Treat my articles as inspiration. Think about how my suggestions might work in your context. The handicraft market is very wide. My observations are generalized and will not necessarily be true in every case.
How to deal with the monotony and challenges of doing business alone.
I am coming back to you after a long break from writing. Some time passed, in the meantime I was working on HandieU for other startups, I conducted workshops for students, I learned completely new areas (which I will talk about in the next articles), and finally I started working in one of the companies as a Marketing Manager. It was a long break for me from my business, from its “main task” – earning. But does that mean that it is no longer there and will not be? Absolutely not! On the contrary – after this break I gained even more strength and confidence that what I create is wonderful and I will do everything to make it work out! And in this article, I want to share my thoughts with you.
Returning to the group, to you my dear Artisans, got me to the tracks of further thoughts related to the monotony of acting alone in the long term in our businesses. One of the ideas that guided me with the goal of the HandieU project was to create a community that would form a team. The team, which most cannot afford at the beginning of the activity, that allows for more creative work and interaction with people, new relationships and stimulation of our motivation and the effects of your work.
I assume that if you have the support of your loved ones, you may not feel so lonely at the beginning, but over time, if you still cannot hire someone to cooperate various emotions may arise, like doubts, a sense of isolation, maybe even frustration – just from working alone.
I talked to many of you and the topic of one-man work was discussed several times. I heard from one of you: “I get up in the morning, embrace the children, check orders, post messages, start fulfilling orders, reply to e-mails or comments, go to pick up children again, and when they fall asleep, I continue sewing. During the week, sometimes there will be some other formalities to be dealt with, offices or an accountant. I also often work on weekends. Ultimately, I do not have more than a full-time job, and I feel overwhelmed. In addition, I do not put so much heart into my work, because with each product I have time pressure to simply make it as soon as possible and be able to move on to the next one. Due to such a pace, through unimaginable results, stress and demotivation arise. “
So how do you deal with this demotivating routine and pressure?
As long as you do not have the opportunity to hire someone or outsource some tasks to someone else to have some space for yourself, I suggest taking a break. Yes, I know how absurd this sounds, but the truth is that if you don’t silence your mind, give yourself some time off from thinking, from stress, then you won’t go any further, and more importantly you won’t see all the possibilities that exist because you are immersed in your world and routine.
If you want to make a change for the better, you have to start with yourself. The best way that comes to my mind is meditation – calming down your thoughts, focusing them on your breath or on the beauty of the nature that surrounds you, cutting yourself off from all “mundane” matters and problems, being alone with yourself and talking honestly about it, what exactly do I want and how can I achieve it. It’s good to make meditation to become part of our daily routine – time that you devote only to yourself.
In one of the interesting publications I read that our brain (i.e. us 😊) generates as much as 95% of the same thoughts every day as on the previous day! And do you know what thoughts are? The generator of our reality! I am convinced that you have come across this idea many times – practically every motivational book about success, business and happiness includes this theme, and for good reason. Our thoughts create our reality. We could say that we often get into the habit of thinking in a certain way, unfortunately repeating to ourselves most of the negative things in our life, thus causing us to attract them even more … This vicious circle is endless, unless …
Unless you take a deep breath for a moment, say goodbye to old thoughts, to the past, reflect on what you want your life or your business to look like, you will look at all the possibilities of its implementation and make an initial plan 😊
I am writing an “initial” plan for a reason. Because the more you work on the flexibility of your thoughts, the more flexible you become in creating, acting and in general life, you react faster and easier to changes in your environment, you are able to adapt to them, and even see more opportunities and possibilities, instead of e.g. all the black scenarios 😊
It is very important to see different options and solutions. Thanks to this, you also practice creativity! But most importantly, you no longer react with stress when something happens – you know you have many different ways out of this situation and you just adapt to different circumstances or even create your own!
The weekend was not enough, I need more break, and yet the bills will not pay off on their own …
Well, I know this pain, even though I have struggled a little with my family myself and managed to survive this most difficult period. In addition, I grabbed a few extra jobs per hour (which also allowed me to break away from the “standard” reality) and it was enough for everything. And as I wrote above – it gave me a feeling of much more flexibility, peace and even joy. Also, do not be afraid to tell your loved ones that you need some time with yourself to sort out everything in your head. On the other hand, let’s be understanding towards others who may also be experiencing a certain “creative crisis”. There is always some other solution that you have not considered before!
I already know what I want! What’s next?
Exactly: “what next?” As you already know the direction of your activities, now you must reflect on this initial plan for achieving the intended goal. But let’s get it right, step by step:
- You take a piece of paper and write down exactly what your business should look like, your life, e.g. in 10 years. Let’s try to be as specific as possible. Let’s even imagine a specific day in your live and describe it. Both the physical aspects of a given moment are important, but also the people with whom you surround yourself, as well as the feelings and emotions that accompany you. The more precise you are, the better you will feel that you are already there, and thus you will direct your actions subconsciously to achieve a given state. It is also important that you write in the present tense, avoid “no” in your description (the brain can play tricks and not respond to “no”, leaving us to the opposite of what you wanted to achieve), describe the activities or actions performed, and not what “you want” ”(otherwise you focus on continuous“ wanting ”, not on completing tasks).
- From the target point, let’s go back every few years and think about what you are doing to achieve your goal, what decisions and actions you take. It may also be helpful to draw up a process schema – you have a destination point, and then you write a mind map of what must happen before, what you must do to achieve this goal.
- And you come to the moment now – what will I do tomorrow to achieve my goal? What little steps can I take now? They do not have to be big tasks – it is about identifying them with your better future – now everything you do will somehow bring you closer to this beautiful day 😊 And you must carry out the tasks written down! This will be your first step towards the goal, which you will feel as you are getting closer.
Then read this paper every day or every couple of days – meditate with the intention of fulfilling it. Imagine yourself there every time you have some doubts, get into this positive mood and find confidence in what you are doing.
What if it turns out that I don’t want to do a handicraft business?
Honestly, nothing happened! 😊 The most important thing is that you have figured out what you want to do and that you feel with all of yourself that this is the direction for you! Remember that each of us is different and we do not all have to, for example, create handicraft businesses – you can treat it as some additional income and passion. Not everyone wishes to cope with all the tasks of running a business and finally loses his original love for what he did. And that’s even worse than quitting it!
But we will come back to this in the next articles, because I wrote a big essey anyway! 😊
I hope I gave you some inspiration to think about. If you are already on your way to your long-term goal, let us know in the comments what your conclusions and thoughts are! Maybe they will be useful to other people who are just starting this process!
Have a nice day and fruitful meditation!
Aga
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- How to start with HandieU
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