We just held our first Mindset of Clarity Workshop on July 24.  We had a fantastic group of people who participated from all backgrounds; attorneys, authors, a CNN news anchor, consultants and many other types.  The Mindset of Clarity process is a framework for not only getting clear about what you really want, but the tools and techniques for building momentum and achieving your vision by bringing it to life on a daily basis.

With the upheaval that is happening in the economy right now, people are feeling fearful about their future and their present circumstances.  One of the components of the Mindset of Clarity process is “Taking Inspired Action”.   I’ve had a lot of meetings with people recently who are taking action out of fear and desperation because their business has slowed down or they are being let go from their jobs.  When you take action out of fear and/or desperation you won’t get good results.  Your action taken from that state of mind tends to be scattered and not communicated well.  You aren’t able to clearly articulate what you’re wanting to communicate and it will be tough for you to make the connections with people you want to make.

When you’re in a place of fear and anxiety, it’s important to take some time to get clear about what you want rather than focusing on what you don’t want.  Spend some time getting clear and then make calls or take action from that inspired place.  When you’re taking action from a place of inspiration, you will be energized and you will much more easily make connections with others and build momentum.

We had a great webinar yesterday with Eve Tahmincioglu, she’s the author of “From the Sandbox to the Corner Office,” as well as a renowned journalist covering career development, business and entrepreneurship. Tahmincioglu is a regular contributor to The New York Times’ business section, as well as BusinessWeek’s SmallBiz magazine, and currently writes the entrepreneur and small business blog for MSNBC.com. She also authors a widely-read blog entitled CareerDiva that explores current career and workplace issues and trends.

She had some great insights for entrepreneurs about how to move forward in a down economy.  She talked a lot about taking risks and how if you stop innovating in a down economy with the pace of change that’s still happening, you will be out of luck when things are rosy again.  I know it’s counter-intuitive to most people, but the worst thing you can do is batten down the hatches and stop doing what made you successful in the first place.

Eve interviewed many successful CEOs and one of the key things she found was that they didn’t worry about failure or making mistakes.  And when they did make mistakes they looked at what lessons they could learn from them, making adjustments in the future.  This trait is also very valuable for entrepreneurs, I’ve seen this quality in many of the people we’ve interviewed for the book.  It’s not about being completely fearless, it’s about facing your fears head on and then doing it anyway.

You can listen to the full webinar with Eve on the website.

I get a lot of questions about networking, it’s not a comfortable thing for most people.  The key to networking is being authentic about it…and not doing it only when you need something.  A good network is built over time and has the foundation of solid relationships.  A great network, built properly and maintained  is is a tremendous asset.

Recently, an ex-colleague of mine reached out to me.  Someone I barely knew at a company I worked for over 2 years ago.  The person sent me a note saying he knew I didn’t know him very well and that he wasn’t good at relationships but wanted me to review his resume and provide feedback;  he also had list of companies he wanted me to review and let him know who I knew in those companies I could introduce him to.    I have to say  this is a clear example of how NOT to do networking.

I generally do this for a lot of people in my network who I have regular contact with.  It takes time to go through a resume and provide feedback and then to make introductions.  I understand that he doesn’t like networking, but if you want help you have to actively participate in some way shape or form.

We just returned from my sister-in-law’s wedding in St. John, VI. It was a spectacularly beautiful place! A huge percentage of the island is the Virgin Islands National Park and untouched by commercialism. I fell in love with it and can’t wait to go back when we can spend more time there.

I was jewelry shopping in Cruz Bay one evening before dinner and happened upon a shop called Into The Blue and purchased a blue topaz ring. Everything in the shop was amazing and I was talking to the woman who working there and she told me that the two designers, Jennifer Custshaw and Osa Notting came to visit the island and fell in love with it. They decided they needed to figure out a way to create a business so they could leave their jobs in the states and move to St. John.

They opened the shop and also sell their jewelry online. I think that’s amazing because every time we go on vacation somewhere like that we’re always trying to figure out how to stay; and they actually figured out how and did it. Now, that’s inspiring! I’m working on setting up an interview with them to hear more about their story. Stay tuned….

Robert Sutton, Professor of Management Science and Engineering at Stanford University recently wrote a book called The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn’t . He was doing a piece for the Harvard Business Review called More Trouble Than They’re Worth and the piece inspired an outpouring of jerk-boss emails from around the world.

His focus is on those people in the workplace who deliberately berate others and are focusing their aggression on the less powerful. Many of them treat those under them abhorrently and kiss up to their superiors. Their behavior results in decreased productivity and causes qualified employees to quit and therefore are detrimental to businesses, regardless of their individual effectiveness.

I’ve heard many of these stories and have quite a few myself.  It made me think this is just as applicable to client relationships when you own your own business. I had a client last year who was impossible to work with. He was rude to me and very difficult to deal with. I would recruit people into his company and they would quit two weeks later saying he was absolutely impossible. He expected people to work all hours of the day including weekends and berated people if they made even the most minor mistake.

I decided to fire him as a client because dealing with him was beyond frustrating and I felt like he was costing me more than he was worth. If you keep clients who take all of your energy and frustrate you to no end, you don’t have anything left for your good clients. The beautiful thing about being in business for yourself is you get to decide.

I moved into an office last week, I’ve been working out of my house for the last two years and had gotten to a point where I wasn’t enjoying my house anymore. It felt like I was there too much and it was hard to create boundaries between work and just being at home. I was also missing the social interaction of being with other people everyday.

I am the kind of person who likes to have a lot of time to myself but I also need a balance of interaction with other people! I’m sharing an office with two other entrepreneurs and I really like the set up. I can still also work from home anytime I want to and set my own schedule, but now I have a place to go that’s separate from my home. It’s also very affordable sharing space with two other people. The best part is I can bring my dog Eifis to the office if I want to. Pretty cool!

Yesterday, I grabbed lunch at a local place I frequent. There is a salad I like to get there with grilled chicken, I like it because the lettuce is fresh field greens and they make their own salad dressing from scratch. However, yesterday I was in for a disappointment.

Even though the menu said field greens, I received mostly iceberg lettuce which I can’t stand. And the salad dressing was definitely of the prepackaged variety…not from scratch. I sat there eating my salad and feeling very annoyed for not getting what I was accustomed to getting. With every bite, I got more annoyed that they charged me the same price but gave me a much lower quality product.

I know that sounds picky, but I like what I like and I frequent places that make the things I like! It also made me think about how businesses should not to go backwards on their offerings, it’s a terrible mistake even when they need to cut costs. Now, I probably won’t go back there.

I would imagine that with the prices of groceries going up along with everything else, the restaurant felt the need to cut costs. I would have preferred to pay more for my salad and get the same quality and I would’ve understood if they said they had to adjust prices because their costs are rising. I think everyone understands that right now, especially with gas prices around $4.00 per gallon.

We have Daryn Kagan highlighted as a “Roadie Profile” this month and it’s very appropriate because her new book, What’s Possible! 50 Stories of People Who Dared to Dream They Could Make a Difference is out in bookstores this month.  Her book is a collection of true stories of people who dreamed big and overcame big obstacles to achieve their goals.  She has stories of people from all walks of life plus some very inspirational entrepreneurs.  I encourage you to check it out!

I must say Daryn inspires me every day, I get a feed from her website and get my daily dose of good news.  I have opted out of television news because it’s so heavily focused on negative and sensational stories.  I prefer to watch things that inspire me and keep me moving forward rather than living in fear of what might possibly happen.  She has really accomplished a lot after leaving CNN and it’s great to see someone being successful focusing on positive things!

I’ve been in a lot of meetings lately where people cannot focus because they’re checking their blackberry every two minutes.  I was at lunch recently and the person I was with kept checking it and I finally asked, “Is there a problem?” The reply was, I want to be sure to keep my client happy.  I understand that sentiment, we all want to keep our clients happy.  But they can’t expect everyone to be at their beck and call.  It’s unfortunate, but it seems with the new technology people do expect you to respond almost immediately to their pings, emails and phone calls.

The key is setting boundaries with our clients, bosses, and associates about when we’re available and not available.  I know people who can’t sit through lunch or dinner without taking multiple calls or messages on their blackberry.   We all need some down time and time to just “be” with the people we’re with.

This week I’ve spoken with several entrepreneurs who are maxed out with work, but are unable to bring on additional people at this point financially. It’s a tough place to be! I think many of us get stuck doing the day to day stuff like delivering for our clients, which is very important…but the problem is that you have precious little time to focus on strategies and resources for taking your business to the next level.

This also leads to the topic of funding which is also a tough one for new entrepreneurs. I know this well as I’m working through this one right now. I’m working on creating a business plan that will take me to the next level and then I plan to shop for some funding. I will be keeping you posted on my progress and what I learn throughout this process.