When you’re setting up a business or even working hard to keep one afloat, you’re bound to reduce distraction whenever possible. You need focus. You need clarity. You need direction.
But in reducing distraction, we often turn away potential sources of inspiration.
Afterall, there are shiny objects that have real value. Yes, ladies, I’m talking about diamonds. And gold. And platinum.
And there are rabbit holes that transport you to strange new worlds.
I’m adding “Mixed Metaphor Generation” to my list of services.
A rabbit hole is something that sucks you in – maybe a new blog, a museum, a city, a new friend – and you come back out bleary eyed and not a little changed. Normally you spend much more time in that rabbit hole than you really “meant” to. It’s time well spent – but it’s time nonetheless.
I spent much of the startup phase of my business avoiding rabbit holes. Often these were topics of interest or people associated with those topics. I felt drawn to these little tunnels. But I didn’t let myself get sucked in.
As my business has grown and learned to take care of itself, I’ve allowed myself the pleasure of going down a few rabbit holes. I’ve talked to the people & engaged the ideas I’ve had my eye on for quite awhile.
I’ve had discussions with deep thinkers, attended academic events, and traveled aplenty. I’ve reengaged subjects from my past like religion, politics, and current events. I’ve learned lessons I had been far too focused to learn before.
I discovered that there was a strange new world all around me if only I would take the focus off of the business for a moment.
I’ve embraced potential distraction as inspiration.
It depends.
Is your business starting to feel a bit stagnant? Need to add a splash of color and a hint of spice here and there? It might be time for a few rabbit holes. If not, examine whether you’re a master of keeping things interesting or a being pulled in too many directions to find your pivot point.
Is your business steady & supportive? Want to take a few risks and discover strange new worlds? It might be time for a few rabbit holes. If not, decide what systems you could put in place to make your business buzz along without you.
Is your business ripe for a challenge? Are your customers clamoring for new avenues to explore with you? It might be time for a few rabbit holes. If not, discover what needs you think you’re fulfilling but that your audience just isn’t feeling.
What rabbit holes have you been avoiding? Are you ready to dive in? Or do you need to stay focused for now?
It’s true! It’s easy to assume that the businesses you see humming along online or on main street are free & clear of worry and doubt. But anxiety, stress, and self-doubt creep in at the most unlikely of times.
True story.
And I’d say it’s true of any business mentor, coach, guru, authority figure you pay attention to. There are days when the ups & downs of normal business weigh on you. Even when you know better. Even when you’ve planned better.
Over the next few months, you’re going to hear quite a bit about what I’m calling “self-care for your business.”
At the heart of it, business self-care is setting up your business to take care of you.
I have begrudgingly pulled all-nighters, I have worked for cheap, I have forced launches, and I have created content to serve something other than my higher purpose. It has never worked. It’s never “been worth it.”
Hard work is a necessity. But senseless work is not.
What is senseless work? It’s work for work’s sake. It’s working from your weaknesses instead of your strengths. It’s doing the same thing over & over again and expecting a different result.
One place senseless work has crept up on me – and always caused more problems than its worth – is when I’m worried about where the next dollar is coming from.
When I’ve been worried about discovering the next offer or attracting the next client, I take the focus off my real mission. I take the focus off of recreating our connection to the greater economy.
I take the focus off the organic process of discovery & attraction and I put the focus on acts of force.
Thanks to a framework from Alexis Neely and a language from Sinclair, I have crafted a system for always knowing where the next dollar is coming from. I know months & months in advance what my offer schedule is and, most importantly, why.
It’s not just about the money or sales but about what those sales mean for moving my mission forward – therefore serving myself while serving you and the world.
That said, there are still times I get a little antsy over money. After all, I’m fighting scarcity conditioning that has been in place for quite some time.
My revenue – while sustained – is not always constant. I’m getting used to a new pattern of money flow. Didn’t I just get used to the last pattern? About two weeks into every (planned) down period, I start to freak out.
I start to think about the quick buck. The easy out. The drastic measures I’ll need to take to keep myself afloat.
This isn’t survival mode – which has been known to motivate some pretty extraordinary behavior. This is self-defeating. It’s wasted energy. It’s just plain unnecessary. And it’s potentially very damaging.
Nope, I’m not immune to these bouts of panic.
But I do have a system, a practice to fall back on.
Just like others might fall back on yoga, a long walk, an exercise routine, a good cuddle, or knitting – perfect for taking care of yourself – I know that I have a point of focus and safe space to fall back on in my business.
I can whip out the calendar or jot out a fresh perspective on my planning in my notebook. And, while the panic may linger, the confidence comes right on back.
I can go right back to serving you, creating greatness, and discovering new ideas. I can do the work that matters and stop dwelling on the work that doesn’t.
I weather a storm that isn’t really there. And I still come out stronger & more focused on the other side.
Your next steps:
Have a business self-care practice of your own? Share it by leaving a response below.
If you want to learn more about self-care for the soul of your business, check out a little (big) something I’ve been working on for the last few months.
If you want to discover more of my philosophies & practices for earning beautifully, pick up a name-your-own-price copy of The Art of Earning.
I’ve always had a fear of working with people. The most terrifying words a teacher could utter to me were not “pop quiz” – puh-leaze, I’ve got that in the bag – they were “group work.”
Oh how I despised having to compromise my vision for a group of people with little more shared purpose than “let’s not fail.”
Now, as an entrepreneur, I’ve carried this over into my own business. Better to be small & successful than take a chance on working with people to do something bigger, right?
This is changing rapidly. As I’ve honed in on my strengths and my mission, I’ve discovered that the vision I have is much larger than one person can handle. And I’m okay with that. Funny how that’s something that needs to be “discovered,” huh? In order to truly create the art I want to put in into the world, I need to collaborate.
So I’m learning…
Which is why I found this video, Inside the Goat Rodeo Sessions, so intriguing. It’s a brief interview with 4 amazing musicians about an awe-inspiring collaborative project. Watch it below or read on to discover my takeaways.
As individuals, we each have boundaries, self-imposed limitations. The very self-aware among us understand what these boundaries are and do their best to challenge themselves to move beyond the lines. Most of us, however, maintain a bubble that keeps us rehashing the same problems over & over again, finding stumbling blocks at the same places, and generally living without the benefit of what’s on the other side of the fence.
In The Goat Rodeo Sessions video, Stuart Duncan & Yo-Yo Ma discuss how they approach the music differently. And even how the convention of “genre” could have kept them apart as musicians. But:
It works because its just music.
Your business – your creative goal – your life pursuit may not be the same as your collaborator’s. All the better. People who connect intimately over the passion of purpose need not be defined by genre, industry, or methodology. Collaboration forces you outside of these arbitrary boundaries and into your mutual brilliance.
2. Collaboration is about the mystery.
This is about a happy blend of personalities. There was nothing to ensure this was going to work out.
— Yo-Yo Ma
When you’re working by yourself, it can seem like – through sheer act of will – you can make even the worst ideas work. And sometimes you have to. You get tied down to busting through projects that have no business being completed. You tend to learn very little about what went wrong because you’re so fixated on making them go right.
When you’re working in collaboration, you are thrown into mystery. Your partners may or may not do their own work. Their style may or may not mesh with yours – regardless of how well you know them.
But that mystery is where great beauty comes from as you explore each others process & perspective.
An artist is never truly working alone – so why pretend? Embrace the mystery of collaboration.
3.) Collaboration is about people not projects.
We chose this group of people based more on who the individuals were and their voices – and less on what would make the best instrumentation.
— Edgar Meyer
If you don’t have insane chemistry, deep mutual respect, and hearts that are in awe of the people you’re working with, it’s not collaboration. It’s division of labor.
Your collaborators are going to find you at the heights of your strengths and the depths of your weaknesses. They’ll witness your failure alongside your success. They will participate in the birth of new ideas. You want to concentrate on finding the right people to collaborate with, not the right project for collaboration.
As I look towards my personal vision & business goals for 2012, I see much collaboration on the horizon. I see dreams that couldn’t have been dreamt even 6 months ago coming true. And best of all I see the soul-filling beauty of co-creation.
How are you – or could you – embrace the mystery of collaboration in the New Year?
Please leave your response below!
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Want to see inside one of my own personal collaborative projects? Find out how Adam King and I are reclaiming wealth.
I can’t seem to get myself to actually create even though I know it’s my calling. Any tips to get me out of this long freeze of too many years?
Tips, maybe. A story, yes.
Tips never go far enough. They never really tell you what you need to know. If all it took were tips to make meaningful change in our lives & businesses, we would cultivate a garden of tips and harvest when we needed them.
Sadly, we’re left with little bounty.
Filling in the gaps with stories and example is the best way to learn. You have to work harder to apply the truths to your own life. You have to connect your own dots. But, in the end, you’re left with something more satisfying and much longer lasting.
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I graduated from college with a BA in Religion, honors, the respect of my classmates & professors, and a full ride to graduate school. I was poised for success – life plan was in order. I was at the top of my academic game. Ideas were fast & furious. Writing was effortless & fun.
I left my college town to spend the summer with my mom before moving out of state. The local Borders Bookstore took me on as a part time barista and I spent hours learning to make coffee and soaking in the smell of beans mixed with books. You don’t smell it after a bit…
I became completely enamored with this job. The people. The knowledge. The flow.
I saw the opportunity for something greater than what was presented on the outside. I was seduced.
There was also the high of a regular paycheck.
Three weeks before I was set to leave for grad school, a full-time job opened at Borders. My will crumbled.
“An academic?” my brain questioned. “Who do you think you are?”
How will you support yourself? How will you find a job? What hope have you for success, for stability?
I sent an email to my professor, an alumni of the school I was to go to.
I can’t do it. I’m not ready. I’m not cut out for this.
Looking back, it was such bullshit.
But I couldn’t articulate what I was really feeling. Sitting, weeping, on his couch, his wife and he tried to understand what I was missing, what piece of the puzzle had come loose. Please don’t do this. We know you’re scared.
I balked.
I walked.
I abandoned what had been my goal since I was 12.
I accepted the job as a supervisor at Borders. I was making $7.50 per hour in Fall 2004, writing orders for milk, cleaning sinks, and taking inventory of chocolate bars. I was at rest for a few months.
It didn’t take long to realize that – whether or not I “should” have gone on with school – I had seriously interrupted my momentum.
An object with momentum doesn’t necessarily have a destination in mind… just velocity and mass.
One year passed. It included 2 promotions. I became a manager.
My time, sanity, and will to live were stretched to their breaking points. I entered the worst bout of depression I have ever faced. I lost 30 pounds – going from a size 10 to a size 0.
Creativity, ideation, the pleasure of learning & growing were no longer part of my life. I pushed them out in favor of the conventional. The sure thing.
I knew I needed those pleasures in my life. So I started looking for them in another job.
I worked my resume over & over again. Changing my objective, punching up my skills, concentrating on the positives.
I sought out jobs & fields that played to my strengths without requirements that would immediately discount a Religion major.
No one would have me. No non-profit, no library, no university. I couldn’t communicate my value. I had lost touch with it completely.
But at least I had started the process, I started seeking out failure. I started learning from each foray into – what seemed like – utter foolishness.
In 2007, I spent 8 months with a different company. Instead of running a $5 million dollar business, I ran a $150,000 business. I wasn’t just executing orders. I was creating them. I had almost full reign over my operations, ordering, and marketing.
And I took advantage of it.
Something started blossoming. Spring had sprung.
Did I know what I was doing? Well, sorta. Did a lack of expertise hold me back? Nope.
What changed was not just the company I was working for but the self-determination that came with the job.
How can you be creative? How can you discover your own path if first you don’t have a sense of self-determination?
I returned to Borders before I left the traditional employment world all together. I spent 9 months gestating. Ideas. And a baby.
When I left, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. But I knew I could do whatever it was that I decided on.
Because it was me and only me determining my future. No one was going to tell me what to do or how to do it. No one was going to question my ideas. No one was going to question my ability.
Not because I was self-employed (I wasn’t) but because I was self-determined.
Self-determination breeds creativity.
Self-determination thaws the frozen.
And it doesn’t require you working for yourself. It requires you to take responsibility for where you’re at. For what you’re doing. It requires that you see every day and every situation as an opportunity. A miracle waiting to be realized. By you. By no one else.
Once I realized my own self-determination, I never looked back. How could I? I was hot. Turned on. Still am.
Most people focus on eliminating hindrances to creativity. I’m gonna tell you that’s the wrong strategy.
Sure, allowing yourself peace & quiet or keeping your mind & body healthy is an important part of being a creative person. But:
Removing every barrier to your “great idea” will only repel it.
Constraints and limitations force us to rethink assumptions and reconsider the status quo. Identifying the actual constraints of a problem help us to generate ideas that might otherwise stay hidden by vast possibility. Invented constraints push us beyond “next step” and into “next paradigm.”
Constraints push us to the edges of what is possible. Into the improbable. Maybe even the impossible.
What constraints can you adopt to push your business and your creative thinking to the edges?
Here’s some big ones on my list – add your own ideas in the comments below:
Time – What if you had to execute an idea in 3 hours? 3 years?
Money – What if you had a $10 budget? $10,000 budget?
Personality – What if your project was serious? lighthearted?
Mechanism – What if your product was completely digital? physical? live? pre-recorded?
Materials – What if you design had to be made with paper? metal? cloth? recycled glass?
Teamwork – What if your idea had a team of 10? 100? 1?
The possibilities are endless.
What constraints are you working with right now? What constraints are confusing you right now? Leave your response in the comments below.
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PS Group coaching kicks off again November 3. Want a framework for product development, decision-making, and marketing? Want to connect your creativity & intuition with the very foundations of your business? This is 5 weeks of collaborative experience you won’t want to miss. Click here to join me.
Tara Gentile is on a mission to turn the small business owners of today into the economic powerhouses of tomorrow. She's the creator of Quiet Power Strategy®, a business design system and entrepreneurial family. She's also the host of Profit. Power. Pursuit., which Entrepreneur named one of the 24 top woman-hosted business podcasts.
