Today’s post comes from Norm Bour, a blogger with the  NewportBeachPatch

Most of you “unemployables” know WHO you are and WHAT you are, but you may not know what you do. That’s OK. Once you acknowledge that the J-O-B channel is not for you then it’s a matter of applying Socrates Concept of “Know Thyself.”

You may see signs and symptoms and recognize that some of us sickies; those who are always looking for Opportunity. That cause is Discontentment. It’s discontentment in watching things happen the “same old way”; watching people with less skills do boring things all day and you having to march to the same beat. One of our new partners has been a wonderful experiment in watching entrepreneurship unfold before my eyes.

Gitonga Kanampiu is an interesting man, and the only person I ever met that does not know his date of birth. In the bush of Kenya where he was born, the date and the weight and the length of the child is insignificant. All that matters is the healthiness. He came to the United Sates as an exchange student in the 70′s, became an accountant by trade, got an MBA (actually two) and got involved with nonprofit organizations in many areas of finance. As the CFO of Easter Seals he helped them on many telethons and over the years has written hundreds of grants for as much as $40M dollars. Life was good, but he was unsettled and wanted more and about 18 months ago he left his very well paying job to venture on his own. He struggled to find his niche for quite some time and now is the CEO of Nonprofit Development Alliance which is designed to keep nonprofits out of trouble and teach them how to operate like a business. The quote he shared came back to me as I was watching SHINE: “Rather than work for Easter Seals I would rather help create 100 little Easter Seals.”

The Discontentment haunts many of us and many more that don’t know what to do about it. To quote Henry David Thoreau, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them.” Speaking for myself I know that I was a horrible employee. Always looking to change things or improve things or just plain unsettled. If I couldn’t find that rapture in the job I usually tried it after hours in some form of business venture which usually failed. I had the desire and the drive, but what was lacking was the focus, the vision and the direction. Having a mentor would also
have been a big help.

Are you a Closet Entrepreneur? There is only one way to find out and that is to try it out and see if the shoe fits. There is no lack of opportunity out there and plenty or need and many that will share and teach and mentor and motivate. As someone that discovered the cause of his illness late in life I encourage you to soul search sooner than later. If a bushman in Kenya can find his calling from halfway across the world, you should have no valid excuses.

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3rd Thursdays” Chamber Mixer Event at Proud Mary’s Restaurant to Toast the Launch of It’s Your Business

DANA POINT, Calif. – September 7, 2011 – The City of Dana Point, the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce and Dana Point Police Services invite the local community to the kick-off celebration of It’s Your Business on Thursday, September 15, 2011, at Proud Mary’s Restaurant in the Dana Point Harbor. It’s Your Business is a newly established Dana Point initiative that aims to identify the needs of the local business community, address those needs in a timely and professional manner, and prepare for the future through proactive and ongoing dialogue.

It’s Your Business launched in August with a survey asking local businesses for feedback on what they feel is going well in Dana Point, and in what areas there are opportunities for enhanced services. With over a dozen of survey responses submitted in just the first few days, the Dana Point Business Services Team immediately went to work making enhancements to address the feedback, ranging from increased patrol in high speed areas to new signage. The It’s Your Business survey will be available through November 9, 2011, but businesses are encouraged to submit their responses right away so the team can get to work on taking action. All businesses that participate will receive a response and a window decal to display their Dana Point pride.

The It’s Your Business kick-off celebration is open to the entire business community. The event, part of the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce’s “3rd Thursdays” Mixer, will be at Proud Mary’s Restaurant, located at 34689 Golden Lantern Street in Dana Point, from 5:30 – 7:30 p.m. Attendees will have the opportunity to network, complete surveys on-site, and enter to win a prize drawing, sponsored by Proud Mary’s Restaurant. The cost, which includes two drinks and hors d’oeuvres, is $12 for Dana Point Chamber members and $22 for potential members. Business professionals interested in attending may RSVP to the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce at (949) 496-1555. For more information about Proud Mary’s Restaurant and its harbor view, Jimmy Buffett atmosphere, and breakfast and lunch menu, visit www.proudmarysdp.com.

More information and the It’s Your Business survey is available at www.itsyourdpbusiness.com. Businesses can join in on the conversation on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itsyourdpbiz and Facebook at http://facebook.com/itsyourdpbiz.

About the Dana Point Business Services Team:

The Dana Point Business Services Team is an alliance comprised of the City of Dana Point, the Dana Point Chamber of Commerce and Dana Point Police Services. The team is launching It’s Your Business, a program to evaluate the needs of local businesses in order to better serve them and foster their success. For more information, visit www.itsyourdpbusiness.com.

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Orange County Advertiser is proud to feature a blog post from Robert Pagliarini. Robert is the author of The Other 8 Hours:  Maximize Your Free Time to Create New Wealth & Purpose and the No. 1  bestseller Six-Day Financial  Makeover. He has appeared as an expert on 20/20, Good Morning America, Dr.  Phil, ABC Morning News, and in The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Money  Magazine, and many others. Robert is the president of Pacifica Wealth Advisors,  Inc., a boutique wealth management firm specializing in sudden money recipients.  He is a Certified Financial Planner and has a master’s degree in financial  services.

How much better would your life be if you were unbreakable? If you knew that no  matter what happened that you would survive and persevere — and that maybe you’d  even come out a little better? We cannot escape pain, difficulty, failure,  tragedy, and heartache. Sooner or later it will find us despite our best efforts  to protect ourselves. Instead of trying to bob and weave  what life throws  at us, I’d rather have the comfort of knowing that I can take life’s best shot  and be able to get back up and move forward. To me, that’s empowerment. Having  that kind of personal fortitude and resilience is a game changer. Instead of  being dogged by fear and uncertainty, you will have inner peace and confidence  that you will survive.

The American Psychological  Association (APA) focused their research on resilience after the tragic events of 9/11. Resilience, according to the APA,  is the ability to adapt well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats,  and from sources of stress such as work pressures, health, family or  relationship problems. They found that a resilient person is not only able to  handle the crisis of the moment more effectively, but that they are also able to  recover and get back on their feet more quickly.

According to the APA, you can create more personal resilience with these ten  tips:

1. Make connections. Personal resilience  doesn’t mean it’s all up to you. Having good relationships with close family  members, friends, or others is critical to resilience and well-being.  When tragedy strikes, the worst thing you can do is avoid friends and loved  ones. Start cultivating your relationships today, so when you need support, you  have a whole network of people to help.

2. Avoid seeing crises as insurmountable  problems. Don’t fall into the trap of all-or-nothing thinking, which  says that everything is either perfect or terrible. There are always shades of  gray. Focus less on the past and more on the future you want. Also, look for  exceptions. In Solution  Focused Therapy, exceptions are those times when the problem is  gone or at least not as bad. Are there times in the current crisis you’re your  problems don’t feel so insurmountable?

3. Accept that change is a part of living.  Know that whatever you’re going through others have experienced before. You are  not alone — change, in whatever form, is a natural part of life.

4. Move toward your goals. When the present  is difficult, focus on a better future. What do you want your life to be? What  goals do you have that you can start moving toward?

5. Take decisive actions. Avoid checking  out by taking whatever control you have over your situation and doing something  (however small) about it.

6. Look for opportunities for  self-discovery. One of my favorite sayings is “Sometimes you win and  sometimes you learn.” Tragedy and pain can be an opportunity to re-evaluate your  life — where you’ve been and where you want to go. Ask yourself the tough  questions and look for ways to grow.

7. Nurture a positive view of yourself. Be  careful how you talk to yourself. Don’t accept blame when it isn’t warranted.  Focus on your strengths and abilities to get you through.

8. Keep things in perspective. When  something bad happens, it can color all aspects of our life. Your job is to put  it into perspective. Don’t let one bad event taint your view of the other areas  in your life.

9. Maintain a hopeful outlook. While easier  said than done, just watch how you explain or think about your situation. As  ancient Greek philosopher said, “People are not disturbed by things, but by the  view they take of them.” When possible, take the more positive and optimistic  view.

10. Take care of yourself. Do what you can  to sleep well and eat  well. Try to get some exercise and do things you enjoy. If you feel  like nothing is enjoyable, do things that make you feel less horrible. In short,  be nice to yourself.

Being unbreakable doesn’t mean that you can’t cry or need to act tough or  mask your feelings by putting on a happy face. Being unbreakable means you give  yourself the freedom to break, knowing you have the tools to put yourself back  together again.

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/career-advice/blog/other-8-hours/become-unbreakable-10-tips-to-create-more-personal-resilience/2680/#ixzz1XHWZ4x8U

* For a quick snapshot of the Welcome Express Family of Products: http://www.facebook.com/WelcomeExpress **