Business Boutique is one of the coolest, most fun and life-changing things I’ve come across recently! If you are like me, a woman who wants to succeed with her ideas and dreams, you’re going to love this!
Business Boutique is all about “Equipping women to make money doing what they love.”
And they’re not kidding! My blogger and entrepreneur friend Mel of Glammed Events and I went to a Business Boutique conference with founder Christy Wright and Dave Ramsey in San Antonio and the energy in the room was LIT! Haha!
Ok, it was lit in part because emcee Nicole Walters KILT it hosting the event and making us laugh!
But can you imagine getting paid to do what you love? Whatever it is that you’re passionate about could lead to a successful business!
That photo of Nicole Walters is from a tweet that said:
“It is a blessing to live in my purpose! Having a BLAST at #businessboutique with @DaveRamsey & @ChristyBWright!” Tweet by @NapturalNicole
Am I living in my purpose?
We are most productive and successful when we are living in our purpose, like Nicole tweeted about. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that actual quote somewhere and it’s a truth that resonates with me in a big way. I believe we were created to do good things that God prepared in advance for us to do! It even says that in the BIBLE!
And I don’t want to miss out on ALL THE THINGS!!!
The problem is sometimes we get bogged down doing exactly that — too many things. And sometimes they’re not all tied to our purpose or to what God called us to do. No wonder we feel run down and unmotivated sometimes.
When we’re busy all the time doing things we’re not passionate about, it drains us. The good news is we don’t have to stay in that place indefinitely. I love that Business Boutique helps equip women figure out what it is that we love and are good at so we can do THAT as a business!
For me, and maybe for you, the dream is to make money doing what we love so that we can bless our families and impact the world.
Do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life
One of my favorite quotes says “if you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.” When my friend Mel and I arrived in San Antonio for Business Boutique, we found a photo booth with these awesome signs! Check out the quote on the one I picked up:
Find ways to do more of what you love and less of what you don’t.
Yes! Exactly! That’s what I’m talking about!
And I think the key word here is FIND.
If we keep living in survival mode, we’ll never live out this quote. We need to FIND the time and FIND ways to make it happen.
I could probably write a whole book about everything I learned at this Business Boutique conference. But I want to share with you these things that really impacted me. I wrote them down in my notes and highlighted the heck out of them.
Honestly, these things are changing the way I work on my dreams and goals, and I hope they inspire you today!
Top 5 Things I Learned about Planning at Business Boutique
#1) Have a Plan (duh. hahaha!)
I’ve heard this before, but it helps to start with the end in mind. What’s your BIG DREAM? Is there something you’d love to do, but can’t imagine it ever being possible? Do you have an idea that it would honestly take God’s intervention for it to even have a chance? I feel like that in my life right now!
I’m trying to balance a full time job as a radio personality (which I love), plus serving at my church with worship and singing (which I also love). Then, I’m working on this passion project that is my blog (thanks for reading it!) As you can guess, I love it, too. And on top of all that, I’m also trying to be a good wife and mom. I’m trying to love my home so it doesn’t fall apart with laundry and dishes. We’re taking care of our guinea pig, Colin Bobby (yep, my kids named him! Ha!) And I’m also daily reminding the kids to keep their rooms at least semi-decent. (*whew!*)
With ALL THIS STUFF GOING ON, I’m learning that if I don’t have a plan, it takes a split second to go from “I just woke up and it’s a new day” to “chicken-with-her-head-cut-off-panic-mode.”
I don’t like those split seconds. And I’m finding that planning and goal-setting are making a HUGE difference. We’re looking ahead at what needs to be done. My hubby and I are communicating and making sure the things that are priorities don’t fall through the cracks. And I’m not a naturally organized planner kind of person, but the more I try my hand at it, the more I LOVE it!
So join me and try it!
If you’re new to goal setting and planning (or it’s just not your strength, like me), try these simple tips:
- Have a brainstorming session and dump all your ideas, plans, to dos, on a paper.
- Move the important stuff to a to do list.
- Write down yearly goals for yourself and with your spouse for your family.
- Write down monthly goals
And if you’re already super good at this, I’d love to hear how YOU plan! Share in the comments below!
I have to give a shout out to author and speaker Chrystal Evans Hurst. I got these tips and productivity hacks on her podcast episode “The Girlfriends Guide to Getting Things Done.”
#2) Start with your Strengths
This is super simple! What do people compliment you on? Are you super organized? Do you bake? What are you good at that you could teach, pass on? Think about things that come easy to you. And if nothing is coming to mind, ask your family and friends! Sign up to volunteer and try different things. You never know! There’s a passion there and you’ll get SO excited when you find it and start making an impact! I’m excited for you!
#3) Give Value
You have something that no one else has. It could be the way you see the world, how you find good in people, or how you want to help others. There is something of value that you can offer and that potential fountain of life and ideas could just be stagnant water unless you PLAN! My hubby often quotes his mom saying “the best ideas are sadly in the cemetery.” Don’t let your ideas and dreams go with you to the grave!
Take a moment today to think about the things you bring to the table that add value (and beauty) to the people around you. Then, brainstorm ideas (that you could then turn into goals and to do action points)!
You are valuable! And the value you give can change the world!
#4) Be Diligent
It doesn’t do any good if we dream all day and do nothing. That’s why I LOVED that Christy Wright at Business Boutique encouraged all us dreamers to PLAN! Be diligent! Once we know we have strengths, talents and abilities that God has given us, the next step is to plan! And then be diligent to do even if it’s a little bit every day.
Of course, when we set goals and have a plan, it’s awesome to do this! As you go checking things off the list, you feel empowered and motivated to do more!
It works! Share in the comments how you stay motivated and on top of your goals and plans.
It’s so easy to look around and think, whatever, all those other people can do it. My contribution doesn’t really matter.
Ok, you know what? Those are LIES!!!
What you do matters. Who you are matters. The kind of wife, mom, daughter and friend we are matters. The working mom, stay at home mom and mompreneurs that we are matters.
So let’s do everything we do like it matters … because it does!
I get tired and I sometimes feel like not even trying anymore. Just last night, I was asking my husband, am I doing this right, trying to plan and schedule and do it all? Are we on the right track?
I was on a Twitter Chat for bloggers last night (Thank you, Blog Elevated!) The topic was PLANNING (can you believe it??? Perfect timing!) I was stoked! But one thing they shared was that if our family is suffering because of our busy work schedule, then something’s off. We need to make sure that, while we strive to do work like it matters, we keep our family time and personal time scheduled and planned as well.
The people we love are the ones who matter most.
And one more bonus tip!
Start with what you have.
Share wisdom. Invest time.
Build people up. Mentor.
Man, I’m fired up now and I’d love to know what you think. Post in the comments below. Can’t wait to hear from you!
Laughing (and building dreams) thru life,
Coppelia
One more thing!!!
If you loved reading about Business Boutique from my point of view, check out Christy Wright’s own book!
This is my Amazon affiliate link, so if you click and buy, I get a small commission at no extra cost to YOU!
Check it out!