Having a vision makes all the difference

Having a vision makes all the difference

Developing vision is something that many people and organizations struggle with.  Having operated my own consulting company for a few more years than I care to count; I know how important it is to truly be clear about what it is that you do andwhere you are going.  We often speak about how critical mission, vision and values are; yet they are something that can be both hard to define and align with.

In recent months I found myself increasingly uncertain about how all the things in my work and personal worlds were fitting together.  Slowly I began to recognize that I was no longer totally clear on where my business was going or exactly what I wanted to focus my energies on.  I was also struggling to determine how my online connections fit with my desire to make the world a better place for kids and families.  As I spent time in this place of uncertainty, it became crystal clear that I needed to invest some energy clarifying what I am both curious and passionate about.  I also needed to rethink how everything that I do fits together.  It can be hard to find the time to go through a process such as this, but I managed to do it.  Last week I wrote a bit about it here. Somewhere in the midst of my deliberations, I was reminded of a great blog post that Chris Brogan wrote this past summer.  He talked about being open to your “Until Moments”. I can truly say that I have worked very hard over the last couple of weeks to recognize that I have been having my own set of “Until Moments” and that I am now in a place of accepting and embracing them.  It is amazing what happens when you do this.

As a result of taking the time to clarify things, I am now firmly planted in the place of knowing just what it is that I do and exactly where I am going.  The things that I value the most in life are my family, my community and the work that I do to make the world a much better place for kids and families.  I have also been able to recognize that my passion for online connections and the world of social media can play an important role in the change that I lead and in the organizations that I work with.  Here is what I now know:

Moving forward my time and related energies will be focused on living, laughing and earning by building connections, facilitating conversations and leading change to make the world a much better place for kids and families.  I also plan to spend much more time exploring and writing about the intersection between our work lives and personal lives and the role that technology/social media plays in everything we do.

So with all of this in place, today seems like the right moment to launch a new and updated blog site over on www.boydjane.ca; the name by which I am mainly known in the world of social media and increasingly in my consulting world.  Please do stop by for a visit.  I look forward to the amazing conversations we will have and the relationships that we will build to do good things in the world.

Do you know what your own personal vision is?  Are you clear on where YOU are going?

PS – Please note:  I will also continue blogging on this site about my challenges, learnings and adventures as an entrepreneur.

Preparing for my first meeting

I received a phone call from the career counselor to touch base with me about my upcoming appointment in November at Career Development Services.

This first step determines whether or not self employment is a good fit with me personally.

I was asked to bring an updated resume to this appointment which has now been moved up to November 4, 2011 due to a cancellation. The process with Career Development Services will take a couple of meetings to determine if I will be referred to Active Communities to discuss the viability of my business idea.

I am very excited to meet with my career counselor and review my suitability traits/skills that will assist me in being a successful entrepreneur!

Time to update my resume!

Why @boydjane is missing the #PEITweetup tonight

Why @boydjane is missing the #PEITweetup tonight

If you know me at all; then you will know that I have a love affair that has been going on with Prince Edward Island for about ten years now.  Over the years I have visited PEI, lived there, been part of a small business that operated in Summerside and have generally come to consider myself a Part Time Islander By Choice.  There is little doubt that PEI is my second home.  So when @peihouses and @aprilennis (in above picture) began to coordinate the PEI Tweetup events, it only seemed to make sense that I would hop on a plane from Vancouver to be there.  I enjoyed having the chance to connect with so many of the people that I know or consider to be friends on the Island and felt it was a worthwhile investment in building face to face relationships.

Fast forward to today, to this PEI Tweetup, and you’ll find that I won’t be there in person tonight.  Why?  Well, that is because life is full of hard choices; especially when you are the owner of a small business.  Having recently made the decision to shift the focus of much of my work and to truly dive into tasks that are necessary, I realized that I would be smarter to invest my time and energy directly in my new business goals and the related planning.  I actually calculated the number of hours that I would lose by flying, sitting in airports and then recovering from the whole travel whirlwind and came to understand that the smart move would be to say “No” for this time.  Not an easy decision due to my strong connection to the Island and to my colleagues and friends who are there.  No, not easy – but smart for me and my business.  So for tonight, I will be content to follow the #PEITweetup hashtag and feel good that www.aprilandjane.ca helped to sponsor the PEI Twitter Awards for 2011.  I will also feel content knowing that I made the right decision for me and my business.

Are you the owner of a small business?  What hard decisions have you faced when trying to manage your business?

Small Business Sparks

This is Small Business Week in Canada and the planets seem to be aligned for something incredible to happen.

On Tuesday, I attended an Employment Insurance Information Session that explained the programs and services that could help me find work. The program that jumped out to me was the Self Employ PEI program so I remained behind after the information session was over to ask for more information on the process to apply.

The Self Employ PEI program may provide assistance to EI eligible clients by providing business resources and a weekly financial allowance for up to 52 weeks.

It turns out that the process is a multi-step process. Mine will look like this:

  1. Meet with staff at Montague Career Development Services.
  2. Referral to Active Communities for additional business consultation.
  3. Finalized application submitted to Skills PEI for decision.

Now all that said, it is my understanding that a person might not be referred to the next step depending on their individual needs/circumstances.

Me, being me, I drove my car across the road to the Career Development Services office and requested an appointment to begin the process to submit an application for the Self Employ PEI program. The earliest appointment available was November 7, 2011 so I agreed to take it, even though I was super eager to meet as soon as possible.

In reality, November 7th is not really that far away. It will give me an opportunity to make a great case for my business idea.

For those who have participated in the Self Employ PEI program – Do you have any advice to share for this initial process?

Dear April

Dear April

With your one tweet this site became official!  I cannot tell you how excited I am to be working on this new blog with you!  I am looking forward to sharing what will likely be both a crazy and rewarding adventure.  I’m sure that we will both learn a lot and I am hopeful that our posts will support others who may be either starting a new business (like you) or who are reworking an existing business model (like me).

Today is a very good day!  I am looking forward to all of the learnings, challenges and significant moments that are yet to come for each of us and for this blog!  Thank you for doing this with me.

Your friend and blogging partner,

Jane

 

 

Yes to success, but at what cost?

Yes to success, but at what cost?

There are so many ways to define success.  Wikipedia defines it as this:

Success might mean, but is not limited to:

For me, success is really about how you bring all of the passions in your life together.  This can be a challenge.  Recently I wrote a blog post about the issue of making time for the things that truly matter to you.  Many people achieve success; but often at a cost to their health, their relationships or even by not being true to themselves.  As I work on the changes that are underway for me and my business; I fully understand that it will take a lot of hard work and commitment to achieve the successes that I am striving for. At the same time,  I also know that I will need to really practice making time for the things truly matter the most to me; my family, my health, my relationships and my overall love of life.  Success can be achieved, but getting there should be done in a way that you ultimately feel very good about and that you can live with.
What do you define as success?  What two things can you do today to commit to your own success in life and in business?
Finding focus

Finding focus

I have so many ideas, so many things that I want to do!  Sometimes it is hard to find focus and to stay on track.  Lately I have been working really hard on this and soon I will be sharing more about the things I am doing to help myself and my business in this area.

How many things to do you have on the go?  Do you struggle with focus?

Welcome to April and Jane’s latest adventure!

Welcome to April and Jane’s latest adventure!

Thanks for stopping by this new blog site.  We are so glad that you are here.

My name is Jane Boyd and I am a small business owner in British Columbia, Canada.  Soon you will meet my colleague and friend April Ennis, who is in the process of starting her own new business venture in Prince Edward Island, Canada.  I will let April tell you more about her plans when she does her first post here.

After a rather engaging chat on Skype earlier today, April and I have decided that we are going to work together to share our business planning, development and growth strategies right here online.  There are lots of reasons why we are doing this. We will share more of those with you in the days to come.

What I can tell you  is that April and I are both absolutely in love with social media, online connections and the power of technology.  We have experienced the power of it both individually and collectively and have applied it to many of the projects that we have already done together.  I think this is a big part of why we we have decided to share our stories right here.

We welcome your questions, thoughts and most of all feedback as we begin this new journey.  Please do come along with us…we will be sharing lots with you!