Three Things I Know About Reinvention
Welcome to this week’s blog. I hope you are doing okay and that you are staying safe and healthy wherever you happen to be. We are living in strange times and although certain parts of the country are exploring “soft” re-openings, we are still #artistsinresidence – sheltering in place – here in California.
I’m incredibly blessed to have a creative business today when many, many individuals and businesses are trying to figure out how to create or transition their businesses online to have more control over their destiny.
My reinvention happened because of a massive change in my own personal situation. I got laid off from my fancy corporate job at Old Navy when I was 55 years old. This came as a complete shock. I’d been at the company for over 15 years. I was a top performer. I thought I’d retire from there and get the “gold watch”. Or whatever the equivalent is in this day and age. But all of a sudden, poof! No job. No health insurance. No salary.
Many of you may be experiencing this same level of disruption because of the pandemic. I’m here to support you and tell you that you can reinvent yourself or your business during these times.
This blog is about reinvention and three things I know for sure about reinvention. Leaning into my creativity is how I reinvented myself and built a sustainable creative business online. I have no prior design or formal creative experience. I did not go to art school. My jobs in retail were all on the strategy and operational side of the business. Not in design, marketing, product development or art.
So here’s the thing. If you have a creative passion but you’ve been ignoring it, now’s the time to lean into it. If you’ve always dreamed of seeing your designs on fabric, stop dreaming and let me show you how to do it. If you have a creative business but it’s been hit hard by the pandemic, let’s talk about how to move it, or a portion of it online. If you’ve wanted to start a creative business for a long time but don’t know where to start, let’s talk about it and build a plan.
Here are the three things I know about reinvention.
#1 You don’t have to get it perfect. You just have to get it going.
I’m borrowing this expression from my friend and mentor, Ryan Levesque, of the ASK Method. He repeats this expression as a mantra throughout his programs and it’s an important reminder that making progress is what’s important. Not waiting for things to be perfect before you move forward.
You’ll learn so much more by doing and seeing what happens, than by waiting and falling into analysis paralysis. Don’t wait because it’s not “perfect”. Things are rarely perfect and getting input on them is an incredible way to learn faster.
Here’s an example for you. I was LIVE today doing a Q&A for my From Doodles to Dollars™ free mini-course and I still haven’t mastered the best audio set up for these Facebook LIVE broadcasts. Last week I forgot to plug in my earphones. I was talking for about 15 minutes before one of my students (thank you Jeanne!) told me that she could barely hear me. I realized that my earphones were plugged in but I wasn’t wearing them. DUH!
Today I did wear my earphones and, I found out later (thank you Maria), that they were making a very annoying clicking sound when I moved. My husband and I watched the replay we discovered that when the mix hits my pearls, it makes that sound. Sorry everyone!
I could have gotten all flustered. Or worse, because I know I don’t have this audio thing dialed in perfectly, I could decide to cancel these LIVE sessions until I figure it out. But no, I’ll try something different on Thursday when I’m live again and we’ll see if the sound is better. Thank goodness I have Ryan’s expression branded in my brain! You don’t have to get it perfect. You just have to get it going.
#2 We can do hard things
This is an expression I learned from Amy Porterfield. She is also a dear friend and mentor. And she invited me on stage last year at her annual live event, The Entrepreneur Experience, to talk about getting started – in my late 50s – building a creative business online. She is the brilliant online entrepreneur, and host of the podcast Online Marketing Made Easy, who taught me how to create an online course, which becomes an asset in your business that you can sell over and over again.
She is also the guru of email lists and how important they are as a foundational element in your business. I’m a huge fan and love her step by step teaching methods which you can explore by taking her free Masterclass: How to Start and Grow An Email List (without the Stress, Tech Confusion or Crazy Overwhelm ).
Building a business is hard work. Creating an online course is hard. There’s a ton involved from validating your course idea, to outlining your content, to learning how to record yourself on video, and so much more. You could become totally paralyzed thinking about the huge long list of things that you’ll need to learn. But every step along the way, as I was learning all these things, Amy would say: We can do hard things.
Don’t worry about step number 205. Stay focused on the task at hand and get it done. Then move onto the next step and get that one done. And so on. You get the point. I know it’s hard to not get distracted by the next shiny object. Or to get depressed because progress is slow. Slow is okay just so long as you keep moving forward. You can do it. We can do hard things.
#3 If you write it down, it will get done
Saving the most practical piece of advice for last, I’ve discovered that making a plan, whether it’s a to do list, or a list of the three most important tasks for the day, really works. I’m a pretty organized person and I enjoy making lists. It’s even more fun and very satisfying when I look at my list and check things off as completed! You know the feeling. It may seem silly. But it’s extremely satisfying, right?
I’m teaching a free mini-course right now called From Doodles to Dollars™. There are a lot of moving parts. Video trainings. PDF cheat sheets. Live Q&As inside a private Facebook group. Homework posts. It could become overwhelming both planning it all and then ensuring that it’s executed properly. But I have my daily planner. It’s Michael Hyatt’s Full Focus Planner. And I write everything down. This practice has become almost like a security blanket. I throw in color coded post-it notes sometimes too! These add a bit of color and dimension to my long list of tasks.
I love my lists and somehow, keeping track by writing things down really helps me calm down. I’m moving forward myself towards my own personal goals and dreams. So this is mine: If you write it down, it will get done.
As I wrap up, there is still time for you to join my free mini-course. I’ll be closing enrollment in the next day or two. But you can grab your seat and join the fun. I only offer From Doodles to Dollars™ a few times a year. So don’t miss this go-round.
#staysafe #sayhealthy #togetherathome #artistsinresidence #fromdoodlestodollars
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
