Edit your choices down to the essentials

Finding the straightest and shortest route to your goal is the key to achieving it. If you are an entreprenuer, you might find yourself conjuring up a new idea every day. It's fun to imagine what possibilities exist - or the myriad of ways you could do it, but finding the most direct and effective method of getting it done is critical. While you need to be flexible enough to allow a reworking of your plan, you need to try to keep your analysis of how your new idea is relevant to a minimum. Make your decision and stick with it. Keeping a journal where you can quickly record your newest idea and, if appropriate, let it go may help you to stay on track.

They say that successfull people are efficient people. They are people who know how to edit and stay on task. A great idea only becomes reality if can be executed on time and within budget.

Jason Fried of Inc. Magazine suggests there is great power in saying No! Eliminate distractions, side notes, tangents and, instead, focus on the next constructive step toward execution. Here he writes about using the word "No" to keep it simple. http://www.inc.com/magazine/20101201/how-to-kill-a-bad-idea.html

A new tool I'm trying out is an "action day" calendar which I just purchased for 2011. I admit, it is a hand written calendar which I returned to following the loss of my entire iphone calendar. Thanks to an apple bug my calendar and backup versions were erased approximatly one month prior to my wedding. As you can imagine, between work and the wedding, it caused a great deal of chaos which I have not entirely recovered from. My new calendar allows me to plan for the week ahead, marking down which actions are to be completed towards a specific bigger goal and also separates my more mundane "tasks" into a separate column. This way, I can clearly see that in order to move forward in completing my next goal, I must get my actions completed, even if a few tasks go undone. http://www.actionday.com/

Another trick to staying focused is to star or highlight no more than 4 items at a time, finish those actions without distraction and then look to see what should be tackled next.

Alternatively, if you have unlimited resources you can choose to get things done the Brazilian way; "Why do something today that you can pay someone else to do for you tomarrow?" If only I were so lucky.

Giving back while doing business

I was inspired by Inc. Magazine's article "Entreprenuers we love," and wanted to focus today's post on some of West Chester entreprenuers whose actions help our overall community. Every small effort made by West Chester's business owners help our community thrive. By spending our Christmas dollars in their establishments, we help keep their businesses strong and the cycle of growth continues.
http://www.inc.com/ss/entrepreneurs-we-love-because-they-inspire-us#0,

Holly Brown, owner of Kaly Clothing at 37 West Gay Street, is the current president of Borough Council. She will often preside over council meetings which run late into the night after putting in a hard day's work (or at this time of year, a hard month's work) in her shop. http://kalyclothing.com/

The Lincoln room's Susan Johnstone has organized "giving trees" to gather donations to support local charities throughout December in conjunction with Santa visits on the weekends. http://www.lincolnroomwestchester.com/events.php


Christopher Curtin of Eclat helps to put West Chester on the Culinary map. Earlier this year Eclat won a silver Sofi Award at the New York Fancy Food show, they also won a "Best of Philly award" for the thrid year and was recently mentioned in philly magazine for his beautifully crafted edible Christmas ornaments: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/food/20101216_MarketBasket_.html

Cyndi Meadows of Penwick Design shop is also the secratary of the West Chester Business Improvement District, which helps to promote West Chester as a destination to our surrounding counties. http://www.penwickdesign.com/

Please let us know of other West Chester merchants who are giving back to our community in their own way so that we can thank them for their efforts.

Do you love movies? Come join other movie lovers tonight for a screening of ELF!

Especially over the holiday season, most of us are striking up casual conversations with relatives, friends or colleagues who we haven't seen in a while. If you have attended a holiday party or simply visited with an old friend, the conversation occasionally turns to West Chester, the place. Someone often offers, "If we only had a theater!" The focus is varied; films, shows or music, but most residents and visitors agree that a theater that could do all three would be a great addition to the downtown scene. More times than not, the Warner Theater comes up, which closed its doors in the early 1980s, after several attempts were made to save it. Alishia M. Faller and Jim Jones give us a historical account of the Warner Theater as a part of their Riggtown Series which can be found here: http://courses.wcupa.edu/jones/his480/reports/warner.htm.

Since its closure, groups of active citizens have brainstormed ways to bring a similar theater back into town. In 2008, “The Note” a bar and music venue, opened on East Market Street. It brings live music into town. Can West Chester townspeople support another theater, and if so, what should it look like? The West Chester LLC is interested in the prospect of getting another theater going, let us know what you think about the idea.

The Business Attraction Committee of the West Chester BID, partially in an attempt to gage our collective interest in movies, has been showing a movie night series. They have been partnering with the West Chester Film Festival and the West Chester Historical Society to bring us dinner and a movie on the third Thursday of every month, which is today!

MOVIE NIGHT SERIES at CHESTER COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Thursday, December 16, 7:00 PM
ELF starring Will Ferrell.

Join us for the Holiday edition of the "Dinner and a Movie" series featuring the Christmas favorite Elf. This hilarious elfen tale starring Will Ferrell is laugh-out-loud fun for the whole family! The series is presented by the West Chester BID, the Chester County Historical Society, and the West Chester Film Festival. The feature film will be preceded by a short film from the West Chester Film Festival. Appetizers and treats will be provided by The Lincoln Room. Soda and water will also be provided. Tickets are $12 (or $10 for CCHS members). Purchase your tickets online at http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=85pnawcab&et=1104085828908&s=1002&e=001grJPLI0GtgLyXUUhTy_R0acxIaGXkYB4mio2TU81HjgkmV6nxA3sK2JDijqfWakD5qp0an6VgbPxNqiZC9oyEkR1FTWk5vmYmfThoodesWnk8JQ6vkFFkWNtxPfNPrOq or at the door. Read about all the films slated for the series at http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=85pnawcab&et=1104085828908&s=1002&e=001grJPLI0GtgLfUeXPmzhwWJK6Odwsr-E9_G1nfBdFmMRNgEXUuxxjAvOmMT_CFiLGiRZknkmZR1QwrW_zUE-5zNpmg7ar-ualEwe9z6LN_MxGqpFStctlUfFnFWKXn9NU

The Lincoln Room invited Santa to West Chester this past weekend.

Susan Johnstone is a community minded business woman who has creatively combined visits with Santa and support for local charities in downtown West Chester. Santa will be available for visits every weekend day from 2 to 6pm through December 19th in The Lincoln Room's courtyard.

http://www.lincolnroomwestchester.com/events.php

The Daily Local News focused on Susan's idea in this past weekend's paper. Check out the story and all the charities represented in this article by staff writer Jennifer Miller:

http://www.dailylocal.com/articles/2010/12/04/news/srv0000010172532.txt