However, as you look at all those out of state license plates and think of the good ol’ days of summer. Don’t forget those good ol’ days were overshadowed by the fallout from an oil spill and the deflation of the housing market. This summer the discussion was of empty guest rooms across all types of resort facilities and efforts were focused on getting the word out that our beaches were clean.

 All those cars and traffic represent people. People that have come to enjoy our beaches, shop in our malls, and eat in our restaurants; who all though it might not have been as warm lately as it normally is, are happy that the wind chill factor is above zero. And although it is way too cold for me to get in the water, the Gulf is only cold for those of us who are spoiled Florida natives or long-time transplants. 

So in sharing our roads and beaches… REMEMBER to be on your best behavior. Try to be thankful and grateful for our winter guests. They could have chosen to go some place else, but they chose here and aren’t we glad they did?

Not everyone can ride a wave...

If your business only runs well during normal, you are looking at a brief 7-8 weeks before Halloween gets here and then Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving everyone will be waiting to make decisions at the start of the New Year. In the beginning of the year it will take a couple weeks for everyone to get back in the swing of things after a long break. Then again, there will be a brief 7-8 weeks before Spring Break and Easter Holidays disrupt normal business.  Somewhere after Spring Break we have another 7 weeks or so before graduations, weddings and summer vacations kick in again.

21 weeks of normal sounds ridiculous! Yet we didn’t count tradeshows, CEU’s, national holidays or all the other things that business works around. We didn’t even consider the fact that many businesses don’t even get ready for those 21 weeks during their “off times”, but wait until everything is back to normal to get ready to do business as normal.

“So what do I do about this,” you wonder?

“I have enough challenges from recent economic turbulence to only have 105-120 normal working days.”

 Moving past normal takes an understanding of seasons. A season in business is much like surfing. If you wait until the wave is here to get ready to ride…You are too late! In between waves, when things are little slower is when you paddle out to be ready. Days when there are NO waves are days for servicing your board, or possibly cross-training to master other skills that might be beneficial to your success.

Consider moving past normal and getting ready to catch the wave!

Although it is still HOT, and it is still Rainy and not everyone is in their office everyday; consider being strangely different. Consider moving past normal and getting ready to catch the wave!

Check out growing your Business!

It felt good getting off to a great start, and then January came. Would we let a little cold Florida weather discourage us? Absolutely not! WE bundled up with many lighter layers and included hats, scarves and gloves. Each time challenges were presented to discourage us, we simply developed plans that to keep us moving forward.

However February was different. Not only was it cold, but upper respiratory challenges made riding impossible.

March brought us “wet” and two trips to Reale Bikes in Venice for tires and tubes. (Great Service!)

AND isn’t that the way it seems so often. You start out with a great initiative. You have well outlined goals, a plan to implement and you get off to a terrific start. Then things begin to happen, circumstances beyond your control. Yet you continue on, but so does the opposition. Sometimes you can feel like you are so far off track…

However, April arrived. It’s a new month and each day is new. The weather is warm, the bikes have been serviced, and we are both feeling better. Monday was a 10 mile ride for us.

My daughter said several times…”Don’t you feel empowered Mom?”

The answer is YES! We chose to not let time that we weren’t moving forward to keep us from continuing although it would have been very easy to have been discouraged and to have given up.

If you have gotten off track, if your recent actions have not fully corresponded to your initial intentions for this year…I want to encourage you that although staying on target is good; that getting back on your bike is incredibly rewarding.

You have taken inventory of yourself and of your business. You have fearlessly examined the facts and know what you have to work with, what you need to eliminate and the tools you will need to truly move toward your goals and objectives. You know where you are and where you want to go. You are on the road to success…however this road is just that, simply a road and being on it guarantees nothing. Your goal still lies somewhere ahead and it is going to take something to get there. The next stetch of this journey requires discipline…Self-discipline!

Failing to plan is planning to fail.
There is a big difference between said and done.
Lots of people have great ideas in the shower.
The road to hell is paved with good intentions…You get my drift?

Failure is not just the result of failing to plan. Brilliant plans are useless if they are never implemented. Making it happen comes down to getting up day after day and following…putting action to the plan you have created. It means periodically reviewing that plan against current conditions and destination and making some adjustments if necessary.

If your plan includes others, this process of establishing order and moving with purpose always works better when you practice it first in your own life. Does you word mean something to you? Do you follow through on your commitments? Leading others comes first from leading yourself.

In fact just recently I was presented with an awesome looking project: something that could prove to be very fruitful, something that I could enjoy, something I have wanted to do for a while, only to discover that just because I could do this now did not mean that it WAS the right thing to do now.

The economy is not exactly optimal at the moment. It may take some creativity and may take some extra work, to make it all work. Sometimes as we work at making things work we get caught up in the doing trap of “Next”. Then whatever comes along next is what we do. And pretty soon you look up from doing to say, “How in the world did I get here?”

I will admit sometimes you do have to do whatever it takes, however the more you can stay it that place where you create the most value…the better. But to stay in your YES, you may have to learn to say NO.

You have to get in the game. Waiting for things to get back to normal is not an option, because they are not going back to where they were. There is a new normal…it’s not quite clear what that new normal is going to wind up being, but it isn’t what it was.

 Today the game is not always pretty. The competition is tough. If you weren’t in shape and prepared, you may not feel so good at the end of each day. Icy hot, and ibuprofen may be your bed fellows for a while. Yet if you stay in the game, if you don’t quit…you will get stronger. But it takes looking for some new game plans, finding a good coach, and continuing to train extra hard.

There have been players and teams that have come from behind before, the underdog who refused to give up or give in. They make up in heart for what they may have lacked in traditional preparation. They have no box and take what others would have cast aside and make it work. They start with what they have in their hand, maximize that and GROW on. They refuse to warm the bench, and push forward when everyone else says it is not possible.

These are the founders of our country, they are the pioneers, they are those who went before us and blazed trails that for several decades we have had the luxury of enjoying.

 No, I am not participating in the recession either. I will rise to the occasion.  As my forefathers who came here as pilgrims, struggled that first winter and yet survived, so I will survive. I will give thanks for what I have. I will work hard. I will look for new opportunities and I will look for creative solutions. There is a new normal coming and I choose to be in the game.

 As we look back at history we see examples of men, women, societies that sold their truths. We make statements that we would never give up our fellow man to a gas chamber because of their race or religion. It is easy to say, but in this time of economic upheaval have you considered the price you place on your truth?

“If you do this, you can be like God”…they already were. They were deceived into thinking that by works they could get something that they already had, something they already were.

 The purpose of the enemy is always to call into question…as a child of the kingdom, as a citizen on this earth with the nationality of the kingdom, you have been redeemed.  The relationship between the work of your hands, your mouth and the creative nature of God which resides within you which can not help but to expand forth even as the universe can not cease to expand…has been restored to proper order. Your very nature is one of increase!

 Yet I can choose to consistently run on less gears than I have. I can consistently choose to underutilize my resources. Now in full knowledge, why would anyone do that…

 Fear that those resources are not mine…really…that the promise is in word and not in substance

 Fear that if I succeed it will be taken away…authority issues.

Fear that I am less than what has been said of me, fear that if I step out I will be exposed as the inadequate being that I am, and shamed.

 Without fear I can choose to operate within or without the authority that I have been given.

 Fear removes choice…for I now feel compelled to take care of my own safety.

 The tree of life that God gave me in the beginning, calibrated my being for life. I acted and chose based on the standards of life God had set within me.

 The tree of the knowledge of Good and evil removed the standards of God as the default and allowed me to choose which program, which standard I would want to run. The choices were overwhelming and because my ability to make choices was based on only my limited perspective…many of my choices were flawed.