Business: Discovering Your Inner Samurai
Feb 18th, 2008 by Pam
I just finished reading Susan Reid’s book, Discovering Your Inner Samurai … The Entrepreneurial Woman’s Journey to Business Success. I feel a tremendous surge of joy … someone really understands the entrepreneurial journey … so confirming!
Susan’s style of writing, “mi viaje es tu viaje”, “My journey is your journey” enrolled me right from the beginning. Knowing about her entrepreneurial journey allowed opening for me to reflect on my own entrepreneurial journey.
Each chapter had a specific focus. What cemented the facts were the wonderful stories she shared … I love stories. And to find my name and a bit of my story included in her book was a total surprise!
What engaged me was how Susan named puzzle pieces of this entrepreneurial journey so clearly chapter by chapter:
- How easy it is to scapegoat time and money …when it is really about my relationship to myself. Wow, what an ah-ha!
- Building relationships … one synchronistic encounter after another … to see others while being seen.
Ø How comforting are these words: “Remember the fluidity of relationships. Some will stay with you for life; others, not so long. Allow them to move in and out of your life with grace. Welcome them in love, let go of them in love, and cherish them for a long as they remain.”
- Home alone … “community is the life-blood to home-based, small online business owners.” I’ve never heard anyone name this issue so clearly. Having a home-based business can be isolating. Knowing that sooner rather than later is essential. Susan shared insightful ways to create community. Love this chapter.
- Scheduling … An amazing chapter. Annie Dillard’s quote at the beginning of the chapter named it so well. “A schedule defends from chaos and whim. It is a net for catching days. It is a scaffolding on which a worker can stand and labor with both hands at sections of time.” Just recently in my own journey I discovered the power that the right schedule can make. Then to find Susan speaking about it was so confirming.
Susan’s final synthesis of business success is so empowering:
“Your business success rests on these three ingredients:
- The importance of knowing who you are.
- The value of accepting yourself as you are.
- The significance of daring to be who you are.
What a great journey to be on … thank you Susan. I am nourished, inspired and empowered for the next step!
Recommended:
- Check out the Virtual Book Tour Page to read the great content that has resulted from the launch of Discovering Your Inner Samurai.
- Leave a comment on this post after visiting the Virtual Book Tour and be entered into a drawing for a giveaway of a copy of Discovering Your Inner Samurai, valued at $24.95. The winner of the book giveaway will be selected on March 1st by me. Your odds of winning depend on the total number of eligible comments received. Leave your e-mail address so you can be contacted if you are the winner..
9 Responses to “Business: Discovering Your Inner Samurai”
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Pam, what a joy it is to have you and your marvelous blog site as a “stop” on my Virtual Book Tour. I love stories, too. They are a wonderful way to share the journey together. Thanks for reviewing my book!
Susan, what is the saying … “Stories sell, facts tell”. Carrie’s story in your chapter “Your Inner Samurai’s Perspective on Networking and Selling” lingers with me as a reminder that each day we can trust there is opportunity wrapped in synchronisity!
I read Susan’s book, too, and I love the way you’ve written about it here, Pam. Knowing, accepting and daring, as you said, are empowering. I like to imagine how many lives can we positively affect when we live that way.
I had not heard that phrase before, Pam . . . “Stories sell, facts tell,” though now that I think about it . . . how true! Carrie’s story is a powerful story of how being open to synchronistic opportunities is one of the most powerful things we can do to empower ourselves and our success.
I also felt a surge of joy and expansiveness as I read Susan’s book. I took the book as my companion on a long drive to a vacation spot. Susan’s book took me out of my “reality” immediately and give me a number of new ways to look at and think about my business. I particularly enjoyed reading Susan’s stories about your entrepreneurial journey and getting to know her better. Thanks for sharing your review of Discovering Your Inner Samurai, Pam!
Well Pam, it sure does seem as if the folks reading this blog are really resonating with the importance of story telling. I’m wondering what it is that fascinates us all about a good story? Is it that inherent in a story is the opportunity to see our own lives reflected in another?
Stories are that wonderful way of connecting and normalizing my life experience … how much we share in common.
Your question Susan, “What it is that fascinates us about a good story?” reminds me of something I read:
“Legend has it that a Persian king who had been betrayed by an unfaithful wife wed a virgin each night, and each morning had her beheaded. Three thousand unfortunate women lost their lives this way… until he met Scheherazade. On their wedding night, she told him a story that was so enthralling, he begged for another. She promised one for the following night… and on the following night, she promised one for the night after that. Her stories were so enchanting that this went on for 1001 nights. And then he made her his queen.”
Plato’s view: “Those who tell stories rule society.”
Stories are such a powerful way to communicate. You did it masterfully in your book Susan.
Scheherazade is a terrific example of the power of story telling. Thanks, Pam!