Informing, Connecting and Branding Professionals and Entrepreneurs
One Of Those Days
Today is one of those days..nothing seems good about this new business venture. It's one of those days the experts tell you you have to weather and push through...Hopefully without deleting your website with one click of a mouse.
Who needs bows or baby hats or tutus? What am I doing and where am I going?
I feel like I did when I started training for street races. In the beginning, 15 straight minutes of running was all I could stand. The thought of running several miles in a row, without stopping, seemed almost unattainable. Without working at it 5-6 days a week it was. Going to the gym after working all day or getting up and going on the weekend mornings when all I really wanted to do was lay in bed, watch TV and eat junk food, was the only way. Eating healthy enough to maintain my workouts was also part of the discipline in the equation.
Neither one of these two activities were particularly fun or challenging in a pleasant way. It took weeks to be able to run 3 miles and weeks more to be able to run 10. The process was grueling and irritating. The perfectionist side, the side that is highly competitive with the side that wants to eat junk food in bed, wants to be a marathon runner yesterday. I made the mistake in the beginning of increasing my speed and distance too rapidly. Yep. You guessed it. I was out of running for about a month from an injury. All of that hard work and now I had to swim instead of train? Ugh. Ugh! It was one of those days.
I schlepped into the gym's over-chlorinated pool and swam my butt off for an hour. It was BORING. No music, no people watching, no sightseeing, just me and my thoughts. Over the next few weeks, boredom turned to industry as I started to enjoy the peace of the pool. Only the sounds of the water lit up the background of my thoughts. I was able to think clear and utilize my time to goal plan for future races, strategize for more successful and injury free workouts, and refocus on the big picture. I was also building stamina like a mad person. As I am sure you know, swimming is a crazy hard sport.
My injury healed and I hit the pavement again in my first race. Much to my shock I placed 3rd.... In my first race...ever! I couldn't imagine the feeling of that moment back in the first few weeks of training, and didn't realize the blessing in the injury at the time. I look back now and remember on days like this that this is one small blip in a large and awesome goal. The everyday work is hard. There is no way around it. It's funny that people will ask what the secret is to staying in shape. Here's the secret: it takes way more hard work than you probably think and amazing feats of discipline.
So on days like this I take a minute to look at medals and trophies I have won in races and remember that first day at the pool. Maybe if I change directions for a minute I will be able to refocus on the fact that the fashion and accessory industry is a multi-billion dollar giant just waiting for me. Maybe if I quiet my mind and see this experience as a mile logged in training, I will wake up one day and look back at this day as my day in the pool...the day I couldn't even imagine the amazing feeling of running a wildly successful business.
Shandra Gray
Owner, One Fancy Baby
https://www.facebook.com/OneFancyBaby
Comment
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Comment by Janis Dolan on October 18, 2011 at 1:13pm -
Keep cheerful. Nothing succeeds like success. Into each life a little rain must fall, the longest journey starts with the first step.... and all those other platitudes. But seriously, we all have 'one of those days". Today for example, I turned up at the wrong client, texted her to ask where she was, at the same time, the real client (a new one) was texting me asking me where I was as we had an appointment. Where was I, across town at the wrong place. I thought today was Monday. When I parked outside her house, eventually, I hit the kerb with the car. Shameful, as I am a driving instructor. Just laugh. It's the gremlins stirring things up. On the other hand, I think your business idea is lovely, all those bows and tutu's. We all like dressing up out babies, and the photo on this page is gorgeous. I have no children, but I guess I used to dress up my baby-doll like that when I was a kiddie. Keep your chin up. And in the words of the Ministry of Defense here in the UK, back in the days of WWII, STAY CALM AND CARRY ON. Love.
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Comment by Dave Hennessy on September 11, 2011 at 12:46pm -
There is a confirmed demand for your products in Google.
Keyword [Phrase Match]baby hats
49,500 Global searches 33,100 Local US searches
Keyword [Phrase Match]baby tutus
5,400 global 4,400 Us SearchesIt will just take time to build up your website presence to get in-front of them and get the word out.
Dave
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Comment by Jill Provines on July 22, 2011 at 11:43pm -
Leora, you make a great point, and that "process" you mention...well, that happened & continues to have an impact on the development of my brand as well. :) Shandra, I have some ideas to share with you that maybe we could toss around together early next week. Decompress over the weekend and don't forget a nice, deep cleansing breath...then ENJOY your inspiration-FAMILY. :)
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Comment by Leora Wenger on July 22, 2011 at 6:40pm -
"Who needs bows or baby hats or tutus?" Years ago, I thought of selling women's hats or hat ornaments. It turns out there wasn't much demand. But my head kept churning, and I developed skills for which there was a lot of demand.
Keep plugging away at various business ideas - you might find all the folks that love those bows, or you might find you love doing X even more as a business. It's all a process.
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Comment by Jill Provines on July 22, 2011 at 3:11pm
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My absolute pleasure... :)
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Comment by Shandra Gray on July 22, 2011 at 3:07pm -
Jill...you're awesome! You have no idea how much that hit me right in the "i'm on the right path" receptor. Thank you
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Comment by Jill Provines on July 22, 2011 at 2:46pm
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Shandra, this one's for you...
"If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I do not have it at the beginning." —Mahatma Gandhi
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Gevril and Haurex Italia dinner during Baselworld in March 2011 with Larry Brauner standing in the background.
Baselworld 2013 is taking place April 25 to May 2 in Basel, Switzerland.
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