DO YOU HAVE TIME FOR YOURSELF?

CREATING CH’I

As a business owner and woman I’m always looking for balance. Balancing my home life from that of my professional life. Balancing fitness and nutrition with an occasional massage. Even balancing time out for meeting up with friends and family. I often wonder where the time goes throughout the day. I swear I wake up in the morning and think I’m going to get a lot done that day and by the time I get home I’m wondering what I accomplished. Sometimes, I’m aggravated in realizing I didn’t do much.

Today’s blog entry is about finding the time for you. Finding the time to sit down, relax and enjoy your “me” time.

In traditional Chinese culture and philosophy there is a fundamental concept called Ch’i or Qi. Ch’i literally means “air” or “breath”. Conceptually it refers to the energy flow or life force that is said to pervade all things. Why write about Ch’i? I’ve read that the quality, quantity and balance of Ch’i are believed to be essential to maintaining a long and healthy life.

When it comes to obtaining a long and healthy life I look at the stresses in my life and try my best in alleviating them. One such stress is cleaning my home. What a pain in the ass it is. Now, I don’t have a big home but it takes me forever to clean. In full disclosure, I take a lot of “breaks”; especially if the TV is on. Either way, I cannot seem to relax at home. That’s my point! I want to go home to feel relaxed and ready to lounge. No dog hair on the floor, on the bed sheets. No dishes in the sink. No cobwebs or dust bunnies in the corners. No floor to sweep and mop. Wouldn’t it be nice to come home to a clean home and not have to do anything but watch television or lay in bed reading?

So, I pose this question to you. Why not hire a cleaning service? Lessen one stress in your life. Come home to a space free from allergens; see that the laundry has been picked up from along side of the bed and the garbage taken out. At a minimum you get to come home and enjoy the comfort of a clean home. Let us, or any cleaning service in your area; help create a flow of Ch’i. It will positively affect your health and energy level whereby reducing stresses in your life.

All the best!

KENYAN BUSINESS INTERNSHIP

I’d like to congratulate "http://www.heartlandinternational.org" Heartland International, a non-profit organization in Chicago for its successful efforts in developing a training program designed to bring young Kenyan entrepreneurs (ages 25-35) to the United States. The training program offers preparation for learning entrepreneurial skills that can be utilized in their communities in Kenya. Heartland International paired these individuals with small businesses within the Chicagoland area that matched their own businesses in Kenya. I had the opportunity and pleasure of hosting a business intern from this group.

My assigned intern, Ms. Justine Ayieye, owns her own cleaning business in Kenya. She spent several days with my staff and gained valuable experience in practical and everyday business situations. Ms. Ayieye’s responsibilities included taking on marketing tasks (passing out flyers in designated areas) and operational tasks (scheduling customers and crew members). Having Ms. Ayieye around provided my staff and I a first hand look into her own business and the challenges she faces. She recognized several differences; such as, the equipment that they use and in the time it takes a crew to clean a home. My team also found the distinction in business practices to be enlightening. For example, I couldn’t take the shocked look off the faces of my team when they found out how low the pay per cleaning is in Kenya.

I would also like to send a special thank you to the Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) for their invitation to be a panel speaker at the beginning of this program. I have to admit, I was a little nervous in answering a bunch of questions but the other panelists and our facilitator, Ms. Meg Herman but the experience was definitely a learning one.

I congratulate Justine and her fellow Kenyan entrepreneurs for taking two months from their personal and professional lives to visit our country and learn about our culture, our people and most importantly the business aspects of an entrepreneur in the United States. I wish each of them every success in their future endeavors and hope to have the opportunity of seeing them again.

A Lesson Learned

Is it possible to gainfully learn something from someone whom you see as unsuccessful? Be it a neighbor, a friend, a co-worker, or member of the family. In life, I have spent the greater part of my adult life listening to people who had great ideas and who inspired me to do better. Yet I viewed many as people who rarely seemed to emanate success in their own lives. For example, I have heard the myriad of “how to have a great relationship” from neighbors who later filed for divorce. Or in business, I have been told that “this is how to market yourself to be successful” from business consultants who were finding it difficult to run their own businesses. So, I ask myself, do I turn a deaf ear when someone offers advice on a subject I know they know little about?

In the past, I have struggled with the notion that I knew more than my neighbor, my friends, and god help me my parents. And yet, in recent years I have come to the standing realization that I have so much to learn from the very same people who I thought otherwise had much to offer. What I thought “I knew” was not at all what I know now.

I am bitterly aware that listening was one of my shortcomings. I didn’t listen close enough to what they were saying because if I did I would have been smart enough to utilize some of those thoughts and ideas into accelerating my personal and professional growth. I would have attended more events, more networking meetings. Been involved in more projects. I would have (albeit reluctantly) taken opportunities that were made available because someone thought it would be good for me.

As a business owner, today I look for and listen attentively to those who can offer any advice no matter how small. I attend after hours networking events even when I’d rather be at home or finishing a project at work. Why? Because that’s where people share their ideas, their opinions, and their triumphs and tribulations. I may learn something valuable that would immediately help my business grow and then I may learn of what not to do because it would hinder the growth of my business. Or I may learn about an idea that may not help me in any way but may help someone I know. What’s ironic is that at times I may even learn something about myself.

A continual goal of mine is to “listen”, even when I feel someone isn’t (at that moment) making any sense. As a kid, I remember sitting around a dinner table with my parents and their friends (always against my better judgment) hearing “the” adults talking business and life. I would think to myself and often times to my dismay out loud that I would be different, I would make my own rules, I’ll do it my way. And as I would vocalize my thoughts, I would hear “it may not mean anything to you now but wait until you’re my age, you’ll see.” All I’d like to say to them is that I remember and I thank you. I am not only hearing you but also listening.

Business is tough and life is tougher. It is up to me to make every opportunity count and to learn something because it may be of value sometime in the future if not now.