do the hard thing

flowers, cats & more renovations - begonia / Virgil & Oliver & orange mama in the upstairs bathroom / front garden / nelly moser clematis / Virgil pre-orange mama's move / second floor window box / lovely lupins / Creative Director Oliver working hard, always / not sure what this is - spirea maybe / alpine poppy front garden / new bed / shells & art / sunporch restoration / dandelions / our Itty Bitty Betty street cat ;-) 

Great people do things before they’re ready. They do things before they know they can do it. Doing what you’re afraid of, getting out of your comfort zone, taking risks like that – that is what life is. You might be really good. You might find out something about yourself that’s really special and if you’re not good, who cares? You tried something. Now you know something about yourself.  Amy Poehler

I was going to title this post "do the hard thing first" because it's become one of my everyday mantras. When I plan out my day each early morning while having coffee in bed I plan to do the hardest things first, the things that aren't necessarily always difficult, scary or challenging, though sometimes they are, but more often they're the things I'm most likely to put off, to procrastinate about and ultimately wish I'd done when the day ends (giving me good reason to be disappointed in myself, something I am trying to avoid). Sometimes things like exercise, tedious tasks (sorting tax receipts, accounting, inventory taking, filing) and/or organizational stuff, like tidying my desktop/office space before I dive into Photoshop to finish up all the final art I'm currently working on. But then I read Elise's post this early morning and thought I'd leave the word "first" off my blog post title - yeah ! plain & simple "do the hard things", do the things that make you feel scared, excited, shaky. Do the things you've been telling yourself for years that you can't do or your not good at. Do something incredible, do all the things that make you feel alive.

The first blog I visit every morning, usually with my breakfast & after my power walk on the crescent beach, is Elise Blaha Cripe's blog - I've been following Elise for as long as I can remember, she's been a huge inspiration as I've watched her build her brand and grow her own creative business in huge leaps & bounds. She has a brave & courageous heart and that's what I admire most about her. She's not afraid to try and she's not afraid to fail. She recently spoke at World Domination Summit in front of 2500 people - when she first got the call/request, naturally she freaked a little, told but said yes after some thought, prepared for it like crazy & ended up rocking' the house (or very large auditorium). She's written part 1 & part 2 about that whole experience. I am so proud of her, so impressed by her, SO inspired by her, so ... want to be like her.

I want to do the hard things. I want to try everything & anything that fuels my passion. I want to be fearless. The great thing about doing the hard things, doing the things that you know you could fail miserably at is - the more you try those scary things the easier and easier it becomes to try, do & succeed at them. Love the following quote, another of my million mantras :-)


Try again. Fail again. Fail better. Samuel Beckett