"I don't have time to be thankful!" | What to do when you feel too busy for gratitude

This time of year can be pretty tricky. It’s a time when our personal life naturally expands and needs more attention, so it would be convenient if our business life contracted a bit to make room for your personal life-holidays, parties, family gatherings, events. You name it.

Sometimes that doesn’t happen though.

And then we get super-stressed out, which really stinks.

And all of this happens right before a holiday when we’re supposed to focus on thankfulness, right?

I personally have felt like “being thankful” was just another thing to add to my to-do list.

But…that doesn’t feel good. I mean…why even worry about being thankful anyway? I’ve been mulling this thought over in my mind.

Here’s what gratitude isn’t

I hear the Sunday school answers of “there are starving children in Africa. You should be thankful for a roof over your head and the food on your plate!”

And I also hear the inner sassy kid response of “ send them my food then cuz I don’t want it.”

In the past, gratitude hasn’t actually been gratitude. It’s been a to-do item, a sign I’m not who I “should” be because I’m not grateful, and ultimately something I resisted.

But over the past few years, I’ve seen how gratitude is a state of BEING not a state of DOING. Its something I feel, observe, and receive.

So, instead of approaching the holiday as most do, rushing around like crazy, stressed and overwhelmed, then smoothing my hair down, and sitting at the thanksgiving table saying “Today I’m thankful for…” with a forced smile

I’m doing something different. It’s time to flip the thanksgiving script and I’m showing you how.

I regularly run science lab style experiments on my mindset. I know-I get super nerdy about mindset! but I’m running an experiment AND sharing it for you to join in or just observe

Next week I’ll be running The Gratitude Experiment on instagram and I want you there.

What’s the Gratitude Experiment?

A 5 day experiment testing the hypothesis “gratitude makes my life better.”

(but does it really?) Each day, I’ll share a post, go live at 11 am CST (except on Thanksgiving), and host a group chat for you to share your experiment results.

Here's the thing...

• I know it’s a holiday week

• And you might think I’m crazy for doing this during a holiday.

But...I think there couldn’t be a better time to run this experiment.

I have a hypothesis that I’m going to see gratitude all around me on Black Friday where I used to only see unkindness and scarcity minded people frantically shopping.

And really, what’s the worst that could happen?

You don’t prove your hypothesis?

That’s no big deal, right?

But...chances are, you’ll experience more gratitude and love, see it all around you, and have more reasons to say “thank you” because you’re receiving kind gestures from random strangers.

Join me and see if you agree.

P.S.-looking for a coach to help you start 2020 strong? I'm accepting new 1:1 clients for January. Fill out acoaching application hereto see if you qualify for my 1:1 coaching

Welcome to the Successful Creative!

Welcome to The Successful Creative, a place where we can walk the journey together of monetizing your creative passion, learning to strengthen our mindsets, and think and dream bigger.

My story learning to be a successful creative

Hi! My name is Stephanie and I'm so glad you're here! I am launching this blog as a result of five years of hard work, learning curves, and growth as a wedding photographer. I'm at a point in my journey where I recognize that my love of teaching coupled with my experience running a business could encourage and serve others on their journeys. Here's a bit about my story:

Matching my natural skills with a job description

I grew up with a penchant for teaching. I would collect all the kids in my neighborhood and lead them on wild expeditions, I would “play teacher” and I would “teach gymnastics classes.” (I can't even do a cartwheel...I don't know how I got my friends to attend gymnastics classes!!) Whatever I learned, I wanted to share with the kids in the neighborhood...even if I wasn't an expert. Becoming an elementary teacher seemed like a natural progression of my life’s narrative, right?

After college, I had two interesting jobs: I was a crisis and trauma counselor for college aged girls for several years and then I taught elementary school. Each job ignited my desire to connect with others, encourage them, and teach them.

Pretty soon, however my natural intuition for connecting with people, drawing out their best assets, and then teaching them, was crowded out by paperwork, school politics, test results, and scripted, unimaginative plans (hey, my ideal reading lessons involved building trees in my classroom. Worksheets? notsomuch) I felt suffocated and wondered if I’d ever actually do the thing I loved: teaching.

Jumping into small business ownership

During this time, I met my now husband, Stephen. By the time we got married, he had trained me well and added me to his photography business. So as a newlywed, I jumped headfirst into helping someone with their business. I was thrilled to encourage him, believe in him and troubleshoot HIS business for a few months until I realized he viewed it as OUR business. As soon as I had skin in the game, I began backpedaling REAL quick. I was filled with intense fear, self-doubt, hurts, and a scarcity driven mindset leaving me feeling desperate with each new business hurdle.

Over the next few years, I had to work through some major mindset issues, anxieties, and recalibrate my view of myself, my purpose, and my life’s calling. Along the way, I found that there were elements to running a business that I was naturally adept at. There were elements that tapped into my desire to connect with others as well as my penchant for being a bit of a pipe dreamer. But no matter how big I dreamed, my fears and mindset issues were like concrete blocks around my feet. I couldn't actually go anywhere!

But, God knew where I was and as I prayed for change, He sent me on a journey of change that I look forward to sharing with you soon.

Running a business through roadblocks

One of my first roadblocks was a really simple one-dealing with opposition. I think the first thing that appealed to me about wedding photography was the affirmation! I mean, I picked up a camera and people were praising me and throwing money at me. Wow, it felt kind of addicting! I think I may not be the only one who began her journey with the addiction to affirmation!

But reality quickly set in when we experienced our first bit of opposition-someone questioning our value instead of throwing money at us, someone stating that they weren’t happy with the experience we provided instead of just gleefully praising my skills. All of a sudden, things got really real and I had to determine if I was going to continue to live for affirmation or if I was going to build a business that rose above opposition to achieve greatness. 

What is a successful creative?

Chances are that you’re here because you like the idea of being a successful creative. You want to be successful and you yearn to create new things. But you may feel like you have one or the other right now. You may even be in the place of experiencing your first bit of opposition in a journey that’s been filled with affirmation. If that’s you, I want you to know that you’re not alone. What you’re going through is one of your biggest tests to determine how serious you are about being a successful creative. I believe you have what it takes. And where you feel weak, I have you covered. 

With each growing pain I experienced, I wrote about it, asked myself “what tools do I wish I had while going through this?” and then I created them for you! So you can expect this to be a place where you can find resources to help you on your journey to building a profitable business.

I plan to serve you really great, honest content on this blog and via email because I believe that the journey I’ve been on has taught me deep and powerful lessons about how to run a profitable creative business and I want to share that with you.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing more of my story and I’d love to know about yours. Comment below and let us know what do you do and what are you proud of in your business? Brag on yourself and let us cheer you on!