This post is less of a "Hey, look at me and what I'm doing"
and more of a
"I need to stop and remind myself I'm on the right path; but it's more of a tightrope, and it takes everything I have not to look down!!!"
A week ago I landed in NYC: 6 days of meetings, unveiling of work at the British Consulate, and taking in as much of the energy and inspiration that I can whilst I'm away from all who are dear to me: my family.
It's during these visits that I allow myself to 'stop' and try and take stock of what I'm achieving and, more importantly, come home a little more focused and ready to take on the next challenge. And I was adamant that the months ahead have to be less frenetic, prioritise more family time, not be afraid to say 'no', limit my financial outgoings and be smarter with my time.
So, within 48 hours of arriving home, I said 'yes' to attending a key overseas exhibition early in 2017, 'yes' to delivering work within a too-tight deadline, answered business calls and responded to e-mails 'out of hours', was interviewed for a national magazine even before I'd unpacked, and today I was informed that I'd been successful in my application for an exhibition stand at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2017! Well, I'll certainly be busy - but how on earth am I going to afford this/manage the logistics: AM I MAD?!!! That's debatable, but I'm certainly juggling a lot and I'm feeling a little overwhelmed how I'm going to achieve it all. (Did I mention that it's also half-term, and have three children here I'm barely acknowledging!)
I've stated this many times: there is no pot of gold that's funded me and my business efforts this year. Every penny of profit in, has gone straight back out again, and this 'seat of the pants' stuff is exhausting! How on earth do people get through it?
I really do need 2017 to be a little more stable and a lot more planned, but isn't this uncertainty, pushing of boundaries and terrifying rollercoaster exactly the pain that any new business has to go through in the early days? I am certainly determined, hard-working, 'happy' to take risks and I couldn't be more single-minded, but I am also terrified!!!!
I'm taking a big breath, a step (however small) and I just have to believe I'm going in the right direction, as long as I DON'T LOOK DOWN!!!