Turn Around Tuesday

“Everybody knows Rocky.” - Mark Groves, my beloved better half

Let me explain today’s odd quote. I married my sounding board. It is a wonderful arrangement. As I sat down to write today’s Turn Around Tuesday, he noticed I was searching the blogosphere for the “right quote.”

He asked if I now did that every week - pull quotes off blogs. You see, he was instrumental in the birth of TAT and the use of the weekly quotes from famous names. He did not realize that my switch to “bloggy quotes” was a new constant.

I replied that I did. He thought a minute and said, “Maybe you should still do some of the famous ones. Those really inspire people. I mean, people can relate to that. Everybody knows Rocky.”

Of course, he is referring to my complete dedication to the idea that every lesson you need to learn in life is beautifully located in some quote from one of the six Rocky movies.

Interesting thought. So, I pass the question on to you.

Where do you find inspiration, motivation and a general “pick me up when I am feeling sorry for myself” quip?

Today, I want to encourage you to focus on the things that resonate with you and create inspiration. Visit those places and appreciate those things as the time spent there will be well worth the investment. And don’t keep them to yourself. Your personal sparks of inspiration may be just what is needed to create the blaze in another.

So Many Angels

There is an organization here in Richmond Hill called So Many Angels. It is an all volunteer, non-profit created by the family and friends of Cassidy and Skylar. These beautiful twin girls were born in 1997. They were touched with currently incurable disease called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. In 2006, at the tender age of nine, the disease proved fatal for Cassidy.

On Saturday, March 1st from 8am - 2pm at the Ford Plaza in Richmond Hill, SMA Angels will be hosting a charity garage sale. If you are local, I urge you to come out and support this truly great cause. If you are semi-local, make the drive. If you aren’t local at all, there is a donation link on the site.

These little girls and their family are fighters - the least we can do is help them lace up their boxing gloves.

*Today’s quote was found in my living room (sorry - no link for that)

How do you promote your website?

Received one of the most interesting phone calls the other day. By interesting, I mean it was fun, quirky and enjoyable which was all unexpected considering it was a cold sales call.

Paul is a hoot. Funny, outgoing and always looking for a sale or a strategic partner. Easy to talk to, I heard him out. Interesting concept he has. He has bought up a whole bunch of “Call (Your Name) dot coms and rents them out to folks with that name.

You can check out mine at www.CallApril.com. However, it just redirects to my own homepage. This works great if you decide to use the feature. If not, you guessed it, Paul can handle having a site built for you.

The pros as I see them are the ease of remembering and passing on the url and the call to action built into the web name itself.

The potential cons are the cost (yeah - it’s cheap, but small businesses can nickel and dime themselves to death) and not owning the domain outright (although I am imagining he would sell it to you if you asked).

There are probably more pros and cons, which is one of the reasons I am posting about it here (along with the fact that I promised Paul I would).

Questions off the top of my head are

• Is this a way to promote your website?
• Does having the redirect do you any good?
• Does the business model work for you?
• Under which conditions would you use this domain?
• Is it something you would consider doing or not?

I am sure you guys can think of many more considerations and this is one of those things I would really love to kick around.

Turn Around Tuesday

“Failure itself is not the secret to succeeding. Learning and improving by trying and doing, or learning from failure, is the secret to succeeding as an entrepreneur.” - Becky McCray, Small Biz Survival

You could replace the word “entrepreneur” in today’s quote with just about anything - spouse, parent, friend, employee, employer - anything, and it would still be true.

Funny thing about failure - it is the often a huge source of regret and fear. However, when we do have successful moments, it usually comes through doing it afraid and carrying with us lessons we learned from past failures. Amazingly enough, after we have made it through a particularly painful experience, many of us would say the silver lining included valuable nuggets and a new, fresh perspective.

The old adage “that which does not kill me will make me stronger” keeps coming to mind. It reminds me that many have been in similar situations of fear and apprehension - and they are now selling their success story on Oprah. While I appreciate their wonderfulness in their own right, I will not be convinced that they possess a secret I do not. Instead, I choose to believe that, like me, they walked along life’s journey, leaving bread crumbs behind them and picking up shiny rocks ahead of them.

Today, I want to encourage you to not fear failure. Instead understand they the greatest thing you can do is learn and leave a fingerprint in all those things in which you find value in your life. Failure is not the enemy - becoming unteachable is.

We all need a few great friends!

This past week has been a wonderfully bittersweet one. It culminated in what will most likely be the last first birthday I ever throw.

For a mom, this is the time that makes you wonder in amazement at the growth of your children. It also breaks your heart.

I am very grateful to those fun women that celebrated that day with me - not the least of which was my mom. They understood and they didn’t allow me to dwell. Instead, they helped to create an environment that was fun for the kids and the moms as well.

We are all blessed with some really great friends. They show up and show out at the most wonderful times!

Today’s quote was found at Becky McCray’s Small Biz Survival

Turn Around Tuesday

Sure, it’s Wednesday. And Turn Around did happen on Tuesday for the email subscribers. Server issues and email catch up made the web issue a bit delayed…but, without further ado…

“Other people have accomplished what I want to do. Not all of those people had talent or credentials. And surely they also started somewhere. They weren’t born into it. They had to follow a path just like everyone else. They found a way. I can find a way too.”

- Karen Lynch, Live the Power

I feel tempted to just let today’s quote stand there all by itself. I mean, really, what else is there to say? In fact, let’s all stop a minute and read it again.

Awesome isn’t it? And I will comment - partly because it will feel like a cop out if I don’t and mainly because there is a facet I would like to emphasize.

The above statement is not just true for everybody else - IT IS TRUE FOR YOU. I am not a betting woman. If I were, I would put lunch on the fact that I have more than one person reading this right now saying, “If only this was true for me.” IT IS!

For some bizarre reason, we get this notion in our head - and worse, in our heart - that we are some how less capable, less creative, less whatever than what we are. We buy into the idea that wonderful things and big dreams are totally possible - for other people. But, for ourselves, the other shoe will always drop and is targeted right on our project.

These thoughts are the cornerstone of self sabotage. More importantly - they are not true. It is a hard feat to remove these ideas from our process. But, it can be done and figuring out how should be pretty high on your “things to do.”

Today, I want to encourage you believe in yourself. If that step is too big from where you are now, then start a bit smaller. At the very least, scold negative thoughts. You are better than you give yourself credit for. You are just the kind of person big dreams were made for.

When the server and the pollen crash!

It has been an interesting couple of days that most of you don’t know a thing about.

Morgan turned a year old and we are into our one week of the year when the babies are the same age!

The babies’ birthday party is this weekend and that is a fun time to get ready for.

The pollen count has been way up and has decided that my face is the perfect place to land.

But, there is no blog, no return email, no nothing - because the server my website is out of commission. That is where the site, the blogs, and the email live. Lucky for me, it is different than the one used for Turn Around Tuesday.

Until the situation is rectified, thanks so much for your patience. When it is solved, thanks for it again while I wade through days of emails!

Today’s quote was found at Live the Power via Successful Blog

Turn Around Tuesday

“I feel it’s a tragedy, at least personally, when one spends all their time working toward the goal achievement of others while ignoring one’s own personal goals.” -  Brad Isaac, Achieve-IT!

I would say, under oath, that I know some of the most helpful people in the world. It is amazing the levels of generosity and good will that I find myself around everyday. I have the honor of knowing what true unselfish behavior looks like.

I also know some of the most stressed out folks. Others folks I know are still missing the mark of their full potential. The ironic thing is that, typically, the generous, the stressed and the unrealized are all the same people.

If you are thinking we are going to spend a bit of time talking about “saying ‘no’” you would be right. This one habit can be the nicest thing you do for yourself and others all day. Consider the job you do for others when you are already overtasked - is it done to your usual high standards, or is something missing? Consider your ability to succeed in the same situation - are you realizing your full potential? The answer to both of these is probably no. Therefore, you aren’t doing the job you should be doing and you are not setting yourself up to have the resources to help others.

Today, I want to encourage you to say “no.” Understand that the truth is we can’t all be everywhere at all times and that is not a flaw in our character. Saying “no” may be one of the best things you do all day - for yourself and others. It is not the source of guilt or greed - but the creator of the honest to goodness “YES!”

Super Tuesday!

There is about a 50/50 chance that you live in a state that is going to the polls today. It is the infamous “Super Tuesday,” and I for one am glad to see it is finally here.

If you are a political junkie like I am, today is akin to the Super Bowl played just a few days ago - without all the really cool commercials, but with more pertinent results. This is the day where citizens in 24 states pull a lever in an attempt to discern who will run for the office of Commander in Chief. In my opinion, that is huge. It is no small task to get one step closer to choosing the leader of the free world.

I am hoping if you live in one of these 24 states, you will take the time out today and vote. It is the most important privilege we exercise, for it is the one that protects all others.

*Today’s Quote was found at Achieve-IT!