I stood looking over the edge of the 65’ cliff and then back at my friend. “You really DOVE off this?!?”
“Yeah, you’ve seen the picture.”
I had, but it seemed a lot smaller in the picture. Now the water was forever away and I wasn’t sure I should have said I would do it. I stood and deliberated for a while, quieting the voice in my head that told me I was too scared.
The moment of decision came when I realized that voice would only get louder and justified if I walked down instead of jumping.
So I yelled above the fear, “THREE!…TWO!…ONE!” and I jumped.
The cliff was so high I had time to regret the decision on the way down, my mind was screaming as my arms and legs pin-wheeled against the force of gravity. I had to succumb; I didn’t know how to fly. I hit the water and went down, a LONG way down, and was gasping for air and grateful for the lifejacket I was wearing when I finally surfaced.
It took a few seconds to catch my breath and realize I was still alive. As soon as that happened, though, I couldn’t take the grin off my face. I had done it!
Letting go of fear and jumping off that cliff quieted the voice that told me, “You can’t. You won’t. You’re not going to make it.” This wasn’t the only time in my life I have had to quiet that voice.
Fear and self-doubt are “voices” that make an appearance in all our lives at one time or another. What do you really want? What is it that helps you to let go and make the jump? For me, it was my competitive nature, a supportive team, and wanting the experience.
10 years ago Backyard Bookkeeper was born. Yes, you calculated correctly – they started a bookkeeping business during the financial crisis of 2008. Why? Because two friends had a passion for bookkeeping (weird, I know), quieted the voices of doubt and the voices of the people around them who thought they were crazy; and supported each other in the risk they took.
Today there are 13 employees and hundreds of companies who are glad that Julie and Alex decided to jump off the proverbial cliff and do what they had a passion for.
Happy 10th Anniversary, Backyard Bookkeeper!
Let these stories be an inspiration to you and ask yourself (in business, in life):
“What do I really want?
“What is it that will help me let go and make the jump?
“Three…
“Two…
“One…”
Most people spend the majority of their days working at their career; this article from the NY Times provides some great tips on how to manage your career. Keeping things in balance and building a strong foundation are vital to having a long lasting, happy career. It is a great read for any person with a job. It focuses on basic principles like effective networking, staying informed, and balancing your life. “You are not your career,” it says. Finding something you enjoy doing that is not work related and having balance in what you do will allow you to perform better in all aspects of life. Read on to get some great tips.
Starting a small business shows you believe in yourself and in your product or service enough to invest in yourself. Marketing is the way to grow the seed you planted into something substantial. This article from OnDeck has some great tips for promoting your business in free and easy ways.
Customer Complaints are the hard part of owning a business. Sometimes its something that you can’t do anything about and at other times, you are at fault. The bottom line though is that we have to figure out how to deal with problems with customers when they come up. Here is a great article by Forbes contributor Nicole Leinbach-Reyhle that gives 10 tips on how to deal with it.
My favorite one is #3, “Thank your customer” and it advises to actually thank someone for their feedback. Not in a snarky way, but genuinely thank them for bringing it to your attention so that you can rectify the situation. It also gives a tip to actually hear them out without getting defensive or wanted to give them an excuse for what happened.
Honestly, this article had some great points for not only dealing with upset customers but people in all aspects of your life.
Have a friend who is upset about something you did? Use tip #5 and “Offer Support” rather than telling them that they are wrong.
Do you have an in-law that won’t let something you said go? Use tip #10 and move on when you have done everything you can do for them.
It’s a great article, go read it!
Post by Allison