WHATS YOUR EDGE

EDGE | INTENSE, SHARP OR STRIKING QUALITY. AN ADVANTAGE. 

You want to standout from the rest, but you don't want to brutally compete. You want to have an edge about you that no one else has, but also want to encourage originality in others. You want to have a firm belief in your 'why' so that when people ask you 'why?' you can give a precise answer. You want to be sharp, but not so sharp in your delivery that it cuts people out - I'm talking the type of sharp that gets the attention & excitement of people passing by. You want your product to be attractive, like I'm talking so attractive so that people notice that it is unlike anything that they have ever seen. You want your product to be something of high demand - so high in demand that it is part of ones daily life in some way shape or form. You want influence - but not the type of influence that blows your head up to the size of a football stadium - you want influence in order to revolutionise & communicate a specific message that humanity craves yet cannot attain apart from what you have to offer. You want to relate to ALL - in fact - you NEED to. Your product needs to be relevant, yet adaptable. You need to figure out what people want - then you need to go above and beyond their expectations. 

If you're anything like me starting out, quite literally, square one, then I'd like to think that I'm brave enough to pursue the dream and create the vision so much so that I am able to generate such a description as I have above. Anything less than that would feel mediocre and second best. Business seems to be tricky business - ha. But if others can - I can. It's going to take hard work, dedication, discipline, and will require unbridled passion (my two new fave married words I read in Lisa Messengers book Daring & Disruptive.)

Some questions I'm considering in my quest to narrow down the paths I take in the future:

1. What will give my product/service/ideas/dreams/business edge?

2. Why does it give it edge?

3. Is there a need for it - what does humanity lack that I can bring to the table?

What will my, and more importantly, what will your edge be? 

Jemimah Ana |

"WAY OUTSIDE COMFORTS DOOR..."

I'm day 10 into my interstate move and adventure of a lifetime. I haven't started my new job yet, so, of course, I have plenty of thinking time. Some friends & family helped us make the move into the apartment awesome, then the friends left, and now it's "rubber hits the road", "reality time", "real life", "oh crap I'm an adult" time. 

Today is the first day I've felt somewhat "comfy". I woke. I ate. I watched tele, I cleaned, I washed, I cooked lunch, I face timed, I walked to the beach, I edited photos, I read, and now I'm writing this. As soon as I was into my photo editing my eyes began bulging out of my eyes with excitement. 

I am blessed to have one of my best friends aka my legendary roomie to walk this journey with. It's the people most often than not that can make any foreign place feel like home.

Best thing is, I wouldn't want it any other way. I keep reminding myself that 8months ago I was wanting adventure, change, a life of risk, a life of faith, a desire to be uncomfortable. Because my life was somewhat easy, work was easy, life was easy. I didn't feel challenged. I didn't feel out of my depth, and in order to grow beyond the now we need to grow beyond our safe place and get into deeper waters.

Taking things a day at a time means that you take one step closer to feeling at home, and feeling comfortable. A step closer to walking inside the doors of comfort. It won't be long before I'm comfortable again... Then I'll be waiting for the next season of being way outside comforts door. It's ok to be comfortable, being comfortable isn't bad, it's just that sometimes it can leave us feeling empty, bored, and wanting more. 

I know my roots will grow deep. A brand new friend of mine said to me last night in conversation "don't worry, your roots will grow deep, even though you feel like you've been uprooted, before you know you'll look back in six months time and realise you're deep in the soil and things will sprout up." 

That statement will uphold me for a long time... Don't worry you'll sink in sure enough and things will feel even more right then ever. Things feel right now, but I can't wait wait for it to feel even more right!!

FOR NOW I AM WAY OUTSIDE COMFORTS DOOR AND TOTALLY COOL WITH THAT. ✌️

JEMIMAH ANA

"AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH..."

"TWENTY YEARS FROM NOW YOU WILL BE MORE DISAPPOINTED BY THE THINGS THAT YOU DIDN'T DO THAN THE ONES YOU DID DO, SO THROW OFF THE BOWLINES, SAIL AWAY FROM THE SAFE HARBOUR, CATCH THE TRADE WINDS IN YOUR SAILS. EXPLORE, DREAM, DISCOVER" MARK TWAIN

Now, I know the photos to follow in this post have nothing to do with water or sailing as such.. I just felt that the intro quote was appropriate for the grandness of what I saw one morning watching the sunrise over the mountains in Canberra (Namadgi National Park & Corin Dam). In the metaphorical sense of the words above, I felt as though my soul and spirit had done just that when I was amongst the mountains that day. I caught the wind in my sails and discovered.. Even when editing the photos I was in awe. Photographs can really speak to people in quite miraculous ways. Especially in my case, a photograph takes me to places I am yet to see and discover. It can represent a hope, or a promise of what's to come.

My mind has been cast to mountain scapes lately. So getting to do this shoot on a crisp 1 degree Saturday morning feat a 6 AM wake up was well worth it. Now that I've experienced this scenery, I'm itching to travel more and see more mountains around Australia, and double itchy to go to Canada during snow season. I get goosebumps just staring at the photo above.. Small little me staring at these enormous scenes causes me to believe the impossible. My faith rises. Hope grows. My sight is cast beyond the valley to the very tip of those hills.

If you can believe the impossible can be possible than stand firm on that and don't sway away from it. That dream to one day own your own business - it can, and will happen. That idea that dropped in your mind a few months back - yes, it can come to life. That dream job you're hoping to get - yes you can get it. That desire, or thing, or need, or want that you have deep within you - it can belong to you. Your faith can move mountains. Commit to the journey required to get you there and bite at it a little bit each day.

Staring at this scenery all fear within me immediately ceases. Like c'mon! If this place can grow and abide and flourish the way it does than nothing is impossible! I have a moment of fear and anx almost everyday but I've learnt to override it with faith. Good days and bad days come, and I'm thankful we have a mix of the two because the bad ones always teach you to be thankful. 

So may your faith rise, your fear disappear, and your hope remain sure in the fact that nothing is impossible in your life. EXPLORE. DREAM. DISCOVER... IT WILL REVOLUTIONISE EVERYTHING.

Jemimah Ana ✌️