Monday, March 11, 2013

Business Lessons from Downton Abbey


Apparently, I've been hiding under a rock while the rest of the world was watching Downton Abbey. I kept hearing about it in different social networking references, but I finally jumped in and started watching a couple weekends ago and I was immediately hooked. I watched Seasons 1 & 2, but decided I will wait until we get closer to the release of Season 4 before I watch Season 3. I guess Netflix has spoiled me into wanting all of the season at once, but I digress.

The show is freaking AMAZING! The writing is superb and I really love period pieces, so that was a huge selling point for me as well. To top it off, in the midst of the snappy dialogue, there are some great pieces of wisdom for any entrepreneur.


  • "Every mountain is unclimbable until someone climbs it. Every ship is unsinkable until it sinks." There will always be naysayers. Lord knows, I've had my share of run-ins with them. They are going to stand on the sidelines of something and tell you "Oh no, it can't be done." Don't let that kill your dream or rain on your parade. Whatever you set your mind out to do, go for it - wholeheartedly and full of enthusiasm  Just make sure you're being authentic.

  • "You're no use to anyone if you can't be yourself." Well, duh! Check out my last blog post about that very thing. It's going to be something you read often in this blog.

  • "We all have chapters that we'd like to keep unpublished." Don't ever think that you've cornered the market on things that you'd rather people not know about. Making mistakes and learning from them to create a better you are all apart of life in general, and ESPECIALLY a part of business. We would prefer that people not find out about the mistakes we've made, but owning them in order to be true to yourself are what makes you even better.

  • "We all have different parts to play and we must be allowed to play them." I guess this is a recurring theme isn't it? Everyone can't be the creator of Facebook or Apple or Microsoft. But, you do have something that you can do outstandingly well and it sets you apart from others. Don't spend your life wishing to play someone else's role or envying the role they play. Figure out what your passion is and pursue that.

  • "Sweet tea is just the things for frayed nerves." I chose to end with that one because, it's true. Life can be stressful if you allow it to be. Especially if you are an entrepreneur. But, it doesn't have to be. When you find yourself running out of steam or about to lose your shit because it's not. quite. right. RELAX! Have yourself a glass of sweet tea and revisit it when you have calmed down.

There are far more lessons from the show, but who wants to read forever, so I will put a pin in 5 for now and I will write another post about some more awesome things that they said on the show. If you haven't started watching it - you totally should!

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