http://happymasochist.com/ en keith@dkeithrobinson.com Copyright 2009 2009-09-15T17:24:00-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/never_sacrifice_your_passion/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/never_sacrifice_your_passion/#When:17:24:00Z I've been struggling to come to terms with my negative feelings towards running my own business and ultimately not succeeding. (Notice: I didn't call it a failure.) I've got few regrets, some hard feelings and I'm financially damaged because of the experience, but what tainted it the most has nothing to do with any of that. No, I think the root of my issues lie in the fact that I lost sight of what I wanted to get out of it, and lost site of what made me happy. In essence I set aside my passions for, what I thought at the time, was in the best interest of keeping the business going. Read on... Personal 2009-09-15T17:24:00-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/lessons_learned_managing_employees/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/lessons_learned_managing_employees/#When:06:37:01Z I'm not going to even pretend like I've got some good tips for managing employees here. I'm just going to share some of my own observations and lessons learned in the hopes it might help someone else out there. If you want a tip, skip to the end. Read on... General Business 2009-06-09T06:37:01-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/susan_boyles_inspiring_moment/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/susan_boyles_inspiring_moment/#When:14:13:00Z (The first of many such moments is my guess.) Wow. This is inspiring and absolute proof that you should never give up on your dreams. What I love here is that it seems clear to Susan that she's supposed to be there, it's just everyone else who doesn't get it. Awesome. (Love the song choice too!) Read on... Inspiration 2009-04-15T14:13:00-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/the_power_of_choosing/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/the_power_of_choosing/#When:15:36:00Z Ok, this one is a bit cheesy. It's about positive thinking and it starts with a dream about flying. Read on... Personal 2009-04-02T15:36:00-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/jacek_utko_can_design_save_the_newspaper/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/jacek_utko_can_design_save_the_newspaper/#When:02:48:00Z Jacek Utko is a very smart guy who saw an opportunity to use design to save newspapers in Europe. He makes a great case, and has some really insightful observations, not only about the newspaper business, but the role of design is business today. It's short. Watch it. Read on... The Business of Design 2009-04-02T02:48:00-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/hanging_in_and_helping/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/hanging_in_and_helping/#When:22:49:01Z Times are tough. If it wasn't official before, it is now. My business Blue Flavor has lost a few good gigs recently due to tight times and while we're doing ok and hanging in there, we're also feeling the crunch. I've also seen a few good small businesses fail in the last few months, despite fairly the aggressive measures taken to keep them afloat. And, unlike the big American car companies, there's no government bailout coming for most of us either. We just have to preserver and play by the rules of the market. Read on... General Business 2009-03-30T22:49:01-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/elizabeth_gilbert_on_creative_genius/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/elizabeth_gilbert_on_creative_genius/#When:19:58:01Z Elisabeth Gilbert, the author of Eat, Pray, Love speaks about the idea that creativity, while something that comes from within a person, can also be seen as something divine. It's an interesting talk regardless of your spiritual beliefs. I find especially useful the idea that you don't have to be scared of creative failure and that creativity can come from a place of happiness as opposed to always being linked to negativity. Read on... Creativity 2009-02-18T19:58:01-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/creativity_vs_stress/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/creativity_vs_stress/#When:17:17:01Z Running a creative business can be a challenge, especially when times are tight. It's doubly hard when you've got actual creatives running the show, as stress and lack of time to create really weigh on a creative soul, compounding the issue. Things have been hard for me as a business owner lately; too much to do, a general feeling of not having control of my own destiny and lots of stress. This week I did some soul searching and some planning on how to, win or lose, get back to enjoying my work. The answers I found were fairly simple, immediately effective and right in front of me. Read on... Creativity 2009-02-13T17:17:01-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/executing_on_ideas/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/executing_on_ideas/#When:18:09:01Z In my mind, no idea is worthless. However, an idea that can't be executed will never be anything more than an idea. In order to actually do something with your ideas you need to be willing to make a few sacrifices and work to bring them to fruition. Read on... Creativity, General Business 2008-12-09T18:09:01-08:00 http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/theres_risk_in_being_transparent/ http://happymasochist.com/posts/view/theres_risk_in_being_transparent/#When:19:35:00Z Last week Ryan Carson of Carsonified had to make a difficult decision to let go of some of his people. Being an owner of a small business, I don't envy him that. Not at all. He then went on to write up a post offering advice on recession-proofing was, somewhat inexplicably, tied to the layoffs. This post, not surprisingly (to me anyway), brought on all sorts of negative feedback. Read on... General Business 2008-12-08T19:35:00-08:00