What you do matters

If, like me, you tend to downplay your own influence, consider these words from Kip Tindell, Chairman and CEO of the Container Store:

“We all can’t imagine that we have as much impact on the people and the world around us as we really do. . . . [E]verything you do, and everything you don’t do, impacts your business, the people around you, and the world around you, far, far, far more than you can imagine.”

Answering an interview question about the core principles he shares with his employees, Tindell said: “We talk a lot about a person’s wake, like a boat’s wake. Most people’s wake is much, much, much larger than they can ever imagine.”

– From the New York Times, March 14, 2010

It’s Valentine’s Day! Give yourself a little love.

Did you know that giving yourself love is a critical business tool?  OK, it’s not a skill that’s taught in business schools, but maybe it should be. If you tend to be hard on yourself, you know what I’m talking about. And if you work alone out of a home office, you also know that this solo work arrangement leaves far too much room for negative thoughts to clog your brain. Personally, I find this habit of mind really hard to shake. What to do?

1. Pay attention to your thoughts so you begin to notice when you’re getting down on yourself. You can’t interrupt the pattern if you don’t see it.
2. Cut yourself some slack. I find it helps to remind myself that I am doing the best I can – and the best I can is pretty dern good.
3. Stop measuring your performance against your idea of what other people do. I like the old saw that says: Never compare your insides to someone else’s outsides.
4. When you do catch yourself  dumping on yourself, counter the tendency by being kind – to yourself.
5. Give yourself a mini-retreat. Let yourself indulge in a few workday luxuries. My favorites include:

• a short afternoon nap (another critical business skill, by the way)
• a midday walk in the sunshine
• an afternoon on the couch with a novel.

My all-time favorite? Chocolate. Of course. What’s yours?

Inspiration for 2010

Here’s something you’ve got to check out. A free e-book just out from marketer Seth Godin. Titled What Matters Now, it’s a collection of morsels from 70 “big thinkers” – their notions of “Things to think about (and do) this year.” These are mostly 4- and 5-paragraph snippets of inspiration on various topics. Below are a few selected pretty much at random.

Elizabeth Gilbert (Eat, Pray, Love): “We are the strivingest people who have ever lived. We are ambitious, time-starved, competitive, distracted. . . . Dear ones, EASE UP.”

Daniel Pink (A Whole New Mind):  “After a decade of truly spectacular
underachievement, what we need now is less management and more freedom – fewer individual automatons and more autonomous individuals.”

Guy Kawasaki,  founding partner, Garage Technology Ventures:  “The future belongs to people who can spread ideas. Here are ten things to remember. . . . “

Mitch Joel,  President of Twist Image:  “‘It’s nothing personal, it’s just business.’ We spend more than 50% of our lives at work. Why would anyone want to wake up in the morning and go to work with that attitude? If you don’t make it personal, and if you don’t make it count, what’s the point? Business is missing one important core value: compassion.”

What a genius Godin is. He’s put together something of value that’s free! Oh, and he just happens to have a new book coming out in January – Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? How’s that for smart marketing!

Good cheer to you!

Fruit of the weekend's labors

’Tis the season of Solstice
And Hanukkah too
Of Christmas and Kwanza
– Good tidings to you.

Such feast days of winter
Are stories long told
Of angels! Of newborns!
And candles eightfold.

One thing you will find
These traditions all share
Is a nod to the darkness
To fear and despair.

This year as I write
It seems more than apt;
The world’s in a mess
We’re all feeling strapped.

Our profits are down
The economy’s bleak
Our belts they are tighter
We’re feeling quite weak.

This leads me to ask,
Midst this holiday season:
Is there true cause for joy?
Is cheer within reason?

My answer is this:
‘Why yes, I’ve no doubt.’
In fact it’s a good time
To cast your fears out.

For the seasonal message
Is of dark – and of light
It’s the ebbing of darkness
And the long winter’s night.

So may you find reason
Midst this dark time of year
To share hope in the season
And cause for good cheer.

—  Marilee Crocker
Copyright 2008 © Marilee Crocker.
All rights reserved.

Gratitude is always in season.

So I’m a little late with my Thanksgiving post, just as I often am with my thank you notes. That’s okay. Gratitude is never ill-timed. Gratitude is always a good thing – in life and in business.

At this year’s Thanksgiving table, when we went around and shared one thing for which we are thankful, I offered this:  I am deeply grateful for continued optimism in the face of continued underemployment.  Yes, there are days when I worry that this optimism is delusional. Then I remind myself – worry serves no purpose; it is my optimism that spurs me onward and allows me to enjoy life, even in challenging times.

Researchers have found that grateful individuals are more energetic, less susceptible to stress and more likely to reach their goals. To my mind, this makes gratitude as valuable a business skill as any other. So why not give gratitude a try today. You can start right now by picking up the phone and letting a client know you appreciate their business.

Thanks for stopping by!

Maybe you need a fresh point of view!

Last night I watched the new PBS-Nova special about repairing the Hubble Telescope. Great show! The attention to detail required for that space mission to succeed was beyond imaginable – all the way down to knowing the precise torque limits for every screw and bolt on the telescope.

Today, just for fun, I surfed over to the photo gallery at hubblesite.org and checked out the images captured by the Hubble. In addition to being stunningly gorgeous, they give you a tiny glimpse into the extent of our universe.

What’s this got to do with home-based business? Perspective, that’s what!

The next time you get frantic with worry about some aspect of your business or work, take a look at these photos. They’re just one more reminder that in the larger scheme of things our worries are utterly insignificant. It doesn’t mean we don’t have to take care of business, but a broader view might help you get a grip.

Outsourcing: “insanely important” for women?

Confession Time: Although I announced in my latest biz@home column that I’m ready to outsource those blog and website tasks that belong in the hands of a bona fide techie, I have yet to do so. Sure, I can claim this is because I’ve got some prep work to do first, but the truth is I have yet to make the mental switch that will let me relinquish control over this aspect of my business.

Is this because I’m a woman?

The idea that women have a harder time outsourcing had never occurred to me. Then I heard blogging and social media expert Julie Roads say that the question of what we are willing to outsource is “insanely important” for women in business.

Gone missing! That's what happened to my web site after the last time I tried to take care of the tech side of things myself.

Roads made the comment at a recent seminar on blogging for business where she was the presenter. Recently,  I asked Roads, who also writes marketing copy (and has a terrific blog), to elaborate via email. Here’s what she said:

biz@home: What gets in our way when it comes to outsourcing? Why do we hold back (if we do)?

Roads: Women are fantastic multi-taskers, and we’ve been socialized to think we need to do it all. As if getting help or outsourcing is somehow lazy, representative of us shirking our duties and a sure sign of failure.

SuperWoman complex anyone?

It’s outdated, but deeply ingrained that we will watch the mothership – both at home and at the office (and manage each one magnificently) – no matter what.

biz@home: What can help us get over it?

Roads: Talking to other women and doing this as a group – getting strength from each other as we march into uncharted territory. As a whole, we share well – and this includes sharing success stories and encouragement. I think it also helps to hire other women as your outsourcers/contractors. This way, you aren’t just relieving your full plate, you’re simultaneously supporting another working woman, mother, daughter.

biz@home: Why should we? How is the reluctance to outsource holding us back?

Roads: It’s interesting to examine what we readily outsource (putting on a new roof) and what we tend to cling to (writing our own marketing materials).

Why should we outsource as much as possible? Because why should you spend 40 hours a month balancing your books, when you could hire a bookkeeper that can do it in 10 while you design this winter’s fashion line?

We think we can’t afford to pay the bookkeeper for those 10 hours, but can we afford to give up the 40 hours of our own? We’re paying for that lost time as well. Not to mention that if you’re a fashion designer, those 40 hours spent with your finances promise little more than frustration, boredom, stress and confusion.

What’s the payoff? Who wins?

Me again: I love Roads’ closing comment on the subject.

“Ultimately, this is about letting ourselves off the hook – giving ourselves the freedom to achieve what we desire.”

Isn’t that an inspiration?!

P.S. Don’t forget to check out Julie’s blog.

Achieving Excellence – Moment by Moment

“If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters.” – Gen. Colin Powell

Ooh baby, now there’s a lesson I need to learn (she wrote, after frittering away the morning). Why can’t I get this down? Really, life is nothing more than the sum total of  a series of infinitesimal moments. My life experience is determined by the moment-to-moment choices I make – where I choose to direct my attention and how I choose to use my time.  (Even when we’re affected by circumstances beyond our control, we can choose, moment by moment, how we react.)

It’s the same with the workday. What I get done – its quantity and quality – is determined by how I spend my time, moment by moment.

If I could remember only this, if I could make it a practice to be aware of my moment-to-moment choices, consciously choosing to stay focused on the task at hand – rather than straying into email, or the Internet, or the garden, whatever – well then I might actually finish writing my book proposal. I might actually finish jobs before deadline rather than on-deadline. I even might break free of my anxious nighttime fretting about whether I used the day well.

If I can be mindful about each moment in every workday, then my work life – the quality of the experience and the quality of the work – will be far richer.

I think the habit to develop is the habit of mindfulness. From this, all else follows.

Inspiration: Propelled by Discomfort

LOVE THIS:  “The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.” – M. Scott Peck, M.D.

A shrinking bank account will do the trick too. It did for me. I used to be someone who accepted work from editors and business clients, rarely promoting my services. I also hid out in my home office. Now I’m reaching out in all kinds of new directions – putting myself out there. (Hence this blog.) I’m meeting new people, making connections, listening to smart thinkers like Seth Godin and Keith Ferrazzi, stretching my brain and opening up possibilities. I’m also following up on work leads like never before. Can’t afford to be timid. It’s kinda cool. Kinda fun. But I had to get “deeply uncomfortable” (read: my work tanked) before I changed my m.o.

That’s my story. What’s yours?