End the struggle of Business

Does your business feel like a struggle?

I have come to realize that I very likely have an addiction to struggle.

It seems like a crazy thing to even consider, I mean why would I want to make my life harder than it needs to be? Who would do that?

Well, apparently me!

Perhaps one of the hardest things to actually own up to, yet it is also vital to my own success. You see as long as I hung on to the idea that life was hard, business was hard work, having a business took lots of time and money, it takes years before you see profit in a business...and so on... I would never realize the success that I was looking for. What I did do was create more struggles.

In looking back I now see all the crazy ideas and justifications that I used to not move forward in my business. It makes me laugh now, and wonder why some of my friends did not shake me to try to wake up from that nightmare. I used to tell myself that money spent on trade shows and advertizing would not really get me any further ahead when consistently we got new customers from them. I choose to focus on what we spent that year and what came in directly say from a trade show justifying dropping them with the fact that we failed to cover our expenses. Of course I had lots of great reasons why this was true and the right decision and would seek out others who also thought the same way so that I validated that decision. Craziness at its best at times.

There was another factor that I would fail to calculate into those equations...the lifetime value of the client. This was the part that I was not being truthful about.

While the jury is out at the moment about trade shows, the point is that my perspective has changed and thus allowing me to see more of the equation to evaluate things differently. I am still not keen on putting trade shows back into the mix, but more from the perspective of time than money. Quite likely they do pay off financially, but is that the best use of our time for that return. That is the hard question to qualify, and remains unanswered.

This awareness of my addiction to struggle is one that has been unveiling itself over the last couple of months as I have been going deeper into my beliefs about money and the idea of having lots of it. This focus has forced me to stare at this addiction and admit to myself (and now all you) that this behavior is not helping me or my business. All it is doing is keeping me stuck in an old loop kind of like when a record gets a scratch that makes it play the same 3 second piece over and over again until you pick up the needle and place it past the scratch. I have picked up the needle of my own life recording and placed it out of reach of that repeating loop and none too soon on that one.

Just this week in fact, I had to look at how deeply this addiction has affected all areas of my life. I have a fantastic husband, and we really do not have any issues, however my sneaky subconscious managed to make a mountain out of a mole hill (I am an expert in that lol) and get all bent out of shape about something to the point that I blew up at him. Three days later we are finally able to have a rational conversation about what happened, resolve things and get back on track. Later, I take a step back and I can see that this is yet another aspect of the same issue. I bought into the stereo type of married people being frustrated with the things their partners do, isn't that just the way it goes? lol

What if all my beliefs are wrong? What if all those reasons I gave for why I am not doing as well I could are actually lies? What if I could choose a new reality and new possibilities? How would things change? How would I change?

These are the new questions that I am using to re-evaluate my life instead of looking for things that validate the old beliefs. I am delighted to say that it is making quite the shift. I have opened up to and taken action on things that I would have slammed the door on in the past. The best part is that these are the things that are easy, interestingly enough. 

Biography: Dana Pharant is the owner of Whole Body Healing - Therapy Supplies. She has been a registered massage therapist since 1992 and running a therapy supply store since 1999. Her store rocks out at both its geographical locations at: 68 Hooper Rd Barrie, ON and on the internet at: http://www.wholebodyhealing.com.

Spotlight on Skin - Eczema

What is it? The most common form of eczema, more accurately called atopic dermatitis, appears as a red, swollen rash. Depending on the stage, the rash could appear scaly or thick; it could appear moist or leak fluid; it may even contain small, raised bumps. Clients will complain of itching, a classic tell-tale indicator of eczema. Small rashes may appear around the eyes and lips, but most flare-ups are on the inside of elbows, the backs of the knees, or the underside of the hands.

How do you get it? The form of eczema identified as atopic dermatitis is believed to be the result of an allergen. An allergen is anything that triggers an allergic reaction. Often this form of eczema is hereditary; the client may have suffered from it since childhood. However, it is possible to develop eczema as an adult. Allergens can come from food, animals, the sun, the cold, or any number of environmental factors. During a flare-up, a person’s immune system is working overtime to try to combat a foreign substance.

How is it treated? Treatment of eczema works best along a two-prong approach. The first is to strengthen the body’s immune system through supplements. Healthy eating, regular exercise, and adequate rest also help build a healthy immune system. The second approach is to pinpoint the source of the allergen and get rid of it. Sometimes, however, it’s impossible to identify the trigger. In this case the only thing left to do is to treat the rash. Warm soaks, creams, light therapy, cotton material against the skin, and antihistamines are all useful treatments. Proper moisture is crucial to reduce the itch of eczema, so creams should be applied immediately after a warm soak, and the skin should be kept hydrated throughout the day. Creams can be natural, such as calendula cream, or they can be by prescription, such as cortisone or steroid creams.

Specific Product Recommendations: Footlogix Very Dry Skin formula and the Footlogix Foot Soak as your hand washing soap. The soap is phBalanced and moisturizing and the moose application of Very Dry Skin #3 will penetrate into the deeper layers of the dermis which creates healthier skin over time as old skin is exfoliated off. I have seen great results with these products for many clients.