Daisy Change

In order to help you make  your year as successful as possible, I have compiled a list of my tips and go to resources to help kick start  your business. This is my new year gift to you. 

You are welcome. 

Organisation is very important to ensure that your business runs as smoothly as possible and you don't waste valuable time.That's pretty much a given, but what people don't usually think of is how important it is to have a backup plan. It's really important to spend some time working out what you will do if your business starts to fail.

Do you have some ideas of how you could get your business back on track?

Do you know where you're going? 

Gaining clarity on where you are going is super important and this needs to happen right at the beginning of your business, preferably before launch.

Also be aware that no matter how amazing your business is, not everyone is going to like you or believe in you, that is completely okay, they are entitled to their opinion, but don't let what people, even people in your close circle, think of you take you off base.

Again this is far less likely to happen if you plan for it. Have some polite but firm statements on your position rehearsed and written down for when you can't just ignore the naysayers ( because maybe the naysayer in question is a family member)

Make your statement, stay polite and focused but if the person questioning you refuses to listen, don't let that get to you. It can be so tempting the early stages of a new blog or business, to give up when people you care about don't share your dream but remember this is your dream, don't expect anyone else to see it the way you do because they won't. ( especially if your dream goes against the grain of what is deemed a proper job these days)

All of this perpetration stage could be covered if you make a business plan, even if your business or blog is not intended for making a profit, it's still a really important step. There are lots of different ways to do this, it's even possible to make a one page business plan, how you do it is not important. It's just really important that you take some time to do a bit of planning. It makes all the difference.

Not only is a good idea to connect with people in your industry, or similar industries via social media, but it is also a good idea to have a look at your friendship circle and see if you know anyone that could help you in a certain area of your business. One of my closest friends is a marketing expert. Another of my close friends is really good at coding ( something I hate) and others still are artists, writers of a different field and fantastic administrators and researchers.

Life is about helping each other and growing, if you think about  blogging, what this looks like is simply leaving genuine comments on other people's blogs. People are far more likely to check out your work if they see you care about what they have to say.

Also be engaged with your audience, if you get comments, tweets etc...make sure you reply.

I know I just said that networking is important and it is, but at the same time you need to make sure that you are only networking with people who enrich your life and business.

Once you have established the direction of your blog or business, then you should know what kind of people you want to be connected with, connect with the people who make you happy to have them in your contact list.

Don't feel like you have to talk to everyone because they might possibly be a future customer. Your focus matters but so does your health, convictions and happiness, don't compromise on any of these just to gain a new customer. 

You may gain that customer but you will lose many more that liked the real you and that is just really sad.

Trends change and grow, they evolve and take twists and turns, its important for anyone in business to make sure that they are keeping up with the trends of today so they can create the demand of tomorrow. 

There is no point in blogging about how to use video cassettes because they are now redundant for the most part.

A good way to make sure that your business is current is to see what else your customers are paying attention to and then what kind of content your competition is producing. Amazon comments can be great for this.

Life is not meant to be all work or all play. We need a balance of both in order to feel fulfilled.  I absolutely detest the idea of chasing happiness. I believe in chasing fulfillment instead. A key way of doing that is by living in the moment and enjoying the life you have and the people who are in it, and making sure you take care of yourself too. Yes, building your business is important to you, but if you don't have anyone to share your success with, then what is the point?

Family and friends matter, don't neglect them in pursuit of success. It's not worth it!

There will be times when you have to make sacrifices but don't work too hard, burning out is not going to be a good thing for you or your business.

If you don't check out any of my other resource recommendations please do check out this one, it's really important you understand what working too much could do to you.

Please take care.

Standing out is the only way to make people take notice of you. Don't be beige it's boring. Beige stays in the comfort box, doesn't take risks and doesn't make a difference. Some of you reading this will only be wanting to make success from your business, but some of you may well be looking to make history.

Did beige ever do that?

No, not unless it counts for being the most boring and depressing colour ever.

Being undecided is just not an option if you want to make it in the business world. Taking risks is just part of the deal. Running a business is hard work,beige would take the short cut, stay in the middle and be satisfied with less than the best.

If fear is an issue for you then Susan Jeffers book could be as life changing for you as it was for me.

Disclaimer :The following post is written purely from experience, if you are going through a hard time and feel the need to do so, you should seek professional assistance from the reverent sources. I am not a doctor, counselor or therapist, if you choose to take my advise you do so at your own risk. 

Before I get into this, I need to say that although I have acknowledged the king of this blog, in so much as I have asked permission to do this, I act alone in the following...

The nature of what I am about to share with you, is not something that anyone else should bare the weight of, since this is my decision, based on my own convictions.

I am sorry this sounds so dramatic, but anyone who knew the old me in person will know, drama and Hayley Esther kind of go hand in hand. I admit to this fully, and it is for the purpose of leaning into a language I have taught those that love and support me, to expect from me, that I now choose to make my exist in a dramatic fashion as the writing of this post.

I have never been more sure of anything in my entire life.

You see the happiest day of my life was and is the day that I died.

For those of you in the UK you may have noticed that the closer we get to Brexit, the more uncertain things seem to be becoming, however even in these uncertain times, let me assure there is still hope.

All you have to do is learn to die.

Let me explain,

Often times, something has to die in order for something else to live. There are births and deaths everyday, these two things are the only certainties in our physical world. We humans like seasons, just think back a few weeks ago, the end of 2018 brought on the beginning of 2019. I'm not going to labor on this point anymore, but I think you get the idea.

The fact is in life, seasons change and so things have to come to an end in order for something to new to begin.

Bottom line is in order for you lead an amazing, abundant, joy filled life, you first have to die to some things that are no good to you.

Now I know this would be the perfect place to share my faith in Jesus Christ, but that's it. This short two sentences, does just that, if you die to the world and come alive to Christ, you will experience joy on a whole other level, message me if you want details, but this post is not about that. ( This is a note for our seasoned followers)

The gospel of Jesus Christ should never be for sale, therefore there are no affiliate links in this post, but if you do want to support us, so we can focus on creating great content for you, please consider either donating or checking out my store. Thank you. Now then let's get on with it.

Before we get into it, I need to first outline 5 things you should die to in order to lead a more joy-filled life. These are general tips, my London specific tips will be up later this week.

1. You Should Die To Perfectionism

This may seem like a obvious one, but honey you are not perfect, and trying to be is only going to frustrate you and deplete your energy. That energy can be spent better else where, and the fact is that irregardless of how close you get to the mark, you will never, ever be 100% pure in every sense of the word. For starters, you can't control the fact you have breathed air that is polluted at some point in your life, not to mention all of the icky feelings you have experienced over time. Emotion is a good thing, and keeping it disciplined is important, this is true, but the fact is you won't succeed with this 100% of the time. For your own sake, let your hair down and just be who you are, not who you are trying to be.

2. You Should Die To People Pleasing

This follows on from the last point and I know it's a hard reality to accept but we can't please 100% of the people 100% of the time. Diversity means compromise, and part of that comprise means you have a right to your own mind and voice irregardless of what you are about. You absolutely should be respectful, but if you feel strongly about something you have the right to back up your beliefs with words, and actions...and what's more, most of the time you should because evil only increases when good people do nothing.

3. You Should Die To Happiness

Happiness is fleeting, it is a feeling,but fulfillment goes deeper than that. You won't be happy every second of the day even if you are fulfilled, but you will be happier a lot more of the time, just by consequence of being true to you who you are, and building towards a life build on firm foundations. Building life on any feeling is not stable, but let me remind you at this point, joy is not a feeling.

4. Die To Legalism & Come Alive To Peace

My definition of legalism is anything that seeks to create unrealistic standards with rules and regulations that go beyond the basics of what is needed to maintain the illusion of fairness. This can be in organised religion, but sometimes its not. 

Apply this to your belief structure.

Results may be varied.

Point still stands for those of you I have aimed to communicate this point with. I know my niche on this point, but forget the points and geometric shapes, they are just as restrictive, I'm sticking to flowers!

Life is far more peaceful that way!

5. Die To Grace & Wake Up To Mercy

On the flip side, where are my white nights at?

Let me just make this crystal clear for you, even if your intentions  are the best in the world, in the end, grace won't save you, mercy will. Seek the one who offers mercy and you will find the abundance of security and life they promised you. Those who trade freedom for security wind up with neither, this is a fact, but it is also true those that rely on hyper gracious freedoms will one day wake up to find they were just as trapped as those they mocked for being trapped in legalism.

For us humans, extremes are rarely good. Mercy is for sure the way to go.

I feel like I have pushed about as far as is reasonable in this post and so I am gonna leave it there for now. Expect part two later this week.

Until then,  catch us over on social media.

At the moment, Pintrest is a massive part of our every day life, but we are also on Instagram, Facebook. DevientArt  and Twitter.