When I keep to a morning routine I always feel like I win my day. Those days that I just piddle and don't keep to a routine my day feels unorganized. Why is that? "How you do anything is how you do everything" This is very true when it comes to how you start the day. When you start the day on a routine and you have a plan your mind immediately locks that in and approaches the rest of the day in the same way. Starting the day without a plan and just floating from one activity to another locks in that pattern for the rest of the day. You'll tend to float around like a pinball from activity to activity with no real sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. Our brains look for patterns. Start your day by setting up the pattern you want it to follow the rest of the day and see what a difference it makes.

I used to be a hothead. Growing up my temper was on a short fuse and being more introverted, I would hold it in and eventually just erupt. My every move was a reaction to what was going on around me. And then I turned 3. (Just kidding) Eventually my introversion turned more introspective. I would watch and observe. I learned to "just get along" and not let things rattle me. I turned to more responding than reacting. Life seemed to really smooth out for me. What's the difference between reacting and responding? At first glance it may seem that reacting and responding are very similar, but they aren't. Reacting is re-acting. It has a lot to do with mirroring a response to something. You are re-acting out a response, in the same manner, someone or something responded to you. To react you respond in a similar way to someone or something. Responding is more thought-out. When you respond you have taken time to think about the response and you answer on your own terms. You get to do you. [...]

What would you say is the most needed skill for a business owner?  Would it be leadership? What about sales? How about marketing or planning? What about communication? Yep, that’s a needed skill, but still not the most important one. The most needed skill for a small business owner is the ability to make decisions.  Why the Decision Making Skill is the Most Important Your company will go nowhere or will wander all over the map unless you can make decisions. It doesn’t really matter whether they are good decisions or bad decisions. Just making a decision is crucial.  Decisions come in all shapes and sizes. From where to go to lunch today to when and who to hire to which new product to focus on.   The thing about making decisions is that you can learn from them. Whether they’re good or bad, there’s always a lesson to be learned.  Why Making Decisions is Hard What makes making a decision so hard? Commitment. Making a decision means that you are committing to a course of action or inaction and commitments [...]