YOU CAN'T PLEASE EVERYONE ... BUT DON'T WORRY ... ???
If there was a list of the sh*ttiest weeks that I've had all lined up together I would place this week towards the top of the sh*ttiest sh*tty week that I've had for a loooooooooooong time. Srsly ... and it's only Wednesday!!! It seems at every turn I am doing something to disappoint someone ... I'm not good enough, I didn't have the 'best' idea for them, the font is too small to read on their logo ... I just can't make the magic happen ... so to speak ...
As business owners it's natural for us to want to please all our clients ... but:
YOU CAN'T MAKE EVERYONE HAPPY
and that ^^ is a hard pill to swallow sometimes. We are trained that the following equation is true:
HAPPY CLIENTS = REFERRALS = FUTURE BUSINESS
So when one of those (in this case, the happy client) goes missing, we're all like:
F*CK!!!!!!!!
F*ckity f*ck is right ... and then starts the blackhole of 'I'm doomed' ... 'my business shall fail' ... 'nobody likes me' ... 'I'm not needed anymore' ... 'everyone else is awesome and I suck' ... need I go on???
Look, I've been there ... I'm there NOW ... but we (and I) have to turn that self talk around to mean something else. I try to remind myself constantly that:
CLIENTS ARE PEOPLE AND PEOPLE CAN BE UNREASONABLE
If you are in a situation (like one of mine this week) where you have really done everything you could ... you've done your job and beyond ... and the client is truly just being unreasonable ... then you have to just move on emotionally from it. You have to BELIEVE it's not you.
If you are in a situation where you just aren't SEEING IT ... like, no matter what you do the right answer just isn't forming and the client isn't getting what they want ... like another client of mine this week ... then:
YOU HAVE TO SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE AND ADMIT THAT YOU DON'T HAVE IT *RIGHT THEN*
This is hard ... so so so hard. For me, as someone who prides myself in 'being on' all the time and then realizing that I suck at something for someone ... oh boy, hand me the tissues and the wine ... I don't fail ... ever feel that way?? If you are an 'I don't fail' personality like me and then you catch yourself failing ... EEK x 100 ... but do you really expect:
TO BE AWESOME ALL THE TIME???
You don't, right?? I do, but do you?? Hahahahaha .... just kidding. Finding yourself in a 'not being awesome' place is so hard. I hate it. It makes me question EVERYTHING about myself ... my confidence gets rocked and I find myself second guessing all of my work during that time ... not fun times.
Here's the thing ... we are in a creative industry ... we have to be inspired. It's hard to be inspired all the time. We have to be easier on ourselves and if the answer isn't there we need to relax and sometimes we need to wait. If you are a photographer going to the same venue for a 10th time in a row, it's probably hard to find 'new shots' to take ... you feel trapped or stuck and need to reboot to SEE the venue in a way you've never seen it before. If you are a wedding coordinator working with the same theme and color palette as your last 5 brides it may be hard for you to reassess what it means and what it could look like ... using blush and gold for the millionth time ... makes you feel stuck and uninspired.
Can we do it!? I hope so ... I really need to get out of this week ... and the weird part is that 'mercury in retrograde' ended last week!!?? UGH!
Have a good day ... I'm going to try to pick myself up off the floor, reboot and bring in the positive vibes.
XO~ Heather
