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– I’m Fine, Thanks (click here to watch the trailer)
Our cows (well, the ones we get our milk from)
“Think what a better world it would be if we all, the whole world, had cookies and milk about three o’clock every afternoon and then lay down on our blankets for a nap.” – Barbara Jordan
Question: Do you take time to have your “cookies and milk” during the day?
“Seasons change – let them change” ~Sylvia Good
The squirrels have been more active the last week or so, and so have the school busses. I actually just saw leaves falling off of a tree today as well. The signs are immanent that summer is starting to wane.
photo by uccsbiology
I will not say it is coming to a close just yet, I’m not ready and there are still some great weeks of summer to yet be lived. I can, however, see the days are getting shorter. It reminds me that nothing lasts forever.
A while ago I heard Jim Rohn talk about the seasons of life. Winter, spring, summer, and fall are all displayed in nature as well as in our lives and businesses.
Knowing what season you are in is invaluable for many reasons.
The results are in for my StrengthFinder 2.0 test. And whoa, people, if you have never done this, let me just say it is powerful!
I was amazed that the book knew me so well! I think it was the result of that little old lady with the horn rimmed glasses that has been following me around for the past 32 years! 
photo by ashley rose
Haha, ok, so there is no little old lady (well, the verdict is still out here.) Finally, however, someone explained me, to me! Well done Strengthsfinder 2.0. Well done!
For those that aren’t aware, I wrote a post a bit ago about taking the StrengthsFinder test. Here is the link if you want to order your own (it is an affiliate link). It’s a book that explains all the different strengths with a unique code for the online test (for this reason, buy it new).
I have been excited to do this because I had taken the DISC personality test and it changed my life. Therefore, I was excited to follow-up with this test as well.
The light is a gift; but the local color can only be seen by the one who looks for it long and steadily. ~Henry Van Dyke
Sometimes the road ahead is blocked, at least the sight of it. It is blocked by boulders. They loom, seemingly unmovable and gray. Steel gray.
photo by vintage findings
I think the gray part is the worst of all. Though I love the color on my walls, I don’t like what it represents in my life.
I wear gray often. I dress my child in gray. The color on the side of this blog is gray. I really like it.
But, I loathe gray in my life.
I had an idea once. It was just a silly idea, I thought. I didn’t know where it came from. It just popped into my head one day as I lay on the top bunk in a small camp-style wooden bunker in the outback of Australia.
photo by Rega Photography
My idea was to play the cello. I had never touched a cello or played one. I had never even thought about playing the cello before. Guitar, yes. Cello, no.
Who knows why it popped into my head, for I had just come in from the camp bathrooms. There, little green frogs with suction cups for fingers were jumping up at me from out of the toilet and huge, hairy spiders peered at me from their massive webs.
I marveled at the amount of creatures in Australia while walking back to my room.
Suddenly, a toad nearly the size of my head jumped towards me. I muted a scream as it launched its huge body in my direction again and again. Its thick, warty skin seemed impenetrable.
Well, here it is! We’ve been talking about this for a little while now and we finally got things tightened up and in place.
Yup, that’s us!
We originally created rise365 as a source of accountability as we pursued massive change in our own lives. We knew the direction we wanted to go with the site and had a lot of ideas, but couldn’t see the specifics standing at the starting line. We had to figure that out along the way.
And, we did. Or, I should say, “We are…?”
Our New Mission Statement
The mission of rise365 is to help people escape normal, regain their fizz, and recreate the way they make a living.
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Question: What goals do you have for August?
Stumped for ideas for your make-it-big business? These 3 businesses should help get the juices flowing.
photo by 401(K) 2012
1. The Million Dollar Homepage Alex Tew created a homepage and decided to sell 1 million pixels at a dollar a piece. He got a ton of press and made his million!
2. Hungry Pod After Catherine Keane helped a friend load CDs onto her iPod, she thought others might like that same kind of help. She now makes $100K plus loading CDs onto iPods.
3. Lucky Break Wishbone Why wait for thanksgiving for your lucky break? Ken Ahroni makes plastic wishbones and sells them for $1 a piece. He sells more than 30,000 of them a month. Not bad!
Question: Everyone has had some crazy business ideas. What was one of yours?
“For what you see and hear depends a good deal on where you are standing: it also depends on what sort of person you are.”
– C. S. Lewis “The Magicians Nephew”
I started off my day tired and grumpy. I decided to write a list of about 20 things I was grateful for.
I do this often, but I was reminded once again why it is so helpful. It completely changed the course of my day.
photo by twiga269
I found myself declaring that breakfast was extra delicious! And, I was sure the birds were chirping with more vigor than usual!
Jude skipped his nap and yet I found myself still thankful.
I didn’t let the napless day phase me. Not like I normally would. And the funny thing was, he wasn’t phased by it either, which I found interesting. Was it my attitude of gratefulness that affected him so positively?
