business

Nice To Meet You

H

i, I’m Jon Dwoskin. It’s
dyslexic and had learning dis-
great to meet you. I’m a
abilities. He knew I struggled in
business coach, adviser,
school, but his instincts were
speaker, trainer, author, podcaster, spot on with his gift of knowl-
husband, father and, most
edge to me that day. If
importantly, a family man.
we pay attention, we all
I sit on the executive com-
have signs or someone
mittee at Congregation
who whispers what we
Shaarey Zedek and on the
need to grow both our
boards of Hebrew Free
business and our life. I
Loan and BBYO. I love
hope to be that on that
what I do, growing busi-
same level with you
nesses and people. Even
through this column.
Jon Dwoskin
though I advise others,
My heart is in line with
this doesn’t mean that I’m
where you want to go. I
perfect. I have made plenty of mis- can provide some solid advice,
takes, had many failures and also
but you need to do the hard
many successes, all of which have
work, put forth the effort and
collectively helped me to grow
take action every day. May our
myself, my businesses and my life.
journey together be a great
The overall lesson for me is that if
one. From my heart to yours, I’m
you are not making mistakes, you
wishing you nothing but the best
are not fully in the arena or trying
and am here to give you the con-
your hardest.
fidence that my mom gave me:
I have managed to build my
There’s nothing you can’t do if
dream company by being my
you put your mind to it. I’m here
authentic self and sharing ideas
to not only tell you that you can
picked up along my journey
do it, but also to provide you
with others. By combining this
with a roadmap to accomplish
knowledge with my own ideas,
everything you want and do it
intuition and emotional intel-
while always being yourself.
ligence, I can help professionals
I talk to many of my cli-
get unstuck and move to their
ents about “Thinking Big.” Let
next level of success.
me define Thinking Big for you.
Every day, I’m grateful to con-
It’s about doing the small things
nect with the business minds
every day that compound over
who strive to be better, start
time to clarifying or finding your
something new, grow their com-
purpose, your meaning — your
pany or specific division. I pro-
“Big.”
vide tools, strategies, best prac-
Don’t get lost in some-
tices, communications skills and one else’s Big. Define your own.
training to make them better
I’m here to help you do it. Get
than they were before we met.
ready to know why Business
My journey to becoming a
Matters and how you will find
business coach and adviser was
your corner office with your own
not easy. I have had the dream
unique voice, your ideas, your
since I was 18 but didn’t start my passion and your moxie.
company until I was 43. When I
Thank you for taking the
was a teen, my father gave me a
time to read my column. Your
set of tapes by Brian Tracy called feedback is always welcome.
“The Psychology of Success.” He
Now, let’s get started with some
said, “Jonathan, I want you to lis- fundamental tools to help
ten to these tapes and learn from you get your business started
people like Brian Tracy. You will
or freshened up. •
learn more from these types of
speakers and books than you will Editor’s Note: Look for Jon Dwoskin’s
column in the second issue of each
in college.”
month or online at thejewishnews.com.
My dad did not know I was

57

June 14 • 2018

jn

Quiet Your
Inner Critic
And Take Action

P

lease take a moment to read this in a com-
fortable place where you can be present.
Why? Because I want you to take a
moment and differentiate you from your inner
critic.
Why? Because this prevents many business
people from either starting their own business,
growing in their current company/business, and/
or starting a side business.
This inner critic can freeze us, get us stuck
and, in many cases, prevent us from living and
building our dreams. Don’t let that happen to you.
I don’t want you to look back years from now with
regret. Rather than feeling dissatisfied, I want you
to feel fulfilled and nourished daily — both men-
tally and physically — with the work you do.
I’m not suggesting that this will happen over-
night, but there are things you can do to eliminate
the distraction of that inner critic holding you
back. The following exercises will move you away
from saying “I can’t do it.” “I don’t know how.”
“It’s not a good time.” “I’m not good enough.” “I
have no experience.” Those are inner-critic dis-
tractions. Every time you hear that commentary
run through your head, say out loud or silently to
yourself, “Shhh.” You must quiet that voice no dif-
ferently than if another person were saying those
things to you.
If you are looking to grow in any part of any
business, here are three things you can do to
keep your spirit alive and on the path to empow-
ering yourself to take action.

START JOURNALING AND WRITE IT DOWN

Here is what I see work over and over again: My
clients are most successful when they buy a jour-
nal, open up a Word doc or use any notes app on
their phones and commit to journaling every day
or every other day for three months.
Write your ideas down and let them flow. What
you will most likely find, if you are consistent,
is that ideas will come from the previous ideas
and birth completely new ideas. Commit to five
minutes each day or every other day and get your
ideas on paper. Once you put them down in writ-
ing, it makes them tangible. The energy of these
thoughts and ideas starts to shift and take shape.

SHARE YOUR IDEA(S)

Don’t let the fear of someone stealing your idea
or giving you negative feedback prevent you

from sharing it. Embrace feedback and look at it
as market research. This will help you pivot and
evolve the idea. Always remember this: Ideas are
worthless without execution. No one can execute
your idea and your passion like you can.

CREATE YOUR BACK-OF-THE-NAPKIN PLAN

Now that you have written down your ideas and
shared them with others, it’s time to map out
your back-of-the-napkin plan. This is a one-page
document where you map out your business. In
future columns, we will map out the structure
needed to grow your business plan. That being
said, you want to be able to articulate what your
product and/or service is and what pain you are
eliminating in the marketplace.
It’s time to start growing your new or current
business. You have something deep inside your
heart that you and the world are waiting for. Keep
working until you see it and feel it. Together, we
will piece this together month-by-month. You are
on the road to deepen your passion or find a new
passion altogether. Don’t give up. Stay consistent
and stay in motion.
As you think about the above, ponder this
riddle: Five frogs are sitting on a log. Four decide
to jump off. How many frogs are left on the log?
The answer is five. The four only decided; they
didn’t take action.
Start taking action today to find YOUR corner
office because YOUR Business Matters! -•

Jon Dwoskin is a business coach and executive adviser
who grows businesses. He coaches, blogs, trains, hosts
three podcasts and speaks on how to Think Big. He is
the author of “The Think Big Movement,” a husband,
father and 16-year cancer survivor. Visit jondwoskin.com
for more or email him at jon@jondwoskin.com.

jn

June 14 • 2018

57