May is here and its such a lovely month. Even though April is my birthday month and it long gone now, I love May. One of the reasons I love May so much is that not only is it my mom’s birthday month, but Mother’s Day as well is this month. The ironic thing is that my mom’s birthday falls on Mother’s Day every now and again. This year her birthday is just one day shy of Mother’s Day funny enough. Nonetheless, we always do something special for both, because she deserves to be celebrated as much as possible.
I can’t believe we’re already five months into the year, but what I can believe is that there is still so much in store. 2015 is nearly half way done and the fun is just now starting for me. This year will be a big year for me, as in I have so many amazing and blessed things going that my faith has truly been renewed. I’ll be sharing more in the next few weeks as to what exactly some of these things are. As far as here on the blog and Bliss & Faith as a whole, I can’t tell you how excited I am for what’s to come. If you’re on my mailing list, then you received the newsletter yesterday morning in which I broke down some of this newness that’s happening. If not then you’re missing out, and you totally should join:
For this month’s freebie, I created a desktop and iPhone wallpaper that features a gold foil accents and the word “Believe”. I was inspired to create it because, I believe in myself now more than I have in the past two or so years. Prior to my son being born, I lived a pretty easy and worry-free life. I had a good job, nice place to live, and the only people I had to worry about was myself and husband. Once I became a mom my world got turned upside down, not necessary because I gave birth, but because life changed for me overall simultaneously. If having my son was the only thing that happened in 2013, my life would have been close to perfect. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and life gave me lemons and I had to make lemonade. My husband, myself, and brand new baby moved all the way back to Georgia from Virginia, and we didn’t have time to find a place of our own or anything like that. We were grateful to be able to move in with my mom, because my husband’s job started immediately and my new life as a SAHM did too. When 2014 rolled around, life took even more challenging terms, as my husband’s work schedule was all of the place and I decided to start my first business. All at the same time I was trying to learn how and balance being a mom with a newborn.
Looking back, that probably wasn’t the best time to be starting a business, but as usual I have to overfill my plate. 2014 taught me a lot about a lot! I think one of the main things that stuck with me from a business standpoint throughout 2014 was comparison and competition. Overall, the year was pretty good for my business, but I did have some significant (now looking back not so significant) hiccups that I had to deal with. I wrote many posts about these things, but wasn’t as transparent and open about them as I probably could have been. I spent a lot of 2014 worrying about my business and what people though/would think of it. There were some definite things that impacted my mindset, to include my confidence taking a huge jab with my graphic and web design skills. It took me nearly the entire year to bounce back from that and I now realize that it was a learning experience. I also realized that you can never let someone else’s insecurities, thoughts, and notions keep you from reaching your goals and achieving your dreams. People like to project their negative feelings on to you when they feel threatened, but its not for you to stop what you’re doing, but to do it even better! If no one else believes in you, you have to believe in yourself. I took that negativity and pushed myself to be better, more creative, and insure that I was intentional and authentic in everything I did going forward. Doubt waned, and when it did is when Bliss & Faith can into being a thought. Finally, a place that was me, well thought out, and I could take it wherever I wanted.
I’d thought about Bliss & Faith for months before launching it. I was afraid to launch it, because I didn’t want to take away from the business that I was already running. However, I knew that I needed to run a business that was truly me and that I could start from fresh on. If I have any advice to fellow solopreneurs or entrepreneurs, it would be to take your time and think out the idea, basis, and plan for your business long before you launch it. Sometimes, things get bigger than us and take off before we’re ready. This is what happened with my previous business. I opened an Etsy shop just to sell a few designs, and before I knew it I had a full fledged graphic and we design business that I kept adding to, but never thought through. I sucked not having a plan for that business, and not having thought threw it, because I didn’t know how to structure it or where to take it. When it came to launching Bliss & Faith, I knew exactly what I wanted it to be and who I wanted it to appeal to. Bliss & Faith is still a work in progress, but I believe in it and the plan I have for it. I know it will come to fruition, because I believe it. I can see being successful as clear as day; seeing is believing.
[Tweet “See being successful as clear as day; seeing is believing.”]
Everyday that I’m here running Bliss & Faith, helping and serving fellow creatives, I know I’m doing something right. No one can question me on that, and I won’t allow them to. Helping others is the most important thing to me, because I’ve been helped in so many ways by others. People have helped me so much and not even realized it, and they probably never will. I hope that I can help and inspire individuals in the same way these people did for me. I think the world would be a better place if people truly wanted to help people more. You learn very quickly in life once you hit adulthood, for some as children, that people exist to really only satisfy themselves. Its sad reality, but for the few of us that really do try, we do because we care and want to see others do better.
In business very few have this mindset, as many think its all about them. If you look at the big companies, that have the most success like Apple, they focus on how their devices can help you make your life better. Yes, they’re providing a product for you to buy, but its focused on you. For them creating an iPhone with a fingerprint scanner doesn’t really affect them in their lives, but it does add to the bank when you buy. Business is a give and take relationship, I have something you need and want and you pay money or give me something in return for it, but its still about you at the end of the day. How does it help you? How does it make yourself better? How does it benefit your business? These are just a few of the questions that I ask myself when I’m creating a new product or service to offer. If I can’t answer at least these three questions for my clients, the the idea for that product or service stays on the shelf until I can. I have to believe in every thing I do, every product or service that I have out there, because if I don’t no one will. If you don’t believe in your own stuff, people will be quick to see that they will not have confidence in you. A lack of confidence hurts your business overall, so that’s why you must always believe.
[Tweet “Business is a give and take relationship”]
[Tweet “A lack of confidence hurts your business overall, so that’s why you must always believe.”]
You see how believing is so important in many aspects of your life, whether it be personal or business. I wanted to provide different viewpoints in this post on how believing impacts your relationships with other, the success of your business, and how you handle certain challenging situations in your life. I may have digressed a little throughout this post, but felt it was relevant to really get my point across: Believe in yourself.
And now, just for you this month’s freebie! I’ve created both desktop and iPhone versions of the Believe calendar wallpaper, so that you can stay encouraged at home and on the go. For the iPhone wallpaper, I included a lock screen version with calendar and a home screen version without. I hope you enjoy the freebie and feel free to share and share alike!
[Tweet “I just downloaded @blissandfaith’s May freebie, drop by to get yours!”]
