By Robert Holden, founder of the Happiness Project

Wait and see ‘sickness’ is simply fear. Just go for it, make a change today.

This quote was sent to me, so I’m passing it on. What are you waiting for?  and what small, simple change could you make today in your business?  I have already made my change — I completed a piece of writing without checking my emails first, hurray!

From www.abraham-hicks.com

“Drinking a cup of green tea stops the war”.

For some years I had this phrase written in big letters on my kitchen wall. It was to remind me to make my cup of tea in an atmosphere of peace.   Simply by focusing on the activities involved in making the green tea, I could be conscious in the moment.  Doing nothing but filling up the kettle with water; switching it on;  selecting a tea bag.  Putting it in the mug; making sure I’m doing it all peacefully and full of awareness, not just on automatic pilot.  Pouring the boiling water onto the tea bag.  Sipping my tea.  And with every sip, being aware that in a place of peace within me, there is no room for war.

In business, behaving like this is often called focusing.  When you ignore all other distractions, and channel your mind to the task in question.  When you bring your soul into your business, then not only do you focus, but you bring into the equation this inner aspect of peace. All your work becomes filtered through this inner atmosphere; all your conversations with clients are in the context of this state of being; and all your writing is done from a settled attitude of harmony and good feelings within.

Next time you have a coffee or tea break, try ‘drinking your cup of green tea and stopping the war’.  Then translate that feeling into the next task you are doing, and see the difference.

Peace. It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart.

When I saw that I just knew I wanted to share it with you.  In fact my time with him and his partner has been so inspiring that more of what I’ve been learning will filter through here — but less blogs for the next week or so as I focus more on holiday than business!

Why did I want to watch? Having read both Hillary and Bill Clinton’s autobiographies over the years, I knew what a very thorny subject this has been in America, so I was interested when I heard that Congress had passed a bill — something both the Clintons and many other presidents had tried and failed to do.
You can see his speech here, it’s about 20 minutes, and really worth listening to simply for the experience of listening to a great orator, even if nothing else.

But what relevance has this to a s/e person or a small business owner?  Well, the main thing that came across for me was his determination.  He did not give up in the face of apparently overwhelming odds; he acknowledged the input previous presidents had made; he was quite specific about the fact that while some changes would be put into effect immediately, it would take about 4 years for all the amendments to be commonplace throughout America.

Why is this important to you? Because this gritty determination is exactly what it often takes in a small business to get to where you are going.  It takes a clear focus on what you want and where you are going; it takes a team of people usually to help you get there (even your partner or babysitter is part of your team); it takes utter resolve in the face of sometimes overwhelming odds to stay your course and not get deflected by obstacles that sometimes seem to have been put there just to cause trouble!

Listen to this speech from this perspective; renew your resolve to your journey, and use his passion to remind you of yours, which is what ultimately is the thing that will carry you forward when times are tough.