You can be entrepreneurial in many ways and through many venues. However, most of them revolve around seeing a new opportunity, taking it, and seeing it through, even if it’s difficult.

A movie I watched a few weeks ago, McFarland USA, exemplified this. Have you watched it?

In it, Jim White (played by Kevin Costner) loses two football coaching jobs, the most recent at McFarland high school. McFarland is shown as a poor, Mexican-American town. Though he lost his coaching job, Jim stays at McFarland, working as a PE teacher. In PE, he notices how fast some of the students can run. He observes them further and finds that they run to and from school and working in the fields. He even follows one student, without his permission, to clock his speed (which ends up being around a 5 minute mile).

Jim then works to create a cross-country team, despite his lack of cross-country coaching experience. He works through various obstacles – principal’s permission, lack of interest and parental permission – to put the team together and see it through.

In the movie, Jim saw an opportunity, a significant strength, in the school and capitalized on it. He embodied entrepreneurship – and not just for his own benefit. His entrepreneurial skills benefited his players as well, with many of his runners receiving scholarships to college, which they may have not received otherwise.

I often think of entrepreneurship as a numbers game. I think of it as comparing the cost of an opportunity with its potential income. I think of it as taking an opportunity so I can make money off of it. Yet I love how McFarland turned that on its head.

Our entrepreneurship doesn’t have to serve us alone. We can be entrepreneurial for those around us. We don’t need to be all about ourselves. We know this, but sometimes we need a reminder.

I know I do. I sometimes get caught up in looking out for me and living much smaller than I should. I miss too many of opportunities to use my observations and skills to benefit others. And here’s the clincher – I’m pretty sure I’d be better off personally if I always used my entrepreneurial skills to serve others rather than to serve myself.

I mean, isn’t customer service a tenet of great business? Plus, I’ve been far more satisfied when I’ve used my skills primarily to serve others rather than to make money.

So, when we notice an opportunity that will serve others, maybe even more than it will serve us – let’s use it, let’s take it, let’s do it.

Because the most beautiful life we can create is one in which we use our skills, including our entrepreneurial ones, to benefit others. It truly is better to give than to receive.

Image info: Original image by Stefania Bonacasa.

About the Author: Lindsey Tolino comes alongside artisans, craftsman and people monetizing their passions to help them create healthy businesses. She shares her heart at ToBusinessOwners.com. Follow her on Twitter @LindseyTolino or connect with her on Google+.

By Lindsey Tolino

We’re experiencing record-breaking heat in Raleigh this week. I like it warm, but triple digits is just too hot.

I get so irritated in the heat. Do you get like that? I bet many of us do.

Heat stresses my body. When I feel hot, I’m more likely to be short with people, cut them off and be impatient. Sometimes, things other than heat stress me out and I become just as irritated.

When we’re under stress, whether it be from heat or a mountain of bills, it seems that we’re more likely to snap at people and be task-oriented rather than people-oriented. This can be a dangerous place to live.

If we don’t force ourselves to slow down when we’re under stress, we’re more likely to burn bridges with the most important asset in our lives – people.

When we are stressed, we often need to do the opposite of what we want to do. For example, when we’re under financial pressure, we may want to put our heads down, get to work and do as we’ve always done to get our businesses back on their feet. But if we deny the stress and force ourselves to stop, look around and engage with others, we may discover a solution to our financial issues.

It’s essential that we listen to our “guts” in business. But when we’re experiencing stress, we may not be able to hear our guts over the loud hum of stress running in our brains. Furthermore, we know that stress keeps us from being creative. But when things aren’t going well, that’s when it’s most important to be creative.

The most valuable practice that’s helped me handle stress is similar to the CDC’s recommendations for dealing with extreme heat – first, get to a “cooler” spot. Then I can stop and breathe.

Once I relax, I’m able to think through the situation more clearly. I can question how much the heat/stress is affecting my current decisions. Is the stress driving my decisions or is solid reasoning? What could we do differently here?

When we feel the heat, we need to step back and find a cooler spot. Not only for the sake of our businesses, but also for those around us. When we’re stressed, it’s vital that we get to a cooler spot, so we don’t hurt anyone in the heat of the moment.

Though it’s only June, it won’t stay this hot forever. When it gets cooler, I don’t want us to regret any of the decisions we made in the heat.