I love making soap.
And though I love working with purchased soap molds, there are times when I want them to think outside the "mold" box and experiment with soaps that are not formed within a molded cavity.
That is what I have been doing this week; experimenting with non-molded soap shapes.
Some of my efforts have proven successful, some not.
There is always a level of excitement when experimenting with new ideas.
But, when some fail, it is disheartening and I find myself back at the drawing board.
One of the soaps I have been working on was birthed while reading a ghost storybook to my grand kids.
It inspired me to create free-form ghost soaps.
There was plenty of fine tuning to create the soaps, but once the idea was conceptualized, and a few soap samples were made, I was able to reassess my design plans and come up with better ways to accomplish my (soaping) goal.
Isn't this just like running or starting a new business? We all start out with these grand ideas of how we want the business plan to play out.
Our goal is to create the biggest and best company ever and, if like me, have spent many sleepless nights visualizing and planning how to accomplish those goals.
In the course of implementing those ideas and visions, we find that some ideas work, others do not.
So what do you do? Give up? Certainly not! When faced with failure, we pick our self up by the shoulders, dust off the disappointment and head in a new direction.
It is part of the learning curve.
If at first you don't succeed, then map out a new course.
I am going to keep working on that darn ghost soap until I get it right.
In the meantime, it is back to the drawing board.
Just like you, I have my fair share of "screw-ups" and failures in business and in soaping adventures.
But what separates the best from the rest is ones willingness to move forward even when things do not go as planned.
Gee, doesn't that sound like life? If everything went as planned, how would we truly enjoy the sweet moments of success?