“And suddenly you know:

It’s time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings.”

Meister Eckhart

Friends gave me a birthday card with this quote on the back. They said the quote reminded them of me.

After reading this I realized why they said that. I have trusted in new beginnings many times. Trying new things has led me to various careers and successful businesses.

I guess it started when I went to college. I had no clue what I wanted with the rest of my life. I picked what someone suggested and tried it. It wasn’t the right major for me. And I was about to quit college when I found film production. I knew immediately I had found a direction that I loved.  I came upon it by chance when I decided to try something else.

This is how I live. I think something sounds interesting then I try it to see if it is what I thought it would be. We all have ideas of what something could be like. Until we try it we don’t know for sure. Film production is a perfect example. People think it is glamorous. This is not the case at all. We work 12 plus hours each day and we work in the elements-rain, snow, cold and hot.

When I was ready to quit film production (the first time) I didn’t have a backup plan. I had never taken time to design my future.

Now it was time to try some new things.

At first, I jumped on my new husband’s dream of a Bed and Breakfast. I found us a job-since I knew trying it was essential.

It wasn’t the job for me. I evaluated the work to figure out why. The work style was the main thing that I didn’t like. I like to work hard and have time for other things. A Bed and Breakfast is an always-at-work situation. You live where you work.

The things I did like I took to my next business. I had a fun time with the cooking. My breakfasts were creative and yummy. I liked the people and I loved being part of the community and exploring the mountains.

I worked hard to design a business that filled a need and took my likes into consideration. I was starting something new, and trusting that it would work out. New businesses don’t succeed overnight. After a year it was time to end our time at the bnb and in the area, so we moved.

This was the first business I had started. A year isn’t much time for a new business but it was on its way to being successful.  And I learned a few important things:

     1. Designing my career was fun.

     2. There are always good and bad parts to every business.

     3. To be successful in anything takes hard work and determination.

We moved and all of my research from starting my business came into play. We decided to open a coffee shop. It is still a successful shop in its small mountain town. I helped start it and run it until my marriage fell apart. Then, I returned to film production.

I knew it would be the easiest solution with my life in turmoil. Film production had been a great field for me for many years. I was very good at my job, I liked the people, I liked the fast-paced work and the time off when I didn’t work. My attitude about film this time was to just enjoy it and make money. And I did just that, I made money and got out of debt.

Once the turmoil and debt were gone. I realize I didn’t want just a job. I am a goal-oriented person. I had a taste of what having my own business could be.  I had reached the top of where I wanted to go in film production. Now It was time for something new.

“And suddenly you know:”

It really hit me like that. How did I know? I started to get easily frustrated at work. I didn’t want to ruin my cheery, professional reputation. If something didn’t change, that is exactly what I would have done.  I knew I couldn’t do it for another 10-15 years.

It took me awhile to pull the plug. Even though I knew it was time. Because my biggest question was “What’s next?”

What about you?

    • Are you ready for a change?

    • Have you wanted a change for a while now?

    • What’s stopping you?