Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog

Discovering Your Inner Samurai Blog

For the spiritually conscious businesswoman who knows how fundamentally important it is to align her business with her deepest inner principles. 

At the heart of our blog is the woman's inner journey to business success.

Each week, we post segments focused on spiritual entrepreneurship:

• Monday — Business issues relevant to the woman entrepreneur.
  
• Tuesday — Inner Samurai Business thought for the week.
• Wednesday — Hot business strategies you can apply now!
• Thursday — Business made easy.
  
• Friday — Inner Samurai Business.

Abraham - The Ride is Worth It!

Have you ever wondered why dogs put their heads out car windows, risking getting bugs in their eyes? Watch this 3-minute video to find out what Abraham has to say. Then, apply it to yourself as a spiritually conscious woman entrepreneur.

Success Tips From Your Inner Samurai

Today . . . I am thinking about this question that came in from one of our readers. She is a spiritually conscious businesswoman who wants to make sure she is focusing her energy in the best direction for success.

If you have a small business question that you'd like for me to answer, let me know.

Q: “How do I ensure that I am focusing my energy in the best direction for success?”

A: Entrepreneurial women begin imagining their future the moment they start thinking about striking out on their own and starting their own business.

They think about what the business will become, the lives they will touch, the people they will help, the flexibility they will have, and the money they will make. They imagine building a business around their value system, their passion, and what’s important to them. They envision a business that fits beautifully into their life. In short, they dream about building a business from the inside out.

How many times have you known what was right for you yet made another choice… one that was wrong for you? How many times have you gone against your inner knowing? How many times have you heard yourself say, “I knew I should have gone that way, done that thing, or spoken my truth?” It happens to all of us.

That's why getting in touch with and trusting your Inner Samurai is so important.

Success Tips From Your Inner Samurai

•    Create only two priorities per month. What are the two things you are most passionate about doing? This will help you prioritize and focus by aligning you with your "Inner Samurai Priority System."

•    Check in with yourself often. If you hear a lot of chatter, explanation and justifications, that's the voice of doubt inside your head. Learn to recognize and ignore it. If you check in and feel a one-word pulse, pay attention! That's your Inner Samurai.

Three qualities that will always lead you down the right path:

   1. Know who you are.
   2. Accept yourself as you are.
   3. Dare to be who you are.

Do you have any other suggestions? If so, leave a comment and let us know. And, if you have a small business question that you'd like for me to answer, let me know.

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success

Take Our Inner Samurai Business Survey

I'm finally doing something I've wanted to do for a long, long time.

I’m putting together a combination of Inner Samurai Business teleseminars, workshops, and retreats that will support you in taking your business to the next level.

But first, I need some feedback and direction from you. 

Rather than trying to guess what would help you the most, I am going to let you tell me exactly what you need to energize your business to the next level.

To do that, I've developed a four-minute Inner Samurai Business Survey.

And, as a delicious bribe to entice you to complete the survey, I will be giving away three Starbucks gift cards (valued at $10 each) in three separate drawings held between now and July 20, 2009.

Anyone who completes the Inner Samurai Business Survey eligible to win!

Inc. Magazine's Summer Reading List

Inc. Magazine just put out The Business Owner's Bookshelf. This is their list of the top 30 business books they recommend you read this summer.

Here are a few on the list to wet your appetite:

1. Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk, by Peter Bernstein (1996)
   
   From the ancient Greeks' belief that the universe was divvied up in a game of craps to Keynes's assertion that uncertainty makes us free, this lively economic history helps readers understand why we think -- and bet -- the way we do.
2. The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything, by Guy Kawasaki (2004)
   
   The author has aptly described this book as the start-up version of What to Expect When You're Expecting. From his early exhortation to create a mantra (as opposed to a mission statement) through his final mandate to be a "mensch" (give something back), Kawasaki offers a broad, opinionated, often-shrewd blueprint for early stagers.
3. Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage, by Daniel Esty and Andrew Winston (2006)
   
   Companies that fight against the green tide risk poisoning relationships with customers, investors, and governments. This manual smartly balances opportunity and risk in the quest to shrink companies' environmental footprint.
4. Pour Your Heart Into It: How Starbucks Built a Company One Cup at a Time, by Howard Schultz and Dori Jones Yang (1997)
   
   Schultz's humble origins, his succumbing to a passion for a product, and his ongoing pursuit of servant leadership are genuinely inspirational.
5. How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie (1936)

   Of course, your salespeople and managers should read this self-improvement classic. But Friends is also about leadership. "There is only one way under high heaven to get anybody to do anything," writes Carnegie, "and that is by making the other person want to do it."

If you're like me, some of the books you've read and some you have not. Check out Inc's list and see which ones you will be adding to your reading list this summer.

Oh, hey . . . add mine to your summer reading list too!

Susan L. Reid
Inner Samurai Business Expert

Award-winning author of Discovering Your Inner Samurai: The Entrepreneurial Woman's Journey to Business Success