Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog

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

Stop Learning from Your Failures

I just finished watching  Fast Company's "Innovation Uncensored" 2010 conference video highlights and thought Alex Bogusky's take on failure was brilliant. Alex Bogusky - the big ole advertising executive and founding partner of Crispin Porter - whose balls to the walls mentality of "fear as the mortal enemy of creativity, innovation and happiness" is fearless when it comes ignoring fear.

"You create a fearful culture where you spend a lot of time looking at where you screwed up," he says. Instead, his company has bred a culture in which success is celebrated, and failure is forgotten. Take a look at what he has to say in this video, then head over to Alex Bogusky's Posterous blog to hear more.

I Can Be a Shark

Now here's a girl who knows how to do affirmations. Little Jessica has it down! No messing about for her. First thing in the morning, still in her PJs, she climbs up on the bathroom counter, looks herself straight in the mirror and declares her day.

Ever wondered how to do daily affirmations? Wonder no more.

Failure Is the Opportunity...

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.

- Henry Ford

Well said!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently.

- Henry Ford

Well said!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Eckhart Tolle on Ego vs. I Am

As a small business coach working with spiritually conscious women entrepreneurs, I often get asked the question, "How can I distinguish between the voice inside my head (Monkey Mind) and the voice within?"

When I read what Eckhart Tolle had to say about this subject in the May Issue of Eckhart Teachings, I thought I'd share his perspective with you.

If you'd like to be put on his mailing list and receive his monthly teachings, you can do so here.

Eckhart Tolle:  How do you know whether a feeling you have is coming from your Ego, or from a deeper source?

Sometimes it’s not so easy to tell.  One criterion you can use is to know, if there is any negativity involved, anger, resentment, irritation, then Ego is present there.  If there is no negativity but there is an underlying field of peace, then it arises from a deeper place that is not the Ego.   For example, you may be in a situation, and you may feel that suddenly the right thing to do is to leave the situation – whether it’s a relationship, or a place, or a job, whatever it is – you can direct attention to the feeling to see where it’s coming from.   Is there any reactivity, or anger in the essential part of that feeling?  Or is there just a deep knowing that this is what you have to do, and you do it?  There’s a peace that comes with that. 

Peace can certainly mean that you take action.  It’s a very different energy field out of which this energy flows than “reactive” action which is always associated with Ego.   You need a certain amount of presence to know whether there is negativity inside you at any given time, or whether the feeling that arises comes from a deep knowing that “This is what I have to do”. 

Negativity is the key, knowing whether or not that is present in you.  You need to be present to know whether it’s there or not.  If you are identified with negativity, then you won’t even know that there is negativity.  To the Ego, a negative feeling is something good.  The Ego loves to be angry.  It strengthens itself with that.   If there is absolutely no awareness, then you won’t even know that you’re in a negative state.   And then there’s nothing you can do, you need to wake up first so that you can see “What state am I in right now?”  Then the Ego cannot even recognize itself.

For the Ego to be recognized, the awareness needs to have awakened.  Then you can observe yourself.  The witness, the observing presence needs to be there.

Once that’s there, you can recognize negativity, and then you’ll know that’s the Ego.  Then the Ego is no longer totally dominating you, and you don’t necessarily have to act on it.  You can then have a feeling of anger without acting on it, and simply allowing that feeling to be there, and observing it, how it arises, and how it passes away.

You don’t have to obey what it tells you to do, you don’t have to follow every thought that arises out of that feeling.  Vigilance is required for you to know where a feeling comes from.  Is it generated by a thought in your head? Then it’s Ego.  That’s a helpful little hint, is it a feeling that is generated by some story I am telling myself about my life, about other people, about a situation? Or is it a deeper realization of what is needed in a situation?  Whatever it is, the key factor is the witnessing presence inside you.  The witnessing presence is the only thing from which the Ego can be recognized. 

I especially like the highlighted part.

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

10 Ways to Be a Positive Force in Your World

From an energetic standpoint (the Inner Samurai Business standpoint), being a positive force both in your life and in the lives of others who come in contact with you, goes a long way to creating a pleasurable, satisfying, and gratifying life.

Here are 10 ways to be a positive force:

1. Think before you speak.

2. Keep an open mind.

3. Discuss rather than argue.

4. Cultivate a soothing voice - How you speak often means more than what you say.

5. Never lose an opportunity to praise or say a kind word.

6. Put your thanks in writing

7. Learn to be objective about personal criticism.

8. Respect the feelings of others and take time to show interest in their lives.

9. Refused to discuss the shortcomings of others. Discourage gossip. Walk away or change the subject and focus on that person's positive attributes.

10. Let your virtues speak for themselves.

What are some other ways that you know of to be a positive force in the world?
Leave a comment and let us know.

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Hot Business Strategy - Mini-Exercise To Increase Productivity

Exercise is good for you. It elevates your mood, recharges your body, and helps you sleep better at night. But you knew all that, already!

So why aren't you out there on a regular basis getting some exercise? 

Most women entrepreneurs would say, "I'm too busy!"

Well, busy or not, research has shown that physical activity helps regulate the brain chemicals that alleviate mood and control stress. Furthermore, clinical studies show that exercise reduces anxiety and nervous tension which leads to increased relaxation.

Here's this week's hot business strategy: Add mini-exercise breaks to your day to increase productivity.

Here are 3 reasons why:

1. Exercise cuts the symptoms of depression in half.

It's been shown that aerobic activity can be as effective as antidepressant medication in treating mild depression. A study published by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that 30 to 40 minutes of aerobic exercise 3 to 5 times a week cut the symptoms of minor to moderate depression nearly in half.

2. Exercise increases mental well-being.

Data on nearly 20,000 adults in the Scottish Health Survey showed that sports and vigorous activities yielded the greatest psychological benefits, and the longer the duration of activity the greater increase in mental well-being.

3. Exercise boost your spirits.

In short periods of physical activity, such as gardening or brief walk, did have an immediate positive effect on your mood.

Here's how to make mini-exercises a regular part of your day:

Plan to fit in three or four 10-minute exercise breaks at 90 minute intervals throughout your day. These 10-minute mini-exercise breaks don't need to be hard core. They just need to be enough to get your heart pumping and muscles contracting and releasing for 10-minutes. They can be as simple as walking, climbing stairs, stretching, or getting down on the floor and doing some push-ups.

Try this hot business strategy out for a week and see how much your productivity increases - all without adding a new hire.

Come join me for a walk!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Henceforth I Ask Not Good-Fortune...

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune; I myself am good-fortune.

- Walt Whitman

And so you are!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

Henceforth I ask not good-fortune; I myself am good-fortune.

- Walt Whitman

And so you are!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Dealing with Family Stress

Today . . . I am thinking about this question that came in from one of our readers about how to deal with family stress.

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

Q: "Susan, since starting up my business, the stress level in my family has sky-rocketed. We don't seem to have the time anymore to sit down and talk about what's going on in everybody's life. Do you have any suggestions about how to deal with family stress?

A: Yep. Starting up a business is stressful for most women entrepreneurs I know, and anyone who tells you differently is fibbing!

Please know that even a happily family goes through stressful periods, from time to time. Take heart! Here are two, very easy and fun things you can do right now to open up the lines of communication in your family and relieve the the stress.

1. Communicate differently.

Use refrigerator magnets, a cork board in the kitchen, a white board in the front hall... whatever works for you. Create a central place where family members can share thoughts for the day, post messages, or display school papers and artwork.

2. Make an appointment for enjoyment.

Busy families sometimes feel as if they are losing touch with each other. Make a date for a picnic, a bike ride, or tossing a Frisbee in the backyard. Attend a ballgame or school play together as a family. Or, simply take a walk in your neighborhood together, as a family, to reconnect and spend some quality time together.

Let me know how this goes for you.

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
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Mindful Breathing Exercises

Here's today's Inner Samurai Business tip:

Use the practice of mindful breathing to increase relaxation, raise energy, reduce anxiety, and control stress.

As practiced through the ages, yogis and other spiritual maters have used controlled breathing to increase their energy, ease stress, and improve the physical functioning of their bodies.

In his audio, "Breathing: The Master Key to Self Healing," Dr. Andrew Weil teaches basic breathing techniques that I've used for years to restore harmony to my mind and body.

Try these exercises for a few minutes, twice a day, while sitting in a quiet place and see it if you, too, don't feel as rested, rejuvenated, and restored as I do.

1. Deep Belly Breathing - Use this when you need help relaxing.

Place one hand on your stomach. Take a deep breath and feel your stomach expand. Hold for a few seconds, then slowly exhale.

2. Bellows Breathing - Use this when you need to increase your energy and alertness.

Rapidly breathe in and out through your nose, keeping her mouth slightly closed. Start with 15 seconds and gradually build up to 60 seconds.

3. Relaxation Breathing -Do this kind of breathing if you need to get your stress under control.

Inhale quietly through your nose to a count of four. Hold your breath for a count of seven. Then exhale noisily through your mouth to the count of eight.

You can either do these all together as a cycle, repeating four times for maximum effect, or one at a time, for however long you need.

Happy breathing!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

World's Richest Women

Forbes.com put out this list of the world's richest women - in pictures. While most of these women inherited their fortunes from their fathers and husbands, it's what they're doing with it now that's important. As Forbe's says, "they still control massive swaths of the economy."

Want a hot business tip? Check out: "In Pictures: World's Richest Women."

Now get to it!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

A Great Attitude Is Not the Result of Success

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

A great attitude is not the result of success; success is the result of a great attitude.

- Earl Nightingale

Good reminder!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

A great attitude is not the result of success; success is the result of a great attitude.

- Earl Nightingale

Good reminder!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Explore the World of the Woman Entrepreneur

Explore the world of the woman entrepreneur. Find out what inspires her, drives her, and is the key to her success. Watch this short, 3-minute, video and discover how important discovering your Inner Samurai is to building your business from the inside out.

How to Find Clarity Amidst Confusion

  Today . . . I am thinking about this question that came in from one of our readers about how to find clarity when you're confused and the answers aren't coming.

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

Q: "Susan, what do you do to find clarity for the big questions of life when you're uncertain and confused?"

A: A confused mind always says no, one-hundred-percent of the time. Therefore, if you're feeling confused, be easy with yourself. There's nothing you can do to force a confused mind to come-up with answers. 

When I am in a state of confusion, the first thing I do is pave the way for my mind to have clarity. Your mindset is so important! After all, it is your thoughts that create the confusion in the first place, therefore it's your thoughts that can pave the way to clarity. You can pave the way for clarity for yourself the same way I do by taking these five steps:

Step 1 - Tell yourself that the answer already lies within and that clarity will be bubbling up to the surface very soon.

Step 2 - Affirm to yourself that the best possible outcome is already in place, waiting for you to align with it.  

Step 3 - Write on a pad of paper all the things you're grateful for knowing, now. There's nothing like copping an an attitude of gratitude to get clarity rolling.

Step 4 - Take control of your life. I do this by repeating to myself: I will no longer let someone/something get in the way of my happiness. I know that all is well in the world and the Universe is conspiring for my greatest good.

Step 5 - Stay unattached to outcome. This way, the winds of heaven can dance and deliver the outcome and knowing that is best for you.

How's that?

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
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

What's an Accidental Prenher?

An Accidental Pren-her is a woman who finds herself starting up a business, perhaps for the very first time. She probably has had no, or very little experience starting up a business, though she may have exhibited early entrepreneurial leanings as a child. It is most likely that she has a dream — something she has been thinking about for a very long time — although she has taken no significant action to foster that dream’s development.

The “accidental” part comes in because most women, when facing starting up a business for the very first time, say that they never anticipated doing so. They may have been happily working in corporate, academic, or other traditional work places for most of their adult lives until something happened. What happened? Some kind of activating event — something big enough that it required them to view life differently from that point on.

For some, they were downsized. For others, they lost their job by getting laid off or fired. Still others decided they wanted more out of life than working for a paycheck, so they quit. Sometimes the activating event was getting married, becoming a mother, or children growing up and leaving home. The loss of a parent or other loved one caused some women to rethink life. Other activating events include divorce, near fatal accidents, recovery from a serious illness, and, as was the case for me, spiritual awakenings.

Whatever the activating event, all Accidental Pren-hers share a common theme. They know that something unexpected has happened to them and that this event is now shaping who they are and what they do.

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
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

The “accidental” part comes in because most women, when facing starting up a business for the very first time, say that they never anticipated doing so. They may have been happily working in corporate, academic, or other traditional work places for most of their adult lives until something happened. What happened? Some kind of activating event — something big enough that it required them to view life differently from that point on.

For some, they were downsized. For others, they lost their job by getting laid off or fired. Still others decided they wanted more out of life than working for a paycheck, so they quit. Sometimes the activating event was getting married, becoming a mother, or children growing up and leaving home. The loss of a parent or other loved one caused some women to rethink life. Other activating events include divorce, near fatal accidents, recovery from a serious illness, and, as was the case for me, spiritual awakenings.

Whatever the activating event, all Accidental Pren-hers share a common theme. They know that something unexpected has happened to them and that this event is now shaping who they are and what they do.

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
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Is It Time for Your Business To Expand?

Today . . . I am thinking about this question that came in from one of our readers about how to grow from a small at home business to a larger at home business.

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

Q: "How do you make the jump from a boutique business to a larger business?"

A. If you've been in business for 5 years are more, you're company is doing well, are getting more orders than you can handle, and can check off everything on this list, then yes!

8-Point Pre-expansion Checklist for the Home-Based Business Owner

• Determine if this is a growth spurt or sustained growth. If you have been in business less than three years, what you may be experiencing is a growth spurt. Growth spurts are surges of activity indicating an interest for your product. Don't make the mistake of thinking a spurt is an indicator for future growth. Make sure you are showing steady, increased growth over the past two years.

• Check your bottom-line profit numbers for the past three years. Has your business shown a consistent, steady growth?

• Look at the trends, both economic and consumer. Are there strong indications that your product has staying power? Especially in our current economic market.

• Do you already have in place the necessary administrative and management systems to support your expansion? The last thing you want to do is expand at the same time you're putting them in place. Instead, put them in place beforehand to keep your business running smoothly during the expansion.

• Do a new business plan. Not just an update. You're new business plan will help you determine when it's time to expand, what you need to have in place to make it happen, and how you'll accomplish it.

• Obtain financing. You'll need financing for an expansion. Don't depend on there being an increase in sales during your expansion. More likely, the opposite will be true. Just like when you started up, it will take more time and money than you think to grow, and sales will take time to match your expansion.

• Make sure your website is ready to handle the expansion. Besides having all the necessities for handling increased sales, make sure your product landing pages, home page, and navigation links are all optimized for the search engines and your clients. Your website has to be ready to play with the big boys and girls and must have a professional look and feel to it. Consider hiring a SEO expert to review your site and a copywriter to write great copy for key pages.

• Rev-up your sales to existing customers. Before you expand, boost you revenue by selling more to the customers you already have. You can do this through volume discounts, buy-two-get-one-free offers, and expanding your product line to include complimentary products. This will not only build in excitement and generate income; it will also get you used to handling more.

That's my answer and I'm sticking to 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
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Be Content with What You Have

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

- Lao Tsu

Ah... so!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Inner Samurai Business thought for the week:

Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.

- Lao Tsu

Ah... so!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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

Inner Samurai 101 For Women Entrepreneurs

As a woman entrepreneur, have you ever wondered what the secret is for building business success?

Sure, it’s important to have a mission statement, a business plan, and a product or service that meets the needs of your niche market. It’s also essential that you have funding to back your venture, a support system in place to guide and mentor you along your journey, and savvy business acumen.

What is the key to business success for women? The secret is to build your business from the inside out. From a place inside that you as a woman intuitively know and understand. From your Inner Samurai. The key to your business success is to connect with your Inner Samurai.

Connect with my Inner Samurai? What’s that?

Inner Samurai 101

• Who?
  
  Your Inner Samurai is known by many names. It has been called the voice within, the inner knower, the still small voice, God Self, Soul, God Within, and Spirit, to name a few.
  
  
• What?
  
  Your Inner Samurai is best defined by describing its opposite — the voice inside the head, the monkey mind, the ego. By contrast, your Inner Samurai is the inner voice, the voice within. It is the quiet, sure, confident, strong, vast, and powerful voice of inner knowing.
  
  
• Where?
  
  Your Inner Samurai is aptly named because it is the voice within. Inner because the voice is deep within your being (to distinguish it from the voice inside your head) and Samurai because of how strong and powerful it is.
  
  
• Why?
  
  Everyone has an inner voice. It is that part of us that is the repository of all our life experiences, hopes, and dreams. It’s so important to get in touch with our Inner Samurai because it is our greatest source of strength and knowing. It is the seat of our wisdom. It is the place of our extraordinary uniqueness. It exists to remind us of who we are.
  
  
• How?
  
  The most challenging part of connecting with your Inner Samurai is realizing how it communicates with you. Your Inner Samurai has a gentle, yet very recognizable, way of doing so — I like to call it “pulsing.” When you go inward and ask your Inner Samurai a question, you will feel a pulse answering you. This pulse will have one of two distinct qualities. It will feel like either a yes or a no.
  
  
• When?
  
  When is the best time to tune in and feel for the pulse of your Inner Samurai? The answer is: always. Make your Inner Samurai the primary voice you listen to. Turn to others for support. Turn inward for guidance. When in doubt between your feelings and thoughts, go with the pulse. Your Inner Samurai will never lead you astray, do you wrong, or leave you hanging. Your Inner Samurai pulse is right 100% of the time.

So, enjoy writing your mission statement and your business plan. Get creative making your product or service the best it can be. Develop positive relationships with your investors and supporters. And don’t forget the most important relationship of all — the relationship with your Inner Samurai.

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

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