This week is very much back to reality. The summer feels as if it's on its way out, the long hot days replaced with cool, grey damp. I'm a little sad; but I enjoy the snugly, cosy-ness of autumn: hot chocolates, warm jumpers, curling up with a book. Okay so the last part I do all year round; but it feels different when it's dark outside, don't you think?
If you've never heard of Leonie Dawson then she is one of the most amazing, most inspiring women I've had contact with. (I was going to say met, because I feel like I have.) She has a very unique and relaxed approach to life and business which I really appreciate and that fits well with my life and having to take things gently because of having ME. She was the one that taught me that it was okay to be myself in business and not force myself to do more than I can. I think she's brilliant! In fact it was within minutes of reading one of Leonie's free booklets called Riding Wild Donkeys that I came up with the idea for Live in Love in Laugh in and it was up and running within days. That's one of the things I adore about her, she makes things seem simple and accessible. If you've got an idea for a business or you've already started and need some help and/or support then she's got the answers. She doesn't just stop there though, she has e-courses for Sleep/Insomnia, Releasing Fears, Health and Creativity. A lot of what I do has been inspired by her and so I was hugely honoured to be featured as a guest blogger on her site this week - something Leonie very rarely does, so I was delighted and very excited! You can check out my post here - Sacrificing Conformity to the Fire of Creativity While you're there check out her Amazing Biz & Life Academy. She's created an amazing community with loads of really useful resources and programmes. I joined up as soon as I found out about it and have loved every minute. It's so much more than just a business e-course though - she has programmes for business, creativity + spirituality. In fact I use Leonie's meditations that come with the courses for my daily rest periods. Today I used one from the Creative Goddess Course. It helped me to get in touch with my creativity and enjoy a deep relaxation - bliss! I cannot say how brilliant I think the Academy is and how much it and Leonie has helped me. If you're interested in joining I strongly suggest doing it before the end of September. Prices DOUBLE at the end of this month – get in before then! Check out the Amazing Biz & Life Academy I am an affiliate; but I only ever promote things I've used and love. I've been watching some amazing videos by Marie Forleo on business - it's my big goal for 2013 to get my business out into the world. Marie invited people to make a video for her about who we are and what we do. This is mine... If you want to get some business inspiration and motivation check out Marie at http://rhhbschool.com/ Her weekly videos are amazing and so helpful. She covers such a wde variety of topics to do with running your own business and they're fun! No dull monologues or preachy lectures.
I love that Marie puts her personality into everything she does. It's something I'm realising is not only okay; but also good to do. I always thought business should be starchy and professional, like a bank. I never thought you could actually do what you love, be yourself and be successful. That's what I'm doing now. It's harder than you would think to be yourself, to not filter yourself to be the way you think people want you to be; but I'm working on it! And having fun too! I have everything crossed for the scholarship because I would love to work with Marie, she's awesome! I know that her marketing expertise would change things forever for me and for Live in Love in Laugh in. As you can tell from my video, I passionately believe that I can make a difference, that there are millions of people in the world who would love and benefit from what I do, the virtual vacations, the holidays from home and the parties in your pad. My mission is to get them out there and into the right hands. With Marie's help I intend to do just that. The start of a new year always has so much pressure, so much expectation. It's as if putting up a new calendar is suddenly going to change everything, and that magically all the awful things from the previous year are going to vanish and you're going to discover all the things you've been searching for, just waiting for you in January. Maybe it's the build up of New Year's Eve, the bubbles of hope (and often alcohol) that lift your spirits. Not that I think that's bad, during the dark days in the Northern Hemisphere, you need something to look forward to. That's why I always do a Party in your Pad for New Year's Eve. This year we went to a virtual beach in Scotland and had a brilliant time sitting round the bonfire and sharing the night. Now though I feel a bit deflated, as if the start of the year hasn't lived up to the hype and I'm wondering what next. Surely something is going to change this year? An improvement in my health, a new exciting project, a step closer to all I'm dreaming of? I should be doing something to make that happen right? In truth I don't really know where to start, so I'm taking baby steps, finding the things that are niggling at me and working out if there's anything I can do. Top of my list is energy - mainly lack thereof. So I'm starting 2013 with the aim to drink more water and see if there are any foods I can eat that will give me a boost. As for new projects I've been itching to update a book I wrote about ten years ago for people with chronic illness. It feels like the right time to get it out and bring it up to date with all my recent experiences and then send it out into the world. Its equal measures exciting and terrifying; but again baby steps - I'm just focusing on the update for now. How about you? Are there things in your life that are niggling? That you want to change? Maybe you can't change them overnight, or some things at all; but are there things you think might make life easier or will provide a distraction - I'm definitely in favour of if you can't change it, ignore it and have fun doing something else. Norfolk’s small business owners have provided the inspiration for a new business start-up book, ‘A journey into business’ – walk on the wild side’ which has recently been launched in Norwich.
Author, Kate Wilde, owns Engage with Business and is based in Hellesdon, Norfolk. Kate has twelve years experience in training, advising and mentoring people in the local area, and has helped thousands take the brave step into self-employment. As well as being a practical guide to starting and succeeding in business the book features local business owners as case studies. Kate Wilde, comments, “The idea for the book came about because I kept having people come up to me and say, 'I always remember what you told me about....and I still use your advice'. These business tips I had given during mentoring sessions, or even as flyaway comments for whatever reason had become imbedded in their minds and used to great effect. I realised that if I could collect all these golden nuggets of information together I could use them as the basis for a book; a practical guide to help other people who were just starting out in business - so that is what I did!’’ Norfolk business owners Sally Porter from Decorate Your Cake, Claire Wade of Holidays from Home, and Martin Wright of Wright Learn Driving School are all featured. It seems the idea of running your own company is proving more popular than ever, with figures from the BIS, Department for Business Innovation and Skills, reporting a record high of 4.8 million people being self-employed. Kate comments, ‘’Working your own hours is just one advantage of owning your company, and while I am very passionate about assisting people in their dream, self employment is not for everyone. “Yes you can easily set up a business with just a smart phone from your house on a shoe-string budget, though have you considered market research, cash flow, promoting your business, or even managing customers? These are just some of the things I discuss in ‘A journey into business – because starting your own business is certainly a journey! A journey into business – walk on the wild side is available on Amazon for £12.99. The book is easy to read and designed for new business start-ups, and budding entrepreneurs who wish to re-consider the basics. More information at http://thewildeworld.co.uk/, or watch the book trailer on Youtube by searching ‘A Journey into business’, or visit http://www.facebook.com/TheWildeWorld My post yesterday has made me think about everything I'm doing, especially how I'm actually going to get my message out into the world. I feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do; but when I examined that closer I realised that beneath the overwhelm is a huge amount of frustration because I know what I need to do; but because of the ME/CFS severely limiting my time and energy it means that I can only do a fraction of the things I want to in a day.
How do you decide what you spend your time on? How do you prioritise when so much feels like it needs to be done now and so many tasks are tied together - I can spend all my time creating my virtual parties and holidays; but if I'm not marketing nobody will know to be able to enjoy them. I can spend time promoting; but then I need content too. I also enjoy the things I'm doing and don't like to stop when I feel the fatigue and aches kick in. I want to keep going because I'm having fun, I don't like my body dictating how much I can do, when I don't feel like I'm doing anything that intense. Running a marathon - that's exhausting! Sitting in front of a computer, that shouldn't leave me exhausted. I've been watching the closing ceremony of the Paralympics and have been amazed at the incredible achievments - I get scared going up a curb in my wheelchair, so seeing what others do is breath-taking. The question that came up for me is, why can I look completely healthy and "normal" yet I can't even get to the stadium, let alone do anything remotely sporty. How can an invisible illness limit me in so many ways when there are visible illnesses that still allow people to do Herculean tasks? People tell me that no matter how well I might/will be, there will always be frustrations over how much I can fit into a day. "Even healthy people can't do it all." I find it rather annoying when they say that - I know it's true; but I also feel like I don't get my fair share of the day because so much of it is taken up with resting and sleeping. I'd love to be able to work for longer than a few hours in the morning, because I love what I do; but I physically can't and that sucks. I know there are other people out there running businesses and juggling other things like full time jobs and families; but those are things they chose, I didn't choose to be ill and I just know I could achieve so much more if it was well and full of energy, with the same abilities and number of hours in the day, that's all I want and I don't think that should be too much to ask for. This post isn't meant to be a poor me, life is so tough post. I know that compared to where I was ten years ago, unable to concentrate to read or listen to music, let alone write or use a computer, now I'm doing so well. I just wish I could do more. It's made me realise that like with everything else I'm going to have to adapt the whole marketing game to meet my needs, adapt it to fit what I can do right now and trust that it's enough. That's hard to do when the business world is constantly saying you have to do things a certain way to be successfull, that you must be working every hour of the day to achieve your goals, that anything less than all you have just isn't enough. As with everything in my life so far, I'm going to find my own path, follow my heart and trust that it's going to lead me to where I'm meant to be. What are your experiences of doing things differently because you have to rather than because you want to? I'd love to hear how you cope with the emotions that brings up. I'm off to bed, ready to start the week on my terms. Have you ever wanted something so much, that you can't imagine life if it didn't happen? A dream so big that it makes you tingle with excitement. You can see it so clearly in your mind, you just know how amazing it could be, how many people it could help and how much potential it has, if you could only make it happen.
That's how I feel about Live in Love in Laugh in. The thing is it excites and terrifies me in equal measure because to make it happen, to achieve the dream, I have to be brave enough to put myself out there, to risk failure and get over all the emotional obstacles that idea brings up. What if people don't like it? What if I can't exlain it well enough so that they understand it? What if the people who love it are in the minority? What if I was wrong? What if, what if, what if... The temptation is to bury my head in the sand, to keep the dream locked up deep inside my heart, where it can stay perfect and safe. That is so incredibly tempting, to never risk it, avoid the chance that the dream might come crashing down. At least then I won't get hurt; but it hurts just as much keeping it all in, the wanting, wishing and hoping. I'm definitely somewhere with a rock on one side and a hard place on the other. There isn't really a choice to make, I know that I have to get out there and start telling people I'm here. Waving my hands in the air and saying "Come see, take a look, I hope you like what you find." The thought makes me feel a little sick - nobody told me I'd have to work through my own personal issues when I decided I wanted to set up and run my own business. Surely somebody should have warned me?! I am learning and growing, I know that it's making me a better, stronger person, it's still scary and hard though! How do you cope with doing things that scare you? Dealing with your own emotional issues that are holding you back? I'm working through various books and courses, looking for answers and clarity - it's helping; but you still have to put in the work to get the results. I am; but I'm also finding other things to do, instead of getting down to the things I know I'm meant to! In fact I've been procrastinating the past few weeks - I've even been sorting out my office, that's how bad things have got - I'd rather be tidying, which is saying something as I hate tidying! I actually filled up our recycle bin in just a week! Totally amazing; but my office is now lovely and feels much nicer to be in - not the dumping ground it had become. It's almost finished now though, so I have to bite the bullet and get down to the scary stuff I've been putting off. So this is me taking a deep breath and declaring to the World and the Universe that it's time to let myself be seen, to lift my head up, stand straight and put myself out there. Wish me luck! |
Claire WadeI'm an author, disability activist, winner of the Good Housekeeping First Novel Competition and The EABA for Fiction 2020 and founder of Authors with Disabilities and Chronic Illnesses (ADCI). The Choice is available from:DETAILS:
Title: The Choice Publisher: Orion ISBN: 1409187748 You can keep up to date with all my latest blog posts by signing up to my email newsletter.
|