Back to School

Well I had taken a couple weeks away from writing, but I was still deep in thought everyday the past month.
I have a lot of pent up thoughts to get out this fall so I thought of how this time of year has a lot of parallels between back to school and back to business.
I have found over the past 20 years that July and August were always tough times to get a deal closed or have a truly productive meeting with a prospect or client.  I guess we all have the summer time mentality  of trying to relax for those two precious months.
September always seems to bring a renewed focus and commitment to make the big final push to the year end in December.
So even though I tried to stay on top of my writing this summer, I found the break of a few weeks was refreshing.
I also found that some of my clients and peers who took a break have commented about feeling guilty for letting things slide for a short spell.
That is a sad commentary on our North American lifestyle, we can't seem to take a earned and needed break without the guilt afterwards.
Perhaps we should keep in mind why the schools take the summer off, the students in most cases after a summer of no classes, are ready to get back and connect with friends and although they don't admit it, they welcome the return to routine.  I have yet to meet anyone from Grade 1 to Grade 11 who tells me they feel guilty about having the summer off.
Recharge those batteries, refresh the creative juices and refocus in September.  But don't beat yourself up for doing what we all need to do to get restarted and recharged again.  It is worth it!

Why do you do what you do?

I have had a couple discussions recently and read some articles that resonated with what I want to do with my business, Whiteoak Business Development.
I realized the name and the blog and the website really miss out on telling the important story: Why do I do it.
I am guessing that a lot of the small and medium businesses I know and deal with don't tell their story either.  So why do I do what I do?  For me it is very simple, I have a real desire to help small businesses grow and find the best way to get their story out to the public.  I want to see them succeed as I believe in small business, I believe that it is the backbone of our economy and I believe it is going to play an even bigger part in our economic recovery across North America than it ever has!
That's why I do what I do.  Yes I want to make a living and I feel my service is worthwhile and has a real value, but I could make a living doing any number of tasks, jobs, sidelines, etc, however I believe in this as a worthwhile cause.  How about you?  Why do you do what you do?  Why not tell your story as loud as possible, you might be surprised at the results.