Creativity and self-expression are transformative – both in business and in daily life. And I believe everyone has the capacity to be creative.
But don’t go getting all uncomfortable and start backing away….I can hear you now saying “but I’m NOT creative. I can’t do that!”
The truth is, you can, and hopefully you’ll see that too, when I let you in on what I believe is ‘creativity’.
There’s absolute validity in knowing what your competition is doing. And there are very good reasons to study those in your field, particularly if they are ahead of you in skill or experience. HOWEVER, there is also real danger in obsessing about who’s doing what, when and why, and how much more they’re earning/doing than you are.
Think for a minute about how many days and how many brain cells you’ve wasted this year worrying about her over there….or him down the road. Think about how many grey hairs you could have saved yourself by not stressing about the fact that so-and-so seems to be everywhere doing everything, whilst you’re stuck behind a computer trying to make ends meet.
A friend of mine was once upgraded to First Class when flying for work. She was stoked! To be fair, her company had paid for all the flights that gave her the status credits to be chosen for the upgrade, but that’s cool – she was the one actually travelling!
The cabin crew, of which there were four, only had eight passengers to look after – how’s that for a ratio! There’d be no “umm, excuse me…excuse me….excuse me….can I please have a glass of water? Oh ok, when you’re ready….”
I found myself in between appointments the other day, and I was hungry. Really gut-gurgling hungry. I didn’t want to go searching far and wide for food, so I opted for the foodcourt that was in front of me – not something I do very often. I’m not pretentious about food, but I do like to feed my soul as well as my stomach when I eat, so I tend to go for deliciously fresh options that are prepared specifically for me. However, on this occasion there wasn’t a lot of time so my choice was limited.
As I ordered my ricepaper rolls, I had cause to giggle. Two young burly tradies, with their tanned, hairless legs and Northface puffers on, sidled up next to me and ordered Fiji water and sushi.
What the??
Since when did tradies trade the Four’N Twenty pie and the chocolate Big M for imported water and seaweed?? Continue reading
I have a hangover. A ’13 Reasons Why’ hangover. And it’s a bad one.
If you don’t know what I’m referring to, it’s a TV (Netflix) series, based on the 2007 novel Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. The show revolves around a student who kills herself after a series of negative incidents brought on by school mates. Running over 13 episodes, the central character, Hannah Baker, narrates the story via tapes she has left as evidence for her suicide. Each episode ‘outs’ one of the students, outlining their impact on her final decision. It is harrowing and compelling, and has left a lasting impression on me as a parent.
I binge-watched the last 4 episodes last night because I needed to know what happened. I simply couldn’t think what Clay, the shy boy who loved Hannah who acts as an audience surrogate as he listens to the tapes, could have done to her so I had to watch his episode, tape 11. And then, well, there were only 2 left and I couldn’t sleep not knowing what had compelled this young bright girl to finally take her own life. (In the end, I couldn’t sleep anyway, because the content was so alarming that I kept dreaming about what life-changing horror the suicide of one of my kids would bring.)
As a business owner there is nowhere to hide when things get tough. There is no boss to look up to, and often no subordinate to blame! It is you and you alone who needs to take responsibility for whatever is going on. So how do you find the confidence to step up and out when it matters most? How do you continue to find the gumption to communicate your message and your value?
Is it being so comfortable in your own skin that nothing and noone else matters?
Is it the feeling that you can be relied upon?
Or is it the slightly irritating attitude of bravura, of highly opinionated people?
As I wandered my way through the small local village to the butcher the other day I was struck by something – most of the people I could see were in line for one store. One cafe. It got me thinking about how important ‘exposure’ is to all of us as business owners and entrepreneurs.
You see, the only perceivable difference between that one cafe and all the others in the village is its position and the way they display their items.
Trust me, the prices are the same (or bigger) for their coffee and food, the quality is arguably the same, the service is equally nonchalant. In fact everything else is much the same.
Business owners need visibility for growth. In the highly connected world in which we now operate, there are new ways to increase visibility, beyond the boardroom. Don’t get me wrong, I love an old-skool face-to-face meeting with a prospect. Maybe I’m showing my age (!), but when you’re sitting down with someone you have ALL your persuasive tools at your disposal—your voice, your body language, your active listening skills—those are the big guns.
But face-to-face sales take a lot of time and time is the modern business owner’s nemesis. Given many of us work with (or want to work with) clients from all over the world it can be a near-on impossible task to reach people in person. And have you noticed too, that a lot of people don’t want to meet face-to-face as a first step, like they used to? There’s a whole lot of research that happens first…a gathering of information from a variety of sources to help them make up their minds before contacting you.
These realities have forced me to get creative and look for alternative ways to ‘get in front of’ my prospects. None of these options put pressure on people to buy. Instead, they compel people to learn more about you in their own time, which may make them more inclined to buy down the track. Eventually you’ll get the ‘face time’ you want. Continue reading
The process of writing long-hand is SO good for the brain and for the free-flow of ideas. There is evidence to suggest that writing long-hand:
A huge bonus is that you also can’t self-edit as easily as when you use a keyboard, which means a higher likelihood of actually getting all of your ideas out on the page before pressing the delete button!Writing in long-hand is a fabulous way to create a meaningful connection with self partly because of the physical act of feeling the writing surface and holding the pen. Your brain is actually required to use thought to direct precise movement of that pen across the writing surface. Whereas, the alternative, using a keyboard, is a simple memory-based action – executing keystrokes is a repetitive motion based on letter placement on the keyboard.People often prefer typing because of the speed and convenience and the ability to share and print documents easily. All very valid reasons. However the benefits outlined above are often lost when you hit the keys instead of the paper. Thankfully there are ways to have your cake and eat it too – using a stylus to write on a tablet or using a service such as Evernote to scan your handwritten notes are great ways to get the best of both worlds.
The writing of content on paper requires more than just scribbling on sticky notes or idle doodling. Mind mapping is a great way to develop concepts or solve problems because it encourages unstructured thinking and it activates the creative side of your brain. When you write a whole bunch of ideas down around a particular topic, you get to see the connection between them. This often helps you find the story or pathway within the idea and connects you more fully to it.
Incorporating different colours into your writing is beneficial in both academic and professional settings. Using a consistent colour-coded system allows you to easily see where your priorities are and where pertinent activities or thoughts are included. If you’re more of a visual person then this will really suit you. You can get quite creative with your colour coding!
When you’re in a position where you know you need some help or it’s time to make a change, but you’re not quite sure where to begin, stop for a minute and take a good look around you. Where you are right now is super important. Then write it down. Describe what you see, how you feel, who’s around you and what you’re doing. Be ok with where you are but acknowledge you want something more or different. That clarity and acknowledgement of the present will help you figure out the next best step for you.
Being wrapped in fear is paralysing. Sometimes the fear is founded but often it’s only perceived. So if you’re able to pause for a few minutes to examine what you’re actually afraid of, you’re better able to face those fears. Write them down. Where is the fear felt on your body? How does it affect your thinking, your breathing? What if that fear wasn’t real? What if it was removed in an instant? When you can face the fear, you can embrace the fear which helps you work with it and move forward rather than stay paralysed.
Connecting with yourself first, through pen and paper, to understand where you’re at is going to put you in good stead to write the words your audience needs to hear at any given point. Take a moment, don’t rush it. The right words to create meaningful connection will come.
If you need a hand with implementing this process into your weekly marketing schedule, drop me a line. We can do a thirty minute power session to get you on the right track.
This is a story about my girl Lucy. A story of resilience and dogged determination – two values I regard highly. It’s a story whose lesson most adults could learn from, and a story which is equally valid when applied to dealing with tough situations in our business as it is here in the childhood swimming pool.
Lucy was determined to give the school swimming trials a go. As a grade 3 it was the first year she was eligible. Not many of her friends were keen to try out, in fact there were only 8 girls out of about 55 who were attempting it. She’d been equally excited and nervous all week, unsure of what to expect, but really wanted to give it a crack regardless. She’s a great little swimmer but not what I’d call a natural fish. However, she’s very competitive with herself, so she wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass her by.
Her race was up first and it was the compulsory freestyle – not her favourite stroke, but a necessary one. I could see the nerves on her face, but she patted her friend on the back to encourage her and made a joke at the starting line to cover up her feelings. Continue reading