Are you She? She who needs a breather from the pressing mess of too-much that you keep finding yourself in?
Your intentions are spot on. It just gets so… tiring sometimes wading through it all, doesn’t it?
Oh, my Dear, the world that opens up when you’ve got your units, widgets and digits in order!
I’ve seen what getting organized does for a modern day Warrior. And trust me, as a biz owner, it’s something you want.
But you don’t need to pack more in right now.
Let’s take a little inspirational break instead.
Story time!
Sweaty is sexy. (Except when it’s not.)
Almost 20 years ago, I was living in Santa Barbara, that beautiful city on the ocean, which is nice way of saying, at sea level.
For a variety of reasons — economical, ecological, ideological — I didn’t have a car, which was no big hardship as my world revolved around the downtown corridor which was mostly flat-ish — I walked a lot.
Desiring to fill in some gaping holes left by my liberal arts education, I signed up for classes at the local community college, a campus with a fantastic view, which is a nice way of saying, on a hill.
Hmm, kind of a long walk, 1.7 miles. The bus schedule was inconvenient and I wasn’t getting much exercise at the time, so I decided that biking was the way to go.
To be clear, I didn’t own a bike. A friend lent me her old bike .
On the first day of class, I showed up sweaty, sticky, panting, red-faced, and feeling nauseous from the exertion (AWEsome first impression). Did I mention that I wasn’t getting much exercise those days? It was HELLish hard. Brutal. Curse-worthy.
I stuck it. I kept getting my butt up that hill on that bike.
By end of the semester, I recovered my breath by the time it took to walk from the bike rack to the classroom . Yes!
And it felt kinda… good. I enjoyed feeling my body in this way — as if it were completely natural to be physically fit. Imagine that.
I started going on rides up into the foothills where the views of the city and the big blue ocean filled me with exuberance (or was it adrenaline?) I bought a nicer bike.
Empowered that my legs could get me as far as they did , I’d bike 13 miles down to Carpinteria for lunch, bike home, and not be destroyed for the rest of the day.
The coup d’etat came a couple of years later when I got a job as a bicycle tour guide. Let me rephrase that: I Got Paid To Go To Italy.
I DID not see that coming when I was struggling up that hill to class, panting and cursing. I was just trying to get to class as easily as possible.
Necessity plants the seeds of future reward
Funny how one goal can be replaced by another goal that was helping us get to the initial goal in the first place, eh? Ha! Life.
Thus the important thing is to be in integrity with yourself. And by this I mean, enjoying the journey, because in the end, that’s what it’s all about.
Taking action toward a defined end provides the opportunity for countless successes along the way. And as it turns out, these successes are immensely important because they give a boost to your I can do this! attitude.
Why? I’ll tell ya.
Doesn’t matter how little these successes are. In fact, the littler the better because then you can check off more of them!
- Bike to class.
- Put away one thing that doesn’t belong on the desk.
- Reach out to one person on your “would like to know” list.
Doesn’t matter if it’s out of necessity. Doesn’t matter how small it is. Doesn’t matter if no one besides you knows about it.
Define it. Do it. Check it off.
Success!
Repeat.
Every checkmark gives a little boost to your confidence.
Confidence leads to opportunities
.
Confidence makes things happen.
Confidence as a biz owner is critical.
So that part about getting paid to go to Italy? It’s not like someone walked up to me on the street and said, “Hey, want to lead bicycle tours in Tuscany?”
I reached out to them. I had imagined myself biking through the Italian countryside, did some research, found out what they were looking for in a guide, and showed them that I had it.
I didn’t have direct experience as a guide, but I had the confidence that I could do it.
As a biz owner, you’re faced with new situations all the time. You don’t assess whether you can do something based on direct previous experience — you’d never create anything new.
And as Seth Godin has so eloquently reminded us in his book Lynchpin:
Creatives “are people with a genius for finding a new answer, a new connection, or a new way of getting things done.
That would be you.”
When I say “confidence” I’m not talking about false confidence based on faking it and putting on a show (I’m picturing a rooster puffing out his chest and strutting about).
I’m talking about real confidence that comes from your experience. That is based on the cumulative effect of all those little wins you’ve already got under your belt.
This is what it takes to reach beyond what you know, to recover when you fall, to recognize what you really need as you realize your dreams.
Your dreams are a reflection of you: walking tall, believing in yourself, and challenging your status quo.
Walk tall or play small. You’re in the driver’s seat.
Stress and clutter keep you small. They keep you in a state of reaction and distraction which gets in the way of being in your power.
When you’re in that sweet intersection of being Confident & Organized, Magic Happens.
You feel capable of taking on challenges.
Forward motion feels delightfully destined.
Opportunities are ready for the taking or the making.
You’re in the driver’s seat. What’s more is that you have the right to hit the ‘pause button’ in order to create the foundation that you need to support yourself.
If clutter’s getting in your way, stop thinking, “I need to get organized.”
Instead… with an attitude of walking tall, ask, “what is one thing I can do today to support myself?” This is how you keep your clock ticking without running dry.
Honest answers recommended =)
Want to share what your one thing today is? Post it on our Facebook page.
Next week I’ll be announcing a FABulous opportunity to get you in that sweet intersection of being Confident & Organized. (And it includes a ton of built-in support — no need to walk it alone!) So if you’re interested in upping your successes, then make sure you get the news first by signing up here.
And if you know someone getting bogged down by disorganization, please send her this article. She’ll high-five you for it later.