Positively Magical

Last Wednesday I went to sleep completely unaware of my magical powers. But, before the next day was done, I made things happen in the world around me with just my intentions. That’s magic, right?

I’ve been offering my jewelry creations online for just over a month, and the learning curve has been really steep. There’s so much to do that it’s almost overwhelming. Although I understand it will take a while to get established, the lack of sales in my two new shops has been a bit discouraging. I woke up last Thursday determined to stay positive and keep moving forward, focusing on my long-term goals, rather than the lack of the immediate gratification I craved. “Today is the day for a sale”, I thought as I got ready to face the day, pumping myself up for the work ahead.

So, I visited the Forums to learn more about tagging my merchandise and, at the same time, to improve name recognition for my shops among other sellers. I uploaded some new pictures to perk up a Facebook page I set up for my business. Both shops received some attention from me in the form of new listings and general improvements. I conquered the intimidation factor and wrote and posted my first blog. I finished up a couple of pieces, and worked on perfecting a new bracelet design that’s been bouncing around in my head. Then, it was back to the Forums to learn more about my newest sales venue at 1000Markets (RowanTreeStudio.1000Markets.com – I ‘m learning about marketing, too).

Late that night, I visited my shops one last time to review the changes, and discovered that I had made some sort of mistake. Again. Things were missing. I searched around for over 10 minutes trying to figure out what I had done wrong, when I realized that the items weren’t missing, they had been SOLD! My first online sales!! I, quite literally, could not believe my eyes.

Now, my day job is as a college professor in one of the social sciences, with an emphasis on the science end of the spectrum. I really like to understand how things work, and I believe that everything, even magic, can be explained. So, how do I explain my magic? Deciding to stay positive affected my behavior in important ways, energizing me to improve my shops, implement some marketing strategies, create some new designs, and work on increasing my knowledge about the best ways to approach online sales. I believe that it also helped me to interact more effectively with the fans of my Facebook page and other shop owners in the Forums, encouraging them to see me, and by association my shops, in a positive light.

Do I really think that my intentions that morning directly caused the sales later in the day? Well, I believe that *all* the mornings I chose to be positive set up the conditions necessary for success. Day after day of positive thinking, despite setbacks and frustration, is what it takes to succeed in business, in relationships, and in life.

In terms of “real” magic, we’ll have to wait and see. I’ve always been an “Instant Karma” kind of gal (any Lennon fans out there?). My friends know that the universe has a very concrete and immediate way of responding to my behavior. The best example is a time when I was riding an escalator and made a snarky remark about someone – I immediately got a pretty substantial shock from the handrail that no one else felt.

Not wanting to be greedy, I haven’t used the “Today is the day” mantra again. I also haven’t had any more sales. Sooner or later I’ll give in, and I’ll keep you posted. Meanwhile, give your magic a chance to work by putting your positive intentions out into the world.

Oh, and I promise to only use my magical powers for good. I’ve learned my lesson. The universe doesn’t have to shock me twice!