My wish for you
is…
You keep learning.
You continue to look
for opportunities
to make the world a better place.
You try to make
your dreams a reality.
And
You find joy in every day
and in the work you are doing.

The world is changing
but it has always changed.

The opportunities remain.
Hope still exists.
There are kind and helpful people
all around you.

And I continue to cheer for you.
You can do this.
I believe in you.

Some of your customers
are likely to be
HUGE Halloween lovers
(like myself).

They will dress up
in costumes
or in orange and black
or in Halloween-themed shirts
to shop in your business.

They might dress their pets up.
They might bring their kids
in their costumes.

Ensure you have treats
to give them.

Hide them under the counter
if you wish
and bring them out
‘as a surprise.’

It will delight them.
It will delight others.
They are more likely
to show up in costume
next year.

AND it creates an ‘event’
for you.
It creates buzz.
It creates happiness.

Give the Halloween lovers
treats today.

If you’re that someone,
you are in a powerful position.

You can’t
tell anyone else
those secrets

If you do that,
no one will ever tell you
their secrets again.

But the secrets
can often benefit you.
You have insider information
no one else has.

Better than that,
however,
you have that person’s trust.

Be a secret holder.

You need to have hard copies
i.e. print copies,
preferably laminated,
of your emergency procedures.

The odds are huge
that,
during an emergency,
you won’t have power
and
you definitely won’t have
internet access.

Those emergency procedures
saved to the cloud
or your hard drive
won’t help you then.

You need to have access
to emergency procedures
when the power is out.

Print emergency procedures
and preferably laminate
or waterproof them in some way.

Kill a tree
to save your people.

This could save lives.

When I first looked into
growing it,
I found out
it would take
4 years
to get to the point
where I could harvest it.

I thought that timeframe
was way too long.

I didn’t plant the asparagus.

That was well over
20 years ago.

If I had planted the asparagus
when I had first thought about it,
I could have been harvesting it
for over 16 years
by now.

Yes, it will likely
take a while
for your new business
to be profitable.

But that time will pass
whether you’re building your business
or not.

And you have the choice
now
of doing something awesome
with that time
and
making your goal a reality,
or
squandering it.

Don’t look back
in 5, 10, 15 years
and wish you had started
your business earlier.

Start today.

The first step
is to review them.

Are they still relevant?
Do you still WANT
to achieve them?

Then pick one
and take a step
toward achieving that goal.

Pick a font color
for the new product
you plan to launch.

Interview someone
in the industry
you plan to launch
your new business
in.

Watch the
#1 TV Show
the target market
you plan to sell to
watches.

Take a step
toward your 2024 goals.

Trolls suck energy,
especially if we respond to them.
That’s energy
we could be using
to make our businesses a success.

They bring negativity
to ourselves
AND
our prospective customers.
That will decrease our sales.

And they will NEVER
buy our products/services.
NEVER.

Blocking them
will increase your sales
AND your happiness levels.

Block the trolls
and move on.

There are two months
remaining until Christmas
and, for many small businesses,
this is our busiest
and our most lucrative time of year.

And this boom is happening
NOW.

50% of Americans
plan to start
their Christmas shopping
before the end of October.

And they plan
to shop…a LOT.

In 2022,
the average American
spent $833
on Christmas shopping.

Gifts are the biggest investment,
followed by seasonal items.

The Christmas rush
is starting.
Ramp up for it.

Bad news kills my creativity
and there is plenty of bad news
from across the country
and around the world.

I’ll have to disconnect
to write the book.
But, with all the extreme weather,
that’s dangerous.

So what I’ve done
is give
a trustworthy
dependable loved one
the job
of telling me
if I need to take action.

He will inform me
if I should evacuate
or
board up my home
or take any other
emergency action.

If you need to disconnect,
ensure someone you trust
remains connected
and is able to contact you.

These are the turbulent times
we’re living in.

I warned her
that someone was a liar
and ethically challenged.

She told me
their partnership was special.
He might lie to other people
but he wouldn’t lie to her.
She believed
SHE would be the exception.

Of course,
she wasn’t the exception.

The someone
lied and cheated her also.

Because that is what he does
– he lies and he cheats.

Liars lie.

Don’t expect them
to tell you the truth.

And don’t expect them
to be ethical.

Proceed with caution.