If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I try to operate my life from an abundance mentality. It's a conscious and daily effort. It is actually, in clearer terms, the faith that the world is full of goodness and that there is plenty of it for all of us. This goodness may manifest in our lives as peace or health or wealth or joy or love. If we are able to slow down enough to be mindful of the good things around us, the idea is that we will see more good things. In fact, I was just talking with my brother about this the other day. His car broke down ,on his birthday, no where near his usual auto shop. He could have complained, gone into a rant about why life sucks, how he was down on his luck on a day that should have been more special, but instead, he saw it as an opportunity for exercise, to enjoy the nice weather and ended up finding out that the repair shop he went to is one of the top rated on Yelp in our city, often coming in under estimate. He invited abundance in and was rewarded. On his walk, he was able to catch up on the birthday phone calls he'd missed at work and when we connected later that night to celebrate together, he was in an awesome mood. He made the decision to find things to be grateful for and positive things opened up for him. To be able to live in a place of abundance, we must make space for it.
Here's an example:
Let's look at the opposite mindset--Scarcity. You are feeling down on yourself about your weight. You complain every time you get dressed that there is nothing in your stuffed closet of clothes to wear. But you are exhausted and there is no time to cook or work out, so why try?
or...
An abundance mindset: You are feeling down on yourself about your weight. You decide you are going to make space for health. You are going to donate all the clothes that make you feel bad about yourself, leaving physical space in your closet for the hot new outfit you're going to save up for when you get down to your first mini-goal. You create space on your to-do list to prioritize shopping for healthy food, preparing the healthy food and incorporating some exercise into your day. You rearrange your schedule. Maybe you get up an hour earlier to walk. Maybe you grocery shop at a less busy time so you don't have to stand in line so long. Maybe you watch one less show on TV a day.
It's not always easy to make space. It's a challenge that sometimes makes us take a hard look at our lives and reassess and stop making excuses. It may require a huge leap of faith. Sometimes it means saying no to things that don't serve you anymore. Sometimes it means saying yes to the unknown.
This Compliment journey, as many of you know, has required some huge acts of faith. I've come to understand entrepreneurship is truly a spiritual journey. Once I started looking at this business in that light, amazing things started happening. Once I saw my entire life as a spiritual journey, even more amazing things.
Like two days ago. I made a very big decision and leapt.
I am so grateful and excited and thrilled beyond belief to announce that Compliment has officially outgrown my home office and will now be operated out of a super cute studio/office in Sacramento!
Ah!
The doors of our new space open October 1, in time to prepare for the rush of the holidays. Do I know for certain that orders are going to be flooding in? No. Do I know everything there is to know about leasing and tenant improvements and owning my own business in general. No! But I do know that by continuing to operate out of my home it is limiting my growth in a few ways: It does not allow for the help I hire to spread out to assist me in the packaging or shipping of my products. It creates a co-mingled mess of envelopes and shipping labels and wire scraps that, when I get busy migrates to nearly every surface of my small home. When I'm busy it prevents me from entertaining my friends and family in my home-- something that gives me great joy-- because of said surface area stuff.
Moving into a studio space is a way for me to not only grow my business, but grow in my personal life, as well.
I will be sharing this space with a dear friend and fellow entrepreneur-ess, Nikki Stern, who spends her days as a holistic health coach for busy moms. We are so overwhelmed with gratitude that this opportunity has presented itself in the form of a ton of hard work and faith.
(Here's us after we signed the lease! Yay for lovely friends! Yay for making space! So stoked!)
It is a very exciting time at Compliment and I can't wait to continue to share our growth with you all. Stay tuned in the weeks to come for lots of behind the scenes pics once the studio space is all set up! And if you're in and around the Sacramento area, we'd love for you to stop by and share the love! (In case you're wondering, we are planning on decorating in neutrals and all shades of green. We like the serenity of that palate. Share some ideas with me if you see cute stuff on Pinterest!)
As a way of celebrating this huge milestone, we are offering FREE SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING now through the weekend (ends 11:59 pm PDT Sept. 15) with the code MAKESPACE.
Also- let's all get on this making space train. I'd love to know what specifically you're doing in your life (or plan to do) to make either physical space in your home or office, in your emotional life (hey, what's up Forgiveness), or even on your calendar. Let's support each other in this community and help one another take action and make room for abundance to flow.
Melissa xoxo
Hi Melissa, I was just reading this post as I was signing up for
your newsletter. I saw you where talking about Mindfull and
I just had to write say how wonderful that you are taking the next step in this world we live in. I put this in my realm of my
being in a class about Mindfullness. I enjoy the class and getting to know myself a lot better. I am a retired Viet Nam
Vet. After serving in US Army for 31 years.I look forward to
working with your group.
I am so happy I found your your site! I was lying in bed feeling overwhelmed while going through my 300 plus emails in my junk mail and I came across your email. This was by far the best email in my junk folder I have ever opened. Change has been on my mind a lot lately and I am ready to make the necesssary changes to feel healthy, happy, & greatful. Thanks for the inspiration snd encouragement Melissa, it’s just what I needed. Looking forward to reading more of your work I love it thanks for sharing your gift.
Keep up the good work, Melissa!
Yay! Melissa, I am so proud and excited for you and this new stage in your business! Woohoooooo!
Congrats!