business – one pair of shoes at a time

just do it

I know Nike got there first. It is a great slogan and fits the brand. But how many of us take it on board? How many online courses you have subscribed to but never finished? How many books you have bought but never read? How many workbooks half completed? How much time do you spend planning and how much time do you spend doing?

Somebody recommended this website to me today. TheDoLectures.com It is wonderful, I have spent ages there and am about to tick something off this year’s list “attend a festival” by buying tickets to The Good Life Experience festival in September. While I was browsing around the site I found their manifesto.

“The idea is a simple one. That people who Do things, can inspire the rest of us to go and Do things too. So each year, we invite a set of people to come and tell us what they Do.”

How simple and how amazing at the same time is that? But it only works if there are people who DO things, and sadly there are less of them than you think. I fall into the mainly “not doing” category. I am big on ideas and grand plans and less good at getting down to the job in hand. It is a constant source of friction in our marriage. I am a great compartmentaliser and can literally and metaphorically close the door on something I don’t want to do and pretend it’s not there.

I have had several attempts at businesses, some successful but dull and some fascinating but not successful. I have managed to write one reasonably successful novel (not going to live in the Bahamas on the proceeds however) and create an innovative planner which is loved by most users, but there are not enough of them! Notice the last two. They are physical things that need to be sold. I hate marketing, I hate sales and I hate asking people for help (The Art of Asking by Amanda Palmer, formerly of the Dresden Dolls is a very good read if you are like me). And I am also fundamentally lazy and am very good at putting off until tomorrow and firmly believe that James Bond was right and Tomorrow never Comes 🙂

I need to practice Doing. But how? Well each to his own and what is working for me may not work for you, but trial and error and you will find your own route. The key is to just do it, to start doing and stop planning.

I love routine and order. I like everything to be in its place and always tidy my desk at the end of the day. It may be chaotic during the day but when I return to it in the morning I want a clear desk to start the day. So I played to my strengths.

I adopted a Bullet Journal Lite (excellent introduction to Bullet Journals here). I don’t use the index but I do use the two ribbon markers a lot. I don’t have a diary element – I have appointments that go well into the end of the year and early next year I need a proper diary. Isn’t she lovely?

But I have monthly lists and daily lists. At the beginning of each month I write down the things I have to do and the things I want to do. It doesn’t matter how big or how small they are, I just get them down. Big ones can be broken up during the course of the month into manageable chunks.

Each day I write the things I have to and want to do checking against the master monthly list to ensure at least one of the beasts on there is going to be addressed. I also add the things I expect myself to do every day. Specifically, journal, gratitude, meditate/House on the Right Bank (Mindstore) and walk. With the exception of walking all of these have to be done before I do anything else (apart from making my cup of tea). I need the discipline of a morning routine to make sure I do them everyday. Everything goes in the Bullet journal. Meeting notes, lists of blog ideas, holiday checklists etc. So there is the horrifying risk that it could be lost taking my life with it. But hey ho, I can live with that.

By playing to my need for order and routine I am now starting to DO rather than just talk and plan. I have finished two online courses and read two business books and two novels. I have completed several knitting and crotchet projects and the building work we are having done at the moment gave me an idea for a very simple but I think rather good business idea.

Are you doing or talking?

Love Gillie x

One year on. Remember this?

and this?

Well now it looks like this.

In fact that is a mere fraction of what has gone. As I write I have six more bags to go to charity and the Singers have been dispatching some of the Boss’s clothes on Ebay. So what next? What have I learned?

What next? Well there is still a huge amount to go. The Boss is slowly working through his wardrobe and I will have to work at his pace. The study still has far too much in it and there are a few black holes around the house to which we have been turning a blind eye. The videos and CDs are a case in point. But as the house has emptied we have begun to turn our attention towards the garden. I have plans to turn our garden into a mainly physic garden where all the plants are either medicinal, edible or have other practical uses. Meanwhile the Boss has finally got on top of the meadow and is planning the wild flower border around it. Currently it’s mainly vetch, poppies and cornflowers, but give him time.

What have I learned? How long do you want me to go on?

Don’t give up Like learning to play a musical instrument it is hard at first. You can see other people knocking off a snazzy sounding concerto whilst you are still struggling to coordinate your left and right hand sufficiently to get three notes out in the correct order. But everybody has to start at the beginning. Everybody has to practice, practice, practice before they are a master of the art. Decluttering is no different.

It does become easier. Trust me, you will come to a point when you are instinctively picking up things that you don’t want or need and putting them in the charity bag or recycling.

Let go of guilt. Just because it was a gift or a family heirloom does not mean that you have to keep it. Offer the latter to somebody else in the family to caretake if it will cause a ruction. So you bought a dress and have never worn it but keep it because you feel you must. Don’t. Let it go. Sell it on eBay BNWT!

Space is beautiful. The things you love can shine when they are bordered by space, space in itself is something to love and cherish.

Don’t clutter it up the space. My entire summer wardrobe fits in less space than my shirts used to take up. My bookshelves contain books I want to read. I know every shoe I possess, I no longer open a shoe box and look at the contents with surprise.

As I decluttered my belongings I decluttered my mind. Now I can’t promise that this is true for everyone or that the two were actually connected. I suffer from acute and severe depression, the kind where all is well and suddenly for no apparent reason the lights are all turned off. I made an active decision after a particularly nasty attack that I was going to think differently. Thus it is quite possible that my mind declutter is down to that. Either way. This year I have gone from unsure what to do with my life stay at home mum to published author with a second book in the works; professional tarot reader; workshop facilitator and have plans for a small handmade toiletry collection. As I decluttered I became more focused. The things I focussed on were not those that I had expected but I am loving life and have big plans for the future.

Not everyone likes it. A bit like losing weight and discovering that not all your friends are as keen on the new you. I have been told all sorts of reasons why “they” can’t do it; why “they” could never let go of books (heaven forbid!) and so forth. Maybe they really can’t or maybe they are jealous. Whatever the reason it has nothing to do with me so I shall continue my path.

I have discovered my own style. As I have let go of things that I didn’t like, need or want I have discovered a style that is mine and I like it.

I have made some amazing friends and some incredible business contacts. I have discovered crossovers and potential joint projects with people I probably would never have met had I not started, and gone public with this journey.

I have more time. I can’t explain this one, I still live in the same house, I still have the same family. Perhaps it is more that I am more mindful of my time, I don’t fritter it away. As I am only keeping things I cherish I am learning to cherish my time as well.

And finally, I did it because I wanted to. You have to want to.

Tag: business

just do it

decluttering changed my life