- diamond
Yesterday’s post on Premier Designs Jewelry has me thinking about valuable jewels and what we value in life….then I ran across this article in Carrie’s ezine today. I hope it inspires you and gets you to thinking as it did me.
Are Diamonds Really a Girl’s Best Friend
I bet you’ve heard the saying “a diamond’s a girl’s best friend,” well I’m not so sure it’s true. Read these two examples and tell me what you think…
About five years ago I received a wonderful present from my mother-in-law. She gave me a pair of 18 karat gold earrings that she had inherited. What’s more is that the earrings were covered with 44 smallish but nearly perfect diamonds. It told you it was a wonderful present!
But there was a problem…the earrings were ugly and certainly not something I would ever wear. Since they were valuable I put them safely into my drawer and they sat. Last year, I told my husband that four years was long enough to be staring at ugly (but valuable) earrings. They weren’t taking up much space but I kept seeing them and they were making me feel stupid for not wearing them. I realized that it was time to either sell the earrings or turn them into something that I’ll enjoy. I decided to take the earrings, sell the gold and use the diamonds to make a bracelet that I would wear.
I have a client who had a storage unit. She had been paying storage fees for years but had no idea what was in it. She knew she needed to go through the unit but somehow could never find the time or energy. She would constantly beat herself up about it as she promised herself again and again that she’d do it next weekend. Finally she did it. She spent the better part of two weeks going through the storage unit. Add to that the hours she spend being angry at herself and the guilt for not getting to it sooner.
When she did go through it guess what she found…a diamond ring. Pretty cool, huh? So I asked her…was it worth it? Was the diamond ring she found worth the years of storage fees? Was the diamond ring worth the amount of angst she put herself through? Was the diamond ring worth the time she spent going through the storage unit and disposing of just about everything else? Tough questions, and there are no right or wrong answers.
So how does this apply to you and your life and business?
I bet you have lots of potentially valuable things. Some of them are physical like my earrings but for most of us what’s even more valuable are our ideas. You may shove these ideas into drawers, piles, storage units or the recesses of your brain. You tell yourself that you’ll get around to doing it one of these days. In the meantime the ideas nag at you. They make you feel guilty, that somehow you should have already done it, used it or created it.
The reality is that it all comes down to a decision. Decide to do it and then do it or decide to let it go and not worry about what you should have done.
I decided that it was time for me to do it. I spent the time, energy and money necessary to transform my ugly but valuable earrings into diamonds. My client looked at her situation and the amount of time, energy and money that she had invested over the years into her diamond and realized that for her it wasn’t worth it. With hindsight being 20/20 she wishes that she had just let go of the storage unit years ago. After all you can’t miss something you never even knew was there.
What about you and the ideas you have laying around? Just by having these ideas you are putting time, and energy into them. Is it worth it? Sure they may have potential and become something valuable and useful but are you really going to take the steps to make it happen and if you do, what won’t you be doing?
Make a decision…
Imagine yourself picking up that idea, dusting it off and making it happen.
Imagine yourself taking that idea and setting it aside once and for all and letting yourself go onto something else.
What will you decide? Share your thoughts and comments with me on my blog.
A closing thought…
“Unless commitment is made, there are only promises and hopes…but no plans.”
— Peter Drucker, Management Guru
© Copyright 2010 CarrieThru, LLC.
About Carrie
Carrie Greene
Carrie helps entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who are overwhelmed with possibilities, ideas, shoulds and coulds within their businesses to feel in control and get things done.
Carrie can help you create systems and structures that enable you to prioritize, focus and follow through on the right activities for yourself and your business. You’ll be better able to monetize your business and create the life you want by carrying through on the steps it takes you to reach your goals.
To learn more about Carrie please visit www.CarrieThru.com
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