<p><b>Last night my husband and I went to see Kung Foo Panda </b>as I tend to avoid violent, negative films, and I choose happy endings that leave me feeling hopeful and light.&nbsp; This movie is right in that genre!&nbsp;&nbsp; One of the best lines was when&nbsp; the veritable kung Foo spiritual master turtle looks at his prot&eacute;g&eacute; and says &quot; there is no bad news and no good news.&nbsp; There is just news!&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp; How true.&nbsp; How we respond or react is our free choice and&nbsp; it is also&nbsp; the place we&nbsp; have empowerment.&nbsp; Our real demons are our own judgments. <br /><br />The daily news goes right to our&nbsp; core survival fears; not being able to eat, the cost of gas keeps going up and on and on. <br /><br /><b>The news is given as facts</b> but portrayed as&nbsp; &quot;bad news.&quot;&nbsp; This is important information, however how we each deal with the news in our small business, is where our power lies.&nbsp; Some people plug themselves into the socket of bad news and feel constricted, negative and make decisions from that place.&nbsp; It can take a lot of&nbsp; internal effort and energy to&nbsp; make a different choice against the&nbsp; tide.&nbsp; I am not talking about putting your head in the sand and pretending&nbsp; there are no world issues. I am talking about listening the&nbsp; turtle and to realize your choices.<br /><br /><b>For some reason there is an addictive pull</b> toward being fear based and negative but the one thing you have total control over is&nbsp; your attitude and your ability to make choices.&nbsp; Here are a few ideas of&nbsp; what you, as small business owners can do to keep yourself vital,&nbsp; vibrant and alive.<br /><br /><b>1.&nbsp; Focus 100% on your customers </b>. Your own fears will&nbsp; always get in the way of being there for customers. As a small business<br />owner you have the ability to talk directly with your customers<br />and find out what they want and how you can help.&nbsp; Ask questions,<br />listen and care.<br /><br /><b>2. Find someone to listen to you</b> if you are stressed about money and feeling desperate.&nbsp; Do whatever you can to grow in your self- confidence and empowerment so you don't project that on to your employees and customers.&nbsp; Getting this kind of help will pay for itself. <br /><br /><b>3. Evaluate your products and services</b> and make sure they are truly valuable to your customers.&nbsp; The world is filled with cool inventions that seemed amazing in the inventor's garage but fall flat out in the world. Look for new ways to&nbsp; help&nbsp; your customers.&nbsp; Be creative. Brain storm with your team. <br /><br /><b>4.&nbsp; Follow-through with customers.</b> This is the most under-utilized service. Check back with people,&nbsp; care about them, see if there is any other help you can offer them.&nbsp; I am always impressed when someone calls me back. If it is coming from a sincere place then I feel that. Again, as a small business owner that personal touch is an asset.<br /><br /><b>5. Keep working on all aspects of your business </b>including your money management, marketing language, your website content,&nbsp; and&nbsp; business strategies.&nbsp;&nbsp; This will make your business stronger and more sustainable in the long run.<br />&nbsp;</p> 2008-06-23T15:31:09Z 2008-06-24T06:37:25Z -21.1157 780 1166 true 5 5522 zen-and-the-5-keys-to-staying-positive 16 2008-06-24T06:37:19Z 2008-06-24T06:37:19Z

<p>One thing you have total control over is&nbsp; your attitude and your ability to make choices.&nbsp; Here are a five things you can do&nbsp; to keep yourself&nbsp; and your business vital,&nbsp; vibrant and alive.</p>

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