Season 2 – epiBLOG 23:

DECEMBER THEME – “GIVING”

This month is when my favorite holiday of the year is celebrated. Christmas. Many seem to always be in a good mood, to always be thinking about others, and to desire to be a better version of themselves. Plus, this is the one time of the year when you seem to eat whatever you want without feeling guilty about it. You know what I’m talking about.

I can talk so much about the Christmas Holiday – everything from seeing my favorite color (red) brushed across storefront displays to Christmas movies – the classics and the newer ones. And we can’t forget about the food – candy canes, cookies, chocolate, and homemade everything!

For the theme this month, I felt that GIVING was extremely fitting.

Today’s topic is: as an entrepreneurial artist, it is vital that you become a huge giver.

Part of being an entrepreneurial artist is building relationships with people. Sincere relationships. Not only do you attend networking mixers, support other artists at major events that showcase their work, but you have to be genuine in how you connect with and nurture the relationships with the people that you already know and the new people with whom you meet along the way to reaching whatever career goals that you have.

There are a lot of books and blogs out there about connecting with people and how to keep relationships strong, both online and in person. Today I would like to focus on one aspect of maintaining and nurturing your business relationships with people.

Consider the idea of “pouring into” people’s lives. When you pour water or juice into a glass, you’re filling it with a substance. Now imagine that people are like empty glasses, and your words and kind gestures are like water or juice that fills them with substance. How is this analogy applicable in the real world? Reach out to people just to check in on them to see how they are doing and what is going on with their life. If you have some information or something that you feel would be beneficial to their lives, “pour into” their lives by passing this information or “thing” along without any preconceived expectation of what you will get out of it.

Relationships – business or personal – require you to “pour into” them. I do this because I genuinely care about the people that I connect with. I don’t think about what I can get FROM them; instead I think about how I can give TO them. When people think of giving, they often think of losing something and having less. I understand this. Remember when your mom and dad made you split the last piece of cake with your baby brother? Obviously, you received a smaller portion than you would have had if you didn’t share. Or that time you had to take turns on the swing with your best friend because all of the other swings were occupied by others? I get it. Many people think of giving as losing instead of looking at it as a way to fill someone else with substance.

I’ve had to learn to alter my perception about many things this year in order to move forward with my endeavors. Taking on the idea of “pouring into” other people’s lives has been extremely useful for me. It’s caused me to reach out to new business contacts, former students, old friends, and people in my personal life. As long as you’re being sincere with a good heart, you’re nurturing those relationships by messaging someone to just say hello, by connecting 2 people who need each other’s services, or by simply letting someone know that you were thinking of them (if you really were).

Doing this at any point in time would work, but I want to advise you to especially pour into other people’s lives when you are at your lowest point. Pour into other people’s lives when you feel defeated and when you feel like you can’t take one more round of rejections. Not only will you make someone else’s day, but this small act of giving somehow raises your energy levels up just enough to pull you out of the abyss.

Today’s LESSON is to give as much as you can when you can.

FUN ASSIGNMENT: Choose 5 people that you haven’t spoken to in 6 months or longer, reach out to them, and say what you feel each individual may need to hear. You can do this via email, Skype, phone call, or direct message. The choice is yours. Pour wisely.

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