June 22nd, 2010

The power of praise

I was recently hired as a social media manager for a regional company, a job that it seems I was born for. As you know, for the last two years I have been building my web design and social media business. Unfortunately, I have never been good at promoting myself so while I have managed to find some great clients, I have also been my greatest roadblock. However, through some great connections that I have made, and with the support of numerous peoplewho believe in me, I was given a great opportunity to do what I love.

The funny thing is that this has created a domino effect. Not only do I feel that I am finally being rewarded for my skills and knowledge, but I feel great about myself. I am more determined now to take over the world.

It’s funny how things work, right? How suddenly you can start to feel more positive about yourself because someone simply says, “good job” or “I believe in you!”

Don’t forget to tell your children these things every now and then. They are powerful and too often left unsaid.

June 1st, 2010

Working Wednesday: Girl, you need to focus!

I’ve been saying that too myself a lot lately. One of the problems with having so much going on professionally is that it often feels impossible to focus on everything. And while I wouldn’t say that I am spread too thin, I will say that my organizational skills as of late need a booster shot. Added to the issues focusing is the financial stress that my family is facing. I feel like I have been trying to play catch up since 2008. I was hired to do a job and the company bailed on paying me what they were supposed to in a timely fashion. And when they finally got around to paying me it was significantly less than they were billed for. To make a long story short, I learned a valuable lesson. But, to do so meant that my family would be in a sea of debt that has gotten increasingly worse.

So, I am focusing on getting paid. This means that my obligations to things that are not paying me have fallen by the wayside. And I feel HORRIBLE about that. When I commit to doing something and ALWAYS follow through no matter what. But the truth is that being committed to what essentially is volunteer work is just not paying the bills. In addition, for the last two years I have had a bartering relationship with several people but it seems like I am always getting the short end of the stick. I uphold my side of the bargain and they flake on theirs… I am not doing it anymore. It’s just way too stressful.

I was supposed to open my design studio today (Jun 1) but have decided to postpone the grand opening. Keeping deadlines is so important but I did not want to sacrifice quality to do so. It’s just not worth it in the long run. When it does launch it will be AMAZING!

*This was posted a day early!

Are you getting it together so take your business to the next level?

May 25th, 2010

Teaser Tuesday: Children of God by Mary Doria Russell

I haven’t done this in a long time but I have been reading a lot lately thanks to BookSwim.

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My Teaser Sentences

“They understood then. Runa had no access to state meat allowances, and obviously no right to hunt.”

- “Children of God” by Mary Doria Russell

May 23rd, 2010

Mamavation Monday: Me. Only Healthier. With a Recipe

I wrote before about this jour­ney being about more than weight loss. While I need to lose weight, I also want my lifestyle to be health­ier. I want to focus on cre­at­ing healthy habits and mak­ing healthy choices. The bot­tom line is that this is for my fam­ily. So, I have been spend­ing so much time out of the house get­ting active and in the Kitchen cook­ing more. And when I say that I have been cook­ing, I have really been cook­ing (read more here).