How I Shifted Negative Perspectives and Maximized Opportunities

Welcome to Monday Musings with Kissa, where I share what the heck happened last week, what I have planned for this week, and a story time, not in that particular order. This is an audio companion to my Substack newsletter that I send out every Thursday, so if you're not already subscribed, there's a button somewhere here where you can do so, and content as of this recording is currently free.Hi everyone, welcome. My name is Kissa. I'm a mom, a wife, an entrepreneur based in the suburbs of LA and this Monday Musings is basically just to not only share with you but keep myself accountable to what's going on in life and hopefully it's beneficial to you.So let's talk about what happened this past week. Honestly, it was another full week and I think I've just had to accept the reality that it's never really going to be slow during this season of life.There's just so much happening in personal and business life that even though the week might look slow on Monday, something will come up, an email will arrive in my inbox, a new opportunity is going to present itself, and that's just the season of life that I'm in.There's already things happening for my kids as we plan for this upcoming school year that's going to start in less than a month. We have play dates going on, end of summer pop-ups, we're adding new markets to our weekly rotation. We even got our first investment last week and we could not be more proud of just the journey that we've been on because we're entering a whole new territory and I can't believe this is where we're at. It's such a blessing. And then on top of that, we had meetings with clients and friends, which honestly just fill me up, gives me so much energy to have connection with fellow entrepreneurs, with our friends and with our family. It really is what keeps me going. Community is just such a big cornerstone to what's important to me and I think my takeaway from last week was honestly that like I said, things aren't going to slow down and that's not a bad thing. It's actually a blessing. That means life is full and I wouldn't have it any other way.Now let's talk about this week. This week is the last full week before we go on vacation. And if you are subscribed to my Thursday posts, you'll know that we are preparing the to leave for a one-week vacation. We're going to Cabo and we are so excited because this is going to be our first family vacation as a family of four. We haven't taken a vacation any longer than a couple days ever since 2021. So it's been four years since we've gone on a vacation of this magnitude. And the four of us could not be more excited.So on the work side, the focus is production. We want to make sure that we get a head start on production for products because there are a few things that we are waiting for. And those orders might go through while we're on vacation. So if we can get a head start, I'm sure it'll be a less stressful process coming back from vacation if we get a head start this week. So that's what's on our docket for work.On the personal side, the focus is prep for vacation, just like the business. So for me, that means I'm starting to organize our packing list as a family. I have a template in Notion that I just have and house. And so I'm going to generate that packing list template and then customize it to this vacation and then fill out all of my travel itinerary stuff. That way it's housed in one central place where Charlie and I can see it and also family members. So that is my project for this week. And then to stack on top of that, I don't think I've ever told you guys, but every single day I do some kind of 10 minute tidy up in our house. The house can get messy really, really quick because there's someone always here pretty much throughout the day. 10 minutes a day is my minimum and I can pick any section of the house where I feel like I want to put my energy to tidy up, or it could be throughout the house. This week, because we are going on a family vacation, I want to extend that to 30 minutes a day. One of the things that I want to feel when I return home from vacation is that I'm coming home to a peaceful place, not a place that's messy where I can start generating that laundry list of things that I need to work on the moment I walk through the door after vacation. So that's going to take a little extra effort from me. Our house isn't a complete mess, but there's a lot of things that I know would help improve our environment so that when we return, it'll be ready and in a better place.And my mindset shift for this week is when I look at my calendar for this particular week, there's not a lot of work that has to be done on our end. And that's not always the case. But when it is, I somehow feel this sense of guilt that there's no urgent business. And so I tend to create a project just so I can feel productive. And I realize that's not necessary because if there's other aspects of my life outside of business that do need more attention, then that's where I should put my focus. And I should be grateful that I have that slowness on one aspect of life so that I can fill in the blanks on the opposite.A lie that I'm telling myself is, “No urgent business means I need to create a project to feel productive.”Another lie that I'm telling myself is that if I'm not cleaning or organizing something at home every day, then I'm failing.And those are obviously not true.The truth is, if there isn't a non-negotiable for both parts of life, aka business and personal life, in a day, then I don't need to do both. I can just focus on one if I want to and pick up on the other another day. That's okay. It's not a crime to do that. And for whatever reason, up until today, I just kept thinking I have to move both needles forward. I have to move my business needle and my personal needle forward every single day. And that's not true.All right, y'all. So now let's break into that story time.I want to talk about when we used to have Food Truck Fridays at our original restaurant. And this was back in 2010, 2011-ish. I can't remember exactly when. But our restaurant in Granada Hills, we were a brunch and lunch spot. So we were basically open from 8 a.m. or 7.30 a.m., something like that, until about 4 p.m. We had a brick and mortar. And if you guys remember this, 2010, 2011-ish, that's when the food truck trend really started to pick up steam.So at 5 p.m., food trucks would pull up and they would line the street where our original restaurant was. And it was such a popular thing for that neighborhood.Customers were riled up about it. They were asking us if we were upset. They would say that they were upset for us because these food trucks were taking away our sales.Us as a brick and mortar, we could do a few things, right?We could copy and get our own food truck. We could do that.We could be upset and bitter and angry and just keep doing what we're doing.Or we could tell ourselves, “If you can't beat them, join them.” And that's the route that I decided to take.That's what we did. We decided to close and then wait until about six o'clock when the traffic on Fridays for the food trucks would get really busy and we would reopen. And my mom would create some kind of weekend special she would launch that one dish it would be a filipino dish that she would sell on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. We sold desserts and smoothies and did so freaking well and let me tell you why all the food trucks that were parked on our street “disrupting our business and taking up the parking spots on our street.”They were all serving savory food.They all had different concepts.And so what I did was I filled a gap.I realized that no one was serving drinks, specialty drinks. I realized no one was really serving desserts outside. And that's where we found our little pocket where we belonged on those food truck Fridays.I could have been upset and bitter and tried to block the food trucks from parking in front of our store. I could have given them the side eye or not welcomed the customers because I was upset that another business was doing well. Or I could take advantage of that momentum that was happening and figure out how to make it work for my business. And let me tell you, off of desserts and smoothies, which are not high ticket items, we were making at least $1,000 for two hours of work on those food truck Fridays. Off of low ticket, low priced items. And it was the momentum that I needed and the perspective change that I needed to make me realize that I have the power, you have the power to choose how you perceive things and approach times of challenge. We could choose to be upset about what's happening or we can accept it, pivot, grow, and adapt. And because of that, that was the turning point for our business where I realized there's a corner pocket for everyone.If you have a concept and you feel like you are being pushed out by some kind of trend or some kind of new up and coming thing, you don't have to copy what they're doing. You don't have to be upset. You can reflect inward and ask yourself, “How can I differentiate myself?” To fit within this new thing you don't have to compromise you just have to figure out how your business can fit and there is a way you just have to think outside the box and that can get uncomfortable. Thinking outside the box can feel new and scary and different but what if that's the thing that you need to really set your business apart.Alright, that's it for today, you guys. I want to thank you for your time and listening to this episode. If you enjoyed this audio edition, please share it with a friend if you think it will resonate with them.For the full Monday Musings experience, subscribe to my Substack at thenotionmama.substack.com. This week's Thursday post is going to be more about prepping for travel, so make sure you stay tuned for that.Until next time, remember, you are blessed and you are wonderful. Get full access to Kissa - the Notion Mama at justkissa.substack.com/subscribe