What Are You At Your CORE?

May 12

What are you at your core? What drives you? Why do you aspire to do what you do?

An article in the April-May edition of Entrepreneur Magazine on the power team of Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia poses these exact questions. Reading them flipped a switch for me and I immediately ran to grab my journal in an attempt to define my answers.

I’ve been making jewelry and selling it for roughly twenty years. I identify as a jewelry maker. I always have. I am my work and my jewelry is my identity. But, how can this be? If I didn’t make jewelry, wouldn’t I still be myself?

A few minutes of pondering, a light bulb seemed to have literally illuminated over my head. I am driven by personal growth. I want to be constantly improving in my skills, physically and mentally. Life is so short and precious. There are not many things anyone can control in life; the only things I can control are my decisions and myself.

Last year I decided to treat myself to a weeklong workshop at The New Approach School for Jewelers. Even though I have been making jewelry for more than half my life (I’m 41. Good grief, Linus!), I admit that I don’t know it all. The class was great, BTW. It had been years since I had taken a class and I felt rejuvenated from gaining a wealth of information that I could slowly sift through and implement in my designs.

One of my best decisions/watershed moments was the year I spent at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts as a resident artist. It was a full year of learning and growing in the most supportive environment imaginable (cue the birds chirping). I grew as an artist and as a person. If you have a chance to take a class anywhere, in anything, even online, do it! Grow and learn!

I love to learn and I can always improve. This is why I exercise, eat healthy, and meditate. The only thing in this world I can control is myself. I need to show my physical being love in order to grow. I’m in the camp that believes you can create positive outcomes by manifesting them. Positive thoughts multiply and then good things come. This doesn’t mean that bad things can’t happen, but I choose to believe there is good in this world; it’s what keeps me breathing.

I’m also a competitor at my core. Whether you see that as a good or bad thing, if channeled properly it can be an amazing motivator. The goal is to combine this quality with positivity and grace and keep that green-eyed monster at bay.

The only person I truly need to compete with is myself. This core quality definitely stems from my childhood. When you play a game with a child, do you let them win? Do you go easy on them? My Father, a true competitor as well, NEVER, never “let us win”. His most favorite saying is, “Life’s a bitch, and then you die”. Learning to lose graciously is important, and then when you FINALLY get a win… you know you earned it and you revel in its powerful glow!

One of my daily competitions with myself is to drink enough water. Six pint glasses is the goal. Every time I finish the pint, I add a colorful rubber band to my glass. By nighttime, there needs to be at least six rubber bands decorating my drink. My husband is always ahead of me, and that’s OK. I need the motivation; this is a tiny competition that benefits us both.

Let’s all grow and compete with ourselves to become better humans.