entrepreneurs

The environment you are surrounded by at work can lift you up, propel you forward, pull you down, or trigger feelings of being stuck. In some organizational cultures, a cycle perpetuates itself that is very similar to abuse. What do you do if your organization is stuck in such a cycle? You get therapy.

As a leader, there are a few ways you can do this without pulling in an outside facilitator. Although, if things have gotten to the point where the needle can’t move with internal efforts alone, a facilitator may be necessary.

DIY Organizational Therapy

It was a typical Friday. I was between appointments at the corner of Goni and College Parkway when, out of nowhere, my vehicle lost power. There was no warning, no flickering lights, just “boom, boom, out go the lights” as the song goes.

Stuck in the turning lane, there was only one thing I could do, take action. I called my insurance company which offers free towing. While on hold with them, I texted and got my 5:30 p.m. appointment handled. Once I was assured the tow truck was on its way, I paused. Everything happened so fast.

Pasts — we all have them. Some are darker than others, but most provide timeless lessons we can use in the present. But what is the difference between learning from the past and living in it? How can you utilize the events of the past to make your life better today? This is something I am asked regularly and I face every day.

When you learn from the past, you take the lessons you picked up and apply them to the present in a positive way. Living in the past takes the past into the present and painfully rehashes it to the point where it has a negative impact, rather than a positive one.

When you live in the stream of life, instead of fighting the current, you find a sense of peace. This is what I realized after a deer ran into my passenger side headlight this weekend on the way back from a little getaway.

I spent last Saturday and Sunday at Wanderlust, an amazing yoga, music, and meditation festival held at Squaw Valley each year. I feel blessed to live in Carson City and able to access festivals like this. People fly in from all over the nation to attend Wanderlust and I get to drive up and bliss out during the day and then sleep in my own comfy bed at night.

Going to this festival each year always adds tools to my toolkit, which I give freely to my clients and to you, my dear readers, today.

Here are the top ten things I learned at Wanderlust Squaw Valley this year.

The spirit of enterprise soars Saturday in Carson City with the grand opening of The WheelHouse, a skate, apparel, bike and supplement shop dedicated to those who push themselves upward in all the right ways.

Developed by three budding entrepreneurs committed to two and four-wheel adventures, WheelHouse is a concept store that offers a variety of urban and skate apparel, skateboards and bikes, as well as health and nutrition supplements.

This week’s Women to Women is with Diane Hansen, Chief Inspiration Officer of What Works Coaching, a coaching firm that has helped people worldwide with their businesses, careers, mindsets, and profit margins. The Texas native received her bachelor’s degree from California State University-San Bernardino College of Business and Public Administration respectively.

This weekend provided a lesson in self-kindness I will never forget. It started with a group hike at Upper Thomas Creek Trail.

Hiking with a group, I thought, would make the experience more enjoyable. Unfortunately, initially, it didn't. It wasn't because of the group. It was because of what went on in my head as a result. In an effort to try to keep up with more experienced hikers, I focused outside myself and pushed myself too hard to keep up.

Education and learning is in my blood. I just love it. So, it should be no surprise as soon as I got my certificate from the HarvardX course “Immunity to Change: A New Approach to Personal Development” that I jumped into a new course on EdX.org called “Tangible Things.” Also taught by Harvard professors, this course challenges students to look beyond face value and dig deeper to find new truths about the objects in the world.

Mark Twain said, “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” In my line of work, I see a lot of dreamers. These dreamers love to make to-do lists in their heads, or visualize a prosperous future. But some of them fall prey to a little something I call broken starter syndrome.

The passion is there. The vision is there. However, when it comes to actually stepping on the gas, they have one foot on the brake. Fear of making the wrong decision, not being able to get it all done, or facing the unknown keeps these dreamers paralyzed and stagnant.

There are several places in this great area of ours that bring me peace and joy. These sacred places pump joy into my body faster than anything.

If you haven’t noticed by now, I love quotes. This weekend, I ran across this one by Walt Whitman. “Every moment of light and dark is a miracle.” It reminds me that life is cyclical and when the low cycles hit, we need to ask ourselves what we can learn from them to move forward.

Thomas Jefferson said, “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” If you want to become known in the community, you must do something to become visible to those who are involved.

If you want to lose weight, you must shift your attitude and activities to create the change. If you want to make more money in business, you must adjust what you are doing (even if it’s finding a way to clone existing customers and magnify existing success). The point is you must do something you have never done before. This involves feeling a little bit of something icky — fear.

Memorial Day came and went a couple of weekends ago and, although I was sick during the holiday, many others were thankfully healthy. Some used the opportunity for a three-day weekend to go get a little R&R in: go to the beach, take a break, spend time with friends and family, and unwind. It’s what happens on Tuesday, after we come back to the reality of our lives, businesses, ups and downs, that can be confusing — the post-vacation blues.

Sunday at the Festival of Earthly Treasures was beneficial for both myself and the clients I had the pleasure of serving. I had the opportunity to coach on a variety of topics, from learning how to grow an existing business and bring out the best in a business team to acting with intention to get better results and identifying what creates happiness in life.

Those of you who read my column on a regular basis know that I have recently renewed my commitment to fitness. And, let me tell you folks, I’m sore. I’m not just “ow that sort of hurts” sore. I’m sore like, when I stand up, my legs wobble like a baby horse and I limp to wherever I’m going sore. That’s really sore.

Saturday, California Chrome took the prize in the 140th Kentucky Derby. However, champions aren’t born that way. They are made. The horse’s owners didn’t wake up the day before the race and decide, “Hey, I’m going to race a horse and win the Kentucky Derby.”

They invested time, energy, training, and vision to help build up a champion. The race was a short 1-1/4 mile. But, the reward for winning was great. In fact, California Chrome took home a cool $1.4 million. Not bad for running a few minutes.

Sunday I spent the day at the Reno Earth Day Festival with some friends. It was really nice to sit down on the grass, bask in the sun, and slow down for a while.

I had brought a few toys with me, four bubble guns and a hula hoop. While we were playing with the bubbles, I took a moment to observe the crowd around me — everyone “finding their happy” in their own way.

This past weekend we celebrated Easter, a holiday filled with family, renewal and hope for the future. The hallmark of the holiday, for kids, is the Easter egg hunt, where they run as fast as they can and look for eggs with hidden treasures inside.

The other day, I had a conversation with a client who had a tiny marketing budget. Although their product was great, they had a hard time getting the word out because they couldn't afford to advertise like they wanted. Advertising is important, but it’s not end end-all, be-all of business. There are three things you need to build a customer base, or what I’d like to call your future fan base.

1) A product or service worth talking about
2) An opportunity to expose people to that winning product or service

Recently, I’ve made some sizable changes in my life. Call it “spring cleaning” of the soul, if you will. I’ve changed the way I socialize, who with, and why I do it in the first place.

I have said goodbye to people I thought would be in my life forever, people who made an indelible mark on who I am and people who were simply friends because we co-existed in the same place. Why did I do all this “cleaning?” I did it to make room for something better.

Singer-songwriter Frank Ocean said, “we met for a reason, either you’re a blessing or a lesson.”

Think about the people you have met over your lifetime, the relationships, the friendship, the “frenemies,” and outright enemies. Each and every one of them adds something, however small, that impacts how you address life.

(Editor's Note: This is the third What Works column by Carson City Business Coach Diane Dye Hansen. This column appears every Monday on Carson Now.)

Today, I want to talk to you about something that affects both business and life in general insecurity. There are many ways to feel insecure. We can feel insecure with ourselves, our talents, and our ability to achieve. Our jobs can make us feel insecure at times.

(Editor's Note: This is the second What Works column by Carson City Business Coach Diane Dye Hansen. This column appears every Monday on Carson Now.)

I have a confession to make. I have been found guilty. I was guilty of over-extending myself. I was guilty of focusing on hindsight, which is always 20/20, and taking a big emotional battering ram to my ego. I deserved to be locked up for putting pressure on myself that was so great that I felt like nothing was working. Why? It’s because I’m a dreamer.

Editor's Note: Today Carson Now is excited to bring a weekly column, "What Works" by Carson City business coach Diane Dye Hansen.

The column will appear every Monday. Hansen is the Chief Inspiration Officer of What Works Coaching, a coaching firm that has helped people worldwide with their businesses, careers, mindsets, and profit margins. Diane brings to Carson City more than 17 years of experience with a wide array of clients, ranging from top corporations, motivated entrepreneurs and individuals hungry for a fresh start.

Here's her first column.

Business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs will have an opportunity to access resources and learn more about overcoming the issues and challenges of launching or expanding a business during the Governor’s Conference on Small Business 2013. The annual statewide conference, taking place in Reno for the first time on August 28 at the Grand Sierra Resort, will provide a comprehensive one-stop resource for information on funding, licensing, regulatory compliance and much more.

Carson City, NV – NxLeveL business planning course is coming back to Carson City after huge success with more than 30 business attendees in the March 2012 class. Western Nevada Development District has once again provided the funding for what has become the most popular and successful business planning course throughout countless Nevada communities. This award-winning program has provided the tools to start and grow a small business to more than 3,000 Nevadans.

With the 77th Legislative Session underway, lawmakers are shaping Nevada's future. Many say that future begins with one thing.
"Increase the standards, increase the expectations in education," Gardnerville resident George Butler said. "That's the thing that's going to really grow the economy and attract businesses and entrepreneurs and things like that."

From the federal government to the Nevada Legislature, many small business owners are wondering how new laws and government regulations may affect them in 2013. They can find out for themselves on Thursday, Jan. 31, at 9 a.m. PST, when NevadaSmallBusiness.com, in association with Nevada State Bank, presents “Insights: Impact of New Regulations on Small Business,” a free interactive Web event featuring a panel of Nevada experts.

As Prepared for Delivery Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013:

Madam Speaker, Mr. President, Distinguished Members of the Legislature, Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court, Constitutional Officers, Senator Heller, honored guests…...