This is totally what we're doing! This weekend I was at the library and picked up a copy of Start Something That Matters by Blake Mycoskie, the guy who created TOMS. http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10723236-start-something-that-matters
In the book he tells about the start of TOMS, but also gives six key principles for how to start your own "something that matters." I'm only 2 chapters into it right now, but I'm amazed. I'm trying to hold myself back so that I can "marinate" in the book awhile. The TOMS story is great, and he explains how the new market is all about having a story behind your product.
Austin is the perfect market for this! Austinites are VERY into enviro-friendly products. There's a big buzz in town about a proposed grocery store that will be the first ever zero-packaging store. You can either bring your own reusable containers or they will sell you their biodegradable packages. The people developing this grocery store have a perfect story. They saw the sheer amount of single-use packaging that gets thrown away by a person each day and decided to change that. They wanted a grocery store that would "save the environment as well as consumer health." Perfect backstory. Nothing is more compelling than saving the world AND our children.
Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/06/27/americas-first-zero-packaging-grocery-store-to-open-in-austin/#ixzz1iLyLLzcE
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Our First Event
Saturday was our first night out. We went to a local restaurant/bar for a small get-together for Candy's birthday. We didn't hash out plans until immediately before, which usually causes me great anxiety. But Candy had vaguely threatened if I bailed, so I took a pill and went anyway. The bar was interesting. Although they are a teeny venue (I swear they could only seat 30 at best), they insist on having live music inside. It's a very "Austin" thing to do. Very loud. And very sparkly. Oh well. I was able to hang out anyway and even eat something while we were there (which I usually completely avoid so that I don't get sick while I'm away from home). I'm not sure how being sick at home is better - other than the ability to avoid public embarrassment. Anyway, we hashed out some more ideas and just in general had a good time.
Sometimes you just need that time out and away from your daily routine, and last night was a great example. We ended up going somewhere quieter and just hanging out after, which proved even better. We were able to just be social and dorky together. We're all a bit weird, and we're lucky enough to find people who accept and celebrate that. We just know that I have no filter, that Candy is way too easy to read, and that JoJo is a meme in real life. It's amazing, and it just works. I hope you have or find a place like this for yourself, and we hope you'll come hang out in ours.
We're setting our goal to make plans each week and announce them beforehand in case anyone wants to join us for our little adventures. Remember, the goal is to just get out. Go somewhere, do something, and just enjoy having an experience. Our generation seems to have fallen into a gap, and we've lost the ability to just do something for the sake of doing it. We're gonna fix that.
Enjoy your New Year's, and we'll catch up with you soon.
Sometimes you just need that time out and away from your daily routine, and last night was a great example. We ended up going somewhere quieter and just hanging out after, which proved even better. We were able to just be social and dorky together. We're all a bit weird, and we're lucky enough to find people who accept and celebrate that. We just know that I have no filter, that Candy is way too easy to read, and that JoJo is a meme in real life. It's amazing, and it just works. I hope you have or find a place like this for yourself, and we hope you'll come hang out in ours.
We're setting our goal to make plans each week and announce them beforehand in case anyone wants to join us for our little adventures. Remember, the goal is to just get out. Go somewhere, do something, and just enjoy having an experience. Our generation seems to have fallen into a gap, and we've lost the ability to just do something for the sake of doing it. We're gonna fix that.
Enjoy your New Year's, and we'll catch up with you soon.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Dad's Advice
So Candy and I have very similar personalities. We think too much, we over-analyze, we get worked up... Well, I do. Candy is the success story that I aim to be. I currently have panic attacks that are greatly affecting my life. Candy is on the other side. She suffered from WICKED panic attacks years ago and was able to find her way out of them. We hope that by creating this blog and extras that we can help ourselves and others stop thinking too much and just enjoy the experience.
Candy and I came up with this idea over dinner one night. We were both stressed for different reasons and were over-analyzing our lives. We started talking and brainstorming ideas to get ourselves out of our heads and back into just enjoying life. My dad is a self-help connoisseur and is constantly giving me advice and books to read to help me get over this anxiety/panic issue. One of his best pieces of advice is that when you're spiraling into yourself and driving yourself batty, focus your attention outward. Focus on something outside of yourself and try to help others. Doing things for others puts your life back in perspective and makes you feel better. So that's our idea. We aim to focus our attention outside of ourselves.
We're coming at this from several angles. We want to provide small ideas on how to be grateful for tiny things in our lives. I really love Dad's latest advice to "find the tiniest step and take it." Apparently it's not important (or even helpful, I've found) to go whole-hog and try to fix it all in one giant leap. It asks too much of you, and you burn out at the first hint of not being able to do it all. So each day, I'm trying to find one teeny tiny thing to that makes me grateful for my life.
We're also applying this logic to focusing outward. Starting this blog and bouncing ideas off Candy has been amazing. I'm for once holding myself back from trying to do it all in one gulp. I'm forcing myself to only do 15 minutes of "work" on our goals each day. It's nearly stress-free to do it this way because it's hard to be intimidated by working 15 mins a day. And yet, I'm still doing good, and I'm still focusing outward for a tiny portion of my day. I feel a sense of relief being able to do this in teeny amounts and not burn myself out or feel like a failure. It's great!
We would like to invite you to join us. We know that not everyone has anxiety, but we're willing to bet that a LOT of us get caught over-thinking situations. We think a lot of people want to do tiny bits of good in this world or heck, even just have some fun getting outside of themselves for a moment. Come join us just for the fun of it, whether you're in Austin or not. We're going to find little things that you can do in your own area, too. We'll even let you know what we thought of our excursion so you can try it later if you want. We're also going to try to keep it on the cheap. Some activities may be pricier, but we want to stay under $10 as much as possible. See, you have no excuse! It'll be cheap, it'll be once a week, and it'll be fun. Shoot, you may even help someone else along the way.
So... Welcome to our journey.
Disclaimer: We do not pretend to be therapists. Our ideas, advice, and events will not substitute for a sound therapeutic program. Candy and I have both pursued therapy to great avail. We encourage you to get any form of help that you need.
Candy and I came up with this idea over dinner one night. We were both stressed for different reasons and were over-analyzing our lives. We started talking and brainstorming ideas to get ourselves out of our heads and back into just enjoying life. My dad is a self-help connoisseur and is constantly giving me advice and books to read to help me get over this anxiety/panic issue. One of his best pieces of advice is that when you're spiraling into yourself and driving yourself batty, focus your attention outward. Focus on something outside of yourself and try to help others. Doing things for others puts your life back in perspective and makes you feel better. So that's our idea. We aim to focus our attention outside of ourselves.
We're coming at this from several angles. We want to provide small ideas on how to be grateful for tiny things in our lives. I really love Dad's latest advice to "find the tiniest step and take it." Apparently it's not important (or even helpful, I've found) to go whole-hog and try to fix it all in one giant leap. It asks too much of you, and you burn out at the first hint of not being able to do it all. So each day, I'm trying to find one teeny tiny thing to that makes me grateful for my life.
We're also applying this logic to focusing outward. Starting this blog and bouncing ideas off Candy has been amazing. I'm for once holding myself back from trying to do it all in one gulp. I'm forcing myself to only do 15 minutes of "work" on our goals each day. It's nearly stress-free to do it this way because it's hard to be intimidated by working 15 mins a day. And yet, I'm still doing good, and I'm still focusing outward for a tiny portion of my day. I feel a sense of relief being able to do this in teeny amounts and not burn myself out or feel like a failure. It's great!
We would like to invite you to join us. We know that not everyone has anxiety, but we're willing to bet that a LOT of us get caught over-thinking situations. We think a lot of people want to do tiny bits of good in this world or heck, even just have some fun getting outside of themselves for a moment. Come join us just for the fun of it, whether you're in Austin or not. We're going to find little things that you can do in your own area, too. We'll even let you know what we thought of our excursion so you can try it later if you want. We're also going to try to keep it on the cheap. Some activities may be pricier, but we want to stay under $10 as much as possible. See, you have no excuse! It'll be cheap, it'll be once a week, and it'll be fun. Shoot, you may even help someone else along the way.
So... Welcome to our journey.
Disclaimer: We do not pretend to be therapists. Our ideas, advice, and events will not substitute for a sound therapeutic program. Candy and I have both pursued therapy to great avail. We encourage you to get any form of help that you need.
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