I hate to break this news to you, but I’m breaking a promise. A few months back I told you I would blog every day in at least one of my three blogs, marketing/branding, entrepreneur or free biz finds. I’ve given it my best and believe I’ve pumped out some good and useful content since then. It’s not easy to write every day, but then again when you follow the tips I’ve learned to make blogging easier, it can be done with joy and without much pain.

Then came being an entrepreneur, running a small business and life, and my noble commitment became a big challenge for me. One that was causing a high degree of stress and maybe this over demand place I signed up for was even jeopardizing my health.

This past month has been monumental. I traveled to Saudi and made history, spent a week in New York City, got inspired, did my thing for the local economy, was featured in the New York Times and then went to Nigeria where I was a guest lecturer to an audience of 500 marketing and leadership professionals. All while blogging daily, servicing my consulting clients, managing my team of support personnel, writing a new book for McGraw-Hill called Brand Turnaround and playing 15 matches of tennis.

Then, just as I got unpacked, I signed up for a week-long comedy school that included a five minute bit, complete with memorized new and hopefully funny material. The class was in Tampa, produced by Jeff Lawrence of the Laughing Buddha Comedy School, who preforms around the country and is based in NYC.

I attended the first class on Tues., it was fun, saw many of buddies Frank Robertson, (a broadcast and media consultant) and Scott Farrell, (a proud stay at home dad) and met some great new friends too, Susan Guidi, another entrepreneur who runs Advanced Ultrasound Services in Tampa.  All in all, it was everything I wanted it to be. I’ve done comedy school before, so I knew the basics going in. And I knew there would be homework.

That night, I couldn’t sleep, I tossed and turned about all my commitments and now this one with a short deadline. Then I experienced a major anxiety attack, where you feel like you are going to have a heart attack and really die!!! YIKES!@#%!!!!

After about an hour of this agony, I got up, rubbed my big, happy, crystal Buddha’s belly on my dresser and had an important epiphany.

This is freakin, self-inflicted stress and pain and you, Karen Post, can stop it. I pulled out my writing pad and made a list of my: “had to do, must do” responsibilities. Comedy class was not on the list.

What was on my list: finish my book, take care of my clients that I am under contract with, and take care of me. The rest will have to wait and I know it will take care of itself.

My brain has a certain amount of brand-width, there are so many hours in day and I do not want to do anything that is not my best work. PERIOD.

The moral to this story and the 3 entrepreneurial essentials.
Know your band-width and respect it.
1) Don’t kill yourself, know your limits, and say no to things that are not in the top priority zone, especially if they can impact your true goals and dreams.

Exercise your rights as an entrepreneur.
2) As an entrepreneur, you get to control a lot, so don’t fail to use this privilege and power.

Change your mind  and alter your plan, if you need to. And don’t beat yourself up for it.
3) It’s OK to opt-out and change your mind and that’s what I’m doing. This is different than dropping someone in the grease with no back up options. This was not my case, no one was going to be disappointed if I didn’t take the comedy class at that time. I called my comedy instructor and told him my situation, my plate is over-floweth, I have to deliver my best stuff, my book, my clients, my team and right now just can’t do the class. He understood.

My game plan forward.
I’m taking an official break from daily blogging. For the next 4 weeks, my head is immersed in client service and completing my book and taking care of me (tennis, massages and a trip to Aruba to write and recharge).

You may see some random blog posts during my hiatus, but not making any commitments, as I’m islanding it in Aruba island for a week, I’m speaking at the Southeast Entrepreneurial Conference in Tampa on April 1 and I’m addressing Pizza Hut’s Annual Franchise Convention in San Antonio.

In my absence, my fabulous assistant, Lauren, will be spot writing on Internet marketing. Lauren has been with me for almost 7 months now and I believe she is the 8th wonder of the world. She’s an Internet and social media whiz and teaches me a lot everyday. I know she will bring some great articles and tips to the blog. Jocelyn one of the co-founders of Oddpodz may kick in a post too. She’s in Savannah, building her consulting, research and branding practice and helping other entrepreneurs succeed too.

So until next time . . .

Running shoe is by Newton.

I’m still in Houston and today is the Chevron Marathon. Thousands of ambitious runners are headed for the finish line as they run, walk or crawl 26 long miles. Achieving this goal after months of training and preparation is huge.

The day will be painful, challenging, rewarding, joyous and emotional for most. Sounds like a day at the office when you are entrepreneur. I’ve recapped 26 steps that these runners have taken and you can apply to reach your goals.

1.) Start. Set your goals.

2.) Create a simple, doable plan – how will you get to your goal?

3.) Develop a working schedule that covers: research, training, execution and anything else that needs to be done.

4.) List out all your smaller milestones that are needed to meet your big goal. Make sure you set accountable measures and deadlines.

5.) Design a wellness plan that includes diet, exercise, supplements and stretching rituals.

6.) Re-think your sleeping zone, your bed, the noise and the lighting so you can sleep for 7-8 hours every night.

7.) Relearn the importance and practice of breathing often and in a full cycles.

8.) Research and buy the best equipment you need to achieve the ultimate performance.

9.) Decide who your positive support network will be including business associates, friends and vendors.

10.) Kindly lose any negative, non-achieving friends, business associates and vendors from your world.

11.) Exercise your mind by using both sides daily. From crossword puzzles to something creative like doodling.

12.) Hydrate daily with water, not wine. Wine can be consumed in moderation, but water needs to be drank at least 6 times a day.

13.) Establish daily learning rituals from reading the WJS, to listening to podcasts and watching webinars and practice what you’ve learned.

14.) Work on improving mental toughness every hour. Shake off mistakes and disappointments. Believe in the power of your mind.

15.) Push yourself beyond what you think you can do.

16.) Identify a handful of people that inspire you, follow them and learn from them. Whether you know them or not.

17.) Carefully assess your competition, their strengths, and weaknesses.

18.) Seek out legal advantages that will accelerate your journey to the finish line.

19.) Keep your eyes and ears wide open for potholes and flying objects.

20.) Practice, train and be disciplined everyday.

21.) Recover, refresh and revitalize often.

22.) Show gratitude and appreciation to people you know and people you don’t know.

23.) Visit, read and recite your goals every day.

24.) Affirm in writing what you believe and can achieve. This is your story that you own, read it out loud everyday.

25.)  Stay laser focused on your goals and dreams.

26.) Don’t waste emotions on feeling guilt, worrying, dwelling on the past or things you can’t control.

Bonus step

27.) Be proud everyday of every little step you’ve taken.

For more on entrepreneur list-styles, view:
Celebrate loving being an entrepreneur everyday.
Can being happier change your entrepreneur results?

Two years ago I tried to make this happen. I invested over 100 hours, submitted it and it was rejected at least 14 times.

About 8 months ago, I came up with a brand new idea, invested around 40 hours, submitted it again and I was rejected again. This time by 10 groups.

I received some feedback from one of the rejecting groups. This time, the rejecting group offered a call to discuss it’s short comings. I agreed, listened, went back to work, made significant adjustments, invested another 50 hours and $1500 and resubmitted it.

I waited patiently. I had nightmares about it. I dreamed about it. I thought about it everyday. This time it was different. I believed in my soul, I was going to make it happen. I was going to score a big milestone.

Today I got the call. The big, fat green light was mine!
I was accepted, not rejected.
This was confirmation my hard work and ideas were very worthy of something amazing.

Hopefully by next week I can share all the details of this incredible event.

Now it’s up to me. It’s my responsibility to make this light shine brightly on millions around the world.

If you have a dream and a goal, keep pounding away at it. If you get rejected, learn why, make it better and don’t give up!

Check out this Book review – Crush it! by Gary Vaynerchuk