When I purchased Seth Godin’s book, ‘It’s Your Turn’, Seth issued a challenge to post a story a day. Every day. For 7 days.
I took up the challenge.
And chose to share insights into the values that influence the way I live.
And the way I run my business, The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover And Other Goodies.
For 7 days I posted to The Seth Godin Your Turn Blog Challenge on Tumblr, the posts I wrote for this challenge.
One a day.
For seven days.
Many of you read these posts.
And some of you left comments.
And now it’s time to answer the question . . .
What has this 7 day journey done for me?
The answer is . . .
Far more than I expected.
Story telling is never a problem for me. I’ve been writing stories since I was 8 years old.
But what I’ve never done is write a journal.
Ever. I never even kept a diary as a teenager.
But times have changed.
And I’m entering a new phase in my business.
After overcoming losing everything. Reinventing ourselves and starting anew. And achieving so much.
I’m now hungry to take this business to new heights.
First time around was unplanned.
My partner, Victor Pleshev, an architect, and I stumbled into this accidental business.
Without time to have a thought in our heads as to how we were going to do – anything.
We were broke.
We were thrown a life jacket.
And we just started swimming.
This time will be a tad bit different.
Because I’m building on a strong foundation.
In 1994, I wrote very little down. Because I just didn’t know where we were going. So I didn’t know how we were going to get – anywhere.
This time I know where I am.
I know where I want to go.
And the Seth Godin 7 Day Your Turn Blog Challenge taught me the discipline of writing about your thoughts – every day.
A daily blog post differs little from a daily journal.
A blog post is published online. For the world to read. So perhaps what you write is more circumspect.
A journal is published privately. For my eyes only.
And goes much further – and deeper – than a blog post.
It’s a conversation with myself.
About my most intimate insights into . . .
My thoughts.
My doubts.
My hopes.
My expectations.
And.
Although my business is a tough gig.
It’s also an adventure.
And this time I want to record my excitement, from the very beginning, about embarking on this new path.
And how I hope to achieve this new voyage down a different Yellow Brick Road.
And what I will do when I meet the Wizard Of Oz!
Writing this daily journal has kept me so focussed on what I want to do next, there’s no doubt in my mind that it will happen.
And it all started with a friend recommending a book to me that says to simply, ‘Write It Down. Make It Happen.’ By Henriette Anne Klauser.
And soon after, Seth Godin throws out the gauntlet to those of us who purchased his book, ‘It’s Your Turn’ to participate in the Seth Godin Your Turn Blog Challenge.
And you know what?
Seth Godin is right.
It’s always ‘Your Turn’.
To achieve whatever you want in life.
And every day.
Every. Single. Day.
It’s your responsibility to take ‘Your Turn’.
All you have to do is step up to the plate.
And do something that takes you one step further towards whatever goal you have in life.
Seth Godin calls it ‘shipping’
A phrase none of us associate with doing things.
But how apt it is.
Because when you’re ‘shipping’, you’re sending out to – whoever – a completed – whatever.
I ship parcels to my customers on a regular basis. If I don’t ship parcels, I don’t earn revenue. That link is so tight it can’t be broken.
I’m now creating another tight link.
Every day, I now ‘ship’ the actions I need to take to reach my goal. If I don’t ‘ship’ those actions, I don’t reach my goal.
How simple is that to understand?
But.
To reinforce what I want to ‘ship’ every day. And to ensure that the parcel is indeed ready to go.
I need to ‘Write It Down’. To. ‘Make It Happen.’
Carrying thoughts around in my head just doesn’t cut it.
It’s like going to the grocery store without a list. Need I say more!
By the way.
We all have constraints. No one is totally free to do whatever they want.
There are physical limitations. Health limitations. Family limitations. Geographic limitations. Financial limitations. Et.al.
But if you’re not going to jump over them. Or work with them. Or work around them.
And only use them as an excuse to do nothing.
That’s what you end up with.
Nothing!
~Carol, Ironing Diva❤
PS. You can read ‘Our Story. How We Built A Worldwide Business From Broke’. Here.
And this is the link to Seth’s Book, It’s Your Turn. Highly recommended.
PPS. This is a link to the Your Turn Blog Challenge Archive.
Over 1,000 people started the challenge. 4,500 posts were submitted over 7 days. So not everyone finished. There’s many reasons why people don’t finish. Other more important commitments like work get in the way. Family takes priority over writing. Or a person just runs out of something to say. If you trawl through the archive, and you want to read a post, just hover over it. Click. And the post will open up in a new tab. The platform Seth used is Tumblr. And it’s almost impossible to search for a topic. Or a person.
Reading through some of the 4,500 posts is a great way to spend time. And learn about what others think. How they do things. To me, stumbling across so many different perspectives is enlightening.
Enjoy.
I Am The Purveyor Of The Tantrum Free Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover And Other Goodies
Made with love and care in RURAL Australia by men and women who have a disability.
It’s not for everyone.
But it’s definitely for you if you’re fussy about the cover you iron on.
And if you love to support Australian made.
And want to put something back into the community when you make a purchase.
The Fitz Like A Glove™ Ironing Board Cover cover has more than 350,000 customers in 29 countries. Because it lives up to its name. It ‘Fitz Like A Glove™’ every time you iron.
And these are the ‘Other Goodies’
Like this post? Share it with your family and friends on . . .
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Have a question? Email me.
Or phone me, Carol Jones, in rural Australia on 02 63 588 511.
Photos of my rural property are courtesy of me, Ironing Diva – who is also known as Paddock Paparazzi – and taken at sunrise every morning.
Kangaroos. Mother & Child
PS. And I have a fabulous newsletter ‘A Smidgen Of Gossip’. This is what a subscriber says about it. “Carol. Just had some time to read it and found that it is, as with everything you do, rather wonderful. A great read. W” You can subscribe to it by clicking this link. It’s FREE! This is not a lifetime commitment. You can Unsubscribe at any time. Don’t miss out. Click this link now!
Kangaroos Getting Close & Personal