Run Your Own Mile

What does “one-off” mean?? 

My friend Tony was sitting in the Dallas airport and read a couple of articles on women and entrepreneurship.  Which made him think of his favorite entrepreneur; me!  So he sent the links. 

I just opened them.  One is on the top 25 women of Twitter – all looking very white and very professional. 

The other link was an article called Startup Diaries.  It was about an entrepreneurial woman who'd just won IBM’s Smartcamp in Dublin.  The article tells us that winning will help seed fund her company.  

So I'm reading this article and Vicky (owner of the winning company) states that because of her goals (“to build a high growth, global business”) she needs support that is beyond “one-off” technology boot camps.     

I stop reading and Google, “one-off.”  Turns out it’s chiefly British.  And it means something that is not repeated or reproduced; happening once.  So in regular speak, she needs more than a one time technology instruction to grow her global company.    

Sometimes when I’m simply living my fairly unglamorous day-to-day existence; attempting to grow my business and service my clients I am not motivated by these articles.  Actually they can be a little bit of a downer.  

How can I possibly “win” when I don't even know the vocabulary?  

But then I am reminded of the “rose-colored glasses” phenomenon and that these articles are never the whole story. 

Maybe even more importantly I draw back on what my wise son once said in reference to exercise, “Mom, don’t lose you in what other people are doing.  Run your own mile.  Stay in your own lane.”  

Sage advice.