Creative Entrepreneurship Basics: More Isn’t Always More

Have you ever gone to an all-you-can-eat restaurant and completely gorged yourself with food (because you had the big eyes and thought you had the big stomach) and walked out of the place feeling miserably stuffed?

Have you ever sped on the roadways in your city, thinking the extra miles per hour over the speed limit were going to get you to your destination quicker AND ON TIME — only to run into a train that stops you right in your tracks?

Have you ever witnessed someone who wore too much makeup, had too many accessories, put too many highly-expensive layers together, basically went WAY EXTRA than she had to when she could have highlighted her true essence instead of obscuring the natural beauty she possessed?

AND

Have you ever tried to be in all the online spaces you could possibly be, spreading your creative inspiration to the world, only to find that you’re running yourself ragged over miniscule results that aren’t moving your mission forward?

HAVE YOU EVER?

Well, if you have experienced or witnessed the above, then you’re totally primed for our discussion. Today, I’m comin’ at you with hard truths about my content creation journey at Degrees of Maternity and the direction it’s headed from this point until otherwise noted.

(Oh, and please, please, please do me a big favor and read through my posts on “Conquering the Creative Work-Life Balance,” because all my sentiments from today will make SO much more sense to you after checking out the “simplifying life” journey I’m currently on.)

So, I think I’ll just start by stating that writing is the activity I love to do. It helps me to fulfill the creative entrepreneurial endeavors I’m seeking to thrive in. One of those endeavors is my blogging and the other is my creation of paid and unpaid offers (products/services). And, anything professionally outside of those areas are the “extra” activities that help direct others to those endeavors.

Specifically speaking, the extras consist of the following:

• YouTube (videos)
• Anchor by Spotify (podcasts)
• Twitter (social media)
• Pinterest (search engine platform)
• Blogging forums

I just don’t have time to do ALL THE THINGS. And, ALL THE THINGS aren’t moving me forward in my rightful placement in life. And if you’ve followed the “Creative Entrepreneurship Basics” or “Conquering the Creative Work-Life Balance” discussions, then you know exactly what I mean by “rightful placement.” Yes, I’m referring to that beautiful trifecta of mission-driven purpose with the rewards to follow.

Here’s a recap:

In a nutshell, I want to walk in those professional areas of life that encompass all three factors above, while allowing me the opportunity to earn a living while doing them.

And, I don’t think that’s too much to ask.

But when I really looked at Degrees of Maternity and all the busywork that I’ve been doing that’s not truly fulfilling The Big 3 above or leading to any income-earning potential, I decided to take my own advice and “simplify life” somewhat.

I can’t afford to be in all the places and do all the places some justice.

There are simply things that I don’t have an affinity for (nor do I want to at this point in my life).

There are some activities that I started because I was told that I should do so, but my heart wasn’t into it so I didn’t give them 100% of my effort.

(And in creative spaces and places, you can’t strive to “just get by” or “to go through the motions without true devotion” and think you’ll get any attention, especially when there are so many other creative options for people to latch onto.)

And quite frankly, there are some things that I’m just not good at. Too many others out there have those areas of strength on lockdown and they’re the ones to offer them to the world. My lane is made for my journey and my goal destination will be achieved by staying on the course that has always been meant for me.

So, these hard truths have led me to endorse The Big 3 in my personal simplification process at Degrees of Maternity, where I’m focusing on the activities that are my jam, on those activities that will allow me to walk in avenues I enjoy and look forward to pursuing, and on those activities where others actually receive benefits in their lives from the things I offer.

Furthermore, I want to focus on those activities that nurture me in the freedom of creativity, while financially rewarding me on the entrepreneurial side of it all.

And you might be wondering what I plan to do with my lofty goal(s) I just stated.

Well, I plan to no longer work in areas that aren’t moving me forward toward my professional goals, as mentioned by The Big 3. Simply stated, those “extras” I referred to earlier will be going bye-bye for now. Again, I can’t do all the things, so why not drop those things that aren’t serving me well at this point in my creative journey? That way, I can concentrate on those things that are — feeling less overwhelmed, more balanced in my work and life, and truly thriving in my rightful placement in my professional life.

And what all of this equates to is me not putting out content in the “extras” categories, with the exception of Twitter which is tied to this blog. And, the only thing that’s saving Twitter right now is the fact that the blog posts automatically go to Twitter once I post them here. I just won’t be putting anything up in addition to that — no manual posts on Twitter. And, the other “extras” won’t see any traction for the time being.

Furthermore, starting next week, I’ll be cutting my blogging schedule down to once a week. You noticed I said “cutting the schedule down” not “cutting it out” as blogging is part of my rightful placement. It encompasses everything I enjoy about writing. So, blogging will ALWAYS be around. I just need to cut down on the amount of content here, so I can also provide content writing services to those who can use them for their business purposes.

My blog posts will come out on Fridays only and will incorporate all my current series — “Blogging Truths Be Told,” “The Blogging Mindset,” “Creative Entrepreneurship Basics,” “Conquering the Creative Work-Life Balance”, and “Incentivizing the Reader and Writer.” They’ll just be on a rotation for now until the blogging schedule changes again. (You know how I do.)

My online stores are passive income platforms and will remain on Etsy and Teachers Pay Teachers for now. I’ll just temporarily refrain from adding any additional items to them for the next couple of months (at least) while I’m working on my newly-simplified schedule this summer.

With all of these changes I’m making, I FEEL GOOD! I feel freer and more relaxed than I have for a long time. I feel more purpose-driven and focused than I have in a long time. I feel like I’m growing in the places and spaces that I’m meant to thrive in more than I ever have. And, my goal plan seems doable at this point.

So, I hope you’ll be patient with me as I’m growing up and figuring things out. I’ll ALWAYS be around here. This is home, and home is definitely where the heart is. And so, the creative journey continues . . .