Happy Small Business Saturday!

Who else is beyond psyched that this year’s mind-numbing onslaught on Black Friday commercials is no longer bombarding us?

Hooray!

This morning, I wanted to commemorate Small Business Saturday by throwing my amazing blog community’s support behind some emerging entrepreneurs and small businesses — some of my friends around the world who are doing great things!

Here are 8 awesome, mindful, inspired holiday gift ideas for you — these products, their creators and the bigger missions behind them just might help to positively change the world.

Note: these are all non-affiliate links, just shout-outs to good people who I want to see succeed. :)

I hope you’ll consider supporting them with your hard-earned dollars this holiday season. Enjoy!

 

1. The Versalette

By Kristin Glenn & Shannon Whitehead, Revolution Apparel

What: A game-changing, environmentally-conscious, multi-functional fashion piece that can be worn 15 different ways.

Why: Revolution Apparel — a very young, brand new company founded by these two entrepreneurs — will revolutionize the fashion industry and radically shift the consumption paradigm in our world to one of sustainability and versatility — an important mission that we all ought to support.

 

2. The Hero Deck

By Matt Langdon, The Hero Construction Company

What: A custom deck of inspiring playing cards donned with real historical figures and heroic personal statistics for regular card games and particularly for teaching children important history and the qualities of heroism.

Why: Teaching kids what heroism really is — especially by relating their favorite superhero and fictional characters to historical figures — from a young age is vital to improving the human condition and overcoming the natural tendency of succumbing to indifference.

 

3. Secret Message Rain Boots

By Jessica Swift, Live Color to the Max

What: Quirky, colorful designs adorn the outside of unique rain boots, and the inside of each boot holds a secret, hidden message. With special positive message design on the inside to give you an extra boost of inspiration, every day.

Why: Loving messages. Empowering messages. Messages that will remind you each and every time you put on the boots that this is your glorious life, that you are amazing, and that you get to choose how you want to live it, right now.

 

4. Nerd Fitness Hoodie

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY2VpLfCod4[/youtube]

By Steve Kamb, NerdFitness.com

What: Pull-over and zip-up hoodies to empower you to maximize your fitness goals and proudly brandishing the glory of your nerdy-ness.

Why: Nerd Fitness is revolutionizing what American health should look like — it’s not about gracing the cover of GQ, it’s not about starving yourself into oblivion, it’s about being yourself, loving yourself, having fun, laughing, and working hard to live a strong and healthy life.

 

5. Life After College

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myuMg9vSet8[/youtube]

By Jenny Blake, LifeAfterCollege.org

What: A personal, portable life coach for the college student, recent graduate, or Gen-Y 20-something who craves more in life beyond what’s on the surface.

Why: One of the biggest problems that college students have to deal with is the complete lack of preparation for anything outside of the bubble of their collegiate lives that greets them upon graduating. This book by Jenny Blake helps put everything in perspective, and turns the “victimizing” feel of entering a troubled real world in proper context — and empowers you to thrive.

 

6. The Impossible Tee

By Joel Runyon, ImpossibleHQ

What: Strike “impossible” from your language and fuel your personal fire to go above and beyond what you think your limitations are.

Why: Perception is everything, and what we perceive to be our individual limitations — whether pursuing dreams, starting a business, looking for love, whatever! — is what dictates the actual reality that we ultimately live. Nothing is impossible. Stop making excuses. Get out there and achieve everything.

 

7. The Joy Equation

By Molly Mahar, Stratejoy

What: Conquer your Quarterlife Crisis and gain some clarity about who you are and what you want through an online, email-based course that offers you the tools and guidance to identify success on your own terms.

Why: All of us could use a personal boost during times of confusion and general malaise. The Joy Equation functions as a one-on-one resource that has the benefit of being paced as you wish and according to your own lifestyle.

 

8. Lead Without Followers

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-asNjiq3VXY[/youtube]

 By… Yours Truly! (Shameless plug!)

What: A radical reinterpretation of what it means to lead in a world that is so desperate for genuine leadership, woven with a compelling personal story to remind you of what leadership truly is: naturally human traits and qualities that help people.

Why: Is it possible to lead without followers? Our natural instinct is to say “no” because we qualify leadership based upon the outcomes: popularity, fame, money, social status, and numbers of followers. But this shallow, callous definition of leadership — only qualifying leadership based upon quantifiable outcomes — is causing the very pain of today’s modern leadership problems.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m also excited to announce (as you can see above) that I just committed to a huge price dropthe biggest ever, and definitely the last!across the board for my cutting-edge alternative leadership book.

Here’s a couple of raving reviews:

“…Doing his part to reinvent what leadership really should be all about.” – Mike V.

“One word. Magnetic. I became an instant fan.” — Marlee D.

“I’m almost two-thirds of the way through the book and it’s brilliant. The message is remarkable, needed and I really love how his personal journey is woven through it, how he got to this point in his life is inspiring.” — Amanda O.

Hope you enjoy the opening days of your holiday season.

Remember what giving is all about: the love!

Eight awesome, mindful holiday gift ideas for you from inspired entrepreneurs — the bigger missions behind them just may help to positively change the world.