you can’t bitch if you don’t vote

Today is an election day here in the US, and election days always make me think of one of my personal mantras, “You can’t bitch if you don’t vote.”

The idea behind it is that if you don’t vote, you don’t have a right to complain about what’s wrong with government.

When I think about this phrase, I don’t actually consider it limited to voting. For me, it means that you shouldn’t complain about a situation until you’ve done everything in your power to change it.

But what does this have to do with running a crafts business?

I’m glad you asked. Besides the fact that I believe it’s critical for solopreneurs and creatives to vote, what I really think is that it’s time we stopped blaming factors outside our control when things don’t work out for us.

My husband recently changed jobs, but prior to that change he worked at a job that was making him miserable. Every day, he would come home and complain about it. Exasperated, I would ask him if he had talked to management about his concerns. “No,” was always his reply. I’d ask him if he had looked for a new job. Again, “no.” Finally, I’d point at that if he wasn’t doing anything to change his situation, he had no right to complain about it. (Or at the very least, I wasn’t going to listen anymore.)

And I see this same scenario in many craft business owners.

We blame the show for our slow sales, even if we didn’t do any of our own pre-show marketing. We blame the economy for the slump in our business, but don’t do anything to try to make our business better. We blame the Etsy admin for “always featuring the same artists,” but we’ve never attempted to alert Etsy admin (or a single blogger) about our work.

I’m not trying to point fingers here, I can be guilty of it too. But over the years I’ve become much more cognizant when I catch myself complaining or making excuses. I try to ask myself if I’ve done everything in my power to improve the situation before I complain about factors beyond my control.

My no complaining/no excuses mantra has helped me become more accountable. It’s also helped focus more on the things in my business that I can control, which in the end has helped me grow my business.

I’m not saying you should never bitch (blowing off steam now and then can be healthy) but if you aren’t working to change the situation, how can you expect the situation to change?

So my challenge to everyone today (including myself) is to stop complaining and take action. Vote, get involved in organizations that matter to you (or start one of your own), and take your business into your own hands. Switch your mindset from one of complaining to one of action, and you’ll be amazed at the results.

(image via minorthread on Etsy)