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Part 2: 7 Lessons learned from my cruise

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I like Pina Coladas and pools.
I like Pina Coladas and pools.

Cruising is pretty cool, I learned a lot. For example, you can get sick of sitting by a pool 7 days in a row for hours at a time sipping a Pina Colada. Besides that, I contemplated the following 4 items, a continuation of the 3 from Tuesday.

  1. Sometimes you need to be bored. As I was sitting at the pool drinking my 5th Pina Colada, I thought to myself – what do I do now? The motion sickness patch I had on was making me see double when I tried to work or read (I think God was forcing me to take a break) so I had no choice but to just sit there. I think for most business owners or professionals in general, it is hard to sit still and just think. We are not always comfortable being alone with our thoughts. Oftentimes, this is when our breakthroughs or epiphanies happen. Stop squirming. Sit still and just be.
  2. Self-reflection is imperative. Because I was at the pool pretty much every day (did I mention how tan I am?), I had a lot of time to think about me. Yuck. How can I be better as a person? What are my major weaknesses? How can I be a better business owner and boss? Self-reflection should make you uncomfortable. I realized that I need to take a deep breath, step back and think before acting, saying or writing. I am too often moved to be pessimistic versus optimistic, so I am challenging myself to look at the positive when addressing the negative.
  3. Read, read, read. This was hard for me to do, considering the double vision I was experiencing but one of the reasons I love getting away is because I can immerse myself in reading. I wasn’t reading business books, I was reading fiction by writers, Lee Childs and James Patterson. Giving your brain a break by using your imagination will allow you to look at ongoing issues in a different way, hopefully ending in a creative solution.
  4. These people make vacation fun.
    These people make vacation fun.

    Travel. I love traveling, I hate the getting there and getting back part (this is where the optimism will come in handy), but I love seeing new places, people and taking in different cultures and history. We have so much to learn from others and history. Perspective is a wonderful thing, it allows us to look at our life through a different lens. Life is pretty great after all (optimism).

What is your favorite part about traveling? When you come back how does it change your life daily?

Also, Has anyone worn the motion sickness patch before? I swear I am going through withdrawal…is that normal?

Comments (2)
Jim Cox
September 30, 2016

Omg you love to write doNt you?

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Kim Bode
September 30, 2016

Are you saying my writing isn’t interesting?

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Then, when we hit our target revenue and employees, we were stuck in the business and had no time to work on it.

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Open post by bodespeaks with ID 18445961302123742
In our early days, we didn’t know how to build a support network or find the resources to plan for our growth, so we ‘winged’ it. Then, when we hit our target revenue and employees, we were stuck in the business and had no time to work on it. It’s exhausting, and we were sick of watching other women-owned small businesses go through the same thing. So, we built what we needed. The Women’s Owners Network: The program for what comes first. The Women’s Entrepreneurial Fellowship: The program for what comes after. Each program is built, taught, and led by business owners for business owners, because no one understands your journey better than those who have been there. Apply. Do it for you, because if you don’t build and maintain that foundation, you’re walking away from your business. https://sbamwef.org/apply/

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Open post by bodespeaks with ID 18122942332886995
As the poster child of Anti-AI; I’ll be sharing all my insights at my session at the @widnational Women In Defense National Conference this Monday (tomorrow). It may or may not include screenshots of me calling Claude names. I will give you: - Resources - Guides - Policies to start with (not a lawyer people - this is my disclaimer) I also promise you the presentation will not be drafted by, influenced by or done by AI. Cool. See you then. #widnc26