Being a night owl runs in my family...my mom is and her mom, my Grandma Russel was too. So it made sense that over time I became quite the late night person. For the first four years of running Flourish, I often stayed up until 1, 2, even 3 in the morning working after my husband and son had long since gone to bed. I would do buying online, edit photos for our website, create ads and marketing pieces in photoshop and much more...all from about 11 pm to 3am. I would even have ventured to tell you I was at my peak productivity starting at 11! And because our store does not open until 10am (and I usually don't "open" anymore either), I felt like it was a win win situation...why fight the night owl gene if I don't have to be at work as early as most people?
Well, this past fall I went with my hubby to Phoenix, AZ on a retreat for a group he is involved in called Christians in Commerce. Honestly, I did not have a good time on the retreat: and it was no real fault of the organization's at all...I just felt stressed being away from the store the last weekend in October, as that's a really critical time of year to get all your ducks in a row for the holidays (there's so much to do right around then including temp hiring, schedule making, displays and merchandising, holiday decorating, final touches on promotional and advertising campaigns, and much more). Not to mention that, while we are overall really blessed with an amazing staff...seriously amazing, one of our newer employees was really hitting heads with our manager while I was gone and I felt the weight of that too. Anyway, long story short: while we were at this retreat I didn't think I was really in touch with my faith or hearing anything in particular from the Lord. However, while I was there God planted a seed in my heart about the benefits of rising early and living on a schedule, through a sharing another woman gave that weekend. I didn't really have the ears to hear it at that time, yet I absorbed the information in and stored it away for another day so to speak.
Well, I kept right on going with my late nights through this past holiday retail season of 2011. And we had a fantastic season! We gained almost as many new customers in the month of December as we did the whole first year we were in business. And we more than doubled what we had done in sales the previous December! It was by all accounts a great success, and our entire Flourish team is to thank! After Christmas, my family left for Florida for a vacation and to recover from the retail holiday craziness. Because I don't get to do as much of the normal holiday festivities that most women and families do, I look forward to spending time with my family and making memories on our annual vacation right after Christmas... This year we decided to drive to Florida to save money. I have never driven that far (24 hours!) and so I loaded up on books and fashion magazines to keep me occupied for the long trip. One of the books I took with me is the Autobiography of Mary Kay Ash, of Mary Kay cosmetics. This book was lent to me by our web director for http://www.flourishboutique.com/, who is a fabulous Mary Kay consultant. Even though I am not involved with Mary Kay, she said she thought I should read the book because I have similar business aspirations and run a very woman oriented company. Well, that's the book I started with and I am glad I did. I had expected to read a very business focused book, and there definitely was content about her goals and standards as well as her company's history. But I was pleasantly surprised to discover how personal the book was and how much she wrote about her faith and convictions too. Low and behold, one of the things she talked at length about was her decision to get up very early every day, plan out her day, and follow a schedule. She shared how valuable this became for her as her business grew and evolved. Again, I heard this information and took it in...but made no personal decision to try the same.
While in Florida, I found myself awake late one evening (surprise, lol) and decided to read my bible. I often read the Psalms but this time flipped past and read some in Proverbs. I came across this passage that I don't really ever remember reading before:
Proverbs 31:10 [ Hymn to a Good Wife ] A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds....She's up before dawn, preparing breakfast for her family and organizing her day...First thing in the morning, she dresses for work, rolls up her sleeves, eager to get started. She senses the worth of her work, is in no hurry to call it quits for the day.... She makes her own clothing, and dresses in colorful linens and silks. Her husband is greatly respected when he deliberates with the city fathers. She designs gowns and sells them, brings the sweaters she knits to the dress shops. Her clothes are well-made and elegant, and she always faces tomorrow with a smile. When she speaks she has something worthwhile to say, and she always says it kindly.
Now honestly I eliminated some words here and there in the above about homemaking, as I am not a stay at home mom...but the words I included above jumped off the page at me...I KNOW, 100% know, that owning Flourish is my calling and that it is what I am designed to do. But never before have I read something that felt so confirming in my calling from the Lord. I mean right in a passage entitled a hymn to a good wife, God speaks out, talking about the value of a woman's work and her work ethic, and specifically her dressing well herself and designing and selling clothes! And he also, talks in this passage about speaking with kindness, which I have always felt called to do as well. But, after realizing the beauty and significance this passage held for me, I couldn't ignore the first part of the description: up before dawn and plans her day: WHAM! Like a direct blow to the heart, I finally heard the Lord's voice and instructions. He wanted me to start getting up early and planning my day ahead. If I didn't hear it in October, and I didn't hear it when reading Mary Kay's personal advice, I did hear it now! Instantly I started arguing a bit: "But why Lord?" "I work harder than almost anyone I know...I already work 70+ hours per week. I'm not sleeping in to be lazy so why does it matter when I work vs. sleep if the hours are in the right balance still?"
Ultimately I did not get an exact answer on that but in the stillness I knew that I was being called to follow the wisdom of this reoccurring theme and I knew what I had to do. So, after getting home from vacation I decided to sit down and plan a day in general: what did I want to get accomplished each day? Here is my list:
1. Get up early
2. Eat a healthy breakfast at home (previously been hitting MCD drive thru!)
3. Have a prayer time
4. Work Out
5. Have plenty of time to get ready and look fashionable for my day (previously always rushed and stressed)
6. Head into work and arrive ahead of my staff
7. Plan my day
8. Rework store displays on a daily basis to keep things fresh and merchandised (used to do this late at night and not on a daily basis)
9. Read and respond to emails
10. Follow up on custom orders and re-orders (was not very organized about doing this in the past)
11. time to meet with vendors, managers, or any other meeting needed
12. Lunch
13. Another meeting slot
14. Time for facebook posting, website work, blogging, etc
15. Time to work on advertising and graphics
16. Time each day for long term goals, strategic business planning, and big picture marketing ideas
17. Be there to pick up my son each day and take him for an after school snack and hear about his day
18. Head home, do some household chores
19. Make dinner at home (previously rare)
20. Eat family dinner at home most nights
21. Homework time with my son
22. Bath time and getting ready for bed time with my son
23. An hour to spend with my husband each night
24. Some nights a little time to do an important night assignment for Flourish
25. Lights out by 10:30-11.
So with all that in mind, I went through the list and wrote in the times that were set like what time I have to pick my son up at, and I went through and listed how much time each activity took. Then I backed into what time I would have to get up. The answer came back at 6am. Now, I have NEVER gotten up that early, ever! The earliest I ever used to get up at was 6:30 am during Jr. High and High school. So 6 am took my breath away. For you early risers, you might be laughing. But if you are a night owl like I was, you will understand how rough this seemed to me. It was going to dramatically change my life. But, when you feel like God directly tells you, no orders you, to do something, you know you need to do it! So, I resolved to try it.
Well, I am only in my second week, but I am off to a good start. And, I am happy to report that there is benefit to it. My days at work seem so much more calm and I feel so empowered at the store: I feel like I have plenty of time to accomplish all I need to! And there's a business upside to it too! Being here at 8:30 each morning, an hour and a half before we open, I often field phone calls from people wanting to order things. Before these phone calls were going mostly unnoticed! I also feel peaceful each morning as I get ready and feel more pulled together. But obviously the biggest thing is that I am routinely able to sit down and talk to God. With time for prayer each morning, I am talking to him more and investing in my walk with him...so if He helped me learn the value of rising early, I can only imagine what else he has in store for me that I will now be able to discover more readily. So....I may be a newbie at it, but I am excited to say I am trying to rise and shine, willing to discover what each day holds! It's exciting:)
No comments:
Post a Comment