{"id":2839,"date":"2009-11-12T15:50:26","date_gmt":"2009-11-12T23:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/blog\/?p=2839"},"modified":"2011-07-09T16:31:45","modified_gmt":"2011-07-09T23:31:45","slug":"bringing-flow-into-my-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/2009\/11\/bringing-flow-into-my-business\/","title":{"rendered":"bringing flow into my business"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was talking to my coach the other day, and was telling her about the Church of Craft post I had written a few weeks ago<\/a>. We both noticed that, while I feel this free and open to creative experimenting (including being ok with the occasional failing), sometimes I don’t behave this same way around the creativity, progress and\/or failures in my business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In our past year or so of working together, I have gone to her to help me create movement in areas of my business where I feel stuck or stagnant. Granted, it’s a known entity that sometimes things don’t move as fast as we want them to (in life or business), but I have found that sometimes it moves, and other times I need to look at where I am getting in my own way. So she recommended I try to rewrite that post<\/a>, in a way that relates to my business. So here it goes:<\/p>\n

For me, developing and creating a successful, eco-conscious business is my creative outlet. Making time to build and grow WilloToons<\/a> is making time to allow creativity to flow through me. Keyword there is FLOW. Feeling in the flow<\/em>, witnessing & feeling the power of CREATING [something new] is powerful. This outlet is different for everyone, but for me, and my business, it’s: drawing, developing new characters<\/a>, designing new products<\/a>, making jewelry<\/a>, painting<\/a> and researching\/creating products that are in alignment with my passion for conserving the health\/well-being of people, animals, and our earth. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

By using my creativity to develop eco-friendly products<\/a> that celebrate individuality and expression, I know I am making a contribution to our world.<\/strong>
\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I also really love the amazing connection it brings me to my self, and (in my words) to Spirit. When I tap in & create space to listen, amazing things can happen. That amazing thing might be drawing a new character that will be perfect for a baby bib<\/a>, onesie<\/a> or tee, or having a great idea about how to market my message (like giving a % to Music in Schools Today, to “support Band Geeks everywhere”), or brainstorming an entirely new product line to place my illustrations & designs on, like throw pillows (aka Willo’s Pillows<\/a>).<\/p>\n

When I’m creating – designing, drawing, crafting my business plan, or moving into a new playing field with my business, like the wholesale market – I\u00a0 don\u2019t quite know what\u2019s going to happen. It\u2019s a little like jumping out of a plane, or rock climbing. I\u00a0 can only plan so much, but it takes taking that first step, and then the next, and then the next, and the process can be fun, challenging and exhilarating. What makes this so exciting is that it takes a fair bit of trust. Trusting the process. Trusting myself. Listening to myself, and trusting what my intuition is saying. <\u2013 This is the part I absolutely love.<\/p>\n

Creating, and growing a business you’re passionate about, can be scary. But when you practice listening + trusting + doing, it gets easier, and more second nature. And the good news is that there is no screwing up. And there is no \u201cperfect.\u201d :)<\/p>\n

All we can do is create and keep moving. Take that first step. And then, another. And then, another. And you know what? If you get to the end of all those steps, and you really think that it sucks, or you’ve failed (or not done it right, or perfect), SO WHAT!? You\u2019re not going to die. Nobody is going to love you less (I promise). The world is not going to end. In fact, in my opinion, the world has improved a little bit just by you sitting down & opening yourself up to LISTEN and CREATE. Not to mention that what you created doesn\u2019t suck at all, because there are so many companies out there that are either designed horribly, or are not eco-conscious at all.<\/p>\n

If you develop something that doesn’t come out the way you want, or end up making some business decisions that don’t pay off the way you would have hoped, all that happens is you LEARN. Some lessons are harder than others, but we don’t get anywhere if we don’t keep moving, trying, and experimenting.<\/p>\n

Rest assured, when you’re following your heart and listening to your intuition, you will create amazing results in your business. You are listening. You are trusting. You have passion, talent and a heartfelt mission<\/a> behind your products, and that integrity IS important, and will be recognized. Your products are uniquely and lovingly made by YOU.<\/p>\n

Dive in & allow FLOW into your business. Let *creating your business* be your creative outlet.<\/p>\n

:::<\/p>\n

This is a bit of a gratuitous post, but as with most of my self-help posts, I hope that it is helping\/speaking to someone out there who may need to make a similar shift. Please leave a comment if it has… or just to say hello. :) Thanks for reading!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was talking to my coach the other day, and was telling her about the Church of Craft post I had written a few weeks ago. We both noticed that, while I feel this free and open to creative experimenting Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36],"tags":[210,78,42,41,43,115,108],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2839"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2839"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9601,"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2839\/revisions\/9601"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2839"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2839"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2014.willolovesyou.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}