My new career as a painter....

When I die – bury me with this paint brush.” OK – go ahead and laugh but the Egyptians were buried with their treasured objects! ( I know, many of you thought I might want to be buried with my computer)

When there is a job to do – there is nothing better than having the right tools to do the job – and for that matter – the best tools to do the job.

This past month we were spending all of our spare time getting our house ready for sale – and that involved a lot of painting. Hallways, exterior, stairwells and touch ups were just a few of the areas I painted using one paintbrush.

I could have gone out to the garage and hunted up an old paint brush to do the job, but when I was out picking the paint up, I decided to look at some new brushes. There were a lot to choose from – so I asked the ‘expert’ in the paint department for a good brush for ‘cutting in’. He walked straight to the display and chose one and said, “this is the one I use – and I love it.” He was the ‘expert’ – so I trusted his advice. I bought it. 

When I began using the brush, I was amazed at how well I could paint. Now I am not a painter – but looking at the results – I was amazed. I did not need to use tape to cover other trim – I was able to cut in even the smallest of places. I became so excited at the results that what was supposed to be a chore that I was not looking forward to – became a job I really enjoyed.

My husband was mortified. Then disturbed. Then finally annoyed. You see the hallway was all I was going to paint. But then I got to the stairwell – and I thought – what the heck! So I went around the corner and down the stairs. Then came the corner by the closet. Well I really couldn’t stop there. By noon I had advanced to the living room. (now you see my hubby’s concern)

And to add to the euphoria I experienced while doing the job I thought I was going to hate – was the yummy feeling in my tummy as I looked at the milk chocolate colour of the walls. Between the results of the cutting in and the final look of the room – I was in heaven. All I wanted to do was to continue to paint.

This made me think about my business. How often had I just used a tool I had on hand to do a job – not bothering to even look to see if there was a better tool to use. Perhaps this is why I put off some of the jobs I did not like to do. Maybe there were better tools?

Case in point – my new virtual assistant Raghu suggested I start using a tool called Hoot Suite. I had become tired of tweeting and updating all my social network pages. When you write as much as I do – after a while it can become mundane. What a cool tool – I was hooked immediately!

I guess the point I am trying to make is – no job has to be mundane. Not only can we find joy in doing a job and doing it well – there are thousands of tools out there to help us. All we have to do is ask an expert – and maybe invest in a good tool to help us out.

When you won’t invest in new tools and ideas – you remain mired in old thinking – and often old attitudes. 

So here’s the deal. You get to choose how easy (or hard) and fun (or mundane) it is to run your business.

Oh – and yes – my husband chose a paintbrush from the garage. (oh dear) He is still picking paintbrush hairs off the trim on the front porch….. and grumbling about painting.