I know there are stories I need to write – some long, some short. Bits and pieces come to me from out of the blue.  I don’t know where the words come from, I just know I appreciate them.  Sometimes that is not enough and I drop whatever I am doing to try to capture them on paper.  My “bits and pieces” are everywhere in my home, on my computer, and now some will make their way here.  Eventually they may find their way into another story.

My collection of bits and pieces is scattered.  Like my thoughts, they move from one place to the next seemingly without direction or purpose.  And then I rediscover them as I sift through a mound of papers and magazines and the feelings and emotions come back in a rush, as strong as they were when I captured those words.  It makes me wonder why I am not spending all my days hunting and capturing word-pictures and word-feelings.

It would be easy to say “I’m too busy” but it’s not that.  I have time to watch tv, read books, watch YouTube videos, and chase shiny things on the internet.  It would be easy to say “It’s not important” but it’s not that either.  Because it IS important to me.  When I pack a suitcase for a trip, I’m less worried about forgetting an item of clothing than I am about forgetting a notebook.  It would be easy to lay the blame elsewhere – and I hear the echoes from my childhood “just get to the point, would you!”, and that is echoed by my husband’s disinterest in reading stories. But that is about them, not me.

It is just me.  All my life there has been this knowing that I am alone.  No matter who is around me, who I live with or work with, I am still alone in some way.  My thoughts, my dreams, my made up stories – they have kept me sane and made the aloneness bearable.  Given purpose to my existence.  But to make these words public is scary.  I give the world the opportunity to reject and destroy what I’ve worked so hard to protect – my dreams, my soul.  It’s far more dangerous to me than physical or emotional abuse in my mind and yet, here I am. Compelled to do the very things that frighten me the most.  If I’m not pushing past my comfort zone, it’s too easy to be trapped forever in the routine world.

Courage is not the absence of fear…and doing what I fear makes me stronger,  brings me better words.  Really, there is no choice.

“Courage does not always roar… Sometimes it is the quiet voice at the end of the day, saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’.”

Anonymous

The one single thing that can make or break any business is persistence – or lack of it!  Persistence is what makes us dive into our work again and again, despite difficult days, clients, situations, or challenges.  Persistent business owners succeed far more often than they fail.  It’s even more effective than brains, talent, or financial backing.  Persistence is the one thing that ANYONE can apply to their business – it’s free, it does not require that you take a training course, and it’s not rocket science.  It’s just something that anyone can do…if they want something bad enough!

Here’s my example:

When I discovered Virtual Assistance, I knew it was my dream come true!  This was the answer to how I could take the administrative and business skills I already had honed, and put them together into a business of my own.  I immediately applied to AssistU (the premiere VA training program in the world – at that time, the ONLY VA training program in the world!) and eagerly awaited their reply.  And they said…NO.  Really.  They turned me down!  They were not accepting Canadian students, so I was not getting in.

So where does the persistence come in?  Well, I didn’t accept their answer.  I asked them to partner with me to create a training program for Canada, and if they really were not interested in training Canadian VAs, then I would figure it out on my own and set up my business anyway.  They agreed to take me into their training program, and in return I gave them Canadian content – which turned out to be quite useful for those US-based VAs who were working with Canadian clients!

That’s not my only example.  When I was working in a corporate job, a layoff loomed.  My name was on “the list”.  As the messenger explained all my options and the resources that the company was offering to us newly unemployed people, I asked who was going to be helping with typing resumes and other admin work.  They did not have someone lined up yet, so I offered.  Well, why not?  It wasn’t like I didn’t know how to interpret the handwriting of these people already – and really, what else did I have to do?  My offer stopped him cold – he had no idea how to deal with this kind of a response to the news that I was laid off!  My offer was not accepted, but I guess sometimes persistence doesn’t always get you the “win” you think you want.  What it did give me was optimism and enthusiasm not to give in at the first setback, and to realize that this layoff was a huge opportunity – they had paid me to leave, which is what funded my dream of becoming a business owner.

How did you use persistence to get what you wanted?  How did it work out?

Do you ever feel like you are flipping the switch but someone forgot to pay the power company?  Like all you need is that little surge of energy to start flowing and then all the marketing will work, the clients will come, your business will light up and take flight?  Or maybe you are still searching for the switch!  Many business owners feel like this.  It’s that feeling of beating your head against a wall, doing everything you can think of to make it all work, and yet…nothing happens.  You do more and more, you spend more and more time, and still…nothing.  And you can’t see why not.  The lights are off.  So how do you get that power flowing?

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Jacek Chocolate offers me a chance to be fashionable.  Yes, me!  Fashionable!  While fashion to me has generally meant getting a new pair of jeans or updating my t-shirt collection or the truly  fashionable art of draping a  Pashmina over a t-shirt for that wow factor, I DO absolutely love  anything chocolate.  White, milk, dark, filled, unfilled – it doesn’t matter, it’s all wonderful!  And  now, simply by eating chocolate, I too, can be fashionable! A love of haute couture and fine  chocolate were combined when Jacqueline Jacek began the business of Jacek Chocolate.

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I am learning that government programs for seniors in Alberta are not exactly simple to understand or access.  I don’t know why, perhaps the more complex they make the program, the more people they can keep employed.  It certainly is not for the benefit of seniors.

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Last year was a series of “lasts”.  The last Christmas with my Dad.  The last birthday celebration we would share (our birthdays are just a few days apart).  The last Father’s Day I would send him a fax with jokes he would enjoy.

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Today I am a Writer.  I woke up and heard the words in my head.  Today I am a Writer.  A Writer must Write.  And so I wrote a few pages in my journal, and then I showered and began to dress.  Today I am a Writer.

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Ali Brown’s Coaching Business Intensive workshop was great!  I was inspired and motivated to see so many successful people who have followed Ali’s programs and course content.

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I am leaving today for Ali Brown’s Coaching Business Intensive program in Los Angeles.  I’m excited about what we will be learning there, and I know it will be a great experience!  I have followed Ali’s success for over four years, and what I know is that she always delivers solid content in an easy to understand and put into practice.  I bought her “Boost Business With Your Own Ezine” years ago, and that information was a big part of the ezine services I offered to my clients ever since!  This is the first time I will see her present her training in person, and I expect it will be just as content-rich and usable.

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How do you manage your coaching clients?  How do you manage your session notes?  I’ve just started using Coaches Console this year.  I am impressed with the amount of information and assistance available to new and existing users.  They even have a team of Virtual Assistants available to help you get up to speed really quickly.  If you choose to do it yourself, it’s reasonably easy to understand what to do for each area, and there are great training videos.

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