Skip to main content

The Essentials

By Susan Muegge
What matters most?

My favorite business book of 2014 was Essentialism by Greg McKeown. With four kids, an active volunteer and faith life, a professional career I am passionate about and a physically demanding lifestyle, you realize that there are only so many hours in a day. In the past year, I've realized that each of those minutes is a gift and should be spent with as much purpose and passion as possible.

I've recently turned down two job offers, one from an amazing company I would love to work for, because I realize that I am spending all my time doing what I love. If I took on something new, I'd have to give up something. (This is a dramatic switch from my 20s when I did everything I wanted and drank more espresso. An espresso maker of my own was both the best and the worst gift ever. My husband disposed of it out of love for me.)

I still fail--there is more TV than I'd like, and sometimes I get sucked into facebook, but I try to come back to the center and ask what matters today. I sincerely hope that when I look back in five years I'll see a life that matters and that was built with the right choices everyday.

BTW, I spent two hours yesterday making a three-layer birthday cake for my daughter, and I would not swap that time for anything because of the look on her face.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Social Media Starting Kit (Part 1): Establishing Your Brand

Businesses, the best businesses, are the response to a problem. And, the entrepreneur's encounter with this problem and creative response is the story. Problem: Children without shoes Response: Tom's  Problem: Unhealthy hair Response: Monat Problem: Children with a lacking education after public school term Response: Classical Conversations Your business tells a story. Its formation, website, branding, and sales style are all a part of that story. But, in a world of billions, how do you ensure that story is being heard? The answer is social media. And, when a story is spread on social media, you have magnified your audience and increased the likelihood of your business' success.  But, how do you engage in social media? A business owner does not have time for rabbit holes, education in social media best practices (which are constantly changing), or endless likes, follows and unfollows, tweets and moments.  Entrepreneur's Social Media St
Post a Comment
Read more

Storytelling is an Essential Component of Social Media

In 60 seconds, there are 3.3 million Facebook posts, 448,800 tweets, 65,972 Instagram photos uploaded. In 60 seconds. Every hour. Every day. Amid all the noise, how do you ensure your blogposts, your Facebook videos and your Instagram Stories are read and shared by the right audiences? Two elements are essential: list building and storytelling. Article Highlights ·        AI makes list building easier ·        Storytelling is a trend in 2018 ·        Business leaders must participate in their stories Software makes list building easier As social media continues to climb in popularity and profitability, more tools emerge to manage and accelerate it. These tools make list building easier. You can find influencers, join in at-the-minute conversations, and follow new users daily to become part of their conversations. How many users varies with the network, but it’s likely more than you think. Twitter, for example, will allow you to follow up to 1,000 new u
Post a Comment
Read more

Instagram: Thank you for scheduled posts...and reposts!

After extensive changes that make marketing through Facebook even more difficul t , Instagram marketing and posting (which is also owned by Facebook) is becoming easier. If you use Buffer , Hootsuite , Soci , or any other social media management tool, you #instalife just got easier. Now, instead of posting from your phone to Instagram, you simply schedule and the post becomes live at the preset time, like all other social networks. How does this help you tell your story? We all, as business owners and entrepreneurs, have a story to tell. Instagram allows us to tell it visually, and to reach audiences unavailable on other social networks. With every post, we create a visual storyboard that reaches an increasingly attention-starved world. When you can project your message, your story in seconds, you magnify your reach. How do you tell your story on Instagram? Clarity in your profile, an Instagram aesthetic, tagging and distilled images are the key. My favorite Instagram examp
Post a Comment
Read more