I Will Not Worry, I Will Not Worry ...

We've all said it: "There but for the grace of [insert personal deity/non-deity of choice], go I."

But it's scary to contemplate those words when the topic is losing a job.

Good to know that there are practical ways to help job-seekers, or to ask for help yourself, if you lose some big clients or a full-time job. The New York Times last month listed some things you can do in an easy checklist format.

Meanwhile, we all need to take deep breaths and try not to worry so much. The Times also had a story last week about how recession stress is on the rise.

It's difficult not to contemplate financial ruin and wig out about it (especially if you're a journalist married to a journalist!) but worrying is time-consuming and unproductive.

Just keep repeating that to yourself. I'll do the same.

A Recipe For Change

Ever feel like you've "gotten into a rut" in your personal or professional life?

When that saying was coined, it likely referred to physical depressions in a road or field caused by plows or feet treading the same ground over and over again.

What's interesting is how well the metaphor holds up in the age of neuroscience, as we start to learn more about the reality of brain function. It turns out that neural connections that we make frequently (things like driving familiar routes or tying our shoelaces) become ingrained habits. The physical "zapping" of impulses down well-worn nerve pathways helps turn once-challenging tasks, like pronouncing unfamiliar names, into everyday items that we don't have to consciously think about.

While this evolutionary achievement makes life a whole lot easier, it can also mean that we're naturally resistant to change. Why learn to make new brain connections, which can be tough or uncomfortable, when those worn-down ruts are so much easier to navigate in our thinking?

The guest on my Smart Answers podcast this week works with clients whose companies need change. Dr. Andrea Simon, a corporate anthropologist, explains why it is so difficult to achieve that change and why we all need to find different perspectives on our lives.

She is a fascinating interview, so check it out!

Calling All Writers

Since I started blogging, I've often mentioned the creative genius of my friend and web guru Paula Johnson.

Her latest project is a website anthology for authors of "flash fiction." (She defines that term as really, really short stories - 1,000 words or less.)

The site is a place for fiction writers to try out their work, get some feedback and perhaps develop a following. There are a couple of rules about content but mostly you can write about whatever you want to, as long as you wrap it up quickly.

Are you a short fiction writer - or a wanna-be "flasher"? Go over to Rose City Sisters and get your work published online.

Don't Be A Quitter

One thing I instilled in my kids is that they are not quitters. If they signed up for a team or a class, they finished it (barring extraordinary circumstances). They didn't have to love it, and they didn't have to sign up again, but they did have to live up to their commitment to the teacher or coach and their teammates.

I hate quitting. With very few exceptions, I even force myself to finish books that I don't like - even books I'm just reading for fun.

But as much as I believe in sticking with things, reality dictates that sometimes I have to throw in the towel on an idea or a project. So does everybody.

I get lots of questions from readers who have gone far beyond reality in trying to wring success out of a failed business. "What else can I do?" they ask. "Why didn't this work out!?"

It's impossible to answer without a complete investigation of their businesses, of course. But there are times when entrepreneurs have to do a reasonable assessment and decide that it's time to quit.

I address one of those situations in my Smart Answers column this week.

It Was A Very Good Year

Here's a fun look back in time at entrepreneurial developments since Inc. started publishing 30 years ago.

Click on the year and you get a handful of quirky, thought-provoking facts and trends.

(Hat-tip to Paula, who's always finding these kinds of things.)

Me - and the Suits

The panel discussion this morning at the Pasadena Playhouse District's annual meeting went very well.

Amid all the gloom and doom, I tried to give some glimmers of hope and some practical suggestions for how small business owners can capitalize on their enhanced standing with the public.

Several people thanked me afterward. I only wish more entrepreneurs had been in attendance. City officials and legislative assistants seemed to outnumber actual small business owners in the audience.

One point I made was how important it is for business owners to get together with their peers and trade information and encouragement at this tough time. It's easy to hunker down with a cave mentality when things aren't going well - but it is very unhealthy, both personally and for your business.

Update

I'm free! At least for tomorrow.

No jury duty means that I'll be able to share my thoughts with the small business owners who are in the Playhouse District Association.

It was recently included in a new Pasadena Enterprise Zone, so there are lots of possibilities that entrepreneurs there should be learning about.

Hope I can offer them some good information and advice.