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When you run your own creative business, the Should List is staggering.
- You should be more productive.
- You should participate in the community.
- You should deepen relationships.
- You should blog more often.
- You should get more sales.
We could go on like this for days. There are always things that could be better, deeper, or more efficient.
But today I don’t care about that.
What I want to know is:
What are you already doing right?
Crazy, huh? But instead of looking at the trouble spots, let’s look at your successes. You do plenty of things right, so let’s make the most of them.
- What are you doing well?
- What’s working?
- Can you make room for more of that?
- Can it carry over into other aspects of your business?
Share your response in the comments below, and let’s take this opportunity to value what we do well and learn from each other.
One thing I think I do really well is balance my life priorities. For me, success is more than numbers – sales numbers, post numbers, view numbers. Yes, numbers are important and if my business is to be successful and profitable, the numbers must be going up steadily, so it is a constant challenge to keep the tangibles of business balanced with the intangibles of life. How do I do it? I have business goals and life goals and when decisions are to be made, I say yes to those things that support those goals and no to the things that do not, no matter how tempting the yes may be. Its a constant struggle but it does keep things from getting way too crazy.
Thank you for this. I was just pontificating over here about all the things I SHOULD be doing… and not appreciating all the things I ALREADY am doing. No wonder why I always feel behind! Really needed this reminder.
With gratitude.
Your post made me realize that I am doing something right.
- I make high quality product.
- My designs are original. The patterns have been tested in the field.
- I am open to change, improvements and new developments.
- My product is reasonably priced.
Recently I had this moment where I feel like I really know the direction I want to take my business & my work. It’s been a journey to get here, and when I look back, I see the bread crumbs I had been leaving myself. And who knows, I’m sure it evolve more in the future, as I can feel and see things on the horizon related to what I’m working on now. But I’m enjoying this moment of clarity and direction and focus that I’m experiencing RIGHT NOW.
People like my work. They tell me I’m a perfectionist with my sewing, that it’s high quality for a fair price.
Your post Laura came perfectly at a time when I needed to remind myself of just this idea – what AM I doing right? Answer? Loads!
I am feeling a but overwhelmed, anxious for really no apparent reason. I have so many good things going on in my life – a new gallery I will be opening, new contacts being made daily to assist me in my latest endeavors, and I should remind myself of that old Irish saying, “I’m blessed with much work”. – Especially when there are others who might not be in the same position.
As with Kerilyn – I too am grateful, and thank you for reminding me to take that moment and adjust my thinking and attitude to make success the only thing I should be reaching for and nothing else.
(1) Folks tell me my toys are “adorable” – which is great by me: would like them to follow up, though!
(2) Others tell me my sewing etc. is impressive: that’s thanks to being well drilled as a youngster and keeping it up for the rest of my life.
(3) Am slowly mastering the art of blogging (http://www.ColdhamCuddliescalling.blogspot.com.) and promoting said blog. The latter bit is proving a bit of a problem as I don’t really understand what I’m supposed to be doing.
(4) Above all, I’m really enjoying everything I do – it’s a great contrast to the daily caring needed by my disabled husband: he does as much as he can, but it’s still a responsibility (as well as what I enjoy, too!)
Thanks for prodding the old memory. Isobel
This post (and my Art of Action class) has me thinking about the importance of remembering the successes of each day and a post I wrote last summer with a free printable of a “Did Do” list. Here’s the link if anyone wants to download it for themselves.-
http://www.threebysea.com/2010/08/make-a-did-do-list/
Because you rule.
This one really hit home for me! It’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot bit recently – birthdays can do that (http://bespokenjewelry.com/blog/?p=55)! More than just being about our businesses, it’s about our lives. We all get messages on how we can ‘improve ourselves’: do better, look better, get more sales, more clicks, etc. We tend to take the things we’re doing right for granted.
Thanks for the reminder to give ourselves the credit we deserve!
Great, clarity-bringing, possibly life-changing question there. We always focus on what we could be doing better, but rarely see what we are already doing right. I’m going to journal this question out!
[...] Answer this one question for greater success – it’s more simple than you may think it is! [...]
Tara, once again you’ve touched on something that has so much meaning for life in general.
I feel that what we call Creativity is an expression of how willing we are to pay attention to what we do, rather than going about our lives on autopilot.
Perhaps my biggest issue that postpones success is that before making any move I want to understand how the Big Kids do it, rather than working out how I do it.
Looking at successes in the past and present is such a healthy thing to do- isn’t it said that you become what you concentrate upon?
And I have to tell you, in the house of mirrors that “writing about writing about blogging about art” can be, your posts are the only ones that I consistently read- perhaps it’s a good sign that I’m usually too busy making things to read about it!
Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thanks Laura! Love this because it’s true. I asked myself this question a year ago. I was overwhelmed by all the decisions of what to do to make my business boom: Do I add twitter? Should I facebook more often? Should I pay for advertising from so and so or should I make something new? I refocused and put my energies into what I was doing right. I made more of my best sellers to put out there because that’s what was working. And my business boomed big time. I know now, that if I had put my energies elsewhere, I would have just been a frazzled and my artistic energies would have been stretched thin. This is such a good reminder to ask myself this question more often!
Love reading all these comments! Hey, look around, we mostly DO know what we’re doing
I don’t know if I”m a “success” I always feel like I SHOULD be doing more and I get so overwhelmed. So thanks for this. Looking for success according to what I am doing right and what works for me, instead of the rest of the world.
I suppose what I do right is how I create. I listen to my voice. I make things that I need to hear or see. I allow things to develop in their natural pace. I say yes to what needs to become.
I need to consider how I can translate that into business.
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