Have you thought about starting your own business and ignored it because it feels impossible?  How about one that serves, solves problems, or changes others’ thinking?  It is possible, even while you work at your day job.

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On This Episode

Rhythm of Life – Dust Bunnies Behind the Magazine Rack
Tune-up Tip – Uncovering the Mystery of Your Body Clock
Random Riffs – Guess the Popular Song States
Feature Segment – Get in the Game: The Entrepreneurial Option

Rhythm of Life – Dust Bunnies Behind the Magazine Rack

In the midst of my busy life, cleaning is not always at the top of my priority list. I’m sure you can relate. You do a peripheral dusting, once in awhile going deeper. I recently moved some furniture to do a deeper clean, and what did I find? Dust bunnies behind the magazine rack. If I’d known they were there, I would have dusted sooner. But I didn’t look.

I started thinking how this can relate to life:

• We can talk ourselves into or out of almost anything when our unconscious biases get involved.
• Other things are more important to me so my focus is often elsewhere.
• Keep priorities straight.  Some things ARE more important than dust. Work to your own standards of what is important.
• When we’re in a hurry, we tend not to notice things. Slow down; be intentional.

One more lesson – don’t sweat the small stuff.  And dust is small stuff.

Tune-up Tip – Uncovering the Mystery of Your Body Clock

Circadian Rhythm is effectively a body clock. Our body has several body clocks, the main being our Master Clock, which coordinates activities of all internal organs. Our other body clocks take their cues from the Master Clock.

Some people may not have a normal 24-hour cycle, which can throw you off course. Working the night shift or rotating shifts can also affect our body clock in a big way, the most dramatic being weight gain and metabolic problems; memory and decision-making capabilities may be compromised.

What can we do? Practice good circadian hygiene:

1. Stick to the same bedtime and wake-up time
2. Front load blue light, and reduce at the end of the day. (To learn more, listen to Episode 022)
3. Brighter light in the morning and start to dim lights in evening
4. Spend more time outside, and less time with technology

Random Riffs – Guess the Popular Song States

I got to thinking recently which states have the most songs with their names in the title.

Like, the Yellow Rose of Texas, or I Guess He’d Rather Be in Colorado. I researched songfacts to get my answer.    Can you guess the top 5?

How well did you do on Guess the Popular Song States? Leave a comment below or Facebook page.

Feature Segment – Get in the Game: the Entrepreneurial Option

“Have you ever thought about starting your own business?”

How many times have you seen that line begin an article or an ad? Does the thought of it sound intriguing and run shivers up your spine at the same time?

In the last few episodes, we’ve been talking about Designing Your Future. You….

• Started with Idea – how to generate and build on idea
• Next – Project Management
• Now – feel inspired to think creatively about your own life and your own possibilities.

When I say business, it can range from traditional service industry to artistic to highly practical. It can be a micro-business or a large enterprise; in a physical location or virtual/online. By removing preconceived ideas about what a business is, your mind opens to the possibilities.

And your business can impact others:

1. Serve others – business can not only serve its customers/audience, but also serve the greater good, i.e. donating to charity, starting a charity, or empowerment. It’s less about what you can do for yourself and more about what you can do for others.  Some examples:
   • Anthony Robbins – goal is to feed more than 2 million people this year
   • Stu and Amy McLaren – started a charity to build schools in Africa
2. Solve problems – most businesses are meant to solve some kind of problem, whether to fix something or make something better.  Look around you.  Say “I wish someone would…” What if that someone was you?  Here are some examples:
   • Connecting organic farmers to busy people – Deb Marsden: Connector
   • Zippy Courses – Derek Halpern: Power User
   • Creating a blog for people studying for licensing exams – Pat Flynn: Expert
3. Change the paradigm – business gives you incredible freedom or flexibility to change people’s view. Some examples:
   • Dave Ramsey – Live like no one else so you can live like no one else.
   • Greg McKeown – What would your life look like if you focused only on what is essential?
   • Vani Hari (The Food Babe) – Started a crusade to uncover what is in what we eat.

Starting your business is not for everyone though. It takes:

1. Vision
2. Determination/persistence
3. Delayed gratification
4. An experimental/playful mindset
5. An Investment in your time and money

Think you could do it? You may be saying, “I want to, but now isn’t the right time.”  Remember, there is never a good time to start anything; something will always get in the way. Discern whether it really isn’t the right time or whether it’s a smokescreen to hide fear.

I have invested my time, energy, and passion in learning from the best: Seth Godin, Michael Hyatt, Ken Davis, and Ray Edwards. I’m living, breathing proof that you can start a business, even while you work full-time. Everything I’ve done since starting this business has changed my life for the better, including my life at my day job.

When you’re ready to make an investment in yourself, get in touch. I’ll be taking a maximum of 3 clients to work with, to help you start your own business while you are working full-time. To apply, go to https://kathleenannthompson.com/business. We’ll set up a short call to make sure we are a good match. The application process closes on October 7^th, 2015. Invest in yourself now!

Catch the entire Life Design Mini-Series

Episode 021 – 6 Simple Techniques For Living in the Moment
Episode 022 – What Can You Bring to Every Day?
Episode 023 – Four Powerful Results From Effective Communication
Episode 024 – Designing Your Future – How Do You Start?
Episode 025 – Fear Hides When You Have a Killer Project Plan