Osteo Update Time

For those of you that are new to my blog....I was diagnose with osteoporosis (sort of) in January. You can read about my experience here and here.

Just a little update on how things are going. When the new Holistic MD told me what he wanted me to eat and not eat, I was more than a little concerned. My diet was not nearly as bad as a lot of people, but not nearly as good as it should have been. He was asking a LOT for me to eat mostly whole foods as in fruits and vegetables, no wheat and no dairy. I need my Starbucks Chai Latte and pizza!

Then I needed to start walking 30 minutes a day. I was already walking a bit, but NOT 30 minutes every single day of the week! I don't have time for that.

Next I started seeing a Physical Therapist one day a week. She wanted me to do about 20-30 minutes of Pilates for osteoporosis at least 5 days a week. Where was that time going to come from?

Needless to say, it was a bit overwhelming. HOWEVER.....those of you that know me, know that I never say never. I dug in and guess what....the diet isn't really a big deal, the walking has become pretty enjoyable and the exercise is challenging and I love a challenge!!

I guess what I am trying to say is that things are going really, really well. I have no idea what it's all doing for my bone health, but I would think they would be staying the same or getting stronger rather than weaker and that is the goal.

The way I managed to sort it all out and not freak out was to look at it in smaller parts rather than as the big whole major life change that it was. It took me a while to figure out the diet and then to adjust to it.

I do my PT in the morning because that way it's done and there are no excuses when I get home from work. The walking....I am wearing a pedometer every minute of every day for a program we are doing at work. I have to walk 7000 steps every day. Most people walk about 3500 during the course of an average day and guess what......a 30 minute walk equals almost exactly 3500 steps! I get my 7000 easily every day. Some days I have 8000 and I've even hit 9000 a couple of times!

I was never trying to lose weight, but I have. My pants are all getting baggy and people are commenting on how skinny I am. I don't really want to be skinny...it's better for people with bone loss to have some meat and muscle on their bones.....but I will say that I feel awesome!

So, my words of wisdom....if someone like me can have words of wisdom is this....when you have to make a major lifestyle change....break it down into small sections and do it in baby steps. Success can be yours!

Succeeding In Business In A Failing Economy

I was reading the McHenry County Business Journal on the train yesterday and came across an excellent little article by Catherine Jones. It was called Fearless Execution.

Here is how the article started out, "Do you find yourself spending at least a portion of each day thinking about the current state of the economy? Wondering how your business will be impacted? Are you preoccupied with budget concerns, looking for expenses that could be trimmed?

You'll likely find fear to be an underlying emotion behind these daily concerns that weigh heavily on each of us at the present time. Unfortunately, fear is not constructive and leads to becoming inwardly focused, diverting attention and necessary resources from the execution of the organization's mission."

"Changing your mindset from one of fear to what might best be described as fearlessness keeps the focus on the positive and fuels the optimism needed to courageously reach toward goals."

If I have seen one thread in the etsy forums regarding the economy and it's affect on our shops...I swear I have seen 100. I'm actually tired of them. If people spent as much time working on their shops as they do complaining about the economy, we would all have absolutely amazing shops!

Jones goes on to say that an Indiana University Horn Professor Jeff Nelson has developed techniques that he recommends to his students for fearless musical performance. His lessons would certainly work for all of us in business.

One of the thoughts is to raise your standards. Jones says to treat every day as a "new performance opportunity that demands the highest level of execution and attention to detail." I love this statement, "Close enough might have worked yesterday, but economic conditions today demand more." In our shops, that means awesome photos, great descriptions, purposeful tags and service way above and beyond.

Jones also talks about the planning process. If we have some type of plan already in place for our shops, we won't waste time everyday wondering what it is we could or should be doing. With a plan in place, you get into your workshop and you start creating or marketing or whatever your plan calls for.

This is perfect too, "When your attention is on the competition, your own performance suffers." In relation to our shops, if we sit and spend our time constantly concerned with what the other guy is doing and how they are doing it and if what they are doing is fair or proper and on and on....we are wasting valuable time we could be using to work on our own business.

There is nothing wrong with checking out the competition, but worrying about the competition does nothing to improve your shop or to bring yourself sales....so don't overdo it!

"We frequently limit our ability to design creative solutions by focusing attention on the negative. When an organization's concentration is on not failing, there is little attention left for creativity and innovation" Jones went on to say. If we sit and spend all of our energy thinking about what we can't do, we have no energy left to concentrate on what we can do.

Jones ends the article talking about setting what she calls "stretch" goals. She said that we often spend the same amount of energy to get so-so results as we could to accomplish so much more. She also suggests that you write down the successes and the things that went well....for us maybe that would be a weekly or monthly thing to do. Then take a look at what didn't go so well and look for ways to improve.

I mentioned yesterday that the huge mall I was at was packed with people......people in line making purchases. I made many of my own. The key is finding the people that are still looking to buy and directing them to your shop where you offer useful and unique items at a price they are willing to pay for wonderful handmade, high quality items!

So, think positive, find ways to improve your shop and make it the best it has ever been...then find the shoppers and bring them to your shop. Success is right around the corner!

Henry Ford once said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't...You're right!"

My List Addiction

Can this possibly happen to me two days in a row? Yep, it can and it is and I really don't give a poop! I really didn't want to say poop, but I don't want to offend anyone by saying that I really don't give a shit so I said poop instead!

I have had a miserable headache all day today. When I got home from work, I started tweaking the photos of the cards I took pics of this morning before work. Then I had an appointment to get my hair cut...and she was running late! UGH! I didn't get home until 7:00 p.m., ate some dinner and here I am.

So, once again I am not going to get the things done that I had planned to get done. Am I bummed....of course, but I am not going to get worked up over it. I am going to try to get one of the cards listed when I'm done with my blog and if that's all I get done....that's all I get done.

I read the comments on yesterday's post and really envy the people that don't live by lists. Even my lists have lists....and then after I do a few of the things on the list, I have to write a new list because that one looks messy and I can't have a messy list!

Then I thought about how crazy my lists are making me and how much time I spend making lists and worrying about lists....and I started to wonder if I could still succeed in my business without the lists. That isn't to say that I wouldn't have goals and plans. I would. I have to. I need some kind of structure. What I don't need is the pressure I have been putting on myself. Some of my lists I wouldn't be able to accomplish in a week much less one day!

So, here is what I've decided to do. I will still have my goals and my plans for this year...and that would be to get 1000markets and Artfire set up, to check into some shows and Farmer's Markets for spring and summer and to perhaps get a website up and running. See, when I write those things down....it sounds fun and exciting and doesn't sound stressful at all. It's those daily lists and expectations that are doing me in.

Therefore, the only daily goal I am going to set is to try to list one thing in FourDogDay every day and two things per week in MyOtherShop. I am not going to write down what I should be doing very minute of every evening because it isn't realistic and it really isn't much fun.

I think the fun and excitement I was feeling in 2008 went right out the door when I made this massive business plan and realized that I had a lot to do. I was afraid if I didn't have this big formal plan that I would never have a successful business. I think business plans are great, and I really do believe in plans and goals, but I also realize that I love what I am doing...and in order to keep loving what I am doing I need to cut myself some slack.

So, tonight I will not make a to do list for tomorrow. I know what I need to do, and maybe if I just do what I can when I can....I will keep loving what I am doing for many years to come and have a successful business as well.

Oh and this is totally off topic, but I got the two pairs of shoes I ordered. One pair was too wide and one pair was too narrow. I reordered the too narrow pair in a larger size because I really liked them, and we'll see if they are any better.

Also, the skinny jeans came today and they kick butt!!! I absolutely love them....except that they are about 6 inches too long. I always order talls from the Gap because I love my jeans long...well these skinny little guys were way too long. So they are going back to the Gap tomorrow for the same ones but not in a tall!!

Oh happy day!

What Was I Thinking?

Why is that one day I feel like I am right on track.....like I have it all together and then the next day I wonder what the heck I am doing? Do you ever feel like that? One night I sit there in bed and write up my plans for the next day including what I will work on, what I will list, what I will renew, how I will redo my sections, when I will be in the forums, if and when I will twitter.....and on and on and on. I look at it and I know for a fact that I am so on!

Then I get up in the morning and I take my list and head into my workshop. I sit down, turn on the computer, look at my list and immediately think it's all wrong, very, very wrong.

Does that ever happen to you? Do you have goals and plans and you know they are perfect, and then you look at them again and think they had to have been written by someone that had no idea what success is or what it takes to succeed or how much time things take?

I am struggling a bit right now. I love what I am doing, but I cannot seem to prioritize the things that need to be done so that I can accomplish the things I must accomplish in the amount of time I am able to dedicate to my business. (That was one hell of a long run-on sentence....but did it make sense to you?)

Last night I wrote down that I was going to list 3 items for MyOtherShop. I decided that I would list a photo in FourDogDay and work on some new cards and I would write my blog. All very doable....but here it is 8:30 p.m. and the only thing I have done was to photograph one item, rephotograph a couple of cards that are already listed and cut the cardstock for the cards.

I lost my enthusiasm when I realized that the tray I wanted to photograph can't be photographed in my light box because it is too big. What was I thinking? It's a big tray! Once I realized I wasn't going to be able to list the tray, it ruined the order I wanted the items in so that idea went right down the drain. Can't list any of it tonight!

So, I started on the cards, went and ate some dinner and now it's late and I am writing my blog. I have this sick feeling that I am going to get nothing done that I wanted to get done! UGH!

What do you do when your best plans end up your worst nightmare? Do you get angry? Do you beat yourself up for thinking it was a great idea in the first place? Are you able to laugh and say, oh well tomorrow is another day? How do you handle disappointment when it comes to your business?

When I started writing this, I was really bummed. I know I'm not going to get a lot done tonight, but you know what....it's okay. Writing this has actually made me realize that this is really a tiny little problem and one that I can laugh at. I didn't think things through as well as I thought I had. Maybe my brain had already shut off for the night when I made my list. Whatever it was doesn't really matter. What matters is that I am able to laugh at myself, finish this blog and go over to my work table and make those cards before I go to bed. The photographs and the listing will have to wait.

What do you do when your really great plans turn out to be not so great after all?