Start. Use. Do.

This week: no more excuses!

Maybe you’ve heard people say, “Well, I don’t have enough time/money/resources/connections/whatever to make a difference/start my dream/be successful”.  Maybe you’ve said it!  Maybe I have, too.  Enough negative talk.

You DO have resources.  Maybe you just haven’t tried everything yet.  Maybe you’re terrified.  Maybe you haven’t thought outside every box.  Maybe the answer is staring you right in the face.  In any case:

Start where you are.  Use what you’ve got.  Do what you can.

As Whitney English said, “Go ugly early“.  Just get your work out there!  Use a free blogging platform.  Learn HTML/CSS yourself!  It’s not hard and it’s really satisfying when you’ve conquered it all by yourself.  Codecademy is a fantastic resource.  I’ll admit, it can be less than gratifying knowing your site isn’t quite where you’d dreamed it would be right now, but it IS gratifying knowing you took a step and that you can work your way up from this with a little savings!  Start where you are.

As for “Well, I can’t afford/don’t have time for a gym membership, so, therefore, I can’t take care of myself.”  You know that cheesy workout video you have in a box somewhere? (Oh, yeah, we ALL have one).  Use it.  Free!  Go for a walk or run outside.  Also free.  Google 30-day workout challenges, print it out, and put it somewhere you’ll see it!  They’re based on using your body weight as resistance (such as squats or the plank) and, hello, you carry that around all day!  It’s really motivating to see as each day goes by how you’ve improved since they’ve already done the math for you!  And, I’m always up for a little competition so it’s amazing to beat my time.

Money goals?  Use the free mint.com and start tracking.  Stop by the bank and have them electronically move your money into a savings account each payday so you don’t have to think about it.  You can’t waffle on the decision because they do it automatically.  Bonus!

Even making a difference can be as simple as paying for someone’s coffee order.  I’ve seen it in action and it’s priceless.  Purge your house and donate to a charity.  Help out at your kid’s school.  Smile and say “hi” to someone as you walk by.

Whatever your goal, you have resources.  Stop the negative self-talk that says you “can’t”.  It just blocks your view of the resources available!

Do what you can with what you have.  Make the difference.

five to focus

 

You know that feeling of desperation you get when you have an overwhelming to-do list, you’ve procrastinated already, and you just can’t get your brain to focus enough to know where to start?  Yeah, me, too.  I don’t think it’s something just we entrepreneurs battle constantly; I think everyone gets bogged down with it!

So!  To get back on the swimming, going-forward side of things, these are my go-to options:
Toss the Garbage. Overwhelmed? Take a garbage bag and five minutes.  Toss everything that doesn’t need to be around.  Old receipts, notes, candy wrappers (we all have them!), and whatever else is cluttering your space.  In the garbage.

Crack your Favorite Beverage. For me, this is always Mountain Dew.  Something about that fizz and taste revitalizes me and helps me get things done.  Maybe that drink is wine, Champagne, or fresh flavored water for you!

Download.  Get rid of the mental clutter.  Reminders for your schedule, inspiration for the next thing you want to do, worries about your kids or budget or just life, dreams, bucket-list items; whatever it is, write it down.  Take five minutes and just write like crazy.  Once it’s out, you can focus on what’s at hand, and organize the notes accordingly later!

Walk. Stretch. Plank.  Go for a walk.  Stretch out the kinks.  Do the plank (or whatever else makes you feel powerful and invincible).  Exercise is amazing for focus and doing something that makes you feel like you can conquer the world?  Priceless.

Just Start. Edit Later.  Start anywhere.  Just do it.  Freestyle it if you need to.  Don’t worry about what it looks like now because you can edit later.  Just give it momentum.

This year is going to be magical and purposeful, and nowhere in magic-land do the heroines (or heros!) get stuck by a little mess trying to make the big things happen.  Get out of that mind-mess and into your purpose!

 

working it

The good things in life take work.  It can be mind-numbing at times to focus and just DO it.

That workout plan takes work.  You can hate every single second of jumping rope.  But, then, you realize you can actually hold a plank for more than a minute on your first try in forever.  Those abs, baby!

You can be drowning in designing, asking yourself questions and playing around with everything and getting frustrated and THEN you discover how to make glitter on Photoshop.  AMAZING.  It just makes everything better!  Plus, you discover the EXACT raspberry pink color you’ve been dreaming of.  And, it’s called raspberry!

The good things.  Those beautiful, incredible, phenomenal things take so much work are a million times worth it!  Just keep at it.  I promise you: it will be gorgeous and something you’ll always be proud of and grateful for.

cheers to december

In case you hadn’t flipped your calendar yet, it’s December….whaaaat?  Yes.  So, cheers to that!  I love December (with the exception of the freezing cold).

I love everything about this time of year: Christmas, catching up with family and friends, looking back on a year and forward to another incredible one!  The sparkle, the warmth, the love–all of it fires me up.  I’m not going to deny that this also means I get to wrap stuff and play with paper, tags, handwriting, and fabulous tape!

Despite November being a bit of a relaxed month, December is ramping up to be a bit of a doozy!  I have full weekends and I’m SO excited about it!  Parties, concerts, family time, and travel add up to make it a purposeful month.  Always a good thing for me.

While doing some Pink Friday shopping at Miss Modern, and stocking up on some super pretty patterns, I discovered this pretty “Cheers!” print.  Guess what?  You can download it for free, too!  If you’re like me, the pretty in pink and handlettering will be the selling point for you.  I’m thinking it’ll be around here year-round and possibly find a home on my bar cart!
Go get yours, because, honestly?  A girl can never have to many well-designed prints for her space.

(I received the gold striped straws for my birthday, and am told you can find them at Target!)

doubting your reach

I think, as women, we tend to doubt our ability to be awesome.  We think, “Wow, I only have twelve followers”, and play the game of comparing ourselves to, oh, only every other woman we are inspired by.  How in the world can we, with only so “few” watching, be inspiring/helpful/make a difference?  Picture those people in real life: twelve people is a crowd!  A crowd that’s taking in your awesome-ness and wants to see what you’ve got going on!

Maybe the “few” are your kids and family.  Maybe it’s your elderly neighbor who you always wave and chat to.  Maybe it’s that new follower who really looks up to you as an industry leader and eats up everything you create and share!  You may think you’re not being inspiring enough or reaching the “right” people (whoever they are), but you’re actually reaching the right people.

Your right people.

Don’t knock yourself down for not seemingly being the biggest and best.  You touch people.  I promise you, you reach the people who really matter; the ones who believe in you and who LOVE what you do and think you’re awesome because you’re authentic to yourself.

Stick to your guns and to what matters most.  By being authentically yourself, you’re making a difference.  You are enough.

Hollandaise and Business

Sometimes the things you’re scared the most of doing are some of the best things in your life.  In my case, one of those things was culinary school.  I was extremely nervous to go because I thought I’d be terrible at it or hold others back, but I went hoping with everything in me that I’d at least pass the classes on the written bit if I was as bad of a chef as I thought and failed miserably on the actually-cooking part.

With as much trepidation as I felt, I knew it was a step in the direction of making my dream happen—a unique step toward event planning that would give me a fresh and different outlook on the industry.

I discovered that I actually was better at cooking than written work and that my personality and ability to remain calm , controlled, and organized in any hectic situation were huge assets in the kitchen and the dining room.

I learned patience there.  Shocker.

Patience is the key to preparing incredible food. Don’t rush it!  It’s an art; taking the time and giving so much of yourself to it results in explosive taste and fantastic product.  I learned that sometimes you have to whisk your arms to jelly in order to create a sauce that is out-of-this-world amazing, and, if it you mess it up, you can fix it with more work and the same ingredients.

Like making a Hollandaise sauce, life and business goals are all about patience and love, love, and more love.

Hollandaise is a sauce best eaten with nutty vegetables and foods like fish or eggs Benedict.  It’s basic two ingredients are egg yolk and clarified butter (butter with the fat strained out).  The process to make it is a very touchy one (some may say a nightmare) and involves a metal bowl over a pot of water (double boiler) and whisking until you think you’ll lose an arm.  If you’re interested in learning to be ambidextrous, making this sauce is a great exercise. 

Basically, once you’ve measured out the ingredients , it’s all a matter of combining the egg yolk and the butter.  BUT all of this involves “not too hot, not too much, not too quick”.  Little by little.  Don’t rush it.  Your sauce will break (separate) if you don’t observe those simple rules.  While it’s still fixable when broken, having to do that is disappointing to say the least.  Imagine having to do that when you’re a competitive person and you have seventeen others doing it with you.  Breaking the sauce is not an option.

If you’re able to slowly drizzle the clarified butter into the whisked egg yolk while whisking your life away and you can add your own little spice blend to it, you’ll end up with a delicious, much-better-than-packaged, rich, and creamy Hollandaise sauce that’s unique to you because you brought it to life and added your own spin to it!

Similarly, when you design your business, blog, branding, offerings, etc, taking the time to do it right instead of rushing and doing too much too fast, you’ll end up with something rich, wonderful, and uniquely you—your best self!

Moral of the story?  As it’s been said, “If your dreams don’t scare you, they’re not big enough.”  Chances are, whatever you’re freaked out about doing or even starting, could be one of the best things you could have done!  Go for it!  It’ll be awesome.

more for monday

Happy Labor Day!  I guess this is “officially” the last weekend of summer.  It’s back to school and back to schedules and routine for everyone!  I will say that, although I feel like my summer flew by, I am very much looking forward to fall.  With that, I’m going to introduce you to Lara Casey’s #SavorSeptember– it’s time to make what matters happen.  

As I look at my calendar for this week, I realize I am totally booked.  However, around work, it’s full of time with friends as well as time coordinating a gorgeous wedding–my favorite thing!  This month will be the first that I am using my Powersheets and I’m really excited to start work on doing what I love–for good!  I’m remembering not to get overwhelmed, but to focus on the little by little.  Saying “yes” to spending more intentional time with my best friends, to savoring it, and saying “no” to wasted time, worry, and discouragement.

I just have to remember that slowing down for five minutes to savor something is NOT the same as wasting time.  I really get stuck on that sometimes, thinking that, when I’m relaxing with friends, I could/should be working, blogging, making things happen, when, in reality, I’m making the important things happen.  I’m making friendships happen, investing in other people, re-energizing myself and learning so much in the process!

So!  With that, remember to savor all the good times this weekend.  Take the time to “smell the roses”, if you will, and just breathe everything in!  (psssst….you’re not wasting time!)

What are you going to make happen this month?  Share it with the hashtag #SavorSeptember and let me know in the comments–I’d love to hear it!

more for monday

Just a little glitter to start your week.  (because glitter is fun).  And a reminder to be awesome.  Be you and be authentic!  Contribute your talents to someone even if you think others might think your talents are crazy.  You were given them for a reason–don’t waste it!

Hope you all had an amazing weekend.  If you follow me on Instagram, you saw that after work on Saturday, I took my honey out for drinks and dinner to celebrate random things and to show him that I appreciate the incredible guy he is.  We spent Sunday with family we don’t see very often and recharged for the week!  Now, on this rainy, cozy Monday, I’m excited to work hard on the little by little.  Let’s do this!