Walking on the path this week, past what we call Froggy Beach we saw a new view. The changing shape and views of this small beach frequently surprise us.
The view this day, was like a Japanese Zen Garden, the rocks so inviting as a place for contemplation. I could see myself meditating there, listening to the sounds of the sea, refreshing, rejuvenating……… – Suzie Cheel
Photo of outriggers, Coolangatta Beach, Queensland, Australia, by Des Walsh
One Sunday afternoon, walking on nearby Kirra Beach, we came across a group of kitesurfers, or kiteboarders. It was a blustery day, with the wind whipping up the waves. It was fascinating to see how, to get the kites in the air their owners had to exert a huge amount of energy and strength. Then once the kite was up the wind gave it dramatic power. The board rider’s task then was basically to manage and steer, but it seemed the kite and the wind were in control of the speed and direction.
Business analogy? Starting a business we have to expend a lot of time and energy. Our goal will be to get our business to a point where it can âcatch the windâ of the market, with us then having to steer and manage, but ideally without all the huge effort we expended to get started.
My own mother was barely 9 years old when the Stock Market Crashed in 1929. I suppose there’s not a person today who can’t imagine what it might have been like to grow up, a child of a single mom with six brothers and sisters and no meat on the table. They all worked on a ranch and went to school when they could. She knew the hard work of living.
Lots of folks had it worse than she did.
Back then, some folks lost their homes. Some became hobos. Some lived wherever they could. The ones I knew were called “family.” People took them in. I had a lot of “aunts,” “uncles,” and “cousins” who weren’t blood relations.
My mother never forgot those times or people who found themselves in similar situations.
When I was in grade school, she helped two boys I know find places at “Boys Town” because their family couldn’t afford to raise them. In some ways she was their mother too.
And just recently on a visit to our hometown, my closest friend said she met a woman I know who’s parents hung out at my dad’s saloon. The woman told my friend that, growing up, she always looked forward to my mom’s Christmas presents. “She gave us the “good” pajamas in the pretty boxes. She always put something sweet inside with them.”
My mom used to baked tens of dozens of cookies to give away every holiday season. She would frost and decorate every one of them. Sometimes I got to help with the decorating.
When we’re lucky we have a mom like that in our house every day, but even when we don’t, moms like that are all around us.
Look around. No matter our circumstances. Moms give us powers that make us better people. Moms are models of strength and rising above bad situations. They have to choose for other people to keep things in balance and moving forward. They feed our bodies, our minds, our souls. They believe in us even when we have trouble believing.
Moms are heroes.
Sometimes moms do their jobs so well, we forget they are people. We cast them in their role and only see our relationship with them, never thinking about who they were before we were there.
Sometimes we don’t see what comes to us easily.
My mom had a girl baby that died nine days after that little girl was born. That happened 3 years before there was a me. I didn’t understand what that might have meant to her and her life, until fully a year after she died. That’s when I began to understand my mom as a human being.
They say there are moms who don’t do well. It’s an overwhelming job that requires some experience of love and fearlessness.
I say there are mom all around us, even moms who are dads, even moms who’ve never had children.
If you have a mom who has given you life or know a mom who has changed your life, let her know how you’ve looked up to her when you’ve needed her.
Without the moms in the world, we wouldn’t be us.
Let the world see the moms you look up to, the moms who have made you.
Live your thank you … to its highest value.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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What I admire in the American culture is the quest for success. Most Americans I meet want to be number one and have an entrepreneurial spirit. Everyone can make it and be a success is standard in the US culture. It already starts with the competitions at school.
Let me show you some differences with the European cultures and what an entrepreneur might learn from this difference.
In Europe becoming No 1 is not everyone’s agenda. It is nice to have financial success but not necessary. Our rating for tests in school in the Netherlands, where I live, is mostly from 1-10 and 10 is the best and 1 is really bad. Most of the Europeans feel that 6 is good enough, no need to go for that 10. It’s similar for most countries in Europe. You can see that same attitude in the workplace at organizations and companies. We try to satisfy the customer, there is not really a need to surpass their expectations on delivery.
Entrepreneurship is in American DNA and that grows the nation. Europeans work less and therefore we can spend more time with our families and friends, cook and have dinner at home. This is the basis for less stress and healthier lives.
Where there is great success there is also great failure. The difference in rich and poor is huge. In our culture, you can become rich but the poor have a safety net. The government plays a large role in this. If a company needs to fire employees, the fired employees get money — first from the company and later from the government. This all needs to be paid with taxes. This makes the gap between rich and poor somewhat smaller. The poor do not have it easy, but will survive, have a roof over their head and are able to eat food, and use the health system.
In most of the European schools, English is part of our education. More and more Europeans use American social networks like Facebook and YouTube. This means that more and more people read and speak English. However, language is in the detail. Detail is where we can make mistakes and have misunderstandings.
There is also a difference in the home base. In the US there are 50 states and many cultures, but mostly people speak the same language: English. In Europe there are 44 countries that all have their own culture but more importantly, most have their own language. This makes the home base for a companies service or product already a lot smaller. Selling your products in several European countries is easier said than done. It involves language, cultural and national regulations.
I have worked for and with companies from the US and all over Europe. It is great to learn and enjoy all these cultural differences. If you want to expand you business outside the US it relatively easy these days. You can get in contact with local people via the social networks and get to know potential partners.
Once you start working with people from outside your culture it is great to see what you can learn from them. Take care not to force your way of working on to the other culture.
Have you been to Europe? Next time you come to Europe look at the differences and see what you might take home to use in your way of working. I would love to connect with you, I want to learn from you and maybe you can learn from me.
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Erno Hannink is a Social Media Specialist for Independent Professionals and Social Media Business Coach. Through the use of social media and a focus on online publishing of valuable information, Erno helps independent professionals attract and retain more clients. He is the author of the book ‘Attracting Clients â How Independent Professionals and solopreneurs can get new clients using the internet” (free download) and also blogs on enthousiasmeren.nl (Dutch). You can find Erno on Twitter as @ErnoHannink
Thanks, Erno. I’ve enjoyed knowing and learning from and with you. 🙂
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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What surprise has Mother Nature presented you lately?
I’ve never been good about worrying about the competition. Sometimes I forget to even look at what they’re up to. I don’t want to be them.
I’ve finally learned that the best I can bring to the table is the best version of me. No one can compete with that. Folks can do things I can’t. Folks can make other other offers. But no one can do what I do better than I do. I am the best me that could possibly exist.
You can’t write my blog post and I can’t write yours.
No one else can see what I see as well as I do.
No one else can bring my experience.
No one else can put the Liz idea and the Liz twist into a Liz strategy quite the same way in the same short amount of time.
I build elegant and irresistible strategies for incredible businesses and people. I put my heart and soul into my work weaving just the right nuance into each choice and action in order to project the most meaning and offer the most value. What my clients get are great relationships, great results, and great communities of loyal fans.
So instead worrying about the competition, I worry about the folks who are looking for exactly what I do. They are the people who count in my eyes. I want to make their lives easier, faster, and more meaningful.
If I looked at my competition too closely, I might start thinking I should be doing what they’re doing and I’d only become a bad facsimile of me or a bad facsimile of them.
Leaders find their own path.
So, it won’t be competition that will beat you.
It will be yourself. It will be you not investing the time and energy into what you want to become. It will be you forgetting who you are or trying to be someone else. It will be you giving into fear or you letting go of what has defined you since before you could talk.
What is it that you do better than anyone? People ask you do to do it often, so often you assume it’s easy, but it’s not. Who could compete with you, if you put your head, heart, and passion into serving the people who value that?
–ME “Liz” Strauss
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