A fight for the better

I have been struggling and fighting mentally to keep making progress on this goal. Life has thrown its best twists and turns, yet I'm hoping that through midst of it all the ending result will be the same.

We had the wonderful blessing of being able to throw an extra $1000 at our debt this month. It is amazing to think that just 2 months ago we seemed to be making ends meet, but not much more than that. We are making great strides and I'm hoping the momentum continues to build.

We decided to short sell our rental property. In an effort to put ourselves in a more secure financial situation where we are debt-free and have a solid savings, we didn't feel that it was worth throwing money into that house. It's too old and has too many potential problems, and we don't have the money to give out like that right now. I'm not saying that I would never own real estate and be a landlord, but right now it is not at the top of my priority list.

I just got a phone call this morning from those who were taking my ballroom class. They have decided to "take a break" from the classes we've been taking. It was a real disappointment, but I am learning to take it all in stride.

I have been working on adding a class to each studio, but I'm finding my efforts aren't yielding quite what I was hoping for. I thought, for example, that I would have 5 students in a class in Meridian. However, when I showed up last week for the first class, only 2 students arrived. That was very frustrating. I'm spinning my wheels to try and squeeze out enough students for a class in Nampa, but the most that I can seem to get committed is 2. It's a process that I know I just have to find the right way to approach people and ask for referrals, or get in public to perform and say the right things. I'm trying to keep my patience and quiet endurance through this effort, and moments like these remind me that there will be resistance in achieving this end.

My thoughts have been focused in the last year or so on how to create systematic approaches to as many situations as I can involving the business. For example, one big push was to separate what steps we learn in each level, and what requirements there are for students to move from one level to the next. I would love to have a system set up for costumes, because that is a big hassle, but also communication (which is improving) collecting tuition (which we're having a greater problem with this year), educating our parents and students about complex things like competitions, etc. I know that bringing systems into play as much as possible will simplify my working "in" Idaho Rhythm. That way I'm not trying to constantly reinvent the wheel, and I'll have more time to work "on" Idaho Rhythm by bringing in new students, and bringing new things to the table.

We have met with 2 unrelated individuals from Rexburg in the last few weeks. Both would like to teach for us, and I'd love to have them as teachers as far as I can tell. One has a lot of experience in other styles of dance aside from clogging. I'd really love to get some of those going.