How many jelly beans will pass you by while you wait for the “right one?”
Eventually we run out of tomorrows. You know what I mean: Yesterday, you spent time doing things you had to do, rather than the things you love to do. If you’re one of the many people waiting for a “better time” to do the things YOU love to do, this issue should be an eye-opener for you.
National Jelly Bean Day is fast approaching on April 22nd—where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday we were talking about National Grits for Breakfast Day! (That was September in case you forgot.) Personally, I’ve probably wasted my time reading stuff like: 7 Animals That Smell Like Gourmet Jelly Beans. I have to admit it’s fascinating that a bearcat’s butt smells like buttered popcorn, but I’m also curious to know how someone came up with the idea to find out.
Seriously, our time is so precious and it seems to slip away so fast. . . Zefrank likens the average life to 28,835 jelly beans where each jelly bean is a day of your life. Just FYI, we spend 671 days bathing, grooming and other bathroom related activities. Click here to see the whole video.
The question that got me in the video was this: How much time have you spent being stressed out instead of doing something you love?
It seems like we’re all so busy with everyday life that we put our real desires on hold for a ‘better time.” Unless you live completely off the grid (in which case, you wouldn’t be reading this) you probably know what I mean.
Brigid Shulte, the author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time, described it vividly when she said: You put your cell phone on mute during a conference call so no one can hear the soccer practice drills in the background and you come home, stepping over mounds of unfolded laundry, and then sum up your life to your friends—in the two seconds you dedicate to seeing your friends–as “crazy busy all the time” and they nod in agreement.
Don’t know about you, but I’ve been there, done that, and have the t-shirt in the unfolded laundry to prove it. She suggests we’re attracted to busy-ness, because busy-ness does not allow us to take a moment to stop and reflect, to face some hard truths: We might not be taking the time to question whether we are really doing something we love.
Sometimes I’ll meet the person who is thinking about starting a business—maybe it’s just an idea, a glimmer in his eye or a reoccurring thought that floats through her head. Sometimes they’ve gone as far as doing research on-line or talked to me at one of my Free Legal Forums. But then it might be months or years before I see them again. Sometimes, honestly, life does get in the way. But something I hear just very often is, “I’m waiting for the right time” or “next year.”
Do What You Love and You’ll Love What You Do
I’m proud to say that when I talk to people about starting a business, most want to do so to serve a greater good; it’s admirable and amazing how creative people can be when they want to help others. I’ve been involved with Free Legal Forum since 2006 and it never gets old to hear about how YOU want to make the world a better place.
I know EXACTLY how this feels. Don’t get me wrong: I love the law and I love Love LOVE what I do. But too many times, I see a start up entrepreneur getting stuck in the law. I think there’s a better way to get unstuck. I’ve had my own ideas about how to make start-up law easier for folks (and honestly it’s been percolating in my own head for the past 3 years—I was not kidding when I said I know EXACTLY how it feels waiting for the “right time.”)
I also truly believe NOW is the right time to start. We are moving into a world of the Social Entrepreneur, someone who wants a for-profit business AND wants to serve a greater good. I call this a hybrid entity, a mix of both for-profit and non-profit motives.
In Texas, we’ve legally embodied this idea of a hybrid into the Social Purpose Corporation, which recently became law. A Social Purpose Corporation is a for-profit corporation with a legal purpose of a social good. A social good can be providing low-income or underserved individuals or communities with beneficial products or services, promoting economic opportunity for individuals or communities beyond the creation of jobs in the normal course of business, preserving the environment, and increasing the flow of capital to entities with a social purpose.
A good example of how I envision it working is like Greyston Bakery that provides jobs to homeless, low/no income and ex-offenders. They measure success by how much they have impacted the lives of their employees and their community. Click here to read more here about this national trend (with a list of every state’s version of the hybrid)
As the owner of a for-profit corporation, I’ve decided convert my own business into a Social Purpose Corporation. This is a new law (it’s been on the books for about six months now) and we Texans still have a LOT of unanswered questions as to how it actually works. The best way I know how to find YOU the answers is to experience it myself. I already believe that success should be measured by something greater than just dollars—so I asked myself why not make it official?
So, yes, I had a special corporate meeting (and documented my meeting with organizational minutes like a good business owner should). Click here if you need to know how to hold a legal corporate meeting.
In the next coming weeks, I’ll be working on the legal definition of exactly what is a Social Purpose under Texas law to prepare my filing with the State of Texas.
P.S. Stay tuned to learn more!
How about you? Are you interested in a Social Purpose Corporation? Pre-register for our free presentation “Should I Be a Social Entrepreneur?” in June. Or come in and visit with me now. The time is right.