The After-Read Let Down

I started this blog after I read a book about Google.
In the book, the author strongly suggested that any successful business these days needs an online presence. Employees and owners should blog and share with customers their unique personalities so they could see the inside workings of a business in action. After reading the first couple chapters, I enthusiastically told my quietly private husband that starting this blog would be a catapult, pushing us out of the dip our recent economic slum gave us. I even convinced Sonny to put links on the bottom of the pages of his website and with conviction moved forward in emailing friends and facebooking my words for all to see. Then, a couple of months later I realized my only followers were the family and friends that would buy from us anyway, and quickly felt my efforts wane. The recipe in the Google book didn't seem to work for me.

This happens a lot.

I love reading non-fiction finance, business, and motivation books. Often I stay up all night learning how Subway started on less than $500 or how just changing some of our marketing techniques to be out of the ordinary as suggested in a book called, Purple Cow, we can launch into multi-million dollar success. I think about, dream about and excitedly plan how I'll follow the steps in these books.

Suze Orman inspires me to sell everything I can on craigslist or KSL in order to build my emergency fund, Dave Ramsey gets me thinking about moving my family into a small townhouse and getting rid of a mortgage. These authors hook me and I willingly take every piece of bait they offer. Unfortunately, they don't teach me how to react when that conviction gets thwarted-either by a husband who would actually like to keep his snowboard hanging in the garage or be able to watch ESPN on cable in order to unwind at the end of the day- or by the reality that life is, you rarely find immediate success.

I call this frustration my "after-read" let down. It is weird. The hype and excitement is there, but when you try it- and fail- it doesn't feel so good. I know, I know this is a principal in life that we all need to learn. Doesn't the saying go- "try, try again"? But sometimes I just want to allow myself to feel defeated. It is especially apparent on days that my efforts "work-wise" snowball with my failed efforts "mom-wise". When after sharing my opinions or hoping for great results with work I am shut down and then my kids turn to me and say, "Why do you make such disgusting food for dinner?" and then ask to eat cookies instead.

I don't think I would ever exchange the "glass half-full" excitement I feel while reading most of these books, but I do think I need to start being a little more conscience of the fact that the words from these authors are suggestions, and not always a fool-proof plan that best fits the life of Carolyn Hardman. So, I hope that tomorrow's visit to the library will give me some new found hope and that maybe I can work myself into the novel section for a bit. A good love story can always brighten my spirits.

It's been a year...recommitted.

It's been exactly one year since I last blogged. Wow. Apparently life has gotten busier and goals have been set, met, and re-set in the mean time. I have thought about just canceling the whole thing, but tonight while assembling packs of dream cards (a product we sell with Education:Catch the Dream- my part-time job that I also started a year ago this month), I watched Julie and Julia, again.
I am always impressed with driven women who find a niche and use their talents to better themselves or take risks. In the movie, Julie blogs about cooking every recipe in Julia Child's cookbook over a year of time. She uses her writing talent and her drive to accomplish a goal to propel her into stardom- having a book and movie created because of her story.
I love stories like this. In fact, just yesterday during our monthly Fiscally Fit Chicks meeting I was talking with Susan and Maren about how to use our talents to get extra income. I have a friend that sews dresses and sells them, another who paints beautifully and sells them at boutiques and still another who makes caramel apples every week and sells them through a couple specialty stores around town. Unfortunately the talents I have never produce products as lovely as these. So- I'm on a quest, to discover the talents I have in my 30's. (It was so much easier to realize them in my teens when I received medals and trophies proving that I actually had talent.) I hope to look a little deeper at myself and find something hidden that may help in our continuing effort to make business better, household finances fatter, and personal success sweet.
So my re-commitment to blogging will pretty much be a check for myself, to make sure I'm staying on track of my life goals, those of my family, and our business. Welcome back.