The advice I give my strategic planning clients is to identify your core competencies and go deep with them. Deepen the engagement, the impact and capitalize on what you recognized for and good at doing. Now I'm turning that advice on myself.
I need to deepen my routes in the Bay Area. So, I had a transition relationship. It was good and I enjoyed it, despite the surprise ending. Does that mean I'm spun off and should respond by roaming. How about I look at why I am here in the Bay Area, what I am doing that is working so well. My friends, career and location are working for me. Deepen them.
The first thing I identified that I want to change is my housing situation. This has been a very good place for me to transition back into the Bay Area and as you know from previous posts, I am ready to spread my wings. Earlier in the year I was flirting with moving back into San Francisco. But I love the pace, environment and my friends in the East Bay. So, I've started looking on CraigsList for apartments in Alameda and Oakland. To my delight there are many options in my price range - with move-in specials. I'm going to start looking next week.
I often dream of having my own kitchen and now that can happen. Plus, I could get a cat or dog if I like. All my possessions in storage can become part of my life again - well almost all - do I need everything in there? I'll have to take a look. My petite mason will be filled with artworks, colors, pots, pans, music and books. Friends will be invited over for home cooked meals. Oh the joy of it.
As soon as I had this vision of moving into my own place I was able to take a decent nap. Now I feel like a million dollars. Plus, I had a fantastic heart-to-heart with my cousin Corrina who reminded me to go deep and be true to myself. Go ahead, make plans, live my life and be confident and deliberate.
Showing posts with label craigslist. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craigslist. Show all posts
August 8, 2009
September 21, 2008
Thoughts on Yardsales
Our collective household hosted a huge yard sale yesterday. Our house is located in a primo yardsale location, at the intersection of two major roads. With just eight signs posted and one listing on www.craigslist.com we had a tremendous turnout and off-loaded over 50% of our stuff.
Selling your things is always a reality check on taste. I kept looking at my stuff (I only had a few things for sale since I have so few posessions) and thinking, "wow, I have good taste." When people purchased my things I noticed they did so in bulk. Hardly anyone walked away with just one of my items, they always had at least two. That tells me that we have the same taste good and the items were going to good homes.
My housemate Jessica, Stacey's sister, was so funny when it came to pricing. People would hold up items and call across to her (she was sitting a safe distance away on the front steps), "how much?" She would take a good 30 seconds on every item, looking up at the sky, biting her lip, shrugging her shoulders and then coming up with a price. Stacey and I held our breaths each time as we hoped the process would quicken. But no, this was a historic exploration for Jessica. She was running through all the memories of the piece, where it came from and how much she still liked it. This process was particularly amusing to one customer who was charged $1 for old flipflops and 50 cents for a new frame. "How come the pricing seems reversed, wouldn't you charge more for the new frame?" No, said Jessica, "I still like the flipflops but I don't care about the frame."
The whole day was easy going. Easy setup, friendly customers, fast cleanup and a quick trip to Good Will with our leftovers. That's key. You have to bag up the stuff and take it away immediately, otherwise you start to have sentimental feelings and hold on to it. What I noticed about my stuff was last-in, first-out. I was happy to sell items I had just recently purchased. Hum. Commitment issues?
Selling your things is always a reality check on taste. I kept looking at my stuff (I only had a few things for sale since I have so few posessions) and thinking, "wow, I have good taste." When people purchased my things I noticed they did so in bulk. Hardly anyone walked away with just one of my items, they always had at least two. That tells me that we have the same taste good and the items were going to good homes.
My housemate Jessica, Stacey's sister, was so funny when it came to pricing. People would hold up items and call across to her (she was sitting a safe distance away on the front steps), "how much?" She would take a good 30 seconds on every item, looking up at the sky, biting her lip, shrugging her shoulders and then coming up with a price. Stacey and I held our breaths each time as we hoped the process would quicken. But no, this was a historic exploration for Jessica. She was running through all the memories of the piece, where it came from and how much she still liked it. This process was particularly amusing to one customer who was charged $1 for old flipflops and 50 cents for a new frame. "How come the pricing seems reversed, wouldn't you charge more for the new frame?" No, said Jessica, "I still like the flipflops but I don't care about the frame."
The whole day was easy going. Easy setup, friendly customers, fast cleanup and a quick trip to Good Will with our leftovers. That's key. You have to bag up the stuff and take it away immediately, otherwise you start to have sentimental feelings and hold on to it. What I noticed about my stuff was last-in, first-out. I was happy to sell items I had just recently purchased. Hum. Commitment issues?
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