On doing

I have written about it before. And yet still I find myself amazed when it happens again and again in my life. For, invariably, it is for my benefit. The latest and perhaps most fortuitous serendipitous moment of my business life so far happened not so long ago. Almost as soon as I had received Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit, an email from David Hieatt, co-founder of Hiut Denim Company and the DO Lectures popped into my inbox. It was a reading list, and on that list was Three Simple Steps by Trevor Blake. I had never heard of the author or the book but after a quick whizz around his website, I decided to buy it.

If Charles showed me the power of habits and how it is in my power to have the habits I choose, Trevor showed me habits worth cultivating.

Starting a business can be lonely and isolating, especially if doing it from home and if, like me, you live alone. However wonderful the Cat is, she is a bit lacking in sage advice. It’s difficult in the early days to know whether you are on the right path to grow your business. Objective feedback can be hard to come by. I complicated matters further by mistakenly being against failing as opposed to being for succeeding, which in turn made everything into a make or break struggle when it didn’t need to be. My fear of failing cast a negative pall over the whole enterprise, so even when I got positive feedback, I tended to undermine and minimise it, and occasionally outright disbelieve it. I know I am not alone in this.

After a more than usual self-flagellating wail about my perceived predicament, the Boyfriend sat me down and made me list all my achievements so far. To my surprise, it was quite a list. I had been focussing on the negative, on what I had failed to do, so that was all I could see. And as a result I felt miserable and unable to find a way forward. All that changed in that moment.

I already knew of the magic of inspired action. I have benefitted from it in the past. Indeed, I would never have started designing textiles if not for it. But now, thanks to Trevor’s Three Simple Steps, I have a different way of thinking about what I intend for my business (and life) and a framework for supercharging serendipity. And boy, is it supercharged.

Clicking on the link to the Hiut Denim Company and signing up for their newsletter was possibly the first best thing I have ever done for my business. I can’t thank David and the team enough for sharing their experience, expertise and wisdom with all of us struggling to get on and DO. And they make a damn fine pair of jeans. I am now the proud owner of a pair of pairs.

The next, but by no means second, best thing was deciding to buy, read, and implement the Three Simple Steps. And, you know, what’s really great about the Three Simple Steps is that that there is absolutely, categorically, emphatically no need to believe, just to do. I don’t know about you, but I always feel a whole lot better when I am doing.

I wasn’t going to mention the virus. I have little knowledge of any of the _ologies that might be useful at this time so I’ve decided to be quiet, which is not the easiest thing for me as anyone who knows me can attest! Now having just said that I’m not saying anything, let me just say that following the Three Simple Steps has helped me hugely since this whole thing started. I’m more positive, less worried and more confident about the future. It may well help you too. Give it a try. An added bonus is that Trevor gives all the profits from the sale of the book to cancer R&D. A man after my own heart.

So, to paraphrase Trevor (and Nike), if you do nothing else, just do (it)! It’s that simple.

Stay safe. Stay well.