The power of three in the art of happiness

There is an implied stability in anything with three legs that is not present in anything with either two or four. In Jungian philosophy the number three is associated with creativity, self-expression, and optimism. By default a third option will get you out of either/or, black/white thinking and take you into the ambiguous area of maybe’s and shades of gray.  It’s not a bad place to be and may take you places you had no idea you would get to.

I find it interesting that my solstice tradition (borrowed and adapted from the one in Write It Down, Make It Happen) involves three things I want to come into my life in the coming year and Chris Brogan’s personal New Year’s tradition involves three key words for the year. I don’t believe it’s accidental.  The number three provides both balance and something that is still manageable.

If you are working on resolutions, or breaking things down into manageable steps, try for groupings of three. I think you’ll find it’s a technique that will get you thinking more than you may realize – for some things it’s hard to limit and for others you’ll scratch your head trying to find a third category. Sooner or later you discover some overlooked detail that will add clarity.

Technorati Tags: Personal Growth

The No Excuses Project: ‘My perception is skewed’

I would liken this excuse to being suddenly blind and deciding to sit in the same spot until either you could see again or magically become confident that you would never bump into a wall.  Just because I see the fallacy in the argument doesn’t mean I haven’t used it! A belief that you are always attracted to the wrong men (or women), or that you can’t seem to get a business off the ground when others are doing so fits into the excuse that you are somehow inherently flawed and can’t trust your own judgment.  The primary flaw in this excuse is the underlying belief that there is a perfect standard – some absolute truth that can be measured against.  But there just isn’t. There also isn’t a set schedule that everyone else follows nor do people usually own up to their own bumped noses.

Just like eyesight we all see things through the same technical process (light waves) but we receive slightly different data and process it differently.  No one person holds the truth on the exact shade of yellow in a daffodil or the right time to move across the country.  So how can your perception be skewed if there isn’t a single one out there that isn’t? The only real recourse is to blindly get up out of the chair, make a note of the walls you encounter and adjust course.  Being self-aware and able to acknowledge your own mistakes without recrimination will allow your judgment calls to grow with you; sitting in the chair won’t bring any more clarity.

Next week: I don’t have the right equipment

Technorati Tags: common excuses, Personal Growth, self-perception

Efficiency versus ethics

They say that you begin to grasp a subject when you realize there is more that you don’t know than what you do. For some that’s an ego thing but I think for most of us that means we can itemize what we don’t know; we have a more specific form of measurement than just “a lot”.  That was me this week as I worked on remedying my lack of knowledge regarding online marketing combined with my complete lack of talent in that area;-)  I’ve made progress, enough to know how much I didn’t know when I thought I knew something.  (Read that last sentence fast and you’ll have some idea of how my brain is feeling right now!)

What I’ve also run into though is having to spend more time and energy finding solutions to “recommended” tools and processes that don’t violate my ethics, things like lifting content without crediting the author, etc. I don’t think I’m alone in that but right now the Internet seems to be set up for those that don’t know or don’t mind bending a few rules to succeed so their recommendations rise to the top. When I get it sorted out for myself, maybe I’ll start a website for artist marketing, who knows.

In the meantime I’ve gotten started on Christmas and left the Gallery where I had my jewelry (lack of a lot of things is closing it down shortly). Christmas is going to feel different this year without my dad but I’m confident something good will fill the void.

Technorati Tags: learning new things, Personal Growth, solopreneur, the way to happiness

An indescribable week

Truly, I can’t think of a word or phrase that can sum up the jumble of events over the last week. Firstly, the craft show last weekend – unfortunately a massive disappointment in terms of sales.  However, I’ve come to the conclusion that even moderate success would have caused me to continue pursuing events by the same group which would not serve me in the long run. Nice people, but advertising and attracting a completely different customer base than is appropriate for what I make.  I had lots of compliments on my work which was encouraging so I think I have one half of the equation.  Now I need to find the customers!  I was disappointed and a little frustrated by the end on Sunday, but it’s also brought out my stubborn streak – not to be right at all costs but to keep searching for that successful combination.  And at least I now have a lot of pieces to post on the online shop.

I also got a long standing item on the list crossed off by creating my own CafePress shop for the Nurdle.net blog.  There’s more I could do there and eventually I’d like to create one for this site but that will have to wait a month or so. I’ve been studying up on marketing, which continues to make me feel inadequate but I think I’m beginning to learn a few things (don’t look for them to be applied just yet!)

My Thanksgiving tradition of putting a message in a bottle was also a significant part of the week – someone found it a few hours after I threw it in.  A part of me feels like I must not have done it right for it to be found so quickly, but another part says the right people find the bottles.  Out of three years and three bottle messages, two have been found and both meant a great deal to the people that found them.  It means a lot to me that such a simple thing that costs absolutely no money and was done with no expectations on my part can have such a huge impact on total strangers.  I must be doing something right…

Technorati Tags: Personal Growth, solopreneur, the way to happiness

The value and danger in prototyping

I am definitely one of those people that likes the research and development stage far more than day to day business.  That’s not always a bad thing but this week I saw the reality of the downside.  I’ve been pushing other things aside to get jewelry done for the show this weekend but as I was packing it all up last night I realized that what went into the box didn’t  reflect the amount of time I had invested.  In short, I’ve been prototyping maybe a little too much; trying out completely new designs and styles and re-engineering when the first models didn’t come together.  So I only have about a third of what I’d hoped to have ready.  That’s ok for the first time out because I’ll get some valuable information from what people buy or don’t buy and hopefully a lot more feedback than I’ve collected so far.  But, the next time I get out my supplies, I’m going to need to build on the knowledge I’ve collected instead of exploring new territory all the time.  There are certainly people that get to live in R&D mode, but they tend to have staff and suppliers that handle replication which is where profits truly exist.  I am pleased that I have a variety of colors, prices, and styles to show and I’m really looking forward to doing something else on Monday!

There hasn’t been too much time for anything else this weekend although somehow I also fit in volunteer work and taking the car in for a recall.  Also because the recall related to the gas tank I had to drive it around extra to get the gas gauge down to a certain level.  Probably the only time in my life when using up gas was something to celebrate.

I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving week being quieter.  Time to take a day or so and re-evaluate the to-do lists and make plans to put time in on what I’ve been neglecting.

Technorati Tags: Personal Growth, solopreneur, the way to happiness, time management

A week of fighting the ‘I must start perfect’ demons

I don’t know if this particular demon is genetic or environmental but I can say that the majority of my family suffers from it.  And they all know it too, which doesn’t seem to reduce it’s impact.  If it takes too great a hold you can end up sabotaging yourself in order to avoid the situation you don’t think you can handle perfectly – a new job, a new project, a first date. There’s no worse feeling than seeing that you are the worst barrier to achieving something you really, really want.

I thought I’d been doing pretty well with this one until this week when I sat down to the computer to start actually putting in work on the part-time telecommuting job and found myself procrastinating to avoid starting. I was nervous about not getting it absolutely perfect in the first three hours.  Even knowing how silly that was, particularly for something that doesn’t pay for perfection, didn’t help much, although starting to work did.  And then I battled the demon again as this first craft show approaches and I found myself saying “but I don’t know how to sell” “I’m horrible at selling”, “I’ll be fumbling all over the place” and so on.  But I also know that self-perception is usually pretty skewed and starting at the top is never a good idea because there’s only one direction to go from there.

So several deep breathes and inspirational self-talk later, I’m making progress.  I’ve got the staging ready for the craft show in terms of display and working hard on the products.  I’ve got gist of the online job figured out, and a good sense of where to focus my energy as soon as this craft show is over. I’m even starting to look forward to the holidays.

Technorati Tags: breaking bad habits, Personal Growth, self sabotage, solopreneur, the way to happiness, trusting yourself

Approaching deadlines

There’s a big gap between where I want to be in two weeks for that first craft show and where I am right now – which has had me in a bit of dither all week.  Of course, that means that solder is refusing to melt and silver is not which leads to having to start those pieces all over again!  But… I got a reminder yesterday just to breathe deep and keep going. It was pouring rain off and on all day and when I happened to glance outside from the workroom windows I spotted something bright orange (at the right) so I ran out during a brief rain break and brought it in to the kitchen.  I think it’s the seedpod to a bearded iris but I’m not entirely sure.  It was definitely a reminder to slow down a little and a very cheerful surprise.

The critical things are getting done – I’m now set up to accept credit cards at the shows. I don’t know why that seems like a big deal to me but it does – maybe it feels like the difference between a hobby and a business.  Let’s hope I get a lot of practice using it!

I’ve also found a part-time online job that should help fill a few financial holes while everything else gets established. It’s pretty much  high-school pay but the advantage is that it’s completely flexible in terms of schedule so I can fit it in without shifting my priorities.  It would be nice if everything in life could fit together without these kinds of band-aids but it never seems to work out that way.

Even with impending deadlines for jewelry I’m taking today off to get my office and computer organized- too much clutter makes me nervous when I don’t know what’s in the piles (or in box) so some concentrated effort should leave me in a creative mood for the weekend. I’m hoping to be feeling ‘in the flow’ then.

Technorati Tags: getting organized, going with the flow, Personal Growth, solopreneur, the way to happiness

Lots of new things to learn

I think my brain is starting to hurt from all the new things I’ve taken in this last week. On the plus side I finally got my merchant application in so that I’ll be able to process credit and debit cards at shows – it will be a miracle if it goes smoothly because neither I nor the bank representative knew how to fill out the form; it was a myriad of new vocabulary that wasn’t explained anywhere. Luckily, I’m fairly certain they want my business so it should come out all right in the end.  Also in preparation for the upcoming craft show I was dropping things off in parts of the city I’ve never been to before and which Google maps was also unfamiliar with (as in the directions were wrong!) Now that that’s done, I can concentrate on actually making the jewelry to sell which is starting to get urgent.

My education has also included reading case files and meeting people for my volunteer case which is good to get started but has left me with a few nightmares, not to mention pondering the state of our society.  I try to stay focused on there being far more people that try to stop the abuse than that actually commit the abuse.  I’m glad there are people that want to be in law enforcement, but for me personally, reading their reports is hard enough – things can get a bit graphic.

To counteract the bad taste from dealing with that stuff, I went and found a recipe for pumpkin pancakes which make for a truly amazing comfort dinner when paired with maple syrup, home-made cranberry sauce and a glass of red wine:-)

And lastly with some trepidation, I decided to take a risk and see if a website profiling the ’soulmate’ predicted for my by a psychic would make any difference at all to my love life, the one area that I’ve been neglecting for some pretty common excuses.  I can’t decide if I’m more nervous that nothing will happen or that something will. A lot of ‘what if’s’ have floated through my mind in the last week on this one, but I’m sticking with the premise than when you don’t know where to start, doing the first thing to come to mind that sticks there is a the right place.  That doesn’t mean that I’m not still too worried about what people will think;-) Past time to start letting that kind of mentality go.  You can check it out at http://insearchofedmondsguy.com

Technorati Tags: achieving dreams, learning new things, Personal Growth, solopreneur, taking risks, the way to happiness

Refreshed and refocused

It’s amazing what a little vacation can do for you – while I didn’t find any treasure with monetary value in Florida over the weekend, I came back with a sense of adventure.   The plants were different, the shells on the beach were different,  the houses were different and I got to try authentic Cuban food.  Just a few days of change had me seeing new possibilities and thinking about new places to explore.  The plane ride wasn’t as relaxing, but I did get in some great reading due to an impulse buy at the airport, Six Pixels of Separation, which also got me thinking down new avenues. Now that I’ve had the blogs up for several months, it’s time to evaluate how I can tighten things up and improve. Of course, that doesn’t stop me from thinking up brand new projects too!

Now that I’m back at home I’ve been getting things ready for the upcoming craft show (I’m no where near ready!) and getting started with my volunteer case, meeting people and making lots of phone calls. It feels good to get things moving there although there is going to be a lot more to do. Next week I’ll need to head to the bank to setup a merchant account and that will be another major thing accomplished.

I’m feeling the need to work harder than ever, and yet also feeling less organized on my to-do list (the wandering around, not knowing where to start syndrome.) I truly believe that things will start happening in short order, as both the economy and people’s moods are picking up and I have more things ready to help make that happen.

Technorati Tags: Personal Growth, solopreneur, taking a break, the way to happiness

Intermission

I don’t know why trips take even longer to prepare for than the days actually traveling but there it is.  This week has been largely about that with some side notes.  I spent Saturday working in the gallery and setting up their website, which I managed to get the bulk of done in that day; along side I found myself sending out a mass email with bullet points; shades of my corporate personality!  But I am a take charge kind of person for better or worse. I’ve found when I’ve tried to subdue that side of me things don’t go well. The higher up in an organization I’ve been, the more I felt accepted although that didn’t make me enjoy the politics anymore.  So I was a little surprised to see that side again but art is business too and some things are universal.

I also got a follow-up request from the art for health-care people that I submitted photographs to a few weeks ago. If I read between the lines, I’ve made it past the first cut, which means absolutely nothing except that my ego is thrilled and I think I’ve learned a lot about what they look for.  I’m curious to see what happens next.

Otherwise, I’ve been getting ready for my trip, some packing some sewing, and practicing metal detecting which yielded a large pile of nails, bottle caps and one slotted kitchen spoon (stainless).  I’m thinking of creating found art sculpture for no other reason than that I can. When I get back, assuming I haven’t found $1 million in Spanish gold, I will have to put some serious effort into finding a short-term or part-time job to tide things over until the artistic side of things starts paying for itself.  I’ve already updated my resume and while I’ve looked around a bit, I haven’t made a serious effort.  I’m not looking forward to that but it’s a necessary step towards achieving what I’m working on.

Technorati Tags: crafting a creative life, living your passion, Personal Growth, solopreneur, the way to happiness

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