I sure don’t.
(Yet).
But for some reason I can’t explain, over the last few years of soul-searching, of looking for a purpose and trying to make sense of who I am, I keep coming back to this one word: MISCHIEF.
It began with my leather goods. I tried all sorts of terrible names for my brand until I settled on ‘something’ and Hide. The elusive ‘something’ turned out to be MISCHIEF and my brand was born; freedom, adventure and rock n roll! I didn’t realise it at the time but I actually love this word. It’s cheeky, playful, a little bit naughty but probably, (hopefully), always acting with good intentions.
Leather goods with attitude
I opened my Etsy store in 2021 after waiting and deliberating for far too long. I’m a classic overthinker. I can always be relied upon to turn the molehill into a mountain, but at the same time, I’m also a creative so constantly trying to tame a million ideas at once and still have enough focus to actually see them through. Still working on that.
But anyway, amongst the scattered sparks of new ideas flying off in every direction, I began to see that pretty much anything I came up with linked back to MISCHIEF. I considered starting a podcast and the idea was around leathercrafters and shoemakers going against the grain; I toyed with a membership and a similar theme emerged. After various iterations, I noticed that no matter what the final product, the core essence was always the same: having fun, giving back, being playfully disruptive and feeling alive again.
Guiding North Star
I’ve been happily creating leather goods for several years now but that hasn’t stopped me wondering if and how I could do more with MISCHIEF so I decided to try a different approach to finding my purpose; I would choose Mischief as my guiding North Star and find a playful way to disrupt the status quo to bring about positive change. Business is no longer just about profit and cashflow anyway; it’s about inspiring others, building something meaningful, developing deep connections between both people and the planet.
I’m now coaching and I fill myself up on anything to do with mindset or personal development especially when it involves FREEDOM, ADVENTURE, CONNECTION and DISRUPTION! And I’m being intentional about making time for fun instead of leaving it to chance. I’ve been guilty of that for too long but I’m seeing the impact of doing more of what makes me feel alive as I incorporate fun stuff into each mischievous week. Cue the flaming-heart emojis, my fave.
Hence my original question though, do you make enough mischief? And if the answer is no, could you consider adding in some extra fun to your schedule? Or rather, can you afford NOT to? All work and no play doesn’t make for a fulfilling time, and you know that right?
So if you do one thing this week, let it be some scheduled-in, flow-state, absolute true fun where you lose all sense of time because you’re enjoying yourself so damn much! I dare you to set Mischief as your North Star and see where it takes you…
Zoe x