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A Publication of The Handmade Beauty Network
ISSN 1530-9630 | Vol. 4, Issue 48
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I'm taking a break from the usual format of the newsletter for this special holiday issue, to remind myself of the many things for which I am so very thankful this holiday season. I have infused my message with a more personal touch this time by including a response to the many notes I have received from several of you over the past several weeks that have asked me the question: "dM: How Do You Do It All?!!"

Recently, a reader wrote me and asked me to send her some "do it all juice." Well, here's a news flash -- I don't have any!

Admittedly, I do a lot, so I guess it may seem to some as though I "Do It All". But let me put that notion to rest once and for all. I don't Do It All and I don't want to Do It All. And I'm thankful this Thanksgiving (and every day) that I don't have to do it all. Do you feel as though you have to Do It All -- and Do It All perfectly? Well, you don't and Thanksgiving is a good time of year to take that notion to heart, take a deep breath and be thankful that Doing It All is not expected of any of us.

If you are a business owner, especially if you have a family and/or a full-time job too, you are probably very familiar with the pressure to Do It All. After all, if you don't Do It All, everything will fall apart, right? The business may not be successful, the kids may become involved in undesirable activities, the love interest may stray and the house may be a mess. But let's face it -- the demands of raising children, tending to significant others (including spouses, partners and/or close friends), maintaining a home and running a business can be overwhelming most of the time. So my question is this: what sense does it make to even try to Do It All in the first place? It doesn't! And if you have not realized that as one of the things to be thankful for this holiday season, now is the time!

1. Each day, I realize that I will not accomplish everything I want to accomplish. Once I accept that fact at the beginning of the day, the pressure is off. I don't mean that I don't try to put a check mark beside everything on my "To Do" list. What I mean is that I accept from the start that if I don't get everything on the list done, it won't mean the end of the world. The rest of the list will surely be there the next day after all. So I just try to prioritize all of the things I want or need to do so that, at the end of the day, I've at least accomplished the ones that I absolutely must accomplish in order to feel as though the day has been productive and the most important things have been taken care of. If you don't already start the day with the realization that you probably won't "Do It All," now is the time to be thankful that you can give yourself permission to do just that. Do what you can, and do it as well as you can. But don't have a coronary if something on your list has to wait until tomorrow.

I'm thankful that I don't have to Do It All.

2. If something does have to get done on a particular day, and it looks like I can't do it by myself, I ask for help. And I am not ashamed to do so. Are you ashamed or embarrassed to ask for help? I used to be, and I paid for it by being less productive than I had to be. I used to think that asking for help was a sign of weakness. But a few years ago, I began ignoring the feeling of incompetence that I experienced when I asked someone for help. I just looked at a particular task and assessed it honestly. If I could not do it by myself, I asked for help. Sometimes I could pay the help and sometimes I could not. If I could not compensate someone financially, I tried to find a way to trade something of value for their assistance. Over the years, asking for help has become easier and easier.

I'm thankful that there are people who can help me.

3. At least do something! Of course the fact that we don't have to Do It All doesn't excuse us from Doing Something. The antithesis of Doing It All is Doing Nothing, and many people choose just that if a task seems to daunting or overwhelming. If you have a tendency to Do Nothing if you can't Do It All, try simply Doing Something! Taking even a few tiny baby steps in the direction you want to go will yield positive results, and in no time, you'll find yourself accomplishing your goals both large and small.

I'm thankful that, in time, small steps can yield big results. 

Visit our suite of Web sites serving the handmade toiletries industry:

HandmadeBeauty.com: the leading industry trade organization
MangoButter.com: 450+ suppliers of raw materials and packaging, updated weekly!
MakeYourCosmetics.com: ingredient encyclopedia & original cosmetics recipes
DonnaMaria.com: sound advice for your small business, Create The Life You Love™
AromaGirls .com: Coming Soon: "defining beauty for ourselves"