I started writing a second business book (after How to Start your own Henna Body Art Business) in 2005. This new book is called, How to Start a Face Painting and Body Art Business. I meant for it to be a guide for those wanting to expand their businesses, but I really included enough information even for those who haven't started their businesses yet.
I got the outline together, wrote the introduction, and that was about as far as it went until late 2007. I wrote the bulk of it at that time, thinking I'd be able to pull it together in time for the 2008 Face Painting and Body Art convention in Orlando. It didn't happen. I finally got it together (without a moment to spare) in time for the 2009 Face Painting and Body Art International Convention this past month.
As artists, we have a tendency to look at the parts that make up the whole, and we forget to step back and look at the big picture. I was so consumed with the technical aspects of writing and publishing this book on my own, that I had forgotten my original purpose...which was to help others to find prosperity and peace in their lives. In these complicated times, I have the luxury of doing what I love as a means for supporting my family. This is a joy that I would wish for everyone in the world. It wasn't until I had the whole book in my hands that I remembered this and stopped worrying that there might be spelling and grammatical errors in the book, and started worrying that people might not get the inspiration that I was hoping to impart. Happily for me, several of those who bought the book at FABAIC came up to me and said that they were really enjoying the book and were excited to go home and get started on their business plan.
As I started feeling a sense of accomplishment and relief...that I was helping others to achieve prosperity, I started focusing on my own connection to prosperity. I can get seriously wrapped up in financial worries, like credit card debt and student loans, and even start feeling like I'll never dig myself out of this hole. Fortunately, I have some enlightened friends who remind me that focusing on debt and lack will not bring me any closer to prosperity. Focusing on prosperity and financial goals is what has always helped me to achieve those goals. At every convention, I set a financial goal for sales. Without fail, we come within dollars of that goal. My husband and my business partner can't understand why I don't set those goals higher.
I have habit of setting my goals for what I need in the moment and for what I feel is reasonable. I have a friend, Vashti, with whom I have had many discussions on prosperity and wealth. I chatted with her when I got back from FABAIC about meeting my sales goal and Vashti suggested that maybe I should work on my concept of financial need and just drop the whole idea of reasonable goals. I told her that previously, the number that I had expressed as a goal for paying off credit card debt, my mortgage, and my student loans was around $250,000. Amerikan Body Art had pretty much achieved that in sales in 2008, but that was far from the amount that I had actually been able to take home in paychecks. Vashti said that I needed to be more specific when stating my requirements to the Universe. So I had to visualize that amount of money as paychecks going into my personal bank account. And while I was at it...I might as well throw in some money for fixing up the house, getting a new car, investing in the business, and maybe paying for a few nice vacations that we were hoping for. I've come up with a new number, and it has nothing to do with what others think is reasonable or possible. Five years ago, I would not have thought that where I am now would be possible, so I know that I need not be concerned with limitations. They are only imagined.
I learned from watching The Secret that anything that we focus on will grow. So I choose to focus on my personal prosperity. I just dropped my youngest son off at summer camp this morning. When he said he wanted to go to summer camp again, I just went down to the parks & recreation office, signed him up, and wrote a check. When I wanted to go to summer camp as a child, we literally saved our pennies for a year. My mother walked me down to the recreation center and paid for summer camp with a bag full of coins. I've never felt ashamed for the lack of money that I had growing up. But looking at the ease and comfort which I have now, relative to what I had then, makes me truly appreciate what I have and what I've had to do to get it.
Even daily activities, which many of us take for granted, can remind us of our personal prosperity. I'm sitting here in air-conditioned comfort, typing on my laptop, while my kids watch TV and eat Pop-Tarts. I started a small vegetable garden a few months ago, with the idea of teaching my kids how to take care of themselves and how to save money...and yet there are many in the world who will spend their entire day today, hoping to find even a small amount of food and clean water. Sometimes I walk outside in my bare feet, past the swimming pool and the neighborhood kids' bikes & toys laying all over the yard...feeling the warmth of the sun and the calm of our suburban neighborhood...and I can't help but think that there are places even in our own country where people can't let their kids ride their bikes down the street...where they can't safely walk outside of their own homes...where they may not even be safe inside their homes. This is the prosperity for which I am grateful every day and this is what I focus on in my journey towards financial wealth.
I hope that all of you can get into the habit of taking a moment every day to connect with the prosperity which you have already achieved and to focus on the financial prosperity that you will soon achieve.
Have a wonderful month!
~Erika
