Getting back in the saddle

Getting back in the saddle

It’s been a while since I’ve been around. A lot has happened over the past year. I’ll share some of it, the rest is very personal and may well be shared through my learning experiences and comments. I’m not sure I’m wiser. I’ve just got 10 months more life experience!

Getting back on your bike

Getting back on your bike

Getting back in the saddle isn’t easy though is it? We get out of habits, we lose focus, and we can’t always see how we can do what we used to. So, with all my good intentions since the new school year, it’s only now, that I feel ready and able to get back on my bike and start the next part of my journey.

A lot of change has happened this year, which has been very tiring. I’ve also had flu which knocked me out for a few months. We all have reasons for not doing what we’d planned at the start of the year. Some of us make excuses out of the slightest knock or bump that crosses our path. I’m not saying I haven’t made some little excuses, I’m just holding my hand up and saying it’s been tough. Really tough.

A brief update of 2013:

  • We’ve moved house.
  • I think I’ve finally grieved for a person I care about
  • My eldest son has started secondary school
  • I’ve accepted I can’t affect lots of things in my life and business
  • I’ve learnt not to take on too much contract work whilst running and developing a small business

So, this week, I’m back in the saddle. Picking up the route map where I left off, and adjusting it for external factors before moving off again. I’m going to concentrate my efforts on the things in life and business I can affect. It’s going to take time in this new planning phase, but it’s always well worth spending time at this phase of a project isn’t it?

It’s good to be back. I’ve missed not sharing with you, but sometimes even the cathartic nature of writing has been too much for my emotions to cope with.

Anyone else getting back in the saddle with a project, interest or idea? Any advice you can give me to smooth my pathway?

Planning for 2012

Alice Langley is better known online as An Essex Wife, wife of Rob and Mother to Scarlett aged 2 and Orlaith aged 7 weeks.

I love my life as a housewife and mother.  However I’m a strong believer in keeping your own identify, and combining being a wife and mother with being my most fabulous self is something I strive to achieve everyday.  The main ethos of An Essex Wife is ‘Family life, done in style’ and 2012 is the year I out all of this into practice.

Planning for 2012 – The year of new beginnings!

2011 was, for me, the year of big events! I got married, had a new baby and started my blog (which in 6 short months has changed my life’s direction completely) so it was quite a whirlwind to say the least.

Now things have settled down a little I have had a chance to think about what my next move is, and how I am going to combine running a home, raising two children under 3 and changing my career direction completely in order for to be able to work from home while caring for my daughters.

In an ideal world, this year will see me carve out a portfolio career of freelance writing, running a parenting group with a modern twist and having a successful blog. I’m no fool, I know this is going to be hard work, and there is no guarantee that any of it will be a success, but I sure am going to enjoy trying.  I love a challenge, setting myself goals and working hard to achieve them, it keeps me busy and gives my daughters a positive example of how women can combine both being a mother and being a person in her own right.

To help with this I have set myself a list of things to achieve each month. Benchmarks throughout the year to measure myself against to ensure I am sticking to my plan and that my quest for world domination on nicely on track.  Small, manageable, specific goals, such as this weeks goal of finding a location for my parenting group, are much more likely to be achieved than one general overall goal, such as ‘having a successful blog’. Large, generic goals can seem so overwhelming and easy to give up on.  The same can be applied for the ‘New Year, New You’ health kick, if you say to yourself ‘this year I will lose two stone’, then as soon as after a month you have only lost a few pounds you become dishearten and give up. However if you if you set your self smaller goals such as ‘by Easter I will have lost half a stone’ then it helps to keep you motivated.

For me, by Easter, I plan to have held my first parenting event and have completed 2 freelance writing jobs, I’ll be sure to pop back and let you know how I get on.

We will be catching up with Alice later in the year to see how she is getting on….

 

How I Started with Baby Swap or Shop

Carrie from Baby Swap or Shop shares how she started her business and how it’s growing!

Growing families struggle with the demands of children quickly outgrowing or no longer requiring perfectly decent clothing and items and coupled with the fact that many families have all of the ‘baby’ essentials collecting dust in a cupboard that could be put to good use, I decided to test the water on Facebook and engaged with other parents about the whole recycling; buying, selling and swapping baby items thing.  I was astounded at how many fans ‘liked’ my page in droves and how interactive it became with adverts going on literally every minute at busy times (when the kids are in bed!). (more…)

Preparing to be shadowed

No, not more political talk. I’m getting ready to be shadowed by another business owner, as part of the LEAD course I’m doing.

The 10 month programme, (which I wrote about a while ago), consists of a number of areas.

LEAD course participants, February 2010

We’re now moving on to the part where we all pair up and shadow each other before actually exchanging places for a day in a few months time. (No, he won’t be doing bra fittings!).

Yesterday I was really excited, and came home buzzing. Discussing the shadow and exchange with John, from Jam Publications was interesting and challenging – learning about someone else’s businesses, whilst trying to explain my own. We’ve got a lot in common, but we also do things quite differently. I think I can help support his online business development, whilst he can help me focus my business on the areas that I’m skilled and experienced to deliver. Today? Well, I’m not so sure. (more…)

Taking Stock

Today is officially my business year end. I always have to plan it around school holidays, and as we go away tomorrow for a week, it seemed as good a day as any to count stock.

Yes, exactly. We have to count ALL our stock. Everything. Maternity bras, nursing bras,

One of the many styles we've counted today

mastectomy bras, plus size bras, sports bras, soft cup bras, briefs to match bras, breastfeeding tops, breastpads, nursing nightwear…..exactly – EVERYTHING! We even have to go into those boxes that have come back from shows with all the bits and pieces in, like bra extenders, sort them, and count them – a job that always gets left!

It took the full day, which was expected. But I’ve found, for the first time since I started bras4mums, stocktake day has been a very inspiring. (more…)