Joan Friedlander.com

Marketing from Bed?

Joan Friedlander — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:49:18 +0000

Yes, marketing from bed. And no, I don’t mean the pornographic kind. I’m talking about one of the greatest challenges for the business owner rebuilding after a major health setback, having the means to promote your business when you barely have the energy to perform the work of your business. One woman I recently interviewed about her climb back to business after months of chemotherapy said this: The biggest frustration has been getting my body and mind to coordinate with each [...]

What Can You Get Done in 30 Minutes?

Joan Friedlander — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 14:49:33 +0000

Many of the people I talk to have a limited amount of time and/or energy to allocate to their business activities, as few as 3-5 hours a day. Some are limited because they are still on the mend after a significant health setback, or have a persisting condition that makes it difficult to predict what they will be able to do from one day to the next. Others have children at home. They need to wait until they get their children [...]

Stuck in a Comparison Trap?

Joan Friedlander — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:41:49 +0000

Whenever you draw a line in the sand of your life, especially when your circumstances today look and feel bleaker than time before a precipitating event or situation, you may find yourself stuck in a circular comparison trap. Whether working with a business owner for whom getting new clients was as easy as breathing “before the downturn,” or someone who has been significantly impacted by a health set back, their ability to rebuild and restore is affected by the degree [...]

Body Says What?

Joan Friedlander — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 20:34:13 +0000

This post is a personal one, but one that may resonate with you if you’ve ever received signals from your body that you’ve been on the wrong track in some way. My inititiation into this world of body-talk started in earnest in 1992 when I first was hit with Crohn’s symptoms. Today I only have a cold, but when I woke up I could feel/hear the primary message from my body; lie low, keep still, minimize interaction. This led me [...]

The Challenge of Being Yourself

Joan Friedlander — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:11:13 +0000

The path to personal fulfillment is often revealed when you give yourself permission to know your own heart and be yourself. However, the road to full self-expression is fraught with potential road blocks. As much you may crave a sense of self-authority, such achievement often gives voice to a series of fears about what will happen to you if you heed our inner guidance. Loss of love Loss of security Loss of income Loss of face Maslow’s hierarchy of needs [...]

‘Tis the Month to Forge Ahead – or Not

Joan Friedlander — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:36:24 +0000

‘Tis the month to forge ahead, fa-la-la-la-la, la-dah-dee-dah. Yes, I know Christmas was so last week but the impact lingers on. Frankly, I think the narrator of “The Night Before Christmas” had it right. “And Ma in her kerchief and I in my cap, Had just settled down for a long winter’s nap.” Let’s pause the story right there. When the days are at their shortest and temperatures continue to drop, wouldn’t it make sense that we, like many of [...]

Doodles and Drawings Boost Planning and Healing

Joan Friedlander — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 12:07:10 +0000

Upon the recommendation of a friend I checked out a book from the library yesterday called The Creative Entrepreneur by Lisa Sonora Beam. By the time I was two pages into the book I was hooked. After feeling out of sorts for most of the week, looking through the pages of the book brought an immediate sense of peace and inner calm. The Creative Entrepreneur is subtitled “A DIY Visual Guidebook for Making Business Ideas Real.” Lisa wrote this book [...]

The Power of One

Joan Friedlander — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 13:47:38 +0000

You might think that this is about your singular ability to affect change, but today it is not. It’s about how you approach planning your day. Years ago I was trained in a program called Work Less, Make More®, developed by the late Jennifer White. Jennifer talked about the “Power of Three” as an organizing principle for establishing priorities around the unending list of tasks most of us work from. With an aim to combat our tendency to over extend [...]

Empowered by Limitations

Joan Friedlander — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:32:52 +0000

Most people think of limitations as problematic. The word is most commonly – and mistakenly – associated with lack of freedom, pending failure and inadequacy. To the ambitious, highly motivated entrepreneur, the idea that there may be limitations in what they can accomplish is somewhat terrifying and most certainly frustrating. Specifically, they have difficulties dealing with: Limitations in time Limitation in energy Limitation in capacity Some respond with downright rebellion, as if limitations are a personal affront to their freedom. [...]

Ask, Don’t Assume

Joan Friedlander — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 12:02:46 +0000

A couple of days ago I interviewed a woman – I’ll call her Patricia – who is just a few months out from her last dosage of chemo after a double mastectomy last December. She shared with me that when she started her chemo treatments she thought she would do these on her own. Though this might seem like a ridiculous notion to some of us, Patricia has always been more at ease offering help than asking for it. But, [...]