To celebrate St. Patrick's Day, I went with a good friend of Irish heritage to hear the magnificent Eileen Ivers play the fiddle with her band in their show, "Beyond Bog Road", at UNC's Memorial Hall.

Behind the band a video played with beautiful images of Ireland, archival footage about the Potato Famine that had over a million Irish emigrate in the mid-1800s, home movies of families in Ireland and America, and images of American cities - so different from the rolling green hills of Ireland. Within living memory, people who left for America from Ireland were given an "American Wake" to celebrate the journey and mourn the loss of their presence in the Irish family and community.

Like many other people, the Irish left their homeland to come to the Land of Promise in America and Canada. But it was not the Land of Milk and Honey. There was lots of hard work, discrimination, violence, and hardship. The experience of those people live on in their family - in stories, family rules, and beliefs.

The friend with whom I heard the concert last night began remembering family stories her grandmother had told about coming to America. She told of religious violence between Catholics and Protestants, job discrimination, and lack of opportunity for immigrant workers. My friend's family has done well in America, but the stories of hardship still live in her memory, passed down from her beloved grandmother. She thinks , and I agree, that what her family experienced affects how she lives her life and runs her business now. 

I have shared before that some of my family members came to America to escape religious persecution in France. Another forebear braved the Atlantic voyage from England because his father had lost everything in land speculation, and there were absolutely no opportunities for him at home. They were lucky and came as free men. Other family members came as indentured servants. Some Americans trace their ancestry to slaves or Native Peoples.

Your family has its stories too whether you are aware of all the details or not. The societal rules your forebears had to abide by and the rules they made up for themselves in order to survive still live in you as hidden Beliefs. Many of your family's "rules to live by" are positive and stand you in very good stead. But some like "don't get above your raising" or "find a good job and stick to it for life" may not help you now.

I have had to cast back five generations to find a successful entrepreneur in my lineage. In between that forebear and me are self-sufficient men who farmed and men who worked for a corporation for an entire career. The women raised families, taught school, and volunteered at church and in the community. My life and opportuntities differ from theirs in many ways so it often feels I'm making up my own rules as I go along.

If you are the first small business owner in your family, you may feel you are bucking many family conventions and traditions.

That's why I'm offering this complementary Create More Now Community TeleEvent - so that you can more fully understand the Family Beliefs you are carrying about work and success. It is time for you to fully participate in the opportunities that your forebears worked to provide for you and future generations!

Please join me on this free TeleEvent that will help you discover hidden Beliefs that are hindering your business success.

Register here: http://ow.ly/1hn8z