Awakening entrepreneurial spirit is always on my mind. If you were joining me at the Un-Job Fair in Denver on May 1, you’d be getting this list of tips. If you can’t be with us, enjoy the tips and try them out for yourself.
* Go to the library. Whenever I’m in a slump, a trip to the library never fails to get me unstuck. Every shelf is loaded with possibility.
* Interview self-bossers. Choose the joyfully jobless, not just the self-employed. Let their passion rub off on you.
* Pay attention. Listen to the compliments that come your way. They may hold the key to a profit center. Listen to what people say is missing in the world for more clues.
* Play every day. Even if you aren’t yet running a business full-time, do something—no matter how small—to move yourself ahead each and every day.
* Break your goals into 90-Day Projects. Doing so will keep you focused and keep you from feeling overwhelmed. It’s a momentum builder.
* Give your projects a theme. A theme helps you focus your mind and sparks creative thoughts.
* Pick an entrepreneurial hero or heroine and become an expert on their life.
* Carry a notebook. You never know when a great idea will strike or when you’ll see something worth remembering. Richard Branson carries one all the time. So should you.
* Read a novel. Not just any old story, however. Read novels that feature entrepreneurs as main characters. Mysteries, especially, feature them. You’ll learn a lot.
* Have regular tune-ups. One seminar does not finish the learning process. Keep going back to the well.
* Immerse, don’t dabble.
* Acquire good tools. Use the best tools you can afford to do the best work you are capable of.
* Create an inspiring working environment. Your office or studio should be a place that rises up to meet you.
* Subscribe to Winning Ways. Read what successful entrepreneurs read. Build a library.
* Memorize these five steps: HOW TO BUILD YOUR OWN LUCK 1. Get a hobby Find the thing that fascinates you most. You’ll recognize it instantly. It’s the thing you feel you have to do every day or the day is wasted. 2. Obsess Get to know it so well nothing about it is unpredictable, including its ability to surprise you. This part of the process will take approximately one lifetime. 3. Charge for it If you’re so crazy about it and so good at it, go pro! 4. Flourish If you’ve followed steps one, two and three, this is the easy part. 5. Succeed Do it so wildly that everyone tells you how lucky you are.
Any particular mystery novels you’d like to recommend?
It’s so interesting, most of the time I think of the joyfully jobless AS self-employed. I guess the difference is all about attitude and approach.
This is a Great list! And, I absolutely LOVE the five ‘How to Build Your Own Luck”. I love the last line especially…Do it so wildly that everyone tells you how lucky you are.
Have fun at the UnJob Fair!!!!!
Tracie, the Joyfully Jobless are self-employed, but not all self-employed people are joyfully jobless. Haven’t you ever met a grumpy businessowner?
Della, two fun mystery series are those by Diane Mott Davidson, whose sleuth is a caterer and John Dunning’s series which has an antiquarian bookseller solving crimes. Both have a Colorado setting, which is where I’m headed.
Let’s not forget “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency” book series by Alexander McCall Smith. My library even has a DVD of a TV series they made which is excellent, and another DVD where the author takes us around the actual locations that inspired scenes in the story.
There is a series of 5 mystery books about Elizabeth Chase, astrologist detective that are very good. The author is Martha C. Lawrence.
Also, the Aunt Dimity murder mystery series are good. The main character Lori is indepedently wealthy, but everyone she knows in her quiet English village is an entrepreneur. Best to look at the publication dates and read these in order. The author is Nancy Atherton.
I was fortunate to grow up around strong entrepreneurial women, so I’m always looking for these type of heroines. Perhaps I’ll make a reading list.
Great suggestions, Mary. How could I have neglected to mention the #! Ladies’ Detective Agency? Love that woman!