Thinking about starting your own business? Looking for ways to get healthier? With the holidays in the rearview mirror, many of us are thinking about fresh starts for the new year.
That fresh start might be in a small area of your life, or a large area. But regardless of how your plans size up, think about carrying them out in smaller steps.
And consider turning to some military resources to get yourself going.
One good place to start is Military OneSource, which offers a variety of resources through the military.
For example, the Spouse Education and Career Opportunities program offers a series of 10 monthly entrepreneurship webinars aimed at spouses who want to start their own businesses. The webinars will be held the first Wednesday of each month, starting Jan. 6 with an overview of programs and services offered through the Small Business Administration. The "series finale and next steps" is scheduled for Oct.5.
The series will explore whether entrepreneurship is right for you; business plan basics; how to finance your business; legal structure and tax issues; and success stories and tips from military spouse business owners. The webinars are 30 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of questions and answers. Register in advance for the webinars.
Plenty of people resolve to lose weight during the new year, often looking to improve their overall health. Military OneSource offers health and wellness coaches who can help you set goals and create a reasonable plan to increase your odds of success. Coaches also can help put together a plan for managing transitions such as deployment, moving, becoming a new parent or retirement. Active-duty, Guard and reserve members, and their family members and survivors, are eligible for such coaching.
Call Military OneSource at 800-342-9647 to sign up for health and wellness coaching sessions. Those sessions can be done by phone, by secure online chat, or secure video session.
The Military OneSource Live Chat on the MilitaryOneSource.mil home page has consultants to give you more information; click on "confidential help" at the left, then click on the "Live chat" button.
You might be surprised what you learn. Most importantly, the information comes from a reliable source.
Karen has covered military families, quality of life and consumer issues for Military Times for more than 30 years, and is co-author of a chapter on media coverage of military families in the book "A Battle Plan for Supporting Military Families." She previously worked for newspapers in Guam, Norfolk, Jacksonville, Fla., and Athens, Ga.
