Wherein Happiness?

I wrote the following words in this blog almost six years ago in my first post here. It's hard to believe that much time has gone past.

Personal achievement, success, and growth are all relative terms. There will likely always be ones richer than you. Many will possess more power and hold more sway in the community. Happiness comes from doing the best that you can, and from being able to provide for, and hold close those whose friendship and love you value.

I've seen successes and failures during that time, both personally and professionally. I think it's good to look back, and to consider carefully the choices you've made, to learn from them and to grow.

Sometimes finding happiness means making some difficult choices. Sometimes you may make the wrong choice. Recognizing that you have is part of growth, too.

So what do you do once that happens?

When Work isn't Work

I was standing in line at Kinkos recently, and fell prey to impulse shopping, picking up a copy of the book The 4-Hour Work Week. I had heard about the book before, and I started skimming through some of the pages, and it seemed pretty well written.

But one of the pieces of advice that I've held to closely over the years, find work that you love, runs against one of the basic assumptions behind the book - that work is something that is separate from the rest of your life, and something that should be avoided or limited as much as possible.

Michael Cage, in What I hate about the 4-hour work week, explores that thought even further. As Michael notes:

The world doesn't need any more people selling crap so they can live a playboy's life.

It needs people who are committed and passionate about who they are and what impact they want to be having. People for whom each day is an opportunity to do what they love, experience the ripples flowing from their efforts, and be well rewarded for it.

What is that thing that, if you were to choose to do it ... fully and without compromise ... would stir your soul?

Work can be difficult, it can be challenging, it can be frustrating sometimes. But if it's what you are passionate about, then those things don't matter.

Back in the Saddle

It's been a while since I've written something here, but I've been missing writing about small business.

I've considered starting a new domain, and beginning from scratch to focus mainly upon small business, and I may still do that - I've found that I really enjoy using Word Press - but I think I may try a few posts here, and see what happens first.

I've been pointed to a lot of business practices lately that are less than stellar, and I may start using this blog to point some of those out. Practices like greenwashing really need a closer look.