Shifting Gears

I am now officially going through the very first "down period" since I set up shop. It has the potential to unnerve me and distract me from focusing on what is truly important but I will not let it.

The project I had earmarked to work on now has been postponed so I hve found myself with a lot of time and no project pressing me right up to it. So what do I do?

I have to learn how to work smart. I have to discipline myself to get into the habit of creating work not wait around to execute other people's ideas. Otherwise, all I am is a conduit, merely executing stuff on behalf of others who are brave enough to create.

Creation is where the money is. There is a lovely piece of land in the Blue Mountains waiting for me to come up with an idea good enough so that my name can be written on the land title. There are millions of dollars waiting to be directed to my bank account if only I come up with an idea worth it's worth in cash.

God gave us talents for us to invest and earn from. I need to be planting good stuff instead of sitting and looking on my lot and waiting for it to get bigger all on its own. It's the proverbial story of the talents.

So I am going into 1st gear... I am shifting down to increase compression to build the foundation to get off speedily. I am working with my brain and tapping the networks I have.

Who said business is not for creatives? To survive, one has to be nothing but creative (well balanced with some sound business sense).

A Ten Minute Reprieve

I am sitting on a huge verandah on a lovely beachfront vacation home in Discovery Bay (one of my favourite cool out towns in Jamaica) and taking a few minutes just to breathe in the middle of the most hectic period since I have opened shop.

My biggest event to date is on this weekend (tomorrow in fact) and I am just sitting and watching the rain as it challenges my calm. It is in fact an outdoor event and several millions are invested in this project.

I have to check the way that I work. I need staff on a regular basis, not just intermittently. I dont want to get used to working alone and doing all the work by myself. There is nothing to be gained from sole proprietorship but heart attacks and vacationless existence. I want to build an enterprise that can stand up on its own without me. The way I see it, I have a few years to hire and train some people and getting a sustainable system in place.

I have three temp team members with me here. One is my brother who begins university in the fall and the other two are assistants from a previous job. It is my hope that I will be able to hire them one day.

I just turned 27. My birthday came and went as I worked my ass off as a business owner. I drove in pissing rain for 5 hours and almost went over a precipice with my brother and two assistants in the car. Not exactly a happy birthday. But I am one year closer to achieving dreams I have had for a very long time. Give thanks.

So, with a sense of peace, I sign out, in the midst of a lot of chaos around me. God is good. All the time.