How We Live + Work // 7.20.16
If you're new here...welcome! Every Wednesday we share our creative chronicles—tools we're using, things we're loving, stuff we're doing, and ideas we're implementing to navigate and grow our service-based business. You'll also get a behind-the-scenes glance at our work/life adventure as a married couple defining and aligning our own personal version of success! We hope our weekly letters uplift, empower, and inspire you to do the meaningful work you were meant for...with soulful simplicity.
Hey there! Deana here...
This week I got pretty annoyed.
You know when you've invested a lot of time and frayed a few nerve endings to learn something really useful for your business like—oh, I don't know—EDITING YOUR VIDEOS with iMovie?
And then, you're forced to upgrade to the latest version—which is super different—and it takes you TEN times as long to accomplish the simplest things, because they tweaked the tools enough to necessitate relearning the whole process.
Ugh! This really makes me want to pull my hair out!
Well, this week (as you may have guessed) I was challenged to re-learn a couple things.
First, I relearned how to edit movies using the latest version of iMovie (and picked up some cool new skills along the way).
Then, I was forced to relearn how to "erase" backgrounds out of photos, now that Photoshop has completely changed the functionality of the refine edge and refine mask tools.
These may be tools you'll never use, but if you do let me save you some headache:
This video taught me how to use the editing features in the latest version of iMovie.
And this video taught me how to use the refine edge brush tool in Photoshop.
Yes, it was extremely frustrating to pause and relearn things, but you know what? It was totally worth it and the timing was cosmic!
My new video editing skills were improved just in time to help out one of my favorite clients with an awesome project she's working on. Doing the post-production work on her video helped me really integrate everything I had just learned.
I also had the opportunity to use my improved photoshop skills to help out another client who needed a rather complicated background removed from a photo.
Anyway, I just wanted to share those helpful resources (because they came in so handy for me and might for you too)!
I also want to cheer you on because I know, first hand, how hard it can feel when it seems like potholes appear out of nowhere and slow you down. Sometimes running your own business can make you feel like you're sprinting yet, inexplicably, moving forward in slow motion. I just hope we all look this cute in slo-mo!
REMEMBER...
This stuff is absolutely learnable by anyone.
Once you learn (or relearn) a skill you've been dreading, you'll be glad (and proud) you did.
Your new and improved skill can give you renewed confidence to seek out and accept new opportunities to better serve your clients.
Another resource Moses and I are HEAD OVER HEELS in love with is FIZZLE's The Ultimate Guide To Promoting Your Blog.
Right now, the FIZZLE fellows are a big source of learning for us. Their guidance feels so reasonable, real, down-to-earth, and rock solid.
Be warned...Fizzle's blog post is so in-depth and layered, it's probably a year's worth of learning. But we're chipping away at it. And you can too if you want:)
In personal news...we finished the project we started during our staycation. It's a little corner of the world we're calling PARADISE. The only thing we're missing are some Bells of Vienna windchimes (because the whole point of this space is that it's a relaxing sound garden to lull our senses us into calm). Sitting here, sipping a cold beer, and dipping our toes in the gurgling water at the end of a work day? It doesn't get much better;)
If you want a video tour of our sound garden...make sure to stop by our Instagram feed!
