Begining February 20-21

Chasing Daylight in Fresno

Begining February 20-21

Tuesdays at Dennys (Shaw and Willow) -9:00 P.M.
Wednesdays at BT (4141 n Fresno St) - 7:15 P.M.
Thursdays at Starbucks (Ashlan and Cedar) - 7:00 A.M.

Guest Author

Do You Have the Right Focus to Make Your Dream a Business Instead of a Hobby?

We'd all love to make a fabulous living doing what we love to do. And often it's really possible. Yet, I was speaking with someone who wanted to make a living as an artist. This isn't any particular person, because I've had this conversation with folks numerous times. And, it's not always about art. Sometimes it's about coaching. Sometimes it's about cooking. Sometimes it's about walking dogs.

They spoke to me at length about how much they loved doing art, and how it fed their soul, and how important it was to their well-being. Very inspiring stuff, and it felt great. But, when I asked them, "How do you want to help other people with your artwork?" they couldn't answer me.

"It's art! It exists for its own sake. It should have value in and of itself."

This person was right. Art does exist for its own sake. And it does have value in and of itself. But, there is a difference between doing something purely to please yourself, and doing something with a consciousness that you are giving and serving others.

While there are many reasons to start a business, there is only one essential reason that allows it to thrive: helping people with some challenge they are facing. Income in a business only comes from customers. While funding may come from loans, or angel investors, or venture capitalists, eventually the allowance runs dry, as we saw in the 1990's with the dot-com bust.

Customers only buy when you are helping them with their needs and challenges.

We humans are complex creatures, with many needs and desires that have to be met in order to have a fulfilling life. I'm aware right now of my needs for creativity, truth, fun, adventure, love, intimacy, friendship, community, provision, food, shelter and heat (it's winter!), contribution, spiritual connection- I could go on and on.

When you're self-employed, especially when you are in the resource intensive phase of a start-up, it often seems that your business encompasses your whole life. And, this can lead you down a treacherous path of trying to get all of your needs met through your business.

If you try to take care of these kinds of personal needs only through your business, you will probably sink it, because you might unconsciously make decisions to soothe yourself, rather than really serve your business and your customers.

But, if you don't take care of these very legitimate needs at all, you will be performing a slow form of suicide.

Are you trying to make a business out of a personal need that has nothing to do with your desire to contribute to other's well-being? Are you neglecting your personal needs and killing yourself, your business, and your family?

Keys to Living the Dream

• If you truly want to make it a business, then you'll want to focus on these four things:

1. Get crystal clear on the problem you want to solve, and what it's really like for those who are facing the problem, and apply your creativity in providing a solution.
2. More than just the solution, how will you deliver the solution so that it can be most easily accessed and used by your customers?
3. More than providing and delivering the solution, how will you reach those people so they know the solution exists?
4. More than reaching the people, and providing and delivering the solution, what does your business itself need so that it can continue to do, and improve upon, the first three, so more and more people get help?

• If you aren't sparked by any of those four things around an activity, you may have something that you prefer to keep as a hobby.

1. A hobby doesn't necessarily solve problems for others.
2. It's primarily for you and your enjoyment and growth.
3. It's less important whether you reach other people, unless you want the social aspect.

Although enjoyment, self-growth, education, and socializing can and should be met through business, the primary enlivening influence in a business is one of service and contribution. And, if you are having trouble sticking with the four business focuses, try this Action Step:

• Identify your needs. Especially ones that aren't being met.

Marshall Rosenberg, author of Nonviolent Communication, lists many, many universal human needs. The Center for Nonviolent Communication has a list of needs here: http://www.cnvc.org/needs.htm.

If you can scan through the list and identify any particularly strong needs you have that aren't being met, you'll have a clue as to where you might be unconsciously trying to use your business to soothe yourself.

Example: I have a need for creativity, and one way I love to meet that need is in cooking. A day in the kitchen really does it for me. But, I decided long ago that I didn't want to be a professional chef, and instead treat it as recreation. Very satisfying. When I'm feeling that particular urge for creativity, I don't try to make my business do back flips, I just take some time off, and spend it in the kitchen. Bon apetit!

Once you begin to meet those unmet needs, look back at the four business focuses, and unleash your creativity. Your business just may end up as a very useful, and thus valuable, work of art.

About the Author

Mark Silver, founder of Heart of Business, is author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How money, marketing and sales can deepen your heart, heal the world, and still add to your bottom line. Get three free chapters of the book online: http://www.heartofbusiness.com

Article Source: Content for Reprint

It is wonderful what you can find when you are looking for something else.

Believe in Yourself to be Successful

Dr. Jerry Osteryoung
Executive Director
of the
Jim Moran Institute for
Global Entrepreneurship
at Florida State University

"Why do some entrepreneurs do incredibly well and the others do just okay? Why do some firms keep on expanding and others just barely hang on to one location?"

"The answer lies in the belief system of the entrepreneur. I met an entrepreneur in Tampa who had started a business selling spiritual lambs (www. myspiritualflock.com). When I first saw the product, which is a nicely crafted lamb with spiritual significance, I thought this entrepreneur was going to tell me that she needed to raise some money for production and distribution. Unfortunately, I was going to have to tell her that raising funds for this product was not going to happen and to prepare her for this."

READ MORE.

A Bank for Social Entrepreneurs
by Social Edge — last modified 2007-02-03 11:19

Hosted by Patrick O'Heffernan, Fundraising and Strategy Expert (December 2006)

Social Entrepreneurship

...

Resources on Social Entrepreneurs, Publications and other related topics.

Please note that a few entries are not yet filled. If you are an expert in these fields, feel free to write the entries yourself. Or even to create one if you think it is relevant to social entrepreneurship.

The Power of Self-Talk
by Dr. Jim Will

You've got a great company, an excellent compensation plan, terrific products and some awesome leaders. So what's keeping some of your people from tapping into the incredible potential that you know they have? I had the privilege of having lunch with Yogi Berra once, and we discussed his famous quote regarding baseball: "Ninety percent of the game is half mental." I agree with Yogi-a lot of baseball and a lot of direct selling are mental. I like to refer to the mental game as our inner thoughts-our self-talk. Great leaders consciously or subconsciously manage and control their self-talk. READ MORE

Direct Selling Start-Ups: Ten Traps to Avoid
by Dan Jensen

Direct selling is the essence of free enterprise. Thousands of direct selling companies have sprouted during the last few decades. Sadly, many are no longer in business. I have been entrenched in the direct selling industry for more than 25 years and have seen hundreds of companies come and go. As the years have passed, I have discovered patterns of success and tragic mistakes that weaken direct selling businesses, often to the point of failure. While there are many reasons for failure, it is my hope that by understanding 10 of the more common mistakes, an aspiring direct selling business owner might have a better chance at success than those who failed to see the picture clearly. These 10 common mistakes include: READ THEM AT DIRECT SELLING NEWS

From Direct Selling News

Posted in the Mangosteen Journal:

From Direct Selling News

Liquid supplements have yielded a harvest of fruitful financial results for direct selling companies and their distributors. While 2006 results aren’t yet available, Nutrition Business Journal, the nutrition industry’s leading business publication, estimates sales of nutrition products by direct sellers reached $6.4 billion in 2005. Results are often fueled by automatic-fulfillment programs, which send products to distributors or health-conscious consumers each month while delivering automatic revenue for direct sellers. Numerous liquid-nutrition-focused companies haven’t yet seen their 5th anniversaries, including The Limu Company, MonaVie, Sibu, Vemma, VivaTRU and Xango, among others. All are growing rapidly (see the November issue of Direct Selling News for more on liquid supplements). Read More. Scroll to Sipping Supplements.

Wall Street Seeing the Value of Direct Selling

Direct Selling News reports a growing facorable trend in the stock market's attitude toward direct selling companies.

Read more.

I have launched a clearinghouse blog for those interested in Affiliate Marketing. There is good information there and there will be much more as time goes by.

Visit these entrepreneurial sites today:

• Toner Overnight - My Friend, Great Deals
• The Health and Business Benefits of Mangosteen Juice
  
• Pre Paid Legal Services and Business Opportunity
• Identity Theft Shield
• Gift and Incentive Books
• Energion
• Pastor Tom's Bookstore
• Business Opportunities
• Fund Raising Ideas
• Health and Wellness
• Random Proverbs for Business
• The Entrepreneur's Table
• The Shoestring Conspiracy - Ministry Ideas
• Weblogs
• Mangosteen Health Benefits and Business Opportunity
• QHEALTHZONE - Home Page - Qualitry Products from Nutrilite

Entrepreneurship is partly about thinking with such a large vision that no box can contain it. That being the case, thinking "outside the box" is a given and global thinking is implied.

I must admit I get a little perturbed when people complain about lack of money and success when they haven't done the things that they can do to change their circumstances. When we operate on the assumption that the world or God Himself owes us a living when God has already given us opportunities, we limit means which He Himself may have provided for our support. I do not suggest that we veer away from a life of faith, but that we, especially those of us in ministry, at least lay before Him the question of whether or not He'd have us make a few tents along our missionary journeys. That is why I promote entrepreneurship, knowing it is not for everyone, but I suspect is for some who are not responding.

My Health and Wellness Journal
While I write about business and entrepreneurial principles with a broad brush, there are actually a few that I own and promote. I choose them for the integrity of the company, the efficacy of the product, and the opportunities in the compensation plan. While I spend more time analyzing writing, and speaking than working any one business, here is one where I believe a person can have real success. For more information go to my Discover site

There is some wonderful and thoughtful material on this blog which I will be returning to read and ponder. This relates to the subject in Entrepreneur's Table because Christians, and especially social/spiritual entrepreneurs struggle with it. Is it honorable to make money?

Flying Embers: "Wealth brings independence, a satisfaction that your family will be able to enjoy a comfortable home and weather life’s storms. I could go on and list countless other things that wealth brings without damning your soul.
So, I thought I would begin to post articles concerning the attainment of wealth the way Godly people through all ages have accomplished it.
These are the time tested, righteous pursuits of wealth that have worked in all generations. It will be worth our while to carefully consider what the wealthy say about the attainment of riches."

I'll be checking in to see what I can learn.

Co-published at The Dream Factory

"Entrepreneur" comes from the French word for undertaking : entreprendre . It entered the English language in the late 1400s. From it, we derive, "enterprise."

The first part of the word is "entre," to enter, also French.

An entrepreneur, therefor, is one who enters into some undertaking and it is implied that he/she is leading the way.

We need people today who will undertake great causes develop great enterprises.

Will you be one?

It Takes Time

We previously discussed the "EYE"s of time but did not exhaust the topic by any means. Everything takes time - especially if they are important enough to deserve our attention and effort. Here is yet another acronym: TIME, with the "t" for temperance, tenacity and transience, the "i" for indeterminate, individual, and instantaneous, the "m" for mastery, magnification, and ministry, and the "e" for experience, expectation, and excitement.

T is for temperance, tenacity, and transience. It is for temperance because time must be carefully and wisely budgeted, managed, and leveraged. It is for tenacity because we need to stick with something through boredom and hard work if we are going to see it through. It is for transience because it is passing by never to return. The moments in which we live are fleeting. The opportunities are in transit. They will soon be gone and cannot be recaptured. In summary, time is temporal and fleeting.

I is for indeterminate, individual, and instantaneous. It is indeterminate because, no matter how carefully we plan, we just never know how much time we have left to accomplish our goals. We must live with awareness that the curtain could fall at any moment and we want to be found faithful. We want to be like the hikers memorialized at the base of one of the Alps with these words, "They died climbing." It is individual because we each have our own, are responsible for our own, and are the beneficiaries of such. We must be grateful for the time we have because it is ours and it is a gift. It is for instantaneous because it is now. Now is the time for what we are impressed to do and to be in this very moment. There is really no other time than now.

M is for mastery, magnification, and ministry. It is for mastery rather than management because management is not enough. We must become the masters of our time or time will master us. We have a Master above us who enables us to master than which is beneath us. We must bring time under our control by mastering our moments. It is for magnification because we must duplicate our efforts and more by leveraging time if we are going to maximize our potential as faith-business-social entrepreneurs on a mission of transformation. It is for ministry because ministry is another word for service and time spent truly serving others is never time wasted, but multiplied. In fact, we can magnify our time through ministry and thus, master our moments.

So far, all of this could be expounded and expanded upon to our benefit - and shall be, but that brings us to the final letter: E

E is for experience, expectation, and excitement. We could add energy, effort, and eternity along with so many other concepts, but we can get to those later. Experience is what happens over time and cannot be gained without time. It is acquired slowly, but, once accumulated in critical mass, expedites the process of gaining more. Expectation prompts us to plan, execute, and evaluate our efforts toward to goal of accomplishing more in less time. It keeps us on track and in the program.

At the MultiLeveler, there is a great insight into some time management skills: Don't Be Get Rich Quick.

Whatever you want to do and be, it takes time.

There is always more at The Dream Factory.

Discover Mangosteen

Novel Journey: It Takes Practice!: "
Proverbs 13:4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing; but the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.

Lord,
Please help me to be diligent to exercise this gift. Give me a vision of what I will be in the future if I work hard. Thank You for all You are teaching me on the way.
Amen"

Janet's prayer is the perfect addendum to our comparison between what NIV translates as Cravings VS. Desires.

Thanks for bringing it on home, Janet. The story here is wonderful!!!

Cravings Vs. Desire

Below is an excerpt from my article in The Dream Factory on Cravings or Desires.

Proverbs 13:4 - "The sluggard craves and gets nothing, but the desires of the diligent are fully satisfied."

So what is the difference between the desire of a dilligent person and the craving of a lazy person?

From the start, we nod our heads knowingly, acknowledging that this proverb is true. A craving is a carnal drive that overwhelms our judgment and woos us into reckless thinking and action.

The key is to distinguish between the two and to dilligently pursue what is real and lasting.

Co-published in sister blog: Vast Possibilities .

The Road to Success

The = Definite article – Indicates something specific. We must be specific about:

T – Time – A goal is a dream with a date on it. It takes time to develop.

H – Hope - If there is no hope, there is no dream, no goal, no objectives, and no action.

E – Expenditure of Energy. Nothing will happen without work.

Road = Indicates process. We must fall in love with the process of moving toward success, not just the outcome.

R = Repentance. The word means change of mind, heart, and attitude. Change is necessary.

O -= Opportunity thinking (as opposed to obstacle thinking. Embrace obstacles as opportunities.

A = Attitude – The way we approach life (attitude) determines the heights we attain (altitude).

D = Destination – Roads go places. Always have the desired destination in mind.

To = A tiny preposition. It denotes direction. Success is gradually, purposefully, progressively, and with determination, moving toward our worthwhile ideals.

T = To as a focus. Focus on where you are going TO, not what you are going THROUGH.

O = Obligatory opposition. You must pass this way and there will be resistance to your success.

Success = “… the progressive realization of a worthwhile ideal” (Earl Nightingale).

S = Settle on your source. Know where your connectedness is.

U = Unleash your inner force. Call upon a strength lying dormant in you,

C = Chart your course. Know where you are going and your game plan for getting there.

C = Consider that the course is a concourse. You are not alone.

E = Enforce discipline upon yourself for your own success.

S = Stay the course. There will be many diversions and temptations along the way.

S = Stay the course (Saying it just once is not enough.).

To Schedule a Workshop, call 559-647-2203 or e-mail tomsims@workshopstogo.com

© Copyright, 2005, Thomas B. Sims, All Rights Reserved

A New Pattern

We have a pattern problem. We have developed behaviors that we practice consistently, habitually, and without much thought. We start practicing these behaviors before we crawl out of bed in the morning and condition ourselves to practice them before we lay our heads on our pillows at night. When we realize that some of these behaviors are negative or destructive, we have a battle on our hands removing them. When we determine to introduce positive practices to the mix, we find that there is no room for the old is crowding out the new. The first change is in our attitudes . Then we can address behaviors. We need new patterns. We need to replace old, worn-out,, useless and even harmful behaviors with newer, more nurturing and positive actions. What are the steps?

• First, we must make the determination that we are going to introduce change into our lives. This comes out of careful evaluation and resolve.
• We must pray for guidance and strength. Our creative God will work with our creative minds to create a new scenario and unveil options we have never considered.
• Then, we must do the hard work of being institutional and aware. We must accept that change is awkward and new behaviors may be “forced,” contrived, manipulative, or uncomfortable. We must practice them anyway.
• We must repeat the new behavior (which includes avoidance of the old) day after day, keeping some sort of record of our progress.
• We must allow grace for the failures and celebrate the victories and patterns begin to change in our lives.

Attend a VAST Possibilities workshop with Pastor Tom

Big Ideas

Someday, after mastering the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love, and then, for a second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Since once again, O Lord, in the steppes of Asia, I have no bread, no wine, no altar, I will raise myself above those symbols to the pure majesty of reality, and I will offer to you, I, your priest, upon the altar of the entire earth, the labor and the suffering of the world. - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost.—Gilbert K. Chesterton

Perfect love is rare indeed - for to be a lover will require that you continually have the subtlety of the very wise, the flexibility of the child, the sensitivity of the artist, the understanding of the philosopher, the acceptance of the saint, the tolerance of the scholar and the fortitude of the certain. - Leo Buscaglia

Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried. - Gilbert K. Chesterton

A room without books is like a body without a soul.—Gilbert K. Chesterton

You will find as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.— Henry Drummond

Time is too slow for those who wait, too swift for those who fear, too long for those who grieve, too short for those who rejoice, but for those who love, time is eternity.—Henry Van Dyke

Before God we are all equally wise - and equally foolish.—Albert Einstein

Immature love says: 'I love you because I need you.' Mature love says 'I need you because I love you.' - Erich Fromm

Some people are so afraid do die that they never begin to live. -
Henry Van Dyke

Love is an irresistible desire to be irresistibly desired. - Robert Frost

An empty stomach is not a good political adviser. - Albert Einstein

An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered. - Gilbert K. Chesterton

When once you have tasted flight you will always walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward: for there you have been and there you will always be. - Henry Van Dyke

It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity. - Albert Einstein