as much time as possible feeling good.

“When you understand your emotions and what they mean, and so, are able to deliberately improve the way you feel through a deliberate choosing of increasingly better-feeling thoughts–there will be no intent that you cannot easily accomplish…All things that you desire will flow quickly and easily into your experience.”

– Abraham

Finding the Magic

We all grew up watching or reading stories of magic.  And whenever there was a spell to be cast, the witch or sorcerer would need to put together a combination of strange ingredients.

One of the things that I’ve realized is that tapping into your creativity can be quite the same experience.  There may be a strange mixture of things that you need to do in order for you to get the creative flow and tap into your own magic.

I realize the “secret ingredients” may be different for each person, but I’m pretty sure that the process itself remains the same.  Take a minute to go through this list and figure out your own personal concoction to cast your next creative spell…

How to channel your creative powers

1. Wear yourself out.
If you are too antsy to get creative, find a way of physically wearing yourself out.  This could be through exercise, or a few days of hard work, but this lets you relax that part of your brain that is programmed for producing concrete, logical results.  If you can calm that part of your nagging inner dialog with an answer of “It’s OK, I just did X”, then you will be more likely to give yourself permission to be creative.

2. Give yourself some couch time.
I never used to be able to do this–mostly because I was stuck in the first step.  But now I’ve realized one of my secret ingredients is to find Zen through watching mindless series of stupid TV shows.  I know it might sound silly, but after a lot of productivity, I need a transition tool before I can get into my creative groove.  If I commit to spending a day at home and grazing through my fridge, there comes a point where I am relaxed enough to receive a creative charge.

3. When inspiration hits, go with it.
If you receive the nudge to sit and write, get out the paint, or make something, stop whatever it is you are doing, and do it.  It might not make logical sense when or where the mood strikes you, but that is the funny thing about creativity–it lives in the cracks between our logic.  Give it an opportunity to come out, and it always will.

4. When it is gone, don’t mourn the loss.
Creativity comes and goes.  I’ve never met a creative person that is in the “zone” all of the time.  It is like dreaming, we need to do something during the day so that we can rest at night.  When the creativity is there, we feel GREAT!  We are inspired, we are free, we are ourselves and it feels fantastic.  But just as sure as it came, it can just as easily go.  Rather than struggling to make it stay, thank it for its visit, and eagerly await its return.

5.  Meditate.
Because I don’t do anything in a traditional way, I also don’t meditate in the sitting cross-legged-buddha-like posture.  If that works for you, great.  But it is difficult for me to sit, so I lie down.  So I take time to relax somewhere flat, and either calm my nerves by focusing on my breathing, listening to positive audio recordings (loving Wayne Dyer at the moment), or repeating a mantra or sound in my head.  Sometimes I “doze off”, but always I feel refreshed, and calmer from the experience.

6.  Make sure inspiration is a part of your life.
When we create, what we are really doing is tapping into Source.  When we do that, we are tuned in, turned on, plugged in.  And, because we may not feel that way all of the time, it is important to keep our energy levels and positive mojo up by other creative and influential people.  I have a strong network of individuals that keep me motivated by seeing what they are doing in their creative life.  I get inspired by seeing their creativity, and remembering that it is out there working through people that I care about.

7.  Share it — Pass it on!
Whatever your magical creative gift is, it wants to be given.  Even if you aren’t sure that you are that great at it, put it out into the world.  Creativity isn’t something that should be locked down, or hidden in a closet.  It wants to be out, happily dancing around and inspiring others to come out and play.  You can’t judge it, control it, or manage it, you can only give it the opportunity to show up in your life, and the promise that because it did, you will keep your end of the promise to share it with others.

To create the best combination of each of these ingredients, you will need to experiment!  A good combination for me has been to be physically active/ working hard for 3 days, take a couch day, and have a few more days to be inspired, read, and ultimately, create.  Every person is different, so take the time to determine your own unique combo (eye of newt, hair of elephant) and I promise you, you will end up with a more regular dose of creativity to cast your magic and share your inspiration with the world!

“When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of person who can live at peace with others.”  –Peace Pilgrim

In 1953, at the age of 45, a woman gave up all of her belongings walked across America promoting peace and harmony.  She relinquished everything– her birth certificate, her social security card, and even her name.  And she took on a new one…

“Peace Pilgrim”

Now, you may have visions in your head of a wondering hippie that was lost on some drug trip for awhile.  This is not the case.  Peace Pilgrim was more like a Mother Teresa—she was a wondering saint.

Between the years of 1953 and 1981 walked over 25,000 miles, vowing to “remain a wanderer until mankind has learned the way of peace, walking until given shelter and fasting until given food.”

I found out about Peace Pilgrim via Wayne Dyer’s audio recording “It’s Never Crowded Along the Extra Mile”.  A fitting title for the recording, and the description of Peace Pilgrim’s life, and what she stood for.

Throughout her 28 years of being a nomad, she came to terms with most of life’s issues.  One of the hardest was finding inner peace.

I was inspired by her story, her mission, and ability to find inner peace in the most hectic of circumstances.  She moved through life helping others where she was needed, and spreading her mission everywhere she went.  In her stories, she explains how most days she wouldn’t know if she would eat, where she was going, and where she would sleep that night.  And yet, she was able to demonstrate pure trust, let go of any fear of being taken care of, and spread her message of love and peace throughout the world.

In my own life, I have found these steps to be fundamental in aceiving inner peace:

• Live simply
• Trust in the process
• Help wherever you are needed
• Know your mission and share it with the world
• Understand that you are living in a kind Universe, and that you will be taken care of
• Spend quiet time everyday connecting to your source and finding beauty in the world
• Share your wants, needs, and desires–let them go–and watch them appear magically before your eyes!!

The more I follow these steps in my own life, the more peaceful and happy I feel.  And then, I begin to experience what Peace Pilgrim discovered on her many miles of walking and serving.  She called these lessons “Symptoms of Inner Peace”.  You could know you were on the right track to achieving inner peace when these things started or stopped showing up in your life.

10 Symptoms of Inner Peace

1. Have a tendency to Think and act Spontaneously
2. Unmistakable ability to Enjoy Every Moment
3. A loss of interest in Judging other People
4. It’s no longer necessary for you to Interpret the Actions of Others
5. Loss of interest in Conflict
6. You realize Worry is a wasted emotion, so you Stop Worrying (if you can’t change something, why worry?  If you can change it, why worry?)
7. You begin to experience frequent and overwhelming episodes of appreciation (which leads to…)
8. Contented feelings of connectedness with others and nature.
9. You’ll find yourself having frequent attacks of smiling
10. An increased susceptibility to the love extended by others, as well as an uncontrollable urge to extend it

I love this list, and Peace Pilgrim’s dedication for externally spreading the concept of peace, and allowing us to learn how to find inner peace and discovering these “symptoms” in our own lives!!

So, you are interested in starting your own business? Do something you love? Possibly one you can run from anywhere?

In that case, I have a recommendation for you. You need to read Chris Guillebeau’s newest book:

The $100 Startup

In this post, I’m going to go through some of the most important topics, tell you why they work, and get you started on making your dream a reality.

Finding The Resources You Need

Chris starts the book with a concept that I wholeheartedly believe in:  You Already Have Everything You Need.

Or, in his words, “You already have the sills you need–you just need to know where to look.”

Oftentimes, entrepreneurs are stuck with the idea of what to do, where to get started, and where to find the start-up cash they think is necessary to build their dream.  However, I have found in my experience (and with working with my clients) …

You already have the skills you need.  AND, you already have the resources you need to get started.

Chris shares numerous case studies of how regular people (with little-to-no business experience) were able to fund their startups for under $100.  Given the fact that most people I know have a phone that costs more than that, I would venture to say that you can find a way to scrape together a hundred bucks.

What you need to do next is find a point of focus, and start putting your ideas into action.  Gone are the days of writing an overly detailed business plan, getting funding, waiting for investors, and then getting started.  The new way of doing business is to start it on the side, or start something small or manageable that you can run yourself.

The New Entrepreneur

Entrepreneurs are popping up all over the place, whether you see them or not.  Some key terms brought up in this book that you should know about are:

Microbusiness – a mini-business that can be run by one person

Solopreneur – someone who is in business and going solo

The advantage of doing business this way is that you have the ability to increase your profits, and if run properly, lower your stress.  Many ways of running your mini-biz are outlined in the book, including how to scale your business venture, create various income streams, and do so in a way that creates value and freedom. Consider this:

• You can run a business with little to no overhead.
• You don’t have to manage employees.
• The profit goes straight to your bottom-line, which means that it goes to you.
• Because your costs are low, you can pass the savings onto your customers / clients.

Know Your Skills

Understanding yourself is key to knowing what it is you want to share with the world.  Take some time to brainstorm what your particular skill sets are.  This could be a combination of your education or training, or, it could be attributes that you are naturally good at or drawn to.  You will need to have a firm grasp of what drives you, what you are good at, and how you can help others.

(**not all of the startups mentioned in this book were based on this process, some companies were created by seeing an opportunity or gap in the market and going for it.  Personally, I believe no matter what, you need to be passionate about what you do, and this is what will keep you going!)

Know Your Market

It is more-than-important that you understand what your market wants.  As Chris explains, and what I’ve also experienced, is this can be an ongoing process.  This may sound like a simple concept, but it is true:  The more you work with your market, the better you will understand what they want.

You can sit around all day and theorize about it.  But the best bet is to start something, and see what people buying.  I go through a lot of tactics for this in my Video Course, but mostly, it is a series of trial, error, measurement, and adaptation.

Understand Convergence

“The easiest way to understand convergence is to think of it as the overlapping space between what you care about and what other people are willing to spend money on.”

Great if you do what you love, but better if you can make money at it.  Chris brings up an important fact in this section… What you think your audience wants may be different than what they actuallywant.  Once you land on what they really want and can offer it to them in a way that converts, at a price they’ll buy, you are officially in business.

Pitch Products Your Clients Will Love

My favorite part of The $100 Startup was the detailed description of how to creatively pitch your products or ideas to future clients/ customers.  Since you will need to effectively sell things to stay in business, I recommend reading, understanding, and implementing the chapters in Part 2, Taking it to The Streets.  

It is far too much information to put in one blog pust, which is why you should get the book.  Everything you need to launch is outlined for you, and done so in a way that your audience can get excited about your creations, and get ready to purchase.  If you are not comfortable with the idea of self-promotion, or if the word ‘sales’ scares you, you will really benefit from this step-by-step guide for kickstarting your new career.

Buy The Book.

I’m not just saying this. I’m actually telling you to buy it.  If you are at all interested in designing the life of your dreams, you will only get there by following the advice of people that have Already created success.

I have followed these tactics, and I have the pleasure of doing my business from a  tropical beach in paradise.

Here’s the link:

The $100 Startup

   click it.     buy it.     read it.     love it.

In my previous post, I explored the difference between being an introvert, or extrovert.  And, if you’ve realized you are an “inny”, rather than an “outty”, I’m going to try to help you realize even more about yourself.  If you are wondering–yes, I am an introvert–and as an introvert, I have come up against a lot of obstacles.  Whether it is feeling an intense need to get away, or be by myself, or dealing with the guilt of needing to be alone, I’m going to go a bit deeper in the scientific, neurological, and emotional matters in this post.  More than anything, I want you to understand why you do what you do, and how your decisions are made.

We Make Decisions Based on Stimulation

Whether we realize it or not, every decision we make is based on our reaction to other people’s personalities.  Does something get our attention, or drive us away?  Do we feel comfortable around someone, or are we clenching our teeth and waiting for a polite moment to run?  How do we act in our relationships?  Do we confront, or avoid conflict?  Do we have the ability to self-promote?  Or does the idea of sales or public speaking send us into an overwhelm of anxiety?

Susan Cain brings up the concept that it is simply a matter of stimulation.  Some of us are more sensitive to the energy of people (or crowds) than others.  And, if we want to perform well, there is a simple solution.

“The key then to maximizing our talents is for us to put ourselves in the zone of stimulation that is right for us.”   Susan Cain, The Power of Introverts (Ted Talk)

Introverts are Neurologically Different than Extroverts

Stimulation, as it turns out, is actually processed differently in the receptors we have in our brains.  The ARAS or ascending reticular activating system, is a part of our brain stem that interacts with our cerebral cortex, and basically measures our sense of arousal.  Introverts and extroverts measure these inputs very differently, which is why two people in the same situation can have completely different responses.

“Introverts have wide-open information channels, causing them to be flooded with stimulation and over-aroused, while extroverts have tighter channels, making them prone to under-arousal. Over-arousal doesn’t produce anxiety so much as the sense that you can’t think straight—that you’ve had enough and would like to go home now. Under-arousal is something like cabin fever. Not enough is happening: you feel itchy, restless, and sluggish, like you need to get out of the house already.”  - Susan Cain

This is the reason why introverts can only “handle” so much interaction before getting the intense need to leave, or be alone.  It isn’t that they no longer enjoy the social event or function, it is simply that their brains have reached a point of over-stimulation, and in order to get it back to normal, they must leave the situation to resume regular brain function.  I have experienced this anywhere from a mild form of anxiety, to a full blown panic attack.  Once I removed myself from the overstimulating situation, everything returned to normal.  But, here is something else to consider:

The World is Designed for Extroverts

“Our most important institutions are designed for extroverts.”   -Susan Cain

With the induction of radio, television, and Hollywood movie stars came the Personality Revolution.  Or, what I would call, “The Big I AM”.  As Cain points out, our values shifted as a society from one of moral character, to one of creating giant personalities that would get noticed.  Somehow, the big plastic smile and hard handshake started to win the room, and the vote.  To be confident suddenly overruled competence, and now, the loudest person in the room became the “smartest”.

As an introvert, I am affected daily by feeling as though I’m in a pushy world of extroverts.  Since our society prides itself on mottos such as “the bigger, the better”, “the squeaky wheel gets the oil”, and the “sell yourself or sell yourself short”; it is easy to feel overwhelmed, overlooked, and if you choose not to participate in this competition for attention, you may end up feeling undervalued.

Emotionally speaking, you may have difficulties in the following areas:

• Asking for what you want
• Avoiding Conflict
• Selling yourself short
• Feeling Guilty for wanting to be by yourself

Finding Your Balance

The most important thing to consider, as an introvert, is how you can set up your life so that you can maintain a healthy balance.  Whether you realize it or not, you have a threshold for social interaction.  Start paying more attention to what that means for you, and learn how to better manage it.  For example, I am not overwhelmed by small groups (four or less) in quiet settings where we can have discussions and meaningful conversations.  Any more than that amount, and I know my threshold will only be a couple of hours.

For my work, I have carefully designed my life so that I interact with my clients one-on-one.  This allows me to give focused and thoughtful attention to their lives, and business needs, and I do not go into overexertion.  In relationships (and friendships), I am very open about the fact that I am an introvert, and need space, quiet time, and give myself permission to bow out early from events. Most of my friends know me well enough to not take it personally, and understand that I will spend more time with them in a smaller group, soon enough.

If you look at the examples I have shared, it becomes evident that I have structured My Entire Life so that I can have a sense of balance with my Introverted Ways.  I encourage you to take a deeper look at your life, what your comfort zones are, and begin to communicate with those you care about so that they understand how you operate best, and feel most comfortable.

I’ve put together some resources that you might find helpful, and definitely check out the video below…

Resources for Your Inner Introvert

Caring for Your Introvert

Why Introverts Can Make The Best Leaders

The Introvert Zone

Quiet: The Power of Introverts – By Susan Cain

Remember, some of our greatest minds have been introverts, so give yourself the quiet that you need to tap into your Inner Brilliance!!