I work with law students who are facing midterms and research papers, and some are just starting their briefs for 1st year Moot Court competition. Readers who aren’t students might find themselves in the midst of deadlines, and Wednesday is usually the day where it all hits the fan. So, here are a few random thoughts from other bloggers and urban folklorists for you.

AN ANNOUNCEMENT

We’re adding a “coaching page” to this website very soon. e-mail or leave a comment about what you’d like to see. Otherwise you’ll just have to get what I think is important.

Be Careful what you wish for.

There was once a young man who, in his youth, professed his desire to become a great writer.

When asked to define “Great” he said, “I want to write stuff that the whole world will read, stuff that people will react to on a truly emotional level, stuff that will make them scream, cry, howl in pain and anger!”

He now works for a major software company, writing error messages.

Get that business credit as soon as you can.

Okay, for a lot of readers this may be too early to think about. IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY to start building business credit, or at least learn how business credit works. There are a number of really good websites that explain it, so turn off the next episode of Glee and study your business credit options instead. 

If you’re thinking of going into business yourself, check out these tips from Marco Carbajo, who makes his living getting other people business credit.

Mistake #1: Picking a business name strictly for marketing purposes.

While the sound and spelling of a business name as well as the availability of a dotcom play a key role, don’t let this be the single factor that drives your decision.

What makes a good name for a business from a marketing standpoint is usually the opposite of what makes a good name from a legal standpoint.

Even though you may think that choosing a business name that describes your product in the name is much better for marketing purposes, it does give you less protection from other people using it against you.

It really depends on what makes the best business sense, but this is something you should definitely cover with both your marketing and legal team.

Mistake #2: Selecting a name that can get you in legal trouble.

You may come across a great idea for a company name, but first you should make sure that you won’t be infringing upon a prior user’s trademark.

This can be devastating in many ways. Imagine if you had to recall and relabel all of your products because of a demand by a prior trademark user.

Not only that, but you can end up paying the other party’s attorney fees and monetary damages which can get pretty costly.

For more trademark information, tools, applications, and documentation, check out the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Mistake #3: Choosing a name that puts you in a high risk category.

This happens to be one of the most common mistakes I see in my business credit practice. Did you know that your business name can automatically put your company in a high risk category?

There are certain industries that the business credit bureaus classify as risky. Picking a company name and business sic code in a high risk category can possibly trigger an automatic turndown, higher premiums, and/or reduced credit limit recommendations for your business.

For example, real estate is considered a very high risk industry, so naming your company “John Doe Real Estate Investments” would not be the best choice if you plan to apply for financing.

So before you start your new business, take the time to review these mistakes, and pick a business name that works and benefits you from a marketing, legal, and financial standpoint.

Take a breath and talk to your brain.

This is going to require more than one post. You should know about a terrific process that gets you in and out of tough situations both with yourself and potential clients. Let me start with a bit of science.

The most primitive part of our brain is called the amygdala. This is the part of the brain that takes over when we’re afraid or angry (seeing red). It’s in the fight or flight region of the brain. We got this part of the brain from the reptilian branch of the evolutionary tree.

The middle brain, overlays this primitive part; it’s the seat of your emotions that we inherited from our mammalian ancestors. Emotions – love, joy, sadness, anger, grief – all come from this part of the brain. Not a seat of serious cognition, but it’s a little more advanced than your adrenaline-secreting lower brain.

The upper brain, that big frontal cortex that gets you through property mid-terms, makes the practical analytical and creative decisions for everyday success. These parts of the brain have a tendency to work separately. especially when we’re under stress.

Ever wonder why you go blank at the beginning of a test or when you have to start a paper? When faced with strong opposition or fear, the human brain tends to turn on the amygdala to avoid being run over by a mastadon. Under stress, the mammal or reptilian  brain takes over. Your human brain, your valuable store of knowledge and creative thinking shuts completely down. It goes dark. Essentially you start responding like a snake, or at the very best a hysterical rabbit.

If you give short expression to the panic (which is your reptilian response), you can actually start talking to the hysterical rabbit part. So when confronted with pretest panic, say whatever expletive comes to mind (silently if you’re in a testing room) a couple of times. It feels really good. Then heave a sigh and release it by saying a calming phrase (the beginning of a poem, prayer or something that will bring comfort – trying to ecumenical here) – this slows  down the adrenaline flow and lets you move into a more emotional (higher level) response. Complaining is a good way to acknowledge this: “why does sh*t like this keep happening to ME?

Now that your in the middle of the problem and your brain, you can start directing things up to your frontal cortex. A short phrase “oh brother,” or “jeez,

I’m here, and I have to fix this) starts you knocking on the door of the human brain. Open the door by sighing and refocusing: “I’m not

going to let this ruin everything,” or “I’m going to fix it this way.” Finally your thinking apparatus is engaged, and you can back to passing that final or writing that paper.

There’s actually an exercise that goes with this. It coming soon.