Moving our blog

We are moving out blog to the Port Bell web site and concentrating on small business, entrepreneur, and leadership posts. .

And, as an added bonus, you will get our exclusive 50 Marketing Strategies for Entrepreneurs when you sign up.

Thanks!

Things We Don’t Talk About With Children

Reasons to talk about finances with children

Money is a top reason for divorce, or so some say. But that is not really accurate. It’s not money, but proper communication about money that causes strife in relationships. Help create a better future for your child by talking about finances with them now. The more comfortable they see how you are in discussing financial issues, the more comfortable they will be with their future spouse.

Budgeting is a subject that is not even taught in school, but it is a very important tool to learn. Teach your kids how to budget, and they may gain more respect for you at the same time. Open your books to them; let them see just how much money it costs to have a house, cars, insurance, etc. It will help them to understand the sacrifices you make for their future.

I’m Sorry

Saying sorry is a sign of maturity. If you are with a person that never says they are sorry, it could be a sign they are immature.

And that can hurt a relationship. A person who never says sorry will sometimes ignore attempts to communicate by the other person and distance themselves. Then, after some time has passed, they will act like nothing is wrong. But that does not solve the situation, it just fosters resentment.
If this is you, work on saying sorry, even in situations that were not your fault. Is it more important to be right, or to be in a loving relationship? Show your significant other that you love them by giving up your right to be right.

Working ON the Business, Not IN it

It is very easy to work in your business. In fact, taking care of the day to day operations is vitally important to staying in business.

However, it is just as important to work on your business.

The good news is that it can take less time to work on your business than in it. I recommend my clients to take one afternoon a month and answer five basic questions that could make a huge difference in the success of their endeavors. They are: Why are you doing what you are doing? What are your core values? What is your mission? What is your strategic vision? And, what is your strategy? Knowing the answers to these questions is so important that I have created a series of free webinar/workshops (I call them Webishops) to help entrepreneurs at www.webishops.com. These Success Planning Webishops help you to answer each of those five questions, and each on only takes 20 minutes to watch. It is only by working on your business that you will find the new opportunities that are waiting for you.

Therapist or Coach?

Counseling, or therapy, has been around a long time. It has gotten a bad reputation at times, but is very beneficial for people wanting to heal from past trauma.

However, with so many “coaches” coming out of the woodwork these days, how do you decide whether to hire a therapist or a coach? And how to you know if you are hiring a professional?

There is one main difference between therapy and coaching. Therapy helps to heal a person from the past and coaching helps people toward a better tomorrow. In either case, the person you hire needs to be more committed to your mental health than they are toward their profit margins. There are therapists and coaches out there that count on you coming back, with debit card in hand, consistently. A professional counselor/coach will help you develop techniques so you can start to help yourself. If you are working with a professional who is not helping you to develop your own coping skills, it might be time to ditch them and look for someone new.

Determining if a therapist is a professional is not too difficult; counseling certificates are controlled by the government. A person cannot call themselves a professional counselor without holding valid certificates. That is not the case with coaches, however, so do your homework. Make sure any coach you hire is certified or, even better, has degrees in coaching. The best scenario will be a coach who has both.

Finding a good coach is a bit less expensive than finding a good therapist. Most professional coaches offer a free first session. This is a benefit to both of you. You don’t have to shell out a lot of money before determining if they can help you, and it gives both of you a chance to see if your personalities mesh.

Things to consider before getting back together w/ your ex

The quote “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is very true of relationships.

And sometimes it is even true of broken relationships. We tend to forget about the things that helped cause the end of the relationship and concentrate on the things that made us fall in love. So, the best question to ask before getting back together with your ex is: What’s changed? What has changed in the other person that makes you feel that they will not do the behaviors they did before? And, what has changed in you that will help convince the other person that they will not go back into the same broken relationship as before? What can you do, for your part, to have a better 2.0 relationship? What expectations do you have for the other person?
One difficult thing to do would be to sit down and honestly list all the reasons why the relationship ended. Then, ask yourself if you can live with those things now, even if nothing were to change. Remember, you cannot do anything to change another person, you can only change yourself.

My dream job

What I love most about being an entrepreneur

is that I can follow my heart. I spent the better part of two decades working for major corporations in the IT industry. During that time, there were many things I had to do because I would lose my job if I did not do it, but they went against my personal core values. These were not illegal, just actions meant to line corporate profits before benefitting the customer. Now, as an entrepreneur, I can set my businesses up from the start with the same core values I have rather than following the core values of someone else.

Compliments for Guys

Hey girls, want to make your guy fall in love with you all over again? Here are some compliments that will help!

*Help me: This sounds weird, but men are natural fixers. They want to help, so don’t be afraid to ask for it. And when you ask for help you are telling him you trust him to fix whatever is wrong.

*You were great last night: Even the most confident man wonders how he is in bed. If you are with a man that does well in that area, compliment him on it. The more you compliment him, the more enthusiastic he will be.

*Such a big… brain: All men know a lot about something, even if it is sports. You may not like sports, but it certainly won’t hurt to compliment him on his knowledge. It will make him feel better, and his buddies will be jealous that he has such a cool partner.

*Eye candy: Compliment your guy on his clothes, even if you help him pick them out. Let him know you think he looks great (as long as he does). He will love you more for it, and appreciate your help (even if he tries to act manly and brush it off).

Warning Signs a Relationship is Toxic

We all want to believe that our partner has our best intentions, but that is not always the case. Watch for these warning signs that a relationship may be toxic:

* No give and take: It’s common to want to give of yourself to the person you love, but be mindful of whether the other person is doing the same thing. If you are giving all the time, and they are taking all the time, you will soon start to resent your partner.

*The talker: We all love to hear the voice of our partner, and we want to know everything about them, but do they want to know all about you also? Does the conversation go both ways, or do they spend all their time talking about themselves? If your love talks non-stop, it could mean they have past issues that have destroyed their self-confidence.

*The rebound: Is your love with you, but has yet to break up with their last relationship? Run. If that person is dating you and another person at the same time, they have no respect for you or them. And, chances are, they will do the same to you when they get tired of you.

*Text heck: Time with your loved one is precious, but does he/she let you go (to work, see friends, etc.) without texting you 15 times an hour? This is another indicator of a lack in self-confidence by that person. Many people do this because they are afraid you will cheat on them. Unfortunately, that same person is likely to cheat on you.