Outside the Cocoon

You can't be this good if you aren't living your dream!

I had the most delightful experience last night.  To be honest I was not really looking forward to it and almost cancelled.  But I am sooooo happy that I didn't. 

 

The first problem was that this engagement required that I leave my house at twilight on a Sunday evening.  I don't know about you but that's the time that I want most to be settling by butt in some cozy position on my couch and zoning out in front of the TV.

 

The second problem was that my man was under the weather so I was going stag.  And thirdly I was heading to a local bar, one of the last places I really want to go by myself (it's kind of a toss up between a bar and the grocery store.)

 

The reason for my adventure was to meet some friends that I hadn't seen in quite a while.  They were in my neck of the woods to see a local performance by Josh Blackburn.  I had never heard of him and frankly since I was going alone and felt I should maybe be doing Nurse Betty detail rather than hanging out at a bar on a Sunday night, my plan was to see my friends for bit and then make an early exit back to my couch and my gimpy boyfriend. 

 

But you know how plans go sometimes, right out the window.  Three and a half hour later I was sad when the show ended.  I bought myself a new CD and went on my way.  I had thoroughly enjoyed the evening.  My reasons were two-fold.  Firstly Josh is an amazing musician but secondly and equally important to solopreneurs or entrepreneurs like myself he is a vivid example of living your dream full on no holds barred.

 

If you look there are lost of examples these days available to us on the internet and TV, you can read magazine articles and listen to radio show about people going after their dreams but they feel so remote somehow.   Don't get me wrong I still find their stories inspiring.  But it is an amazing feeling to sit literally just a few feet away from someone with this kind of energy, enthusiasm and love for what they do.  If you are in the Denver area you should really try to see him.

 

As I muddle through my own entrepreneurial endeavours I wish for this kind of tenacity and dedication.  And I am thankful for my enjoyable evening and the inspiration it continues to provide.

 

 

 

 

  

 

Wishing is more serious than you think

Have you heard the saying "Winners say I will and loser's say I wish"?  I understand the point of the saying.  You can't get what you want out of life by just wishing, but here is the problem, as adults we have learned and taught our children that wishing is bad.  Wishing is a waste of time.  Wishing is for suckers.  Wishing is impractical.  Wishing is selfish.  Wishing is childish.  As adults we have almost abolished it from our vocabulary.  We may allow ourselves to want something (like a new car) but the only time we "wish" is when we put what ever that something that we want is (like a ride on the space shuttle) out of reach.  As adults wishes are only for those things that we want but we have told ourselves we can never have. 

If you don't believe that we have completely devalued wishing in our society ask yourself where the saying "Oh that's just wishful thinking" came from and what it means. 

We (adults) have a new word to use to get what we want.  We call them GOALS.  Goals are good because they come with a plan.  They are strategic and methodical, practical, responsible and sound.  I am not trying to suggest that goals bad.  I believe that they are good and useful.  My question is how do we come up with a goal? 

My argument is that the wish precedes the goal and the goal has no power without the wish.

Lets take a look at the definitions for these two word:

Wish - to have a longing for, to express desire, to long or yearn

Goal - the place at which a race, trip, etc is ended, an end one strives to attain

What motivates humans to do anything?  Is it the place at which a race, trip, etc is ended?  Or is it the longing, desire or yearning for something?  Maybe you think this argument is obvious and isn't worth making but ask yourself when is the last time you have used the word wish.  Can you even remember?  Did you use it for something that you actually planned to do?  Or did you use it in the "it can never happen" way? 

Do you remember the things that you wished for as a child?  I remember some of my "wishes" and sure they were impractical.  I wished for a pet monkey and a pet tiger.  I wished to be a famous olympic gymnast.  I wished my halloween candy would last forever.  I don't know exactly when I learned that these things "couldn't" happen.  But this lesson was one that was repeated until I was completely indoctrinated with "the wishing is a waste of time programming". 

Of course some wishes are impractical, some wishes are pie in the sky, but are they ever really a waste of time?  Have you heard "you can't just wish your life away."  That's a valid statement in so far as you can say that you can't or shouldn't do anything in excess to the exclusion of other important things.  But why does wishing get such a bad wrap?  I dare say that that it took less than three I wishes for someone to respond with the wishing your life away phrase.  Think about it, as loath as we adults are to say the word once just imaging stringing three I wishes together in one sentence.

Want is a more acceptable word than wish and I guess that you can use it instead if you are more comfortable with it (which I am sure you are, I know I am)  But here is the sad thing I think, wishing has a magic to it that want and goal will never have.  We wish upon a star or in a wishing well or when we blow out our birthday candles and why do we do that?  For those wishing non believers falling stars, wishing wells and birthday candles probably provided strong evidence for the wishing is foolishness argument.  But I believe in serendipity and to me these silly rituals are just a moment in time for us to state for ourselves and the universe what our wises are.  After that it is clearly up to us to do something with those wishes.  To transform them into manageable goals.  But the wish or the dream (another completely shunned word in adult vocabulary but we wont go into now) is what drives us whether we believe in wishing or not.  Without the wish it is difficult to stay focused or even interested in the goal.

So here's to wishing, and more of it I say.  Wish Wish Wish and then wish some more.  You are doing it all the time anyway.  Why not just give the credit were credit is due.

What's in a theme?

A few years ago a mentor of mine (Barbara Winter) introduced me to the idea of having a theme for each year. I have liked the idea from the start. I have found that it helps me keep my focus on my business and its related projects.
So I have spent the month of January contemplating what my theme will be for 2011. I like to give an idea enough time to see if it sticks. So I have decided that my theme for this year is to stop wishing for more time and to just do more with the time that I have.

Maybe it's time to change

We all change.  It is inevitable.  But there is willing purposeful change and then there is the kind of change that we are forced into.  Some of the changes we are forced to accept come from outside of our control,  we all get older, people come and go, our job goes away.  But then there are the changes that we choose.  Should I move to a new place?  Should I take that new job?  Should I start my own company?  Should I learn to skydive?  Should I take that risk and try what I have always wanted to do?  Should I start believing in myself just enough to nudge myself in the direction of my dreams?

I believe that those purposeful changes are the ones that make all the difference in our lives.  It's has been said that everyone hates change and I suppose that there is some truth in that.  We all like to feel comfortable and safe.  Familiarity offers us the this false sense of comfort and safety.  But every yin has is yang and the yang of not changing is boredom. 

I believe to stave of the boredom we need to make consistant purposeful intentional efforts to change ourselves.  I am not saying that I am always good at doing this only that I believe in it. At any rate I have made what seems like a big change to me for the year 2011.  I have started a new blog.  This idea seems a little crazy to me since I haven't been very good at keeping up with one blog but it feels right and so I have done it.  I am still planning to keep up this blog as my main site but I will no longer be posting any crafting or DIY project to this blog.  They will be posted at my new blog Upcycled Design Lab.  It is a little scary and daunting to think about keeping up two blogs but it is also exciting. 

Ok so I didn't decide to move to another country or anything but not all of our changes have to be big ones.  Go ahead and try it yourself make that little change today you never now where it might lead you.

Here's to change and a new you and me in 2011!

PS - I stole my blog title from this song Maybe 

 

Which Widget What??? What are they? What do they do? and Which ones do I need?

I was feeling so smart the other day when I learned about how to add widgets to my blog page.  Which first required that I gain some better understanding of what they are.  Leave it to Wikipediato come to the rescue.  Anyway after some brief insight as to what the little gizmo's are I began what now seems to be an endless search to find out where they are and what they do and which ones I should add to my blog. 

Who knew what magical little things they are?  I have only just begun to explore, but already I understand that you can add widgets that keep track of everything from the weather to politics.  Widgets that allow you to more easily share content from other web pages on your own page.  Widgets that find and display similar content to your posts.  Widgets that allow you to set up custom searches (to only search certain urls.)  I even discovered that you can make your own widgets, (don't know much about that yet I think it may require that you understand some HTML.) 

I have no doubt that I am rather late getting into this whole widget game but I am still a little giddy with the excitement of it all anyway.  It really is true the more you learn the less you know.  I feel like I discovered a whole new mysterious world.  It's a little overwhelming I wish there was a directory of all the widgets that explained what each one did and showed you what it looked like.  So far I have not found such a thing but here are some links that provided some illumination.

netvibes ecosystem  There are almost 60,000 widgets on this site alone so get yourself a comfortable chair.

spring widgets The rabbit hole gets deeper.

widget box Are you getting the impression that these go on to infinity yet?

typepad widgets  This is a good place for beginners like myself who use Typepad. 

Needless to say I don't feel so smart now and I have already accepted the fact that I will never know what all of them are or what they do.  I do hope to find and use some of the ones that will most enhance my blog and who knows some day I my even make my very own widget.

Solopreneurs Read This Book

Crush It! - Why now is the time to cash in on your passion by Gary Vay~ner~chuck

I love this book.  Have you heard about it??  I read half of it the day I got it.  It is not specifically for people who what to work as solopreneurs but it is a quick easy read pack with information on self-branding (exactly what every solopreneur needs to do.)

I am currently reading the section on harnessing the power of social media.  I confess it is something that I have not really embraced but it is fascinating new information that I will try to incorporate with my own DNA.  This is one of the best things about this book.  The author implores the reader to be true to themselves what he calls a persons DNA.

Happy reading to all my fellow solopreneuers working toward a bigger future!

PIF - Pay It Forward on Etsy.com

A few weeks ago I set up shop on Esty.com.  I am still learning my way around and I don't have very many listing up yet but my enthusiasm is still very high.  Last night I was looking around on Etsy and I came across a listing that started with PIF I was curious if it was a typo or what it meant.  Upon opening the listing I discovered that the seller was not actually selling an item she was giving a recipe away for a body wash/scrub.  I was intrigued so I went further to see what a search for PIF yielded.  It took me awhile to figure out that it meant Pay It Forward.  Many of the sellers use it in slightly different ways.  But the gist of it is just to do something nice and encouraging the recipient to do likewise.  In many cases this takes the form of the seller offering their item for just the cost of the listing (20 cent) plus the shipping cost. 

It doesn't surprise me that an Idea like this should come out of the crafting world.  I love the simplicity of it.  It  has been a few years since the movie Pay It Forward came out but its nice to see that the concept lives on even in what might seem the most obscure places.  Pay it forward one stitch, one glue dab or one brush stroke at a time and we just might change the world!  It is easy to be a skeptic no doubt but consider that just a few years ago Etsy did not exist and today they are experiencing phenomenal growth.  I believe that, in part, at least this growth is due to the sometimes crazy but innovative ideas that come out of the creative process.  Paying it Forward on Etsy is just one of those little innovations.

Just a caution if you look up PIF there seem to be many possible meanings including Paid in Full, Partners in Flight, Pacific Islands Forum and others.

Upcycled Design Lab on Esty.com

 
I have been intrigued by Esty.com for some time now and I have finally gotten around to opening an official store.  I only have a couple of things listed so far but it is a small step in the direction of my dreams (item #4 on about me page.)

Visit Upcycled Design Lab.

Solopreneur - What's Being a Waistress Got To Do With It?

This morning while sipping my coffee I was reading the most recent newsletter from one of my mentors, Barbara Winter, and I stumbled onto this quote from Rumi.  "Be with those who help your being."  As with all good quotes it started my wheels spinning.

Being an avid reader I am usually knee deep in a least two or three books at a time and currently I am in the middle of The Element by Ken Robinson.  It's quite an interesting read about people who find their passion and a way to make a living doing what they love .  One of the key elements (if you will excuse the repetition) of finding and living your Element is finding what Mr. Robinson calls "your tribe."  This is not the first time that I have come across this advise.  Many other authors have acknowledged the importance of surrounding yourself with like minded people.  But I like the word tribe the best.  I am still in search of my tribe at least what I will call my inner tribe, a circle of friends with similar self-employment goals.  Maybe I have already met them and just have not claimed them as my friends, my tribe.  I suppose that your "tribe" is not a static thing anyway and changes throughout your life-time.  Which brings me to waitressing.

Back when I got laid-off from my "real job" and decided to try to make a living without one.  I think I might have been discouraged with myself if I had seen this far into the future and realized that I would still be working as a part-time waitress.  But to quote another infamous deep thinker, "It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."  Confucius.  And to my credit, I guess, I have not stopped.  I am in fact working less hours as a waitress this year than I did last year and all the bills are still getting paid.  This is at least some progress. 

But the point here is my tribe.  (aka: people to be with who help my being)

Most of the people I work with are half (or even less than half) my age and I am not aware of any of them having the goal of being self-employed.  In short we don't seem to have a lot in common.  But I think they are more my tribe than anyone I ever met in the corporate world.  True most of them might be heading that way in the next couple of years but right now their eyes are focused on the big bright and wonderful future.  A future that they believe they are steering toward.  They are twenty-something.  They are supposed to have big dreams for their future.  They do not want to wait tables their whole lives.  Some of them are living on their own for the first time figuring out what they like and don't like.  Will they go to college?  What do they want to study?  Who will they become?  I try not to ask them too many probing questions.  The questions that everyone asks you when you are that age.  It seems like so much pressure.  You graduate from high-school and everyone starts asking you "what you are planning to do with your life?"  But as wrong as it seems to put that kind of pressure on a young adult, the sadder and more sobering truth is that somewhere between 25 and 30 people stop asking. 

I am 46 years old well past high school and college graduation.  No one asks me what I want to do with the rest of my life but I believe that it is the most important thing to ask ones-self.  The driving question to fuel our lives.  No matter what our age, we all wake up each morning with the opportunity to grow to learn to become more than we were yesterday.  To look toward the future with hope, expectations and a plan. 

So for now I will soak up the youthful energy at my waitressing job and reminded myself that the future is out there for all of us to create.  Yep, even for those of us who are over 40!!!

Hooray for The Un-Job Fair!!!

Last Saturday I attended an all day event called "The Un-Job Fair" put on by Colorado Free University. It was geared toward the self-employed.  Isn't that the greatest concept?  I have never been to an actual "Job Fair" but my impression is that it benefits the employers and not the job seekers as there are no doubt more job seekers than actuall job openings.  But at the "Un-Job Fair" all the "seekers" are actually in a position to create their own income earning ideas.  I don't mean to imply that the process of self-employment isn't without it's rough spots.  Sometimes the road seems impassable but the possibilities are endless and with creative thinking and persistence it is possible to move forward. 

I consider myself to be partially self-employed and I am working toward full time self-employment.  So the idea packed day of encouragement was well worth the small fee I paid.  I wish they would have a workshop like that every month!  I wish more people were curious and courageous enough to take this path.  Sometimes it is a little lonely.  But it is encouraging to see events like this one particularly because it was well attended and Colorado Free University offers many classes throughout the year geared toward the self-employed.  Here are a couple that interest me.  Start Your Own Greeting Card Company, Smart Women Decorate with Thrift and Cooking for your Dog.  This may seem like a very random list but variety is the greatest thing about self-employment.  When you are your own boss you aren't locked into anyone thing anymore than you are locked in a cubicle.  You can explore your interests and sometimes those interest can become income generators.

One of the presenters was Barbara Winter.  She has been a great source of inspiration to me over the last several years.  I will leave you with this quote from her because it is such a perfect summary of why the path of self-employment is worth the risk for me and I suspect for many. 

"I became an entrepreneur to see what I could become.  It was a curiosity not shared by any employer I ever had."

Hooray for the Un-Job Fair!!!