Change In Your Life. Do You Yearn For It?

Do You Yearn For Things To Change In Your Life?

 
Do you feel like you’re juggling balls and getting nowhere?

You’re not alone!

I’ve just spent 7 days on a business webinar. Saturday to Friday. 5:30am to 7:30am.

It wasn’t about the nuts and bolts of how to run a business.

But about mindset. And how to focus your mindset so that you can run your business like a pro. Full of energy. Optimism. And enthusiasm.

What I learned there. Much of which is a repeat of what I’ve learned over 28 years running this business. ~ Repetition is good! ~ Can be applied to your everyday life.

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mum. Which. Is the most important. And hardest. Business on the planet.

Or a business owner. Member of staff. Author. Musician. Teacher. Et al. Who has hit a dead end. Because the grind has become too much. And inspiration just isn’t flowing as it used to.

What you need to understand is that this rut. Which happens to us all. Is all to do with mindset.

Your mindset is everything.

It’s what gets you out of bed in the morning.

Or keeps you under the sheets. Reluctant to crawl out from under them to face the day.

Because. You’re feeling trapped. With nowhere to go.

Your mindset is what will pivot you in a new. And better direction.

If.

You’re prepared to put in the work to make things happen.

So far. There are no fairy godmothers. Magic pills. Or silver bullets. In life.

Unless you’re the authors of ‘The Secret’. Or ‘The Law of Attraction’. Or any methodology which espouses success before work.

Just so you know. The only time success comes before work. Is in the dictionary.

Trawling through members’ posts in the private Facebook group of the webinar I attended. I read so many posts from people expressing their lack of motivation. Lack of inspiration. Lack of energy. And their chronic condition called ‘procrastination’.

It’s a malaise of modern-day life. We don’t think our lives are exciting enough. Or interesting enough. Or free enough.

Perhaps we have too much time to think about ourselves. Rather than being out in the fields picking cotton from sunup ’til sundown.

But it’s a malaise that can be treated.

Not easily. But if worked at. The work you put into treating it. Will change your life. Forever.

I guarantee it.

Jim Rohn. Who for decades until he died in 2009. Inspired people to step up to the plate. And make the necessary changes in their life that will take them up into the top 5% of people who accomplish what they want to achieve.

He had a simple approach to the mindset that brings change into your life.

The simplicity ends there.

Making a change in your life is the hardest thing to do.

Because.

Your brain doesn’t want you to change. Your brain’s primary function is to protect you from harm. To keep you as you are.

That’s how it’s wired.

And.

It doesn’t like being rewired.

It will throw every obstacle in your way. To maintain the status quo.

Trying to change is like climbing a rock wall. Very few people try it. And very few of those very few. Succeed.

But.

If like most people. You reach the stage where you’re at rock bottom. And life really doesn’t seem to be worth living as you are. You will probably actively seek ways to change how you live.

The good news is. You’re in control.

And the more exciting you visualise your outcome. The more likely you are to succeed.

The operative word here is – exciting.

I need to tell you that.

If the change you want isn’t exciting enough to make a significant change in your life for you to stick with it. It’s not going to happen.

This is a daily. Lifelong. Commitment. Not something you do for 30 days. And then go back to your old ways.

Most people who are successful at change. Do it in increments.

This is my story.

On a day in July. My life changed in an instant.

A police car chase at high speed through the streets of Pyrmont in Sydney Australia. Resulted in me. A pedestrian. Being crushed between the bumpers of two cars. When the car being chased. Went out of control. And crashed. Without ever applying its brakes.

I survived. Fortunately. But both my legs were literally crushed.

The healing process was long. But the upside is. Although they came close to being amputated. 9 operations. And a bone graft. Keeps them attached to me.

To keep them strong. And in good shape. I became an early morning walker. On the streets of Balmain. Where I lived.

You know the saying. If you don’t use it. You’ll lose it.

When we moved to the bush. Onto a large and remote rural property. Walking became more problematic for me. I no longer had the choice of which route to take. I could no longer go in any direction. To see something new every day.

So I languished. And my legs suffered. I could feel them losing strength.

A friend was a photographer who owned a camera shop. Photography was something I was always interested in. But was less than thrilled at having to send film away. And not be able to see the results for many days.

My friend suggested I buy a digital camera. Which was new on the market at the time. So I can see instant results. And take the camera with me when I walk the property. Because. There is always something happening with wildlife.

My first camera was a simple Canon point and shoot. And it changed my life. Literally.

Everywhere I pointed my camera. There was something exquisite to shoot.

The rising sun. Kangaroos jumping fences. Kangaroo joeys jumping in and out of mum’s pouch. Hundreds of species of birds. The resident raptors. Scary wild boars. Plus. Mumma boar and her piglets. Playful foxes. My BIG sky. And the natural bush.

I graduated to a better and more powerful digital camera. A Panasonic Super Zoom. For long distance wildlife shots.

So the quality of my photos increased.

I started posting a photo every day on social media. And acquired a following. Who. Expected to see a photo. Every. Day.

Some of my photos were shared with big sites like RM Williams. The ABC. And followers posted them to their own social media pages.

It reached the stage where going out every day became an adventure.

What would I see?

Since then. I’ve taken over a million photos. Many are used on my website. On social media. And some have appeared in magazines.

The big surprise. Was when I converted my photos into jigsaw puzzles. Which are now a product on my website.

Jigsaw Puzzles By The Paddock Paparazzi

Why jigsaw puzzles?

Almost daily. Someone asks me if I do a calendar. No! I don’t. Because calendars are done to death. How many calendars do you need in your home? Or office?

But jigsaw puzzles? The sky’s the limit.

These puzzles are produced in rural Australia. Come in 3 sizes. One with big pieces for very young children. Another with smaller pieces for older children. And 500 pieces for adults.

People love them because these are scenes of the real rural Australia. And can’t be purchased anywhere else.

For me. The excitement of what I’ll see each morning at sunrise. Propels me out the door. Rain. Or shine.

Combined with. The expectation of my followers. That they will see. Every day. A lifestyle that many yearn to live.

A life away from the rat race.

I am living their dream.

I’ve created slideshows. Videos. Galleries.

And use my photos in all my communications with my customers.

Because I needed to make a BIG change in my life. I’ve learned new skills. Created a new product for my business. And meet new people almost daily. Who love my photos.

Plus.

My daily walks. Up and down hills. Keep my legs strong.

There is no downside to making this change.

Unless. Of course. You don’t like getting up early enough to be out before sunrise. Which is when the light is simply sensational.

The changes made to my life simply by reaching for a brass ring. And buying a digital camera. Are testament to Jim Rohn’s philosophy that ~ if you will change, everything will change for you.

If you want change in your life. You have to change yourself. And to change yourself. You have to have a BIG reason to make it happen.

And that reason has to be so big. And so exciting to you. That it makes a significant difference to your daily life.

You can’t change your family. You can’t change your co-workers. You can’t change the company you work for.

But you can change your mindset about how you will react to them.

If. You want to. Badly enough.

Marie Forleo tells a story about how she did just that when she first started out in the business world. After uni.

She didn’t like her job. Or the people. Hated going to work. But had no choice. Because she needed to work.

For her. Making the decision to change her mindset about her job and the people. To look for things to appreciate. While keeping in mind this job was only temporary. Saved her sanity.

And is what started her on the path to becoming a major player in the personal coaching industry.

You can change how much you weigh. You can change from being a smoker. To a non-smoker. From being a drinker. To a non-drinker. From being a couch potato. To being more physically fit.

If.

You can visualise an outcome that makes a BIG. And. Significant difference. To your daily life.

The reason people fail at making changes in their life is because they can’t visualise an outcome that’s BIG enough. And exciting enough. And interesting enough. For them to want to rewire their brain.

Because they know. Subconsciously. That wrangling with their brain is ~ hard work!

In primary school. We’re taught to conform. Not to dream. Not to have too many big ideas.

And our brain is happy to keep us confined to that corral.

As adults. We pay the price for that. We’re bored. And chronically tired. Because we don’t dream big enough.

And we’re bereft of the belief that a big idea could have any worth.

Because.

We’re still confined to that small corral from our school days.

The ball. Right now. Is in your court. What’s the first thing you’re going to do with it?

Carol Jones, Ironing Diva❤️

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Who am I?

I am an ex-New Yorker. Who happily calls Australia home. I am also a daughter. A younger sister. A long-standing partner of a significant other. A businesswoman. With a quirky view of how business should be done. I am addicted to my computer. Am a software junkie. LOVE technology. But rarely use a mobile phone. I can sew. Embroider. Knit. Crochet. I’m also an experienced DIYer. Who owns my own power tools. And a toolbox full of the best gadgets a gal can have for getting the job done. I’m an adventurous cook. A keen gardener living in a challenging environment. An amateur photographer of landscapes and wildlife. A perennial student. An avid reader of everything from War and Peace. To trash and trivia. I’m outspoken. Yet discreet. I’m both tolerant. And intolerant. I’m known to not turn the other cheek. Or a blind eye. Life is never dull with my canine and feline menagerie. I’m a huge lover of birds. And all the wildlife that visit me every day on my 100-acre rural property. And I’m also a semi-hermit. Because I absolutely revel in my life of solitude ~ at the top of my mountain.

Me and my partner, Victor Pleshev, an architect. Did what everyone said we couldn’t do. Poor as church mice from the 1992 ‘recession we had to have’. We built a worldwide business from broke. Long before the internet and email came to our rural village. It took a massive amount of hard work. And equal amounts of sacrifice. Combined with a mindset that everything is a can-do. The reward? 500,000 one-on-one customers. In 30 countries. The icing on the cake? Every product is made with love and care in rural Australia by our super-heroes. Men and women who have a disability.

You can read How We Built A Worldwide Business From Broke here.

Life Behind The Scenes With The Ironing Diva are my stories. In no particular order.

These are random stories about my business. My customers. My life in rural Australia perched atop a remote mountain. And how. If you put your mind to it. It’s always possible to turn a sow’s ear into a silk purse.

~Carol❤️
 

Swifts Creek
Life At The Top Of The Mountain
 

A stormy sky on top of the mountain. Click on the photo to enlarge.
 
 
 

Our mountain top is 37 stories above the road. This is sunset in the valley below. Click on the photo to enlarge.
 
 
 

The 800M road to the top of the mountain snakes around the bends until it gets to the top. Click on the photo to enlarge.
 
 
 

The Baby Elephant. This is a paddock sculpture at the house. A weathered tree trunk. That looks just like a baby elephant. Click on the photo to enlarge.
 
 
 

White Cockatoos. Having a hissy fit. In a thunderstorm. Click on the photo to enlarge.
 
 
 

A butterfly. Perched atop a house frame. Supervising. During construction. Click on the photo to enlarge.