Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog

Small Business Grants for Women

Are you a small business owner looking for a grant to start-up your business? Have you had any luck finding them?

Funding opportunities for women starting up small businesses do exist. You just need to know where to look.

Here are four bonafide places to begin your search:

1.    U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA)

This is a fabulous site for all your small business needs. Plus, as a bonus, there are many local SBA offices around the country where you can go and talk with a real live person.

• Finance Start-up page - This page gives a list of grant and loan programs, though not the grants or loans themselves.
• Local Resources page - On this page, you can search for your nearest SBA.
• To be eligible for small business grant or loan monies, the business must meet the Size Standards determined by the SBA.

2.    Grants.gov

On this site you can find and apply for Federal grants. For small business start-up loans, grants.gov redirects you to SBA.gov. That's because the Federal government works through agencies like the SBA when funding money for small business start-ups.

3.    Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA)

Here you will find a listing of all Federal programs available to government, public, and private entities.

4.   Rural Development Administration

The RDA provides assistance to businesses starting up in rural areas. Assistance usually comes in grant-loan combos, or just low interest loans.

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Smiling Opens Doors for Businesswomen

Today . . . I am thinking about a blog post I read over at Beacon about the importance of putting a smile on your face for your profile photos.

Below is the entire blog.

Why Women Smile In Their Profile Photos in Business Networking Sites

By Salil Pillai – Courtesy to Toboc

An interesting research into the profile photos uploaded by the members of Business Media Networks (BMN) revealed that majority of women smiled in their profile snaps as compared to the negligible number of males doing the same. The query posted in several BMN groups produced an overwhelming response in just few minutes of its posting.

Leading BMNs including Linkedin groups and Xing groups witnessed a huge number of members responding to the topic in no time. Even inactive groups became lively after the topic appeared in their forums.

Claudia Dittmar, the Outsourcing Manager from Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd inserted two lines of her male friend’s poem, a translation about smile “I impute to women, they often think differently. It is so nice to fly into the light. Only there I know what is really in me”. Mike Arlinsky of GalleryWatch opined “a smile usually is mirrored by the recipient. It is smart for everyone to do. The “Clint Eastwood” look doesn’t cut it”.

Few men those who did not smile in their snaps observed they did not do so because they wanted to appear strong, mighty, credible and dependable. However, some were of the opinion, pasting stern/neutral photo would make someone look like a scarecrow even to oneself. Though the discussion was drawn to different types of smile from appeasing smile to foolish smile, largely many participants felt a dignified smile would function as an initial key to open everyone’s attention.

Some claimed racial, upbringing and cultural reasons for male members to avoid smiling. But it was countered by a post which said globalization and internet to a great extent had become a cultural leveler and therefore, no one in any BMN could claim cultural, racial or any other reason for not smiling.

The gist of the overall opinion was posted by a Travel & Tourism Consultant Roseann Dodgson; she said “A smile in business is to me like “an invitation to treat”. It opens doors and it engages a discussion in trust. Long gone are the days when you must not wear your emotions on your sleeve. It is, I agree, the essence of approachability. A smile that reaches the eyes, that is what is important, displays confidence and expertise in your line of business. You are proud of who you are, how you act, and how you deliver your line of business, some of the ‘old school’ men feel they must show their cards until everything is on the table. Why? You will close a deal far faster if you are open and smile warmly from the start”.

Interestingly, after the participation in a long discussion in one of the groups, the Technical Head of AK Aerotek Software Centre Pvt Ltd, Amitabh Mukherjee admitted that he would replace his unsmiling photo with a smiling one. However, it seemed to be a surprising post when Ernest Nnagbo of Epoxy Oilserv Limited claimed that, in Africa, it was not acceptable to have a passport with a smiling photo irrespective of gender as it gave an impression of disguise.

To conclude, most of the participants in various discussions groups were of the opinion that regardless of gender one should smile, and smile was everything. They suggested a stern/neutral snap did not leave an impression of neither acceptability nor approachability. Whereas, a smile initiated a possible connect, and eventually, a good business friendship or beyond.

Do you smile in your profile photos? Do you think it matters?

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Formula for Determining Your Cash Profit

If you are a small business just starting up, how do you know if you are going to make it financially?

How do you figure out how much money you need to make in order to survive past the first couple of start-up years?

This is one of the hardest things to determine for new small businesses.

The thing that makes this so hard is because start-ups are operating from projections. And the greatest unknown is your income!

You can typically come up with a fairly accurate account of your estimated expenses, including product cost, overhead expenses (office, rent, utilities, vehicle), professional services (accountant, attorney, business coach), etc. However, your income amount is tricky. 

Many new businesses ignore projections. They would rather focus on getting their great product or service out there instead of running the numbers and seeing what their projected profit margin will be. Unless you have a sizable bankroll, this is a mistake.

Why? Because if you know your projected cash profit or loss for the year, then you can make informed financial decisions about how to spend the money you currently have. Knowing now what you are willing to liquidate, where you can tighten your belt, how much debt you are willing to incur, and where your breaking point is, means you will make intelligent (rather than emotional) decisions throughout your start-up process and for years to come.

Basic Formula for Anticipated Cash Profit:

1. Take your projected income for the year.
2. Subtract all anticipated expenses for the business year.
3. This equals your anticipated cash profit
4. Overarching question: Can you survive on that profit and for how long?

So, before you rush to get your product out there, do your homework. Be sure to take the time to do projections for your business so you can determine whether or not you’ll have enough cash to sustain you and your business for your first couple of start-up years.

The original Accidental Pren-her™

Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Red Poppy for Memorial Day

Today . . . I am taking a moment to honor the men and women who have died in military service to our country.

I've chosen as my poppy to wear today, Red Poppy by one of my favorite artists, Georgia O'Keefe.

Georgia was 40 years old and living at the Stieglitz family home at Lake George in the Adirondack Mountains when she painted this particular painting in 1927.

One of the longest standing traditions is the wearing of poppies on Memorial Day. The practice of wearing poppies takes its origin from the poem In Flanders Fields, written in 1915 by John McCrae.

What honoring thing will you be doing today? I'll be following Georgia's example and painting.

Susan L. Reid

Twice award-wining author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Which Business Entity is Best for You?

Today . . . I am thinking about this question that came in from one of our readers. She is just starting up her business and wants to know what the different business entities are and how to decide what business entity is best for her.

If you have a small business question that you'd like for me to answer, let me know.

Q: "How do I decide which business entity is best for me?"

A: This is a great question and very important consideration for both small business owners just starting up and those wishing to expand.

Here is a brief overview of the seven main business entities available in the U.S.:

1. Sole Proprietorships

These are the simplest and consist of one person who has total control, liability, and rights to sign contracts. No state registration or other formalities are needed.

2. Partnerships with General Partners

These consist of two or more persons equally co-owning a business for profit. Partnerships with general partners can be created without a written agreement. However, it is best to have a written agreement regarding what each partner is responsible for.

3. General Partnerships with Limited Partners

These are formed by two or more persons when the partnership has one or more general partners (someone active in the business and liable for it) and one or more limited partners (an investor who is not involved with the day-to-day management of the business and not liable for more than his or her investment in the partnership).

4. Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs)

These are formed by two or more persons who file a statement of registration with the state. LLPs provide liability protection for both the general and the limited partners. It is best for LLPs to have a partnership agreement.

5. Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)

These are formed by one or more persons filing articles of organization with the state. LLCs have few required legal formalities. LLCs should have an operating agreement.

6. C Corporations

These are formed by one or more persons and have articles of incorporation filed with the state. They also have bylaws and corporate minutes and may also have a shareholder's agreement.

7. S Corporations

These are formed by one or more persons who want to be organized like a C Corporation but taxed as an S Corporation, such as a partnership with a shareholder liable for entity income and losses and the corporation not liable for taxes.

When determining what's best for you and your business, consider the following:

• How easy or complicated do you want the set-up to be?
• Do you need liability protection?
• Do you to have outside equity investors?
• Do you want your business to be taxed on the individual or business level?
• Will you have stockholders?
• Are there numerous or just a few owners?

For example:

• Sole Proprietorships are easy to create and manage. They have no liability protection to their owners and cannot have outside equity investors, but they can take out loans. They are taxed at the individual level.
• Limited Partners and LLPs provide personal liability protection. They also allow equity investors. They are taxed at the individual level.
• C Corporations are best for entities with numerous owners and public investors. Taxes are paid at the entity level and on shareholder dividends.

That's it!

Do you have any other suggestions? If so, leave a comment and let us know. And, if you have a small business question that you'd like for me to answer, let me know.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™
Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Team Leadership: Are You a Motivator or Inspirator?

Have you ever given much thought to the energetic difference between motivation and inspiration?

Not many people do.

However, one of my clients recently asked about the difference when I asked her if she wanted to lead her team to success via inspiration or via motivation.

That question stopped her short.

"What's the difference," she asked?

Often we use the two words interchangeably, though energetically they are quite different.

Motivation is when we are pushed forward, from behind, toward a desired outcome. This usually happens when someone other than yourself is using his or her thoughts and words to influence your behavior.

These thoughts and words can belong to a real, live, external person, like a boss, sister, or mother, or they can belong to the voice inside your head that is telling you what you should and ought to do.

Guilt is the biggest source of motivation, whether it comes from the voice inside your head or from someone outside of you.

Inspiration, on the other hand, has a whole 'nuther feel to it. Inspiration feels as if you are being magnetically drawn toward doing something or being someone from an inner inspired source. With inspiration, there's no voice inside your head telling you what you should do. Neither is there the feeling of guilt if you do not. Instead, there is an inner inspired joy that bubbles up, connecting you and igniting you toward.

It's rather like the energetic carrot out in front beckoning you onward, inspiring you to success and greater fulfillment in your life. 

When my client and I talked about what leadership style she wanted to use with her team, which one do you think she decided upon?

"Drawn toward or pushed forward, which feels better," I asked?

She knew, right away, that she would rather be inspired to success rather than motivated for success. Especially after she looked up the synonyms for motivation and inspiration:

Motivation-incite, provoke, trigger, make, push, shove, goad, and bring on.
Inspiration-sparkling, stirring, awakening, passion, eagerness, brightness, and my favorite . . . muse.

Weigh-in. Which are you? Are you a motivator or Inspirator? Which do you prefer?

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Top 10 Characteristics of Women Entrepreneurs

Have you ever wondered what the distinguishing characteristics are of women entrepreneurs? What sets them apart from regular women who go to work and have a job?

Fortunately, psychologists, sociologists, and historians have been studying the behavior characteristics and traits of successful entrepreneurs for long enough to have come up with a composite list of there attributes and characteristics.

Here they are! See how many of them you have.

Top 10 Characteristics of Women Entrepreneurs

1. You have a strong desire for autonomy, to be your own boss, and live life on your own terms.
2. You are an independent self-starter, not needing or wanting others to tell you what to do.
3. You have a powerful drive to make money and accumulate wealth.
4. You are a calculated risk-taker with a higher-than-normal tolerance for failure and consider failure a non-issue.
5. You like to be in control and call the shots. 
6. You are highly self-motivated and are indefatigably fearless when it comes to getting the job done.
7. You had childhood experiences as a budding entrepreneur and/or entrepreneurial parents, grand parents, or relatives.
8. You have a high level of energy that is sustainable over a long period of time.
9. You are creative and innovative, a strong decision maker, and able to think quickly on your feet, and set things in motion.
10. You are a big-picture thinker capable of seeing how everything relates to each other.

So, how many of the characteristics did you resonate with?

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Six Surefire Weekly Action Steps Small Business Owners Need to Double Productivity

While it's understandable that even thinking about how to boost your productivity during tough economic times can feel like a burden, not doing so could spell disaster for your business.

If you’re a small business owner, hoping your business will make it through these tough economic times is not enough. When the economy opens up again, you’ll need to get back in the game as quickly as possible.

Implement these six surefire weekly action steps to double your productivity, and get your small business ready for the future right now.

Six Weeks to Doubled Productivity

Week 1: Eliminate the words, “I’ll get back to you on that.”

This may seem like a really easy task to do this week, but it's not. Eliminating the words, "I'll get back to you on that," or other such phrases that end up putting things off rather than dealing with them right away, takes fortitude.

To stop leaking productivity, eliminate any words or phrases that put something or someone off until later.  You'll be amazed at how quickly productivity will increase once you become responsible for your actions in each present moment, practice integrity with your words, and say yes only to the things you know you will deliver.

Week 2: Don't worry. Take action.

This week, eliminate worry from your thought pattern. Worry is one of the least productive things you can do when the economy is tough. Worry zaps energy, erodes confidence, and weakens resolve.
Instead of worrying about what may or may not happen in the future, take strong, confident action steps in the present. Focus on the things you can do today that are in alignment with increasing productivity in your business.

Week 3: Sleep long and eat well.

This advice may seem obvious; yet, it is so often overlooked during stressful economic times. If you're like most people who are concerned about their businesses, chances are you're not getting enough sleep. This week, avoid operating on a sleep deficit by getting the amount of sleep that is right for you. Do this, and you'll be amazed at how much work you’ll get done. While you're at it, start your day with a healthy breakfast, and don't skip lunch.

Week 4: Mono-task.

David Allen, author of Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity, says that it is essential to focus on the task at hand before going on to something else. For business owners who are used to doing many things at once, focusing on one task at a time before moving on to the next may seem, at first, to be a slower way of doing things.

Yet many successful entrepreneurs practice mono-tasking because they know the toll that multi-tasking can have on productivity and efficiency. When it comes to the really important projects, they mono-task. 

Week 5: Keep it simple.

This week, decide on only three things you will complete each day. Then work on them, one-by-one, until you get them done. At the end of the day, if something remains unfinished, put it first on your list for tomorrow. On the other hand, if you get all three done by noon, add three more.

Follow the "first-things-first" rule by putting the most important tasks and projects at the top of your list. Don't put them off until later. Also, avoid placing non-relevant tasks before important ones. Tackling your highest priorities first thing in your day will greatly boost your productivity this week.

Week 6: Do the things that affect other people’s productivity first.

This week, review what's on your plate. Are there things that other people need you to complete before they can begin work or attend to the priorities on their own lists? If so, finish these tasks first. By doing this, not only will you increase your own productivity, you'll also boost the productivity of everyone around you.

Okay folks, get started!

This is week one. Eliminate the words . . . "I'll get back to you on that." Get started now! And let us know how it's going for you.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

 Do you know the book Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, MD?

It’s a short, easy to read allegory about change. It reminds us of our need to find our way in the maze and to succeed in changing times.

In it are four imaginary characters: The mice, Sniff and Scurry, and the little people, Hem and Haw.

Together, they represent the simple and the complex parts of ourselves.

Sniff - sniffs out change early.
Scurry - scurries into action.
Hem - denies and resists change, as he fears it will lead to something worse.
Haw - learns to adapt in time when he sees that changing leads to something better.

Finding cheese meant a great deal more to the little people than just having enough of it to eat every day.  Finding cheese was the little people’s way of getting what they thought they needed to be happy.They had their own ideas what cheese meant to them, depending on their taste.

For some, finding cheese was having material things. For others it was enjoying good health, or developing a spiritual sense of well being. For Haw, cheese just meant feeling safe, having a loving family some day, and living in a cozy cottage on Cheddar Lane. To Hem, cheese was becoming a Big Cheese in charge of others and owning a big house on Camembert Hill.

The main activity in Who Moved My Cheese? is looking for and finding cheese. Sniff and Scurry work as a team, as do Hem and Haw. Eventually, they all find a large cheese supply in Cheese Station C and enjoy it for quite some time. Then, one day when they arrive at Cheese Station C, the cheese is gone! Responding quickly to the situation, Sniff and Scurry immediately take off in search of new cheese, while Hem and Haw stay and try to figure out what happened.

Hem wasn't about to go out in search of new cheese. He felt entitled to have the cheese and “wasn’t going to change until they put the cheese back.” Haw, meanwhile, was processing everything that had happened and concluded that he needed to go back out into the maze to search of a new Cheese Station.

Here are the 12 realizations Hem came to while searching through the maze for new cheese. Each of these gems are valuable to keep in mind for the Accidental Pren-her™ in the midst of change.

1. The more important your cheese is to you, the more you want to hold on to it.
2. If you do not change, you can become extinct.
3. What would you do if you weren’t afraid?
4. Smell the cheese often so you know when it is getting old.
5. Movement in a new direction helps you find new cheese.
6. When you move beyond fear, you feel free.
7. Imagining yourself enjoying new cheese even before finding it, leads you to it.
8. The quicker you let go of old cheese, the sooner you will find new cheese.
9. Old beliefs do not lead you to new cheese.
10. When you see that you can find and enjoy new cheese, you change course.
11. Noticing small changes early, helps you adapt to the bigger changes that are to come.
12. Move with the cheese and enjoy it.
    

Which character did you relate to the most? Are you a Hem, who resists change, or a Haw who adapts and changes?

Susan L. Reid, The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

 

 

Inner Samurai Interlude

The sun is high at the zenith. Clear soft sound of a temple bell, far down in the valley. Voice of the children near the cottages above me on the hillside. The sun is warm. Everything falls into place. Nothing is to be decided. There is nothing to be judged.

Inner Samurai Interlude brought to you by Thomas Merton.

From Party-of-One to CEO

Are you a small business owner, party-of-one, thinking about taking your business to the next level? Have you been wondering what it would take to make that happen? Wondering whom to add next, to do what?

The next step is easier than you think.

Here's how!

The Enterprising Entrepreneur Team

Enterprising women entrepreneurs think in terms of building teams. That's because women are natural collaborators, easily gravitating toward the richness of relationships that result from working as a team toward a common goal.

If you are solo entrepreneur wanting to take your business to the next level, start thinking in terms of building a team to manage the day-to-day activities of your business and also building partnerships with professional advisers to help make the most of your business potential.

Make sure your enterprising entrepreneur team includes the following people:

1.    You

Your team starts with you at the top. You are the Chief Executive Officer of your business. Yes, the CEO. If you're thinking about taking your solo business to the next level, the first thing you'll need to do is start thinking like the CEO of your enterprise.

You don't have to be running a big business to think like a CEO. Just reframe the term CEO so that it works for the enterprising entrepreneur. When you do, then the CEO becomes the top-level woman responsible for the operations of her business. For the operations of her business. Not for operating her business. Instead of doing it all, you'll be putting a team together who will manage the operations of your business for you.

Are you clear on that difference?

2.    Virtual Assistants

Virtual assistants now become your management team. I recommend placing two of them on your team. One to manage the administrative aspects of your business and the other to manage the technical.

How many hours they work each month and what they manage is entirely up to you. Consider starting with 10 hours per week and increase it from there as you become more comfortable having them on your team. Soon, you will see how freeing and necessary it is to have them, not you, manage the thousands of details that come across your desk each month. That's what I did.

3.    Professional Strategists

You probably already have a working relationship with the three main people who will make up your professional advisory team: your tax adviser, insurance adviser, and legal adviser. Most women entrepreneurs have a CPA in place to do their personal and business taxes, an insurance agent in place for their car, home, life, and business insurance, and an attorney in place for their personal and business legalities.

The next step to becoming an enterprising entrepreneur is to turn these business advisers into your business strategists. Instead of meeting with them once a year to get your taxes done, to review your policies, or when questions come up, meet with them more often.

Begin this week. Make an appointment with each of them to talk about your business. Share your vision and plan for your business and inform them that they are now on your team. Let them know that you'll be meeting with them quarterly to discuss your business and strategize about its growing needs.

See . . . the next step was easier than you thought, wasn't it?

All it takes is a little re-positioning and gathering the right people around you to support your success.

Are you ready to get started? Good. Begin this week to transform your party-of-one into the powerful business owner you know you are. Keep us informed. Let us know how it's going.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

The Element Earth and the Inner Samurai

Are you familiar with the four elements?

You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?

This is the last blog of a four-part blog series on the four elements and their transformational power and importance to the Accidental Pren-her. If you would like to get caught up by reading about the first three elements, you can do so by following these links:

1. Element Fire
2. Element Water
3. Element Air
   

Last up--earth!

The alchemical process associated with earth is conjunction, because all matter results from some sort of conjoining, or coming together. It is the final step in the transformational process and is the most nurturing and creative.

Earth is the archetypal element representing divine fertility and sustenance. Coming into contact with earth means encountering immense creative power, and is best done with humility and humbleness.  (The word humility comes from "humus," meaning earth.)

Whether we are walking upon the earth, planting in the earth, or making mud pies from the earth, coming into contact with the earth is an act of co-creation. Psychologically, the conjunction of two things occurs in order to create a new state of consciousness. According to alchemist Dennis William Hauck in The Emerald Tablet: “From an individual’s viewpoint, conjunction is the birth of a new reality through the union of thought and action that [creates] a completely new way of looking at things.”

Conjunction is the final step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious businesswoman and with it comes the permanent state of enlightment of our Inner Samurai. The first step, fire, forms the foundation, the second step, water, forms the inner wisdom, and the third step, air, forms the inner truth of our Inner Samurai. With the final step, earth, a co-creative partnership with all the rest of the elements completes the transformational process, thus forming the philosopher’s stone of our Accidental Pren-her.

Often preceded by an activating or life-changing event, conjunction is the natural process that occurs when we have taken in and fully integrated all that has happened along our journey. As a result, the life-changing event that rocked our world and turned everything upside down becomes the instrument of change that transmutes our lead into gold. As a result, we have been changed from the inside out and in the process become more of who we really are.

Have you had a life-changing event that rocked your world?

What was the transformation process like for you?

If you’ve had a life-changing event, or are currently having one--this is the place to talk about it.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

The Element Air and the Inner Samurai

Are you familiar with the four elements?

You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?

This is the third blog of a four-part blog series on the four elements and their transformational power and importance to the Accidental Pren-her. If you would like to get caught up by reading about the first two elements, you can do so by following these links:

1. Element Fire
2. Element Water

Third up--Air!

The alchemical process associated with air is separation. It is the third step in the transformational process, and often the one that is the most severe.

Air is the archetypal element of the wind, and, like the wind, has always been associated with spiritual forces. Air is the life force itself, the primordial chi in Taoist philosophy. Psychologically, separation represents the discernment of what is important and of value in your life from what is not. According to alchemist Dennis William Hauck, “if we do not reject old habits and beliefs when confronted with the possibility of a better way of being, we end up imprisoned by a tyrannical ego complex that will perpetuate any illusion just to keep control.”

Separation It is the third step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious businesswoman and forms the inner truth of our Inner Samurai. With the first step, fire, forming the foundation of the Inner Samurai, and the second step, water, forming the inner wisdom of our Inner Samurai, this third step, air, brings us closer to the transformational completion of the philosopher’s stone of the Accidental Pren-her.

Often preceded by an activating or life-changing event, separation is the natural process that happens as part of the inner discovery of what is true and right for us in our lives. Effecting our finances, relationships, health, family, work, career, and living situations, the air of separation helps us to find our inner truth, so we can go beyond what was, in order to become what is.

Have you had a life-changing event that rocked your world?

What was the inner discernment process like for you?

If you’ve had a life-changing event, or are currently having one--this is the place to talk about it.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

The Element Water and the Inner Samurai

 Are you familiar with the four elements?

You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?

This is the second blog of a four-part blog series on the four elements and their transformational power and importance to the Accidental Pren-her. If you would like to get caught up by reading about the first element, you can do so by following this link:

1. Element Fire

Second up--Water!

The alchemical process associated with water is dissolution. It is the second step in the transformational process, and often the one that is the most empowering.

Water represents the unconscious and is symbolic of the impermanence of all things, and the glorious power of change. Psychologically, dissolution represents the cleansing and dissolving away of the old, outmoded ideas and ways of being that no longer serve us. Water provides the important transformational element needed to let go of the old in order to make way for the new.

It is the second step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious business woman and forms the inner wisdom of our Inner Samurai. With the first step, fire, forming the foundation of the Inner Samurai, and the second step, water, forming the inner wisdom of our Inner Samurai, this is the first half of a transformational process that will eventually form the philosopher’s stone of the Accidental Pren-her.

Often preceded by an activating or life-changing event, dissolution is the natural process that happens as part of the integration process we all go through after the occurrence of a major life event. Effecting our finances, relationships, health, family, work, career, and living situations, the water of dissolution helps us to let go of what was, in order to become what is.

Have you had a life-changing event that rocked your world?

Now that you know about the dissolution process that occurs after such an event, what were some of the things that you had to let go of in order to become who you now are?

What was that letting go process like for you?

If you’ve had a life-changing event, or are currently having one--this is the place to talk about it.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

The Element Fire and the Inner Samurai

Are you familiar with the four elements?

You know, Fire, Earth, Air, and Water?

Starting today, and for the next three days I'll be introducing each of the four elements and how their transformational power are importance to the Accidental Pren-her.

First up--Fire!

The alchemical process associated with fire is called calcination. It is the first step in the transformational process, and is often the most painful.

According to The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy of Personal Transformation by Dennis William Hauck: "Calcination is the reduction of a substance to ashes, and it requires an intense flame to succeed.” Psychologically, calcination is the burning off of the Ego and its material attachments in order to reveal one’s true, inner, authentic self.

It is the first step that we all take along the path from Accidental Pren-her to spiritually conscious businesswoman and forms the foundation of our Inner Samurai.

Often called an activating or a life-changing event, calcination is a natural process that is brought on by a major life event such as a death of a loved one, major health crisis, a significant relationship shift, natural disaster, change of work situation, an accident, or spiritual awakening. It happens to all of us and most often when we least expect it.

The reason reason why a life-changing event is so important is that it generally ends up being the catalyst for starting up our small business.

How many of you have had a life-changing event?

An event so strong and all consuming that felt as if you were the proverbial Phoenix going up in flames only to be reduced to ashes?

If you’ve had an event, or are currently having one--please share it with our blog community for by doing so, we are all validated.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Are you Going Through a Life Transition?

In 2004 I went through a huge life transition. For awhile after my spiritual awakening I was able to function and operate in the world just fine, then it became all too much for me and I crashed in on myself.

Within a short time, I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, grieved the passing of both my parents, and wrote my book. The only two things that remained the same were my cat and where I lived. Other than that, my spiritual, financial, romantic, physical, and emotional worlds all want through monumental changes.

During that time I read a lot of books to help me make sense of the overhauling transition going in, around, and through me. One of the most helpful books was When the Heart Waits by Sue Monk Kidd. You may already know Sue Monk Kidd as the author of The Secret Life of Bees. (Wonderful book, BTW!)

When the Heart Waits is an intensely personal book. Having gone through a life transition herself and speaking from the vantage and wisdom born of a "been there, done that" perspective, Kidd openly talks about her own personal life journey and midlife experience. In it, she grapples with the sacred questions of life, her own emotional transformational process, how it almost did her in, and how she made it through to the other side.

Throughout the book are lots of powerful antidotes, helpful suggestions, and golden nuggets Kidd mined from her own transformational journey. One that I took to heart was the reminder . . . to wait. To wait and allow the process to unfold.

Why do we need to wait?

As Kidd says, so that, "the passionate and contemplative crucible in which new life and spiritual wholeness can be birthed."

Transformation is very much part of the inner Samurai journey.  It comes when we least expect it, and, seemingly, unasked for. It's as if we are summoned to an inner transformation, to a crossing over from one identity to another. From what to what may be unknown. Though, the call is unmistakable. The calling is to undertake a new passage along our spiritual journey.

If you are going through a life transition, whether it be a career change, divorce, loss of parents or significant other, a natural disaster, or physical illness, Sue Monk Kidd's When The Heart Waits will be a helpful book for you to read.

If for no other reason than you'll be reminded to . . . wait.

Susan L. Reid
The original Accidental Pren-her™

Author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success