And the winner is ...

Ever thought about what you would say in your Oscar speech? Go ahead, admit it, you've accepted an award in front of your bathroom mirror. Well, NPR is now accepting entries for an Oscar Speech contest. Unfortunately, it's not for accepting your own Oscar; it is to be written as one of the nominated characters from this year. Since that doesn't really thrill me, I'd like to propose an exercise of writing an acceptance speech for any award you covet... Pulitzer Prize, Newbery Medal, Grammy (my fantasy choice) .... you name it. It requires you to think of what you are most proud of doing and why you excelled at it (or why you will in the future - no rules in this contest!) I think any time is a good time for an ego boost!

A Little Perspective

As far as I'm concerned, the E-Myth by Michael Gerber is a must-read for any entrepreneur. Even though the title alludes to something entirely different (I thought it was about e-commerce), it's really about the entrepreneurial dream, why 80% of businesses fail within the first 5 years, and what to do about it I was just flipping through it when I saw a section on Entrepreneurial Perspective that caught my eye.

The entrepreneurial perspective starts with a picture of a well-defined future, and then comes back to the present with the intention of changing it to match the vision.

I think this can apply to anything - not just entrepreneurs. The reason why this excerpt seemed to stand out for me was that I came across a list of goals (not just business-related) I made a long time ago. Even though they seemed very specific at the time, almost every single one of them came true. Although I thought I might be pigeon-holing myself at the time, I realize now that I created the vision, and then (sometimes subconsciously) took the steps to make it happen. Obviously, we have to allow some room for Life to happen, as not everything is under our control, but I think this applies to everything that we can steer our way.

Have you written down a well-defined future? Are you changing what you are doing now to match that vision?

Starting fresh

So, as you might have deduced, I have a bun in the oven (insert other corny euphamisms here), which has been partly to blame for my utter lack of motivation to speak of anything business-related. My head has just not been into it (and neither was my body!) and rather than really forcing the issue, I have given myself a break. But now it's time to dust off those business books, break out my creativity journal and get back into things.

So, how've you been? What have you been reading? Anything new since I've been under a rock?