The calendar page flops over in a day and you'll be starting month number seven of this year in your business. July signals the rounding of the far turn in the business race and the start of the sprint down the homestretch to year end 2007. If you are like most people...

magine your day starts with the following thoughts on your mind: Jeanie, the new boarder, doesn't get along with others and needs to change her thinking if she wants to remain at the farm. Your busiest instructor was hurt yesterday and won't be able to teach for a...

I was riding Rascal, our ever steady quarter horse, at a lazy, daydreaming walk the other day and lost touch with his slowing pace - until we were passed by a turtle. This happens often in warm weather since Rascal is thermostatically controlled. By that, I mean when...

We're well into the 2007 horse show season and excitement is high, days are full and the tension meter spikes to the red line limits from time to time. Your world and your clients' worlds are extremely focused. Tempers flare and erupt like volcanoes, criticism and...

History does repeat itself since, yet again, I had almost run out of checks for my checking account. Not feeling compelled to search the Internet for half an hour to find $1.98 in savings elsewhere, I called 1- 800-ChecksNow! Judy the checklady had a pleasant...

During the summer between 4th and 5th grade, the band director said to me, " I know you want to learn how to play the trumpet, but we need trombone players to be part of the band, too, and you have long arms. And at that point, the trombone was assigned to me and my...

If you are like many of my readers, your commute to work is a matter of steps from the house to the barn and that's one of the many advantages of owning your horse business. No traffic snarls of wasted time or elevated blood pressure before your work day begins My...

I did a double take when I walked into the foyer of my office building a few weeks ago. A welcome sign on a standard announced a simple message: "Welcome to John J. Schmitt" Who the heck is John J. Schmitt and what makes him rate his own welcome sign? Turns out Mr....

As a child, you learned quickly about things that come in threes: three legs on a stool, three wheels on your tricycle and three French hens. A perfect combination of three thoughts, words or things make for easy memory and understanding. Some people call the concept...

A client and I were talking this week about her three-year vision for her business growth and her current list of ninety day goals. She was upset about the vast uncharted territory she could see in her mind's eye stretching between the two documents. It was a large...