Jubilant July!

I cannot believe that July is coming to a close and we will be welcoming August this weekend.

It seems as only a few days ago, I was greeting the summer, lavishing in the rain, and lingering in my garden soaking up the sun.

But I am not sad to see the summer prepare to come to a close because it has been full of so much joy and jubilation.

From my early morning walks to welcoming back friends into my life with open arms, this month has been full of moments of pure joy.

Have you ever thought about how different our lives would be without "jubilant" moments?

With that, let's catch up on what I've been up to this week.

Quote              “If you’re not making some notable mistakes along the way, you’re certainly not taking enough business and career chances.” - Sallie Krawcheck

Reading

We are hearing more and more about anxiety these days. Is anxiety always a bad thing?

Not according to this great article by Stephanie Vozza called How to Make Your Anxiety Work for You Instead of Against You. (Click here to read more). She starts the article by stating a simple fact: “Anxiety is energy, and you can strike the right balance if you know what to look for.” (NB:  We are NOT talking about the type of anxiety that requires medical attention!).

This article has 6 key takeaways from a book called Conscious: The Power of Awareness in Business and Life, by Bob Rosen.

(1) Stop looking at anxiety through a negative lens. You can reframe it into a message telling you to pay attention.

(2) Change is not always a bad thing.

(3) Anxiety is contagious—be careful who you surround yourself with.

(4) Strive for the right balance between too much and too little anxiety. 

(5) Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.

(6) Don’t forget that anxiety and excitement can be both sides of the same coin; can you reframe and stop negative thinking into excitement?

This part of the article is particularly insightful: “All change happens in the gap between our current reality and desired future…We have a problem we want to solve or have a goal we want to accomplish…In the gap sits our motivation, our engagement, and our anxiety. Anxiety is the energy that moves us across that gap.  We need to have enough energy to change. You can’t change or transform yourself unless you allow yourself to feel uncertainty and vulnerability.”

Wow.  Just wow!

Following        

Appreciation at Work (click here)  Great website with lots of information about how to show your employees appreciation in a language that THEY appreciate.  Great assessment tools, resources, and insightful blogs and videos. 

 Connecting      

I’ve been connecting with successful businesswomen over the past weeks as I am preparing for a new podcast called 10 Minutes to Aha! Talk about inspirational and awesome—I can’t wait for you to hear my guests share their insight and stories. And oh, by the way, I’m looking for guests to interview so if you have an interesting aha to share, please contact me.

Celebrating      

This week I’m celebrating being an author who gets royalty payments! Yes, my book, The Decision to Scale: 25 Tips for Women-Owned Businesses Looking to Grow, is selling on Amazon and I’m thrilled to say that I’ve received another royalty payment deposit.

I’m sharing this as inspiration for you because I did not intend to write a book (let alone a series of 3). What happened is that someone read my blogs and suggested that I should write a book. So, I took material that I already had--in the form of weekly blog posts--and turned those into chapters for a book. 

And guess what?  You can do this too!  Because I want my books to be a resource for women business owners, we use a simple format: Tips as chapters with stories and exercises and resources peppered throughout. 

Stay tuned for book #2 in the Decision Series, The Decision to Start: 25 Tips for Women Looking to Start a Business.  We are on track for our publication and launch date at the end of September. 

I know that summer's end may be bringing busy times ahead for many of you, but I challenge you to take a pause once each day and reflect on a "jubilant" moment.

I assure you. They are there.

It can be as simple as the rain watering your plants, so you don't have to, to finally connecting with that one person you have been hoping to hear from.

Do not let any day of your life pass without recognizing the jubilant moment.