What is the rut? The rut is a period of time that everyone encounters at one point or another. It is a time of deep thought, reflection, confusion and eventually decision. In my experience it mainly happens to younger women (25 to 35 year range) with young pre-school aged children. This rut that I am referring to is the entrepreneurial rut.
Your once beloved hobby, all of a sudden becomes a viable business that requires time, dedication and decision. You have deadlines to meet and people to please. You have to decide whether you make a real go out of it, or you take a step back and put your dream on hold. There are many things to factor into the equation and the main source of turmoil is the fear of regret. If I go on will my family suffer? If I stop will I regret not attempting it? This is only a decision each person can decide for themselves, however it can be very complicated.
So what can a person do... ?
If you do not have bills to pay (rent, employees, etc) I beg you to take a break before putting the whole thing on the back burner. If you are like me, you have spent countless hours building and nurturing your little company as if it were one of your children. There is nothing wrong with taking a break, whether it be a few weeks or a few months. Let your customers know, so they can be prepared and hang up the hat for awhile. This is the only way you'll really know if you can live without it peacefully. If by the end of your break, you find that you were more content without it, then so be it. If by the end you cannot wait to get back into it, then I think you have your answer as well.
Just remember, all business women go through this. It's a scary thing and life altering decision, either way you look at it. And to be honest, it will most likely happen a few times. When it does, take deep breaths, plan a holiday and the answer will come to you :)
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Left wing versus Right wing? Pondering the mentality in Alberta.
I have a friend who lives in Quebec and she and I get into political discussions once in awhile that are just wonderful! I enjoy every minute of our "arguments" and I find myself smiling through the whole thing. Neither of us are out to win, just fun banter back and forth that ends in a virtual handshake and some deep thought afterwards (on my part anyway). She sides with the left, whereas I am more right-winged when it comes to money, and social structure, etc, I am very much a conservative in this regard. In terms of people, I would say I have liberal views, I do not care of a person is gay or straight or if they are black, white, brown, yellow, green, orange or purple. I don't care if you are Muslim, Christian, Wiccan, Jehovah Witness, Mormon, Catholic, Protestant, Buddhist, Pagan, etc. If you are a good person with good intentions that's all that matters to me.
So after our lovely debate tonight it got me thinking... why do we prairie dwellers think so differently than those out East? And yes I am generalizing here, as not all prairie people are Conservative, and not all Easterners are Liberals/NDP, but in my experience it seems that way... plus the Canadian vote basically shows that it is somewhat true.
I wonder, are our basics belief systems due to our upbringing and culture? What I mean by this is, in Alberta we have small cities and a high rural population. We still have lots of farmland and if you aren't a farmer, you at least know one or two, or a dozen. If you were born and raised here, you are probably related to many. From what I know about Quebec (and I'll admit, I don't know a whole bunch other than hearsay) is that they have large cities with large populations, and potentially very little farmland left (at least around the vast populations). So, with this said.... farmers work hard, put in long hours and are guaranteed nothing. Their financial fate depends on many factors out of their control... yet they continue to work hard labour to hopefully reap the rewards at the end of the growing season. They do not get an hourly wage, they do not enjoy benefits or paid time off. They work extremely hard labour for a living and sometimes that living is barely enough to make ends meet, other times they end up supplementing their income by going to work in the oil field in the off season which gives them two highly laborious, lengthy jobs. So is this where our right wing approach comes from? Hard work, with no guarantees? Is this why we tend to vote for less socialism and more capitalism? Every man for himself. Sure we enjoy socialism to some degree, because everyone likes a safety net, but handouts are basically frowned upon in Alberta (in my experience)... it is some unspoken code that every person capable of work does just that and those that work hardest reap the most reward. And if for some reason the hardest working do not succeed in their endeavours, there is nobody to blame, but themselves or "bad luck" (or the weather lol).
Like I say, I do not know much about how the big cities (Montreal, Toronto, etc that make our little cities look like towns) operate as I have never been there, but I wonder if that is why we Albertans are the way we are... through generations, this has been passed to us... a work hard-no guarantees attitude. I am guessing this is not exclusive to us either, as all farming communities most likely fit this thought capacity, we just happen to have a province full of it, as does our neighbour to the east.
Just some food for thought. And if this is something everyone else already knew, and well I was in the dark, be happy... I was just enlightened ;p
(And I mean no ill about the East, this is more a question about our mentality than the eastern, as I have no clue as to what drives the east thought processes.)
So after our lovely debate tonight it got me thinking... why do we prairie dwellers think so differently than those out East? And yes I am generalizing here, as not all prairie people are Conservative, and not all Easterners are Liberals/NDP, but in my experience it seems that way... plus the Canadian vote basically shows that it is somewhat true.
I wonder, are our basics belief systems due to our upbringing and culture? What I mean by this is, in Alberta we have small cities and a high rural population. We still have lots of farmland and if you aren't a farmer, you at least know one or two, or a dozen. If you were born and raised here, you are probably related to many. From what I know about Quebec (and I'll admit, I don't know a whole bunch other than hearsay) is that they have large cities with large populations, and potentially very little farmland left (at least around the vast populations). So, with this said.... farmers work hard, put in long hours and are guaranteed nothing. Their financial fate depends on many factors out of their control... yet they continue to work hard labour to hopefully reap the rewards at the end of the growing season. They do not get an hourly wage, they do not enjoy benefits or paid time off. They work extremely hard labour for a living and sometimes that living is barely enough to make ends meet, other times they end up supplementing their income by going to work in the oil field in the off season which gives them two highly laborious, lengthy jobs. So is this where our right wing approach comes from? Hard work, with no guarantees? Is this why we tend to vote for less socialism and more capitalism? Every man for himself. Sure we enjoy socialism to some degree, because everyone likes a safety net, but handouts are basically frowned upon in Alberta (in my experience)... it is some unspoken code that every person capable of work does just that and those that work hardest reap the most reward. And if for some reason the hardest working do not succeed in their endeavours, there is nobody to blame, but themselves or "bad luck" (or the weather lol).
Like I say, I do not know much about how the big cities (Montreal, Toronto, etc that make our little cities look like towns) operate as I have never been there, but I wonder if that is why we Albertans are the way we are... through generations, this has been passed to us... a work hard-no guarantees attitude. I am guessing this is not exclusive to us either, as all farming communities most likely fit this thought capacity, we just happen to have a province full of it, as does our neighbour to the east.
Just some food for thought. And if this is something everyone else already knew, and well I was in the dark, be happy... I was just enlightened ;p
(And I mean no ill about the East, this is more a question about our mentality than the eastern, as I have no clue as to what drives the east thought processes.)
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