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How to Build a Successful Business and Keep Your Sanity

Entrepreneurs are fast-moving hustlers who are prone to burning the candle at both ends. Left unchecked, this approach can lead to stress, burnout, and even physical health problems, all of which are bad for you, and bad for business. That’s why dedicated self-care is so critical to your overall business success. If you’re interested in mystic spiritual guidance, Grace Allison Blair can use her skills to help you solve everyday challenges.

Who made the rule life is hard? Learn how to create #courage #confidence and #creativity “Do You Have a Dream Workbook 5 Keys to Realize Your Dream”.  

Get Your Exercise

Sometimes it can feel like you’re running 100 miles an hour, but burning the midnight oil as an entrepreneur is not the same thing as dedicated exercise that gets your heart rateup. Make time for physical activity, even if you’re just getting back into the habit. Pick what works best, whether it’s a gym membership, a home workout station, or some adrenaline-pumping activity like mountain biking, hiking, or white water rafting. Not only can exercise help you stay healthy, but it can also help reduce stress and give you energy. According to Sleep.org. you’ll also sleep better, which will give you both stamina and focus in the office.

Learn to Relax

Much like exercise, relaxation is a good way to help you rest, recharge, and ultimately be a better business owner. According to the National Institutes of Health, try relaxation techniques like tai chi, yoga, meditation, or relaxation breathing. Listen to calming music, start a gratitude journal, or commune with nature. Making intentional steps to center yourself will sharpen your mental acuity and help you be better focused on your work. It will also help you manage work stressors. In fact, learning healthy relaxation practices and using them daily will make it easier to call these soothing techniques into action when you need them the most.

Use Time Management Skills

Entrepreneurs juggle a lot of different tasks, and you’re wise to hire out key services that will help you save time and energy. For example, utilize freelancers or independent contractors for heavy lift projects like web design or graphics work. Have a housekeeperat home, and hire someone to walk your dog, detail your car, and deliver your groceries.Freeing yourself from these tasks will give you more time to focus on self-care and building your business. Also, utilize apps and software applicable to your business – project management tools can be a time-saver, as well as help you collaborate and stay organized.

Maintain a Work-Life Balance

While easier said than done, it’s smart to maintain healthy boundaries between home and work life right off the bat. This is especially important if you have a family. Whenever possible, set firm start and stop times to your day, schedule yourself as strictly as possible, and clearly define what’s an “emergency” and what can wait. Delegate tasks where prudent and employ the adage of working smarter, not harder. If you have a home office, maintain reasonable work hours, and when you’re done for the day, shut the door and leave it closed.

Get Your Business in Order

A well-organized business structure can help ensure that all of your business functions run smoothly. Make sure you have all appropriate business licenses, permits, and insurance in place. You should also develop a detailed operating budget, a comprehensive business plan, and marketing strategy, and make sure to structure yourself as an LLC, or limited liability company. This will protect you from some types of liability, provide you with flexibility and tax advantages, and result in less paperwork. You can avoid pricey lawyer fees by filing yourself, or your best bet, use a formation service. States have different rules around LLC formation, so learn about yours in advance.

Make Time for Fun

Hopefully, you enjoy the work you do, but you also need to take time to do things that are fun for the sake of relaxation. Maybe you’re a video game pro, or you like to garden,paint, run marathons, or enjoy a leisurely brunch on the weekend. Whatever you like, whether it’s spending time alone or with family or friends, schedule time to do it. Put your “fun” on the calendar just like a work appointment and don’t let it get kicked off by work matters. This downtime is critically important to your overall mental health, and as such, you should consider it a vital “business appointment.”Launching a business is exhilarating, but it also has the potential to be mentally and physically taxing. Utilize all of the resources available to you to help ensure you’re taking good care of your growing venture while also caring for yourself. Grace Allison Blair is a modern Christian Mystic and award-winning self-help and motivational author. She helps her clients tap their courage, confidence, and creativity inboth meaningful and productive ways. Visit the website to learn more and reach out for a consultation. Photo By Pixaba

Article written by constributing freelance writer

Cheryl Conklin

Do You Have The Courage of an Einstein?

Is it “cool to be cruel”? Our culture today is suffering from cancel culture and bad behavior on social media. Why?

Einstein received a lot of personal attacks in his life. What would do if you were attacked like this?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Albert Einstein was never always famous. Born a Jew, he attended a Catholic school where he faced bullies daily chanting words of antisemitism. At age 16 his parents moved to Italy without him. Left alone, he had no one to help him face the brutal torture of his teachers and peers. When he graduated from college, his professors refused to give him referrals to find a job. What did Albert have that kept him going? A compass his father gave him when he was a boy. The compass was more than a direction finder. It became a dream, his moral code to stay on course to discover what is time, what is light. Albert had courage, the heart to continue his journey, no matter who stood in his way or what tried to stop him. In this time of darkness, find your spiritual compass. Maybe you too can change the world.

Einstein’s Compass a YA Time Traveler Adventure

October 1894
Called to Task

As Albert secured his bicycle at the side entrance of the Gymnasium and took his books from the basket mounted in front of the handlebars, he wondered what the Benedictine monks thought of a Jewish boy attending their prestigious boarding school.

Dressed in a stylish charcoal wool suit, Albert walked toward the front of the building. Mounting the steps, he took off his inky, short-brimmed, felt bowler hat and smoothed back his unruly chestnut hair. He was late. Again. But he didn’t care.

Dwarfed by the tall Doric columns, he kept his eyes on the ground. He didn’t even glance at the long wall scroll with the Bavarian monks’ black-and-gold coat of arms that hung above him. Albert’s pace slowed. I am not looking forward to another day of boredom with these dullards.

At sixteen and standing five feet nine, Albert was not an imposing figure. The mild expression on his face hid the firestorm of rage that brewed in his mind. Day after day, the same thing.

This rote memorizing hurts my brain. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Albert let his thoughts drift to his mother and father. He missed his family.

Melancholy came over him as he remembered their goodbyes in early summer. His parents left him with his aunt and uncle so they could pursue work in Italy. He had loved his life before they went. Now, he was stuck in classes where the boys were studying things that he had mastered years earlier. His guardians, unfortunately, were not as understanding as his parents about Albert’s boredom.

Albert stopped next to a column and leaned against it, remembering his initial discovery of the magic of mathematics. He had been only around twelve when Max Talmud, a family friend and struggling medical student, visited the Einstein’s for Shabbat one Friday and gave Albert a gift that changed his life. It was a mathematics book called Simple Algebra, and it opened new worlds to Albert, who at the time was in Folkenshuler elementary school. Albert mastered the text by himself and would delight in surprising Max with how much he had learned since the previous Shabbat.

For Albert, Simple Algebra was like a prayer book. He remembered his wonderment as the book began stimulating questions in his mind. Each problem became a puzzle to solve. Life was a series of “Xs” he decided, a series of unknowns.

Albert forced himself out of his reverie and reluctantly resumed his walk to class. He entered the classroom and glanced over at his friend, Johann. The teacher, Herr von Achen, was writing on the blackboard, his back to the class. Von Achen was a rigid and disciplined man on whom forty resembled sixty. His eyes were a bleak gray behind gold-rimmed spectacles, and he wore a perpetual frown under his balding head.

“The ‘late’ Herr Einstein,” taunted Werner von Wiesel as Albert made his way to his seat. Werner was his usual obnoxious self. The boys in the class would have laughed at the play on words, but they had heard this phrase numerous times already from Von Wiesel. His entourage did manage a weak guffaw as Albert slid into his seat.

Von Achen turned and frowned. “Enough, Herr von Wiesel,” he said in a halfhearted admonishment. Albert, who often challenged Herr von Achen, was far from the teacher’s favorite student. Additionally, Von Achen didn’t want to antagonize the son of Colonel von Wiesel, one of Munich’s substantial citizens.

With a disapproving glare at Albert, Von Achen began the lesson. “Today, we will discuss mathematical treatment of astronomy, Newton’s development of celestial mechanics and the laws of gravitation. Does everyone have their textbook?” Several of the boys nodded, taking out their copies of Josef Krist’s Essentials of Natural Science.

Albert raised his hand. “With all due respect, Herr von Achen, what does astronomy have to do with physics?”

Murmurs and grumbles rippled through the classroom. Werner rolled his eyes, moaning, “Not again… Einstein, do you have to do this?”

Albert stood his ground. “My interest is in learning physics. Astronomy is a waste of my time.”

Herr von Achen turned and glared at Albert. “As part of this course, we are covering the five branches of natural science: astronomy, biology, chemistry, the Earth sciences, and physics. You are to learn a broad range of subjects here, not just one or two.”

I have already covered this, Albert thought. He shook his head in resignation.

Herr von Achen challenged Albert. “Herr Einstein, please stand and explain to the class Newton’s theory of celestial mechanics.”

“The law of universal gravitation states that any two bodies in the universe attract each other with a force that is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them,” Albert rattled off sitting in his seat.

Herr von Achen’s face reddened. “What are you talking about? Where in your textbook did you see that?” His anger building, the older man, spat, “And when I tell you to stand young man, you will stand!”

Albert threw his hands up and stood beside his chair. “Herr von Achen, I learned Newton’s theory of celestial mechanics several years ago. I read the Peoples Books of Natural Science when I was twelve. All twenty-one volumes.” A collective gasp rippled through the classroom.

Herr von Achen could barely contain his fury. “I don’t care what you read or when.” He grabbed the copy of the textbook from his desk and held it up. “We are working with this textbook and the information in it. So…” he continued as his body quivered and he slammed the book down on his desk with a sharp crack, “you can shut your mouth now and sit down immediately!”

Turning from Albert to the blackboard, Herr von Achen began madly scribbling as he spoke in short staccato bursts of scientific jargon. Albert wished he were anywhere but here. As the other boys feverishly took notes, attempting to keep up with their still enraged teacher, Albert slumped into his chair and pulled his brass compass from his pocket. He found endless fascination studying his prized possession. Pushing on the twelve gemstones like buttons, he tried to turn it on again. How could he get the number 33 to flash the way it had when he first opened the compass?

He was pulled from his dream-like state by the clock striking the hour and marking the end of the class. Albert put away his compass and gathered his books, happy to be heading for the door. Just as he was about to escape, Herr von Achen motioned him over to his desk. Albert approached cautiously. Herr von Achen pointed his right index finger at Albert and through clenched teeth growled, “Just who do you think you are, Herr Einstein?”

Albert took in a deep breath. “What do you want me to say, Herr von Achen?”

With a vein throbbing just above his brow, Von Achen spat out, “You come to class late, sit in the back row with your attention elsewhere, and argue with me whenever you can. Where is your respect?”

“Sorry, sir,” Albert replied, his patience at an end.

Herr von Achen leaned forward across his desk, coming only inches from Albert’s face. “Well then, perhaps you would do better somewhere else.” He pulled an envelope from his inside jacket pocket and smacked it against Albert’s chest. “You are to meet with the Academik Committee in six weeks. The letter explains everything.” He spun around to straighten some papers on his desk. “And, Herr Einstein,” he said with sarcasm, his attention on the papers, “be on time.”

Not knowing what to say, Albert stepped back and stared blankly at the letter in his hand. Albert’s face flushed as the idea of being expelled from school and having his plans shattered took hold. His thoughts raced. His teachers at the Folkenshuler tried to force him to conform. Albert found it suffocating. Suddenly, the whole place felt like it was closing in on him.

Albert bolted from the classroom, ran through the hall and bolted out the front door. The biting, near-winter wind smacked Albert in the face as he burst out of the Gymnasium. Running and out of breath.

He inhaled the cold air into his lungs. Albert tried to calm himself and take stock. He needed to be alone. Slowly Albert calmed down, and rationality returned. He realized he needed his bicycle. Keeping his eyes down to avoid engaging with anyone, made his way back to the side entrance of the Gymnasium. No one paid any attention to Albert as he mounted his bicycle and pedaled away. His heavy wool suit barely kept him warm in the fall chill, but he hardly noticed.

Finally, on the edge of campus, he took one hand off the handlebars to wipe the tears from his eyes. Albert pedaled fast to Gasteig Park and the bridge at the end of the Prinzregentenstrasse. He slowed before a bench in the formal gardens and set his bicycle on the brittle, brown grass.

Sitting back, like a lost soul Albert closed his eyes. He felt crushed and out of control and just wanted to scream out his anger with Herr von Achen. He gazed across the terraces where the bare branches of tall birch and maples trees quivered in the wind. Rising above in the axis of the Prinzregentenstrasse was the Angel of Peace, a statue of the ancient Greek goddess of victory, Athena Nike. Albert stared at the towering, golden figure. “My only god is mathematics,” he declared out loud. The sun began to set, and Albert shivered in the chill air. I need to be somewhere where I can think. He didn’t want to discuss this with Johann, and his aunt and uncle would be of no assistance. Then he realized he had the perfect place.

It was fully dark by the time Albert found himself riding past candlelit houses of middle-class families. A short time later, he arrived at his destination. Quietly Albert walked his bike to the back of the house and left it under a small canopy made for the family vehicles. He opened the back door and entered a quiet house. He was alone. Since his parents had taken his younger sister, Mara, to Italy, he had the family home all to himself.

He turned on the hall light and climbed the stairs two at a time. He opened the door to find his bed, dresser, and armoire had accumulated only a light coat of dust since he’d left them in the summer. Just being back in the familiar room helped to calm him. Taking a deep breath, Albert reached under the bed and pulled out his violin case. He opened it and carefully picked up his friend, Violina. Albert stood in the middle of the living room, closed his eyes and remembered playing the Mozart lullaby “I See the Moon” with his mother accompanying him on the piano. Profoundly missing his family, he began to play the favorite tune on his violin. As the sweet notes emerged from Violina, Albert started walking, then gently waltzing, around the room. He could almost hear his mother singing the melody and laughing. The folksy love song lifted his heart. Lost in his dreams, Albert let the song fill him.

Bowing the last strains of the beautiful melody, Albert found the memory of his ordeal with Herr von Achen intruding into his awareness. The warm Violina still in his hands, he opened his eyes to a dimly lit bedroom, abandoned. He sighed and settled Violina into her case. Feeling forlorn, Albert collapsed onto his bed fully clothed and fell into a deep sleep. Tomorrow would be a new day.

 

What is a Mystic?

During the 15th Century, the Spanish Inquisition punished people who had otherworldly experiences with God. Anyone who was a healer or had intuitive knowledge of God was burned at the stake. According to the church, the only way a person could hear the word of God was through a priest or minister. Today the term “mystic” is associated with the occult, magic, astrology and tarot readings. I want to educate people to know that the mystical is not dark magic nor should you be ostracized.

According to the dictionary, a mystic is a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.

Being a mystic is a spiritual, religious, and transcendental experience. St. Theresa of Avila, a former Jewess was a Catholic nun and a mystic in the 16th century. The Catholic Church venerates more than 10,000 saints with many being mystics. Patron saints are often chosen today because an interest, talent, or event in their lives overlaps with the special area. For example, St. Francis of Assisi was a mystic who loved nature and so he is the patron of ecologists. St. Francis de Sales was a mystical writer and so he is the patron of journalists and writers. St. Clare of Assisi, a mystic and the patron of television because one Christmas when she was too ill to leave her bed she saw and heard Christmas Mass — even though it was taking place miles away. Angels are also named as patron saints.

I do not claim to be a saint. However, there are saints among us who do the work of loving service. In 1973, I discovered a spiritual phenomenon called the Mystical Traveler Consciousness. The Mystical Traveler is in everyone and is the living love of the spiritual heart of Jesus Christ. Imagine having an intuitive flashlight to look into the darkness of your soul. With the Light of God and the Mystical Traveler exercising the living spirit within, you can step into an awareness that will lift and assist you in your life’s lessons.

In the “AHA” book, “Do You Have a Dream?” 140 Insights into Building Confidence, Overcoming Stress & Loving Yourself”, you will have 140 of my best insights to assist you in focusing on and discovering more of the wisdom, truth, and beauty within you.

Let go of the world around you, go inside, find your dream and follow the adventure of making it come true.

In your day-to-day learning, if you find a unique way of dreaming, pass it on. We on planet earth are students of life. Maybe you can share and become a thought leader too.

Grace Allison, http://www.gracethemystic.com Modern Mystic: I am a creative, enthusiastic, visionary who enjoys making a difference through service.

GracetheMystic, Modern Mystic Media
806-790-4845 | graceallisonauthor@gmail.com | www.gracethemystic.com |
4408 14 Street Lubbock, Texas 79416

Americans are more anxious than before

File 20180509 34018 5fzs8z.jpg?ixlib=rb 1.1
39 percent of Americans report feeling more anxious than this time last year.
by Pathdoc/Shutterstock.com

Jacek Debiec, University of Michigan

Americans are becoming more anxious about their safety, health, finances, politics and relationships, a new online poll from the American Psychiatric Association finds. Compared to the results of a similar poll a year earlier, 39 percent of adults in the U.S. are more anxious today than they were a year ago.

As a psychiatrist and neuroscientist, I believe studies and polls like these help to identify individual and group vulnerabilities. They may provide clues for providing better clinical practice, implementing more effective public policies, and designing research projects that yield a better understanding of the causes of anxiety and better treatments.

Although anxiety is rising across all age groups and demographic categories, there are notable distinctions between certain groups.

For example, millennials are more anxious (especially about finances) than Gen-Xers or baby boomers – though boomers’ overall anxiety increased more than the other age groups. Women reported a greater increase in overall anxiety in all dimensions than men, and non-Caucasians’ overall anxiety rose faster in the preceding year than did Caucasians. Sometimes, anxiety occurs without clearly defined worries or awareness, suggesting the poll may have only captured part of a rise in adult Americans’ anxiety levels – and those adults’ anxiety may be affecting children and teenagers too.

While this poll was not designed to detect or diagnose anxiety disorders or pathological anxiety, it does indicate that people are perceiving greater potential danger to many elements of their well-being.

Anxiety is a lower-grade version of a fear response. Severe instances of fear – such as actual direct threats of pain, injury or death – can cause very real physical reactions, including a release of stress hormones into the bloodstream and changes in heart rate and blood pressure, as the body prepares to react rapidly.

Anxiety-triggered physiological responses are slower to develop, but can last longer. Rather than being caused by an immediate threat, it can happen as people adapt to changing situations, such as visiting new countries, starting a different job or experiencing major life transitions such as marriage, parenthood and aging. Often, anxiety dissipates as a person becomes more familiar with the new situation. Short-term and mild-to-moderate anxiety states are adaptive as they increase our alertness and prepare us for new challenges.

Although our genetic makeup controls much of our fear and anxiety responses, recent studies also implicate our social environment. Children are especially sensitive to their caretakers’ emotional states, which means that if more adults are more anxious, the same is true for kids.

But if it lasts, anxiety, like fear, can bring long-lasting physiological changes such as prolonged muscle tension, chronic high blood pressure and sleep disorders. Some groups may be particularly vulnerable to long-term anxiety, such as people with physical or cognitive limitations that make it hard to adapt to new situations.

For others, worrying can become so overwhelming that a person does not focus on other important areas of life issues such as work, school or relationships. An especially anxious person may become excessively sensitive to minor concerns, which may be manifested by overreacting or avoiding people or situations that are not dangerous.

The ConversationAlthough regular exercise, relaxation, healthy eating and time with friends and family are all known to reduce anxiety, these fixes may not be sufficient. To quote Martin Luther King Jr., given the social nature of anxiety, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.” This suggests that addressing actual threats and communicating carefully about perceived ones can have a beneficial impact on anxious Americans.

Jacek Debiec, Assistant Professor / Department of Psychiatry; Assistant Research Professor / Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, University of Michigan

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.