I had a mindshift late Monday night, after going ‘live’ with the voice coaching site and putting my photo up. I kept looking at that shot and thinking, “Dang, I look like I know what I’m talking about.” Heh. That’s good for business, of course.
I didn’t expect it to change the way I think about myself.
Suddenly, it feels like I actually am in business, not just fiddling around with websites, blogs, and all the toys that come with them.
I thought of my mother, who got up at 3:30 every morning all through my childhood and young adulthood, to open her diner and prepare for the breakfast rush.
It was her business. Not opening the doors at 5 a.m., six days a week, was not an option. She did her work, fed the people, and when she was done for the day she went home and relaxed. Well, collapsed is more like it — she put everything she had into that place. Not a healthy example, but the point is that she took her business seriously.
That’s what I started to do Monday night. I started to think of these two sites as a real business, one that requires being taken seriously.
And when you’re in business, you do things differently.
- You start the day with a plan.
- You don’t let yourself get derailed by others.
- You stay focused on the tasks you have set for yourself.
- You refuse to be distracted.
- You take appropriate breaks and get enough rest, so you don’t lose focus.
- You make sure you have the tools you need to get the work done.
- If you’re stuck, you get help.
- You stick with it, no matter what.
Trece asked in the comments if launching the other site meant I would be abandoning “the flake.” In case you’re concerned about that too, let me reiterate what I said to her: “On the contrary, now it means I can spend more time on the flake, because the major work is done over there. I’ll be blogging here more often now, thanks to #2500wds. Yippee!”
Yes, indeed: yippee! One of my big frustrations the past few weeks as I worked on [and struggled with my own resistance to] the other site has been that I’d rather be here with you, telling you my stories, learning with you how to be a productive flake instead of just a flake.
But a big part of that learning was how to start a business. I’m still in the learning stage, but I feel positively joyful about being able to focus on the Flake again.
Because I consider this to be the main part of the business, actually.
“What,” you say? Here’s my evil plan: Voice coaching will be the bread and butter, paying the bills while I’m working on whatever it is that the Flake turns out to be — info products, a book — not sure yet; I want to see how it evolves.
Plus, it’s always good to have something constructive to do when you run into a wall, as we flakes often do.
I blubbered to Mom once, after another massive failure on my part, “I could never be as good as you!” She took me in her arms and comforted me, the best hug I ever got.
I can see from that photo up there that I look a little like her, which makes me happy. And I can say that I too am a businesswoman. I’m starting to feel like I just might be almost as good as my mom. I like it.
If you have or want to have a business, have you made the mindshift yet? Do you think of yourself as being in business? How does that change the way you look at yourself and what you do? Tell me in the comments below.
Image credit: Lost Tulsa
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you brought some tears to my eyes. how lucky for you LaVonne to have a mom who is such an amazing role model. And yes, the distractions etc — you are in business as soon as you decide to be. And either the other folks will fend for themselves or not, but you will be creating a lasting legacy. love love love.
It is difficult to make the mindshift when other people around you don't seem to feel the same way about having a stay-at-home business. Meaning they pop in/call whenever they want.
Because we don't have any proper results yet, it feels like there's nothing to show for all the work we've done. I think a lot people look down upon that because they can't see real results at hand.
Thank you so much, Peggie. 🙂 I love writing about my mom. She was very special.
The trouble with distractions is that some of them are real and
require real solutions that I'm not capable of providing. 🙁
It's a delicate dance and we all have to make up our own steps, I
know. Some people tell you to set firm boundaries, turn off the phone
if you have to, but it's never that simple. Just keep slogging on. It
won't be long before you WILL have real results at hand. You are an
amazing talent, Peter. The world needs you. 🙂
I'm totally with you on having the thing that pays the bills and that other thing which is a passion but maybe you don't know exactly what it is yet. I made the mindshift with the “real” biz, but I just don't get as excited about it as I do with the fun experimental thing (FET). With the FET, I haven't experienced that shift, and I'm not sure I ever will. I'm as focused and dedicated to my FET as if it was a business venture, but since it's not really a money making thing it's not really a business.
Once again, Kerrie, we are on the same wavelength. 🙂 I'm excited
about voice coaching but I see it as bread & butter, not a passion.
The Flake is my passion, tho I do plan to make money with it
eventually. But I have to disagree with your definition of a business.
If you can't call something a business until it makes money, then
pretty much no startups are businesses! Think of Twitter, Amazon &
Google for the first several years, etc.
YOU are the business, Kerrie.
Talk about the same wavelength! I hesitated to suggest a thing must make money to be a business, but I wasn't really sure how else to explain my thing. It's more than just a hobby to me, and it'd be beyond awesome if it could make money some day. How? I'm not sure, since it's just entertainment. Uh, though I guess there is this little thing called the entertainment industry. I am the business. I like that. 🙂 I'm going to have to get used to the idea of thinking of myself as a brand.
The Brand of Kerrie! Read Wendy Maynard <http://mavendiary.com>'s stuff –
that's her thing.