Remabulous

Required watching.

I was lucky and went to an all girls' school. Every girl deserves the chance to study and follow her dreams. This is our new Tip Jar charity. I give 5% of all of Remabulous's proceeds to Girl Effect. If you'd like to add to this, please click the tip jar in the top right corner of the blog. Thank you!

Domestic Bliss.

Here we have the portrait of domestic bliss as it exists most dramatically in Remabulous HQ.

Oskar has a love affair with the heat grate. He has had this love affair since we first turned the thing on a year ago October. And the entire season that it's on, he's on it.

I used to worry that he would catch on fire from sleeping on a heating panel.

I got stressed out when he got his collar stuck in it and needed help getting himself uncaught. But still, he persists.

Many of us make decisions this way. We stick with rituals and choices and behaviors that feel good even though there is a risk.

I started to worry about this idea watching him sleep on the very hot metal. Do I set myself up for pain by choosing risky but enjoyable life situations? (My mind went straight to dating on this one), but I then remembered that without risk, there is no gain. And we all deserve a really good nap, even if it's in the sun on a beach lounger and we might get burned even with sunscreen.

So I say nap on the radiator if you must. And I will remember that risk is ok in the pursuit of joy, even if my practical side balks. #8 is proving to be a challenge to the part of me that wants to play things safe.

Apparently, despite the fact that I am having a wild love affair with my kitchen, complete with new gluten free bread going in the breadmaker as we speak, having a wild love affair with a human man is another thing entirely.

We all learn from this challenge. I know I'll never solve it, but I do wish that the rules were a bit clearer.

If only any of us could date without constantly feeling that we're always doing it wrong.

That would be a real moment of bliss. I seek it. Send me your juju to help me along!

Help me make wishes come true!

Hello all. I have undertaken a challenge and I need your help. I believe I can raise $1000 dollars by this Friday. I want to donate this money to the make a wish foundation.

Here at Remabulous, we are all about dreams. I believe that if you set your mind to something there is hope. I believe that dreams are what this world needs. And sick kids need dreams more than anyone.

I want to raise $1000 for Make a Wish. If you would like to support me, please donate using the tip jar in this post or on the top right hand corner of the site.

When we help others dream, our dreams can get bigger, too.

I'll have a new cause next week, but for this week if anything I have ever written means something to you, please show your thanks by helping me help these kids. 

I had my tonsils out last February and it shut me down for a month. That is nothing compared to what these kids go through. I am honored to help them reach a dream and live well.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Make space for yourself! Are you pushing your own buttons?

Sometimes, things don't go according to plan. We cannot control the outside world, much as we'd love to, so our actions and choices as business owners, and simply as people, are limited to what we say and do ourselves. 

 

This is a good reminder. This past week,  I introduced my neighbors' chickens on the vlog. These might be the luckiest chickens on earth. Well cared for, loved, and living in a penthouse-quality coop in a beautiful garden. What a great life! As I contemplated how important it is to me that the eggs I eat come from happy chickens like my neighbors, I realized that we as business owners sometimes treat ourselves like factory chickens: no time outside, long hours "cooped up" without exercise- sound familiar? 

 

For all of us who interact with the world, we are bound to find issues, people and situations that push our buttons. Perhaps we dislike lateness, or messiness, badly treated chickens or unexpected changes in plans. These are just suggestions, but we all have our buttons and we know when they have been pushed. 

 

When we get set off, we usually go into a reaction right away. "This shouldn't be happening!" we think, or possibly "Why do I have to deal with this?" or "This is a disaster!" (on our more dramatic days) 

 

Once we get through that part, here's where we can benefit from the experience and make some positive change in our own lives. Stop to consider for a moment:

 

"Is the reason I am so upset about this because I push this button on myself?"

 

When I asked this question after the stand up date, I realized that yes, I do stand myself up all the time: missing exercise dates I make for myself, working later than I intend to and not giving myself the reward of a break or a film in the evening. 

 

It's every bit as hurtful when we let ourselves down as when someone else does it. Plus, realizing we are just as capable of screwing up as anyone else is, can help us have more compassion and patience for both us and them.

 

So this week, when you hit a roadblock and want to get upset with the world for doing this to you, give yourself space for that reaction and then ask:

 

"Is this perhaps a reminder that I could be treating myself a little bit better?"

 

Being kind to yourself and offering a treat or a free hug, as pictured above is a great way to lessen the impact of upsets outside your control.

 

Please share your thoughts and discoveries as you play with this idea in the comments below. Let's all learn from each other. 

image: kalandrakas

Benchmarks help you plot your way to success!

Lists are something of an addiction for many business owners. We love lists. We love to check things off, and sometimes are even guilty of writing something down after we have done it, just for that cross-off feeling. (No of course I would never do some thing so ridiculous! Well...) 

 

So how can we use these lists to the best advantage?

 

There are a few times a year we make big picture lists: I make big ones at New Year's and a Birthday list, as you learned above. I like to come up with a mantra for each calendar year that I follow as a theme to keep me on track and then have more specific goals for each birthday. You may have a different system: please do share yours on the blog... I love hearing how people break theirs down and, as everyone is different, your shared system may be just what someone else needs to hear about.

 

So what about the day to day goals and plans? 

 

In business, work, and in life, I find that goals are only effective when we revisit them frequently. in working with one of my coaches, I have a system in place where I make a list each week of what outcomes I want to reach that week and then each day I look at that list and see what I can do to make those goals happen. Think about it: if you only looked at your New Year's or Birthday resolutions on that day and then tossed the list in the drawer, how likely is it that you'll come to the same date the next year, be able to find the list and check each item off as complete?

 

Not very.

 

It is essential to make these list items achievable and to set them down in your calendar as benchmarks you can cross as you move through the time until you set new goals. The calendar is an excellent way to make these goals happen. Want to run a race? Then set time to run into your calendar each week. Have a big new income goal you want to hit? Break it town into intermediate goals you can reach along the way and set those in your calendar to celebrate before you get to the next level. 

 

Before long you'll have a crossed out list and a reason to be extra excited at your next birthday or New Year's party. 

 

Have goals you want to share with the public? Post them in the comments below.

image: Matito.

Out of comission today... Food poisoning in the house.

For anyone who has dealt with the unexpected hiccup in your business life, I share your pain. Stay away from funky shrimp- that is my tip of the day. And for all of us who hit bumps in the road, I offer the image above as inspiration.

Until tomorrow...

Find Your Flock and Keep Growing!

This past year has been one of huge growth and change for everyone in business. I am sure you have felt the changes and shifts that happen on a near weekly basis. For entrepreneurs, keeping up with what your customers and clients are looking for can be a full time job in itself. 

 

How can you keep on top of all of this evolution? 

 

Find your people. 

 

What this means is that, even though many of us end up holing up inside our homes in pajamas, working behind the screen and the keyboard until all hours of the night from when we first get up, you still need to leave the house, meet people who work in the same field as you and talk to them.

 

Why? 

 

Because they struggle with all the same challenges you do and odds are you each have come up with different solutions to these challenges and pooling your resources will make things better for both of you.

 

A real live example... after I had a dinner with my mastermind group of lady entrepreneurs recently I had the best week of business Remabulous has ever seen. 

 

Why?

 

Because I had talked to my people about where the stuck points were and these four other amazing and talented entrepreneurs told me what they would have done if they were in my position in my business. I went and did it and had an amazing week.

 

So how can you do the same?

image: Shahriar Erfanian

Monday Mindfulness: Boost business and morale by joining a cause.

When you started your business, didn't you think about how its existence would impact the world? Most of us who are entrepreneurs are hoping to create social change. (That's why most of us tear up when we watch the entrepreneur video that was all over the internet recently- if you haven't seen it yet, get the tissues first!)   However, as we get into business licenses, taxes, bank accounts, assessing our bottom line and getting out to network, we can easily lose sight of this initial desire.    Do you feel burnt out sometimes when you sit at your desk all day, banging out e-mail, news releases, administrative tasks and all the elements that go into running your business?   Of course you do. It's only natural.   So what's the solution? Think about what your initial dream was about your business and how you wanted to change the world through your work, find a cause or charity that is on the same page and join it.    How does this help your business? Well, for one thing, it gets you out of the house, which is a very important start. Connecting with other people who share your values is essential to stay motivated and inspired. AND, connecting with people who aren't businesspeople in the same way you are is a great way to think from a fresh perspective. I love networking with other entrepreneurs, and since we tend to think the same way, I need people who share my core values but who think differently just as much.   Also... it's often easier to solve a problem if it isn't about you. If you are helping a cause get a bigger mailing list, you will probably churn out creative ideas. It's easier to be helpful for someone else. You can then turn around and apply these strategies in your own work. Also- those you meet with will have great things to suggest, too.   And last but not least, it's so important to think about the world outside of ourselves. When you work from home it is easy to stew in your own stuff and let that take over your whole head. Our businesses have the potential for greatness, but we also need to remember that there are other people in the world, too. By reaching out and making the world a better place through a cause, we are more able to be grateful for what we have and work from that place, instead of the all too familiar stress and panic.    Let us know what causes you and your business support in the comments below. Let's inspire each other!

Design as art: lecture from MoMA's design curator Paola Antonelli

And she talks about Barcelona in this one. I think design is an under-appreciated art, given how much it impacts our world. Enjoy another magical talk from TED. I am back from Spain today, so I'm sure I will be dying to post live on my adventures tomorrow...

How can you hold onto your creativity as an adult?

I shared this video with my newsletter subscribers this afternoon, and was so enamored with it I had to share it here, too. For those of you who have heard me going on and on about how the education system we are currently living with does not foster creativity or the skills that are needed in order to live well in this world at this time, we need to look at creativity differently from the beginning. Robinson calls it a skill as essential as literacy. I agree. Happy watching. It made my week, and I am just getting started!