Rays of Sunshine
Entrepreneurship is a new word, its actually quite kitchy in my book. 17 years ago when I had my first business idea being called an "entrepreneur" wasn't really a thing. You were a business owner or you weren't. You were someone who figured out how to make something or sell something and so you did. There wasn't funding except for a bank loan that I know of and you had to be totally freaking scrappy. I remember holding on to a stack of my dad's business cards and walking up and down Manchester road going into any business where someone would listen. "Hi, I'm with Safety Services Fire Extinguisher company and we..." and I'd jump right into my pitch. Over time I learned to ask questions first, to look for the right people in the room, to read their body language before I started to talk, to reach out and shake their hand in a solid way, and to not ask for the sale until I had come in at least 3 times.
My dad was feisty as hell. He passed 5 years ago in the middle of the night, esophageal cancer was the culprit. I sat next to him just before I went to bed, holding his hand and knowing that his soul was soon to fly. I've spent the last 5 years looking for the rays of sunshine between the clouds. When you own your own business and are responsible for the ups and down of the sales you spend a lot of time celebrating the highs and wallowing in the lows. The self doubt is insurmountable. You have to begin to make decisions from a place of love versus a place of fear. My dad always said fear only slows you down.
Each day in life there are ray's of sunshine if we stop to see them. You have to look for them in this fast pace world. They will sneak up on you and you will miss them if you don't take the time to look. The newsfeed can wait, the email's will still be there and the clients will hold out. Smile and wave at strangers, pay for someone's coffee, give a hug to a client after a meeting, snuggle your kids or look into their eyes when they talk to you.
We only get this one chance, this one life. Live it, Give to it, Follow it, Be in it.