Mechanics and craftspeople know the vital importance of tools.  Tools are essential to what they do. It’s impossible to access certain parts of a machine without them.  You can’t saw through materials or melt things without the right equipment.

After spending a morning in a craft superstore haze, the precision of materials that are involved in everything from rolling out fondant for a cake to creating the most stunning knit blanket can be mindblowing.

Sure, you can improvise when you’re getting started.  But to perfect your craft, you need the goods.

The goods don’t need to be expensive, but they need to work for you.

If you’ve been idling at one level for a while, or sort of stuck and unable to really start creating what you know you’re meant to create- be it the greatest novel or the most perfect pottery, keeping a more incredible home or building a spectactular relationship- you might need more tools.  And you might be surprised how easy it is to collect what you need in order to excel beyond your wildest dreams. 

To make this cake, you need a few tools.  A pan.  Something to mix it in.  An oven.  But then, there’s the frosting. You can slap on the same delicious frosting with a knife and get the recipie down, but to get this luscious result, you have to pipe on the icing.  That requires a piping bag and a tip to get the effect you’re looking for.  Plus, you need to know how to use it.

This is creativity at it’s best.  First you learn the basics. Then you master the basics. Then you get fancy and personalize all your artistry.

First, let’s talk about tools.

Definition 5 at Dictionary.com is exactly what I’m talking about:

“anything used as a means of accomplishing a task or purpose”

Tools aren’t all “stuff” though they might be stuff.  They’re also: training, best practices and  skill sets.

They’re the things you use to get things done.

I’m writing you all a new guide full of “tools” to get through lots of our daily modern life challenges with greater ease. I’m sooooo excited I can’t begin to tell you…!  It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years, but it’s taken time to really nail down a series of best practices that you can improvise with.  I had to learn my own basics, master them and then learn to make them much cooler!  As I’ve been polishing it up, the idea of tools has been front and center in my mind.  It’swhat brought me to the craft store this morning before it’s doors opened.

We all have gifts to share with the world.  We all have personal empires to build.  We all have dreams.

Julia Cameron says that it’s often your confidence rather than talent that brings art to popularity.

That’s true.

But then there are the tools.  The tools bring you to confidence.

She wrote a book – The Artist’s Way– filled with tools for artists to unleash and un-stick their own creative energies. If you haven’t read it, it’s the shining star of my own creative tool box and it’s going to blow your mind to use this book to your greatest advantage.

(This is my first and most prized piece of photography equipment. I thought I could reshape the universe once I got my very young hands on it!)

Tools are everything.  If you think you have the best of everything and you’ve got nothing to learn, I imagine you wouldn’t be reading this… but not a single person I’ve experienced- even at the highest levels of their game- feels that they’re at the top.  There’s always higher to go.  There’s always more to know.

Let’s start here: where are you idling and not moving forward? 

Now:  are there tools you can gather that will make your products more brilliant, more excellent and much more impactful? 

And: are there things you can learn that will help you to take a big leap ahead? 

Let’s use an example I know well and I’ve seen others develop around me: having a video presence online.

Where are things idling and not growing? Why?   Hm… it seems that having inconsistent lighting and sound and sort of unmanaged locations to shoot is a problem. It’s hard to watch some videos…some need editing… even though the content is good.

What tools can you gather? Inexpensive lights are a great one.  A simple microphone. A few props gathered for a set that really shines.

What can you learn to take a big leap ahead? In this case: how to edit is something to learn.  How to position and set up a set that translates on camera.  The best practices for video lighting are helpful, too.

If you apply this to almost anything, you’ll find that there are ways to make anything you’re creating much better… even without investing a dime, just by investing your heart and soul and time and passion and care.

That’s huge stuff.

Whatever you’ve been dying to do… get going now!  Gathering the tools is part of the making!

xoxo Dana

P.S.: If you want to really immerse yourself in the light of joy so much more, my favorite Feng Shui and cutting-edge energy-shifting tools that I use almost every day are HERE for you in the Joy Immersion: 30 Day Negativity Detox! 

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