There’s a famous folktale about a rich man who left his home and family and sold everything to find diamonds in a far off land. After years of trying to “find diamonds” he died sad, broke and unsuccessful. Little did he know that the man who purchased his property found a diamond mine in his home’s backyard! That’s a little how I feel today… I feel like I’ve “found diamonds” in our backyard that we didn’t really know where there or care to discover until now.
We’ve lived in Spanish Fork, Utah for 6 years and this was the first weekend we have ever hiked our canyon (we live at the base of it!) There’s lots of “diamonds” up there! (Funny how we recently rented an RV for 2 weeks to drive to Canada and hike (albeit GORGEOUS as well) yet we had not even explored our backyard.)
This weekend we backpacked (first time for me to carry a pack) and hiked overnight up our canyon (15 minutes from our driveway) to a trailhead that people had driven a couple hours to also discover. We hiked 2 miles up and slept overnight at Three Forks Canyon where a river flows along the trail and wild flowers guide to the top of the mountain where a natural mineral hot spring awaits. Seven different pools of varying temperatures provide options for the whole family to enjoy… there’s even a secret cave with a waterfall! Check out Ryan Byrd’s photos here… we forgot our camera, so thanks to Ryan who captured it in 2007.
Sure I had heard about these springs for years in college/married life (and the fact that there’s sometimes skinny dipping! haha!), but never thought it would be something we’d like to discover, until now. Too bad! We could have been up there instead of at the boring neighborhood park or… it is truly a delightful, enchanting place.
So this experience makes me consider what other “diamonds” I missing in my backyard–in life, in love, in business…
I’ll ponder the subject of business for a moment. There’s a few companies that I have been wanting to get to know for the past several months and have a discussion about potential partnerships. These relationships might be a “diamond mine” waiting to be discovered! So, I promise to have a conversation with one of them this week and explore possibilities.
Your turn. What have you been been “putting off” that you know could be a “diamond”? And what are you going to promise to do about it this week? Contest: Comment below and enter to win a Sparkplug U course, courtesy of Fairy Godmother Wendy Piersall. Sparkplug U offers fabulous business and productivity classes via the internet. Deadline to enter is Thursday, 5pm. The winner will be selected by a Fairy Godmother, Startup Princesses only, please. Enjoy discovering your diamonds!
Hmmm….this is a tough one! There are only so many hours in a day, and I wish I could get to all of those possibilities. Sometimes you just have to tackle the most important things first.
But…one diamond that I would like to get to is working more on getting to know other local business owners. It seems like my time is all taken up, but at the end of the day, I would love some local support from other people who are going through the same things as I am.
I’ve been a member of the local chamber of commerce before, and then let my membership lapse last year when I knew that I needed to put my “side” business on the back burner while I was focusing on my full time job and preparing for the arrival of my first child. When I quit working for someone else so that I could bring my “side” business to the front I knew that I needed to get back in touch with them and revisit some of my old connections. That was three months ago. This week I have vowed (thanks, in part, to this great article) to get back involved and attend the networking breakfast they are having on Friday morning. I really love meeting people and I’m not afraid of the networking, I guess I’m nervous about throwing everything into my business and going full force. It’s all me. This week, I will do it. I will put myself out there and find my diamond mine of customers.
this is easy. I have been wanting to explore the world of licensing for a while, but I am afraid to contact big companies that would hire me to illustrate for their products. I have been putting it off, only because I want to make the best impression, but I know that by just “doing it” I will realize all it takes is a simple email. My diamond in the back yard are these people that I just need to contact, and start testing the water!
Used Random.org to determine the winner because each of you offered such a great comment/entry. And how could we really pick? Sarah Jane will be the lucky winner of the course at Sparkplug U!