3 Success Stories and What You Can Learn from Them

With the new year just behind us and as we prepare the year end financials, our fellow business owners will be reviewing how their business did this past year and reflecting on new goals for 2024.   It always starts with what you want to achieve in life and in business.

Here are three inspiring examples of those who managed to make it from humble beginnings and what we can all learn from them.

Jan Koum Koum was born into poverty in a tiny village in Ukraine. After migrating to America with his family as a teenager, Koum became fascinated with computers and eventually began working for Yahoo! In 2009, he had the foresight to predict the future success of the embryonic mobile app industry, so he founded WhatsApp. By 2014, he’d sold it to Facebook for $19 billion. Koum’s story shows that intelligent forward planning can be the key to reaching your goals.

John Paul DeJoria DeJoria began his working life moving from low-paid job to low-paid job, from shifts as a janitor to delivering newspapers. Befriending Paul Mitchell while working in hair care, the pair took out a small loan of $700 and founded John Paul Mitchell Systems, today a global conglomerate. Since then, he has helped to found Patron Sports and is worth over $3.1 billion, proving that strong drive and good friendships can take you farther than you think.

Kevin Plank Plank was on the edge of going broke when he decided to put his life savings together with a $40,000 advance on a credit card to fund a company selling clothing under his brand, Under Armor. After making a $17,000 sale to Georgia Tech University, sales to 24 NFL teams followed, and in a few short years, it turned into a multimillion dollar company. Today the company is worth billions. Plank’s journey shows the power of investing in yourself!

Holiday Decorations

Looking for some new ways to decorate your home in the holiday spirit? Well look no further. Here are some links you can use now to get ready for the season!
Need a simple way to uplift your home? This handy article shows you really simple ways to add some festive cheer in five minutes or less. https://tinyurl.com/uplift11221
Looking for some inspiration to decorate without breaking the bank this holiday season? We’ve got you covered with the best places to shop on a budget. https://tinyurl.com/uplift11222
Do you really want to decorate for the holidays but would rather shy away from the tacky? Have a look at this article, which may inspire some sophisticated festive spirit. https://tinyurl.com/uplift11223
Sometimes when the holiday season arrives, you just want an easy fix to get you in the spirit, especially if you have little ones running around. Here are 41 simple DIY ways to decorate for the holidays. https://tinyurl.com/uplift11224

Good Reasons to Practice Gratitude and How to Do It

As we move toward the holiday season and prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, a time to come together with the ones we love and be grateful for those around us. Being thankful and expressing gratitude not only brings a wealth of emotional and interpersonal benefits but there are also a surprising number of physical benefits too.
Here are four reasons to practice gratitude and how to do it. Being grateful is proven to reduce depression. Try writing a daily gratitude journal, listing three things you’re grateful for each day. Even if you’re going through a hard time, doing this will help you appreciate the good things around you that you may not have even noticed, reducing your stress levels.
Being grateful improves sleep. Going to bed with a happy thought helps you to throw away nighttime anxiety and sleep more peacefully.
Think of someone who’s affected your life for the better and go and say thank you to them. Thinking of their positive impact on you as you hit the pillow will send you off to sleep soundly. Being grateful improves digestion.
Amazingly, studies have shown that there is a link between our attitudes toward our body and its ability to digest properly. So taking a moment to say to yourself, “I am thankful for my body and what it does for me” can help to actually improve your digestive system’s functions!
Being grateful improves your senses. Showing thanks for the things around you can actually help you have a heightened appreciation of things like scents, sounds and sights. Taking a minute’s break every now and then to simply be grateful for the things in front of you can help improve your senses to no end.