by Louellen S. Coker, Senior Member

When I started my business almost five years ago, I’ll be honest, I was terrified. Not terrified for the obvious reasons, which in and of themselves were pretty scary. I was scared that I was embarking on a journey from which there was no return. You see, until I hung out my shingle, I reinvented myself every two or three years as the result of burnout or boredom. The scariest question I faced when I accepted my first contract was: How do I keep the ‘love’ alive?

As my company approaches its fifth birthday (July 1), I am happy to say, that I’ve been able to keep those feelings of tedium at bay. How do I keep the spark alive with my business? Well, it’s just like any relationship—I work at it every day. Here are a few ways that I keep the “love” alive.

Read every day. I am constantly reading. I read books, magazines, blogs,
e-mails, and whatever I can get my hands on for both business and pleasure. Reading let me stay abreast of all that is going on out there, gives me new ideas, and often takes me away from reality just long enough to recharge my batteries.

Learn a new skill or further a skill you already have. I know that you’ve heard this one before, but it’s true. There’s no better way to keep a spark alive than to add some new spice. While I don’t have time or money to take part in formal training on a regular basis, I do at least one new thing each month. Sometimes I’ll try a new graphic technique I read about; other times, I’ll ask myself: What will happen if I choose this command?

Exercise. I can always tell a difference in my productivity and my spirits when I get in as little as 3-4 hours of exercise a week. Sweating it out through your exercise of choice helps you clear away the cobwebs and work through so many issues. So grab a friend, your dog, or your Walkman and take a walk!

Do the twist. While dancing is lots of fun and will fall under the exercise category, this is a twist of a different sort. Look around you and pick out the great ideas that others have had. Don’t spit their ideas out verbatim, take them to the next level. Sometimes you can make a great idea fabulous by a simple twist here and there. (This article is a twist on a blog posting I enjoyed last fall.)

Make mistakes. I’ll admit mistakes can be embarrassing and sometimes even painful. Don’t run from mistakes, though, because the upside is that you’ll definitely learn from them. Some of our best ideas come after making mistakes. Don’t believe me? Edison made over 100 mistakes before he invented the light bulb.

Work for free. You may have seen or heard my name around the Lone Star Community, had your competition entry judged by me, read some of my articles in Intercom, or sat in on my session at an STC Annual Conference. I do quite a bit of volunteer work for STC and other organizations. I don’t get a paycheck for any of these things, but through my activities, I have met some really neat people, been able to visit neat places, learn new things, and the list goes on.

Review what you’ve done and pat yourself on the back. Quarterly, I try to update my portfolio and review my accomplishments, failures, and areas in which I’ve become stagnant. We get so caught up in our daily lives that we forget our talents and how far we’ve come. We tend to discount our successes because we’re on our way to the next one or a recent failure has us side-tracked. If you’re in a stagnant or non-growth stage, ask yourself why.

Have fun. Though this falls at the end of my list, it very well may be the most important element of keeping the love alive. Turn your radio on, have lunch with a colleague, strap on a snowboard and go as fast as you can down a mountain. Do something every day that makes you smile—especially when you don’t feel like smiling.

How do you keep the love alive in your career? Share your techniques with your fellow members on the Help Desk. I’m always looking for something new.