My why...

"When  you feel like Quitting, Think about why you started." 

I have a firm belief that when we know why we do something we are far more likely to be successful at it. I have seen it have 2 major impacts...

1) It will drive you to continue to forward in the face of adversity.

2) It will guide you to aligned work. 

In my course Cultivate Rythms we spend an entire lesson identify the values that guide our why. 

My why is summed it in a few essential core values that I am sharing with you today. 

 Build Relationships

In all things, I do my number 1 value is to build relationships. As human beings, we desire to be seen, to be valued. For as long as I can remember whenever I am to make a decision the first thing I evaluate is whether or not the decision I am about to make is going to grow a relationship. I choose to homeschool to build relationships with my children. I host book clubs, and dinners, and plan trips for the purpose of building relationships. As you get to know me there is little I do in this life alone, I almost always plan with the question in mind of who will I invite along. Business is no different for me. As an OBM the work I do must grow relationships. That might mean the work is for the purpose of networking, building relationships with business owners. It also plays into customer service and onboarding, supporting the relationship between clients and business owners. 

 Honesty

Honesty is something I value at all times. Honesty comes in many forms, from truth-telling to transparency. One thing I value in my business is being transparent with clients. It may sound silly who doesn't love honesty? But I think if we are really truthful we all have moments when we were maybe slightly less than honest. Maybe we said we had a good day when it was really the worst. When it comes to honesty in my business, I commit to always being transparent with my clients, I do my best to give accurate timelines and be realistic about deadlines in contrast to other things on my plate. If I don't know something I will tell you so and tell you how I plan to find the answer. I also commit to being honest with myself. If there is something good or bad pulling my attention away from work I honor that and adjust accordingly. It is unfair to both myself and my client to hide how I am feeling and shove it down. I will be far more productive if I both meet my needs and the needs of my clients. 

 Growth Mindset

Having a Growth Mindset is essential for me. If I am stuck on something I don't want to be content in my stuckness, I want to grow and learn. When it comes to my business there are two ways I continue to have a growth mindset. 1) I focus on solving problems. Being honest enough to admit I don't know something is good, but I must also go seek out the answer. And that is what I do, I research, seek out someone more knowledgeable, I do what I  need to until I can answer the question. Sometimes I find that answer in the middle of the night and I am fully ok with that. I like to solve problems (that same desire makes me good at the technical side of my job) 2) I grow when I read. I'm a huge fan of books, all kinds. I read Memories to see another perspective of life, and I read self-help books to learn new thought processes. I read history books to learn from the past, and I read children's books with my kids to work out the morals in life. Constantly educating myself allows me to constantly grow in life and in the many hats I wear in business. 

 Beauty

This last one may sound absolutely silly. Feel free to write it off and believe I only have 3 core values if you must, but maybe hear me out for just a second. At the heart, I bet many of us strive for beauty in the world. I don't want something to merely be complete I want it to look beautiful. There is so much in the world that is beautiful and I want to highlight that. Knowledge is beautiful, Nature is beautiful, People are beautiful, and the way you think is beautiful. Beauty is more than just aesthetics, beauty pleases many senses. In my work, I infuse beauty by thinking through small details, just the way I'd place flowers on the nightstand of a guest. Beauty is the little touches in onboarding emails that make the process feel light to a client instead of extra work. Beauty is the smile and Thank You when you go the extra mile. Beauty is all around us and I hope to bring more of it into the daily work. 

When I feel stuck in my work I circle back to these values and I ask myself am I living them out and which one wants to be seen. Maybe I've just had a rough day going from task to task and I'm exhausted. Looking at the list I might realize that I have forgotten to connect with another human in my day. Or maybe some problem is keeping me up at night and I realize it is because I am allowing myself to be a victim to the problem instead of allowing myself to be open to a solution. 

What about you? What are your core values? Do you see them show up not just in life but in how you do business?