In the days of high school, it was easy to find organized clubs drag a few buddies out and check it out. Living in a new city, things are a little different; clubs are still all over the place but now just providing an un-recommended, unaccompanied adventure. A quick Google search found thousands of hits… Wow, there is a lot out there! How do I decide which are worth a visit?

First let’s cut the low hanging fruit, I have always been involved with sports, so this was a no brainer. Work was nice enough to offer club sports teams, while combined with a recent gym membership. My PE requirements are serviced. Now I need to search for the extra curricula’s which serve my motivations.

Second, find an endorsement. Word of mouth is a quacktastic thing and how I was introduced to my first club, Tampa Toastmasters… Yep, it’s the ever dreaded public speaking group which allows anyone who desires a safe haven to stammer, stumble and sweat. Given my necessity to improve these skills and gracious endorsement from a coworker, I am now a proud member of the local Toastmasters group.

This is a great start, and I am excited to work on these skills. However, I look forward to finding other opportunities which really allow me to grow my professional network and interact with individuals with common interests. Any suggestions? (PS this is where audience participation is required)

OK, I admit, I side tracked and now back to my hopes that people are smarter than me. Here’s my thought, why not just hit the streets, crank out some emails and speak to those who have been down this road? Why learn from my mistakes, when I can learn from your… um, “experiences”.

Alas, an unveiling the first portion of the site and its potential direction. We will devote some space specifically to ways not for first ventures to bomb miserably. Together, we (that’s right, your not getting off the hook that easy) will research and analyze small businesses operating in today’s climate. Ultimately finding ways to relate practices to what we are doing.

Let’s have some fun, meet some people and who knows maybe launch a business.

Annd right on cue, here come the excuses. I don’t have the funds, experience or even a clever name. There will be so much to do, so much to learn and what if I make a mistake? How could I possibly not mess this up?  It’s real easy to find reasons not to continue, but ultimately if we do not surpass our last attempt we will never breakthrough.

Win, lose or draw this is an experience and one that will set the bar for all subsequent attempts. However, I am not launching with the hopes this idea flounders, I am realistic and know over 50% of small businesses fail.  Knowing my odds,  I remain optimistic and am almost certain I will leave this trial with new improved abilities. Ones which will be used to set up future success.

Alas, my latest creation this website, shockingly not my first. Given my track record I should have started out slow, used one of the free blogging platforms and build my profile in phases, i.e. to custom domain, theme etc… But what fun is that? My thought exactly, none!

Every day we are inspired to make great changes in our lives. From what I can tell, these opportunities are realized by two types of people, those that have trained their mind for success and those with ill-perceived personal circumstances. When we examine each type- both encapsulate high levels of motivation, realization of an opportunity and dreams of personal success. Granted, the reasons we set out for change are different I believe that each type allows for varying levels of commitment and follow through.

A portion of this blog will be devoted to the thoughts that enter our subconscious. How to sort through all the messages, organize the clutter and directly apply resources to fulfill required tasks.Regardless of our personal circumstances, change is inevitable, may as well welcome it.