People often say your twenties is the time to figure out what you want to do with your life and where you're heading. A lot of people already have their careers planned out straight from university and know exactly what they want to do. But what if your dream career path seems really far away? Sometimes it can be disheartening when you don't know where to start to work towards your goal. I have teamed up with the CEO of Chroma Stationary Gabi Cox who has kindly written a post on her top tips for getting closer to and following your dreams. Over on Chroma Stationary, I have also interviewed Gabi to give an insight into the face behind the brand. Here is Gabi's post, enjoy!
Chasing your dreams
When I handed in my final major University
project, four years ago, little did I know that the pile of sketchbooks, memory
sticks & stationery samples would become a successful, profit turning brand
and my full time job.
I launched Chroma Stationery in November 2014,
five months after graduating and following a Kickstarter campaign to raise my
initial funding. I founded the brand with 1,000 notebooks, my parents dining
room and a lot of to do lists. Fast forward 3.5 years and Chroma has sold to
individual website customers across 28 countries and in bulk to brands
including American Airlines, Boots & Max Factor.
What started as a (stationery filled) dream has
become a reality and although I still have so many plans a goals for the
business, here are my top tips for making them happen and not giving up along
the way.
-
Set goals
You have that dream in mind. It might be
becoming self employed, gaining a promotion or being able to travel the world.
To help keep you motivated you need to be able to visualise what you want to
achieve. Set yourself realistic but challenging goals which will help get you
there. It gives you something to aim for!
-
Break the goal down
If your dream or goal is a big one it can
quickly become overwhelming or even a little bit scary. It feels like it’ll
never happen or there’s far too much to do. One way to make this easier is to
break the dream down into smaller, easier steps. Work out what you need to do
to achieve your dream and the small steps you need to take to get there.
When I launched Chroma, running my own business
and building a brand seemed huge; from the finances and marketing to product
development and branding; my to do lists were never ending. By staying
organised, biting off small chunks and setting realistic goals, I got through
it all.
-
Things will go wrong
Things will go wrong. When you're looking to
achieve a big goal or dream, the journey will not be plain sailing. You’ll have
hiccups and setbacks along the way. The trick is not to let these get you down
too much. Don't beat yourself up, learn from your mistakes & concentrate on
the good stuff.
-
Celebrate the small
victories
With things going wrong or set backs occurring
it is so important to always celebrate those small victories. Personally, I
write down five good things every day and three top highlights of my week,
every week. It makes me reflect on the good, even if the week has been
stressful or something has gone wrong. When your striving for one big dream, it
can be easy to not see all the smaller great things that are happening every
day or all the baby steps you're making towards that goal. Negativity is one of
the biggest things that can trip you up, don't let it win!
-
Reward yourself
It is so important to give yourself a pat on the
back when you’ve done well. If, like me, you primarily work alone or are self
employed you often don’t have that boss or colleague to celebrate or cheer
with. This means it’s vital to do it for yourself. Book in a massage, go out
for dinner with friends or take some time off; do something to reward all of
your hard work.
-
Believe in yourself
This is far easier said than done and is often
the biggest hurdle but belief and your mind set when striving for your dreams
is a huge factor that should never be underestimated. Believing in what you're
looking to achieve and that you will be able to do it can make all the
difference. You’ll meet people along the way who don’t understand what you do
or why you want to do it, they might not believe you can reach that goal. This
is where your self belief becomes crucial; prove them wrong, know you can and
get on and do it. One of my favourite quotes of all time is, “Whether you
believe you can, or you believe you can’t, you’re right”.
These steps are just some of the ways you can
ensure you don’t give up on that dream or goal. Everyone finds their own
strategies or steps they take to help them achieve & make them a reality.
“Believe you can and you're half way there.”
hello@chromastationery
@chromastationery
Chroma Stationery creates colour loving
branded and personalised stationery for individuals and brands that truly
represents the personality of the person or business. Each product can be
completely customised, whether thats a favourite quote, a set of initials, a
logo or graphic image, each product we create is totally unique. With 20
colours & multiple ranges to choose from we give our customers the ability
to create their dream piece of stationery. From one to 1000+ units, each
product can be totally personalised.
For more information head to www.chromastationery.co.uk
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