Several years ago I was drowning in negative thoughts and feelings. What was needed, I decided, was some physical activity. I decided to pull the weeds that had infiltrated my yard.<\/p>\n
Once I got into the rhythm of the project, I had the idea to imagine that with each weed removed, a negative thought was being removed from my mind. By the time I finished my task I was feeling noticeably better.<\/p>\n
I decided that weeding was a fine therapy and have consciously sought to keep my mind as weed-free as possible. It took a while to realize that intentional weeding is also an important aspect of growing a successful business.<\/p>\n
If I were going to describe the entrepreneurial journey in two steps, I\u2019d borrow the title of Geri Larkin\u2019s marvelous book\u2014Plant Seed, Pull Weed<\/em><\/strong>. That\u2019s pretty much what we do day after day.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, many people are better at the first part than they are at the second. Not long ago, I got an e-mail from a woman who had started a business, hit a slump and\u00a0 abandoned her project.<\/p>\n She ended her account of the short history of her joyfully jobless journey by saying, \u201cI guess I\u2019m not cut out to be an entrepreneur.\u201d That sounds like a big nasty weed to me.<\/p>\n Like so many others, she is cultivating a crop of weeds, not nurturing the seeds of what\u00a0she truly wants.<\/p>\n An old definition says a weed is merely a plant that growing in a place where it\u2019s not wanted. Likewise, as entrepreneurs we need to decide what we want to allow to flourish in our businesses\u2014and what needs to be removed.<\/p>\n The Joyfully Jobless life is participatory, not a spectator sport. Try things. Be willing to do things badly. Reconfigure. Learn to find creative solutions.<\/p>\n So don’t be afraid to get dirty. Realize that weeds are a normal part of any worthy undertaking.<\/p>\n As Larkin reminds us, it\u2019s also an on-going process, but it\u2019s one with delightful rewards.\u00a0Plant Seed. Pull Weed.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Several years ago I was drowning in negative thoughts and feelings. What was needed, I decided, was some physical activity. I decided to pull the weeds that had infiltrated my yard. Once I got into the rhythm of the project, I had the idea to imagine that with each weed removed, a negative thought was…<\/p>\n