Inspiration is Everywhere - Look For It

The past 7 days have been packed with inspiration for my business. You know what that means, right? Tons Of Ideas! Frankly, too many ideas for my little designer brain to handle at the moment.

One of the things I know that I need to do for my business is to make a video, and that terrifies me. Me, my face, my voice, on a video? Cha, right! I will come up with a million excuses why I can't.

Sound familiar? Do you make excuses for things that you KNOW would help your business grow?

Breakdown the Feeble List of Excuses

Here's my list:
1. I don't like my hair.
2. I don't know how to make a video.
3. I can't pick a topic.
4. I don't have a nice background.
5. I don't have time.
6. My Minnesotan accent... blah!

I have more ridiculous excuses but I think you get the idea. Of course, you know just as well as I do that those excuses are all a huge load of crap.

I'm self-sabotaging. Do you do this too?

Rip Off The Band-aid

The other day I was in a FB group and mentioned that I'm a huge chicken when it comes to making a vlog post or video for my business. Sensing my wish-washy-ness, I was challenged by Brandee Sweesy to make a video. Immediately.

::GROAN::

Fortunately, I can't turn down a challenge. That's part of my personality. Reverse psychology also works very well on me. My family abuses that one quite a bit.

Still... it's tempting to blow it off.  In my head, I'm already arguing with myself. "You don't need to do this."  "Wait until next weekend and get your hair done."  "You can't do this outside, you look like Where's Waldo in your hat." And the one that attacks me the most is "You have nothing to offer that isn't already out there."

BUT, everywhere I look I'm suddenly seeing motivation and inspiration. It's all over the place and I don't just mean those motivational quotes people throw out on facebook. I mean yesterday I saw a clip of my favorite author of all time, Neil Gaiman, give the best advice ever!




Even after that, the little voice in my head is trying to shut me down. Until last night.

The Butt-Kicker

Get ready for me to talk about my kid.

My daughter started going to a small private school 5 years ago. She was in the 4th grade. When the Christmas Concert rolled around, she was terrified.  I watched my baby shuffle up on stage with her class, trying to make herself as small as possible. Her eyes were huge in her little paper white face and her lips barely moved. We thought she was going to faint! Being in front of a crowd is something she has always struggled with.

Fast forward 5 years. Last night was the Christmas Concert. My girl is in 9th grade now and sings with the Sr. High class. As I was reading the song list, I saw that there would be a song sung by a small group of the Sr. High girls, and about fell off my chair when I saw my daughter walk up and sing with just a few other people. We. Were. Amazed.

To me, that was more inspiring than any random quotes or even my man Neil on a video clip. If my daughter can face her fear and sing in front of a crowd of people, I should be able to sit for a few minutes in front of a video camera.

So look for it next week. Me and my hat, in the snow, stuttering. It's gonna be good!

My Challenge to You

What is it that you KNOW you should be doing to further your business? I want to know. Tell me in the comments what it is that you are making lame excuses for and list the excuses.

Let's see if we can obliterate those bullsh*t reasons together!
{Please excuse my swearing but that's exactly what they are.}

I hope you enjoyed this post :) Want more? Just enter your email address below and hit the subscribe button for free updates!

Subscribe to the Branding & Beyond Newsletter