We all have them.  People in our lives who say we can’t make it happen.  Who tell us it’s too difficult and the challenges are too great.  The people who call themselves realists while we call ourselves optimists.  They are the naysayers. The ones who say no.

I’ve had them.  

My Motivators

I bought my first home when I was 19.  M 26 year old friend told me that I could never do it because I was too young and it was too difficult.  To this day, I truly believe part of the reason I pressed on, even when the purchase seemed impossible, was because of this comment.  I turned his no into yes.

Within my first year of business, I had a close family member tell me that I could never run a photography business for profit and that I needed to be sure I kept my day job.  Whenever I hit a milestone goal in my business – that’s the person I want to call. I turned his no into yes.

In college, I was discouraged to continue in my desired field because of perceived inability to teach by my professors.  That very discouragement is what fired my soul to prove them wrong. I turned my professors nos into yeses.

Are You Going to Make it Happen?

This is the difference between people who make it happen and people who are afraid of it happening.  Success has nothing to do with your circumstances, your life situations or the “cards you’re dealt”.

You’ve heard the saying, “Life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% of how you react to it.”  It’s true. What debilitates one person, motivates another.

Be Open To Constructive Criticism

I consider myself a person who can take constructive criticism pretty well. I’ve never been too personally attached to my work – so I can have someone tell me what’s wrong with it and I take what they have to tell me and try to get better.  Rather than letting their criticism cripple me, it educates me and motivates me to be more.

I remember my very first print competition.  

Three out of four prints merited. I received two judge’s choice awards and also received Idaho’s “Rookie of the Year” award for 2008.  What a great way to start my professional journey!

When I took one of the judges aside and asked him what was wrong about the photograph that did NOT merit, he said to me, in the most non-diplomatic way possible, “That picture looks like your two-year-old could have taken it.  There’s no way that THAT photograph and the others you took are from the same artist.” I laughed. And it was not nervous laughter. I appreciated his honesty and loved his candor.

When I asked him more detail about what he meant and he explained why he felt that way.  I never once took this personally – I truly wanted to know how to get better.

It’s Not Personal

That very same conference, a long-standing professional photographer in the valley had entered into competition some of her prints. Picture a pregnant woman draped with flowy fabric and blue jeans highly processed finish of 2009.

She’d asked the same man about this print and he – again – was unapologetic in his candor and lack of diplomacy.  She fired back, “That’s insane. This print made me a ton of money and you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather hear what others have to say, process it and then decide for myself if it’s worth taking into consideration.

We can glean a lot from others and if we continually believe we have it all together, we’re not going to learn.  Instead of taking the criticism at face value, this woman decided it was not worth her time to hear what he had to say about the print and reacted defensively.  

People Are Here to Mold You

PP  

You definitely want to surround yourself with those who will support your achievements and encourage you to a better you, but you cannot avoid those who will try their hardest to bring you down.  Rather than allowing them to deflate you, you have to choose to allow them to motivate you.

Go ahead, prove them wrong.  Turn their nos into yeses and just watch what will happen.  I think you’ll be surprised at how quickly you rise.

The post Turning Naysayers into Motivators appeared first on Watch Your Business Grow.

It’s a little embarrassing to tell this story. It’s the very thing I tell new photographers to avoid when they are starting out. But I didn’t know any different – I was very naive – which is probably the very reason I jumped in with both feet. And now that I am safely into year 11 of running an official business, I can go ahead and tell my story – as mortifying as it is.

It All Started with A Pop-Up

Lumuli (my husband) was attending his father’s funeral in Kenya. His dad had unexpectedly passed away a short two months before Lumuli and I had a trip planned to Kenya to meet his family. So – we rushed Lumuli on a plane to be with his family during this difficult time.

Now, Lumuli and I do not shy away from the phone. We spent the majority of our two-year courtship on the phone, with some conversations lasting over 8 hours. YES. EIGHT HOURS. So – when he was in Kenya, of course we’d planned to have some phone conversations. Idaho is 12 hours behind Kenya.  So I would often stay up late in order to receive his call.

One evening, as I was surfing the net, waiting for an appropriate hour to call my husband, I came upon a Wedding Website. There was a flashing pop-up that read, “Advertise your wedding business here.” Hmmmm. I thought. I wonder if I could advertise my wedding photography business. The one I didn’t have.

This was my first calling to entrepreneurship.

Naivete Can Be a Good Thing in the World of Entrepreneurship

Now – there were several reasons why this thought came into mind.  First – I had a nice camera. I probably spent a good $350 on it a few years ago (ha!). I wasn’t QUITE sure how to use it – but I knew how to put it on auto. And based on my wedding photographer search from the year before, I felt that I would be able to offer more. I had always been ambitious, so the idea of owning my own business was exciting. All of these things were driving me toward entrepreneurship, but honestly, the thing that drove me the most was that we needed the money. With Lumuli moving here on a fiancé visa, work was hard to come by. We were barely scraping by to make enough money for us to live month-to-month. So – It was a no-brainer. I thought – why not? Let’s use this free advertising ad and  just see what I get.

Cart Before the Horse

The next thought was “what should I name my business?” – because obviously (insert sarcasm) you need to figure out a business name before you can do anything with your business. Since my husband was from Kenya, I decided to go with “Ashki Photography”. With Ashki meaning love in swahili it seemed to be a perfect fit! So there it was. My new business, Ashki Photography would be where I would begin my journey to entrepreneurship.

“Affordable”

At the time, I was not savvy with technology. I barely knew how to get onto the internet, so it’s beyond me how I figured out how to advertise with an online wedding website! The attractive quality I put out there for my potential clients was that I was “affordable” (cough, cough). I couldn’t use any of the other adjectives, because I had never even used my own camera in manual mode, nor had I ever taken on an actual wedding. BUT – I could definitely photograph your wedding as an inexperienced photographer on the cheap. And “cheap” was still an extra $300 I’d get on top of my teaching job. That was a big percentage of my normal paycheck! This entrepreneurship-thing was looking better with each passing decision!

Three weeks later, I received a phone call. “Stacy” said was getting married the Saturday before Lumuli and I were scheduled for our trip to Kenya to meet his family. The DAY before we were to leave. If you haven’t ever left on a trip overseas, the day before you leave is not the day to take on a BRAND NEW “experiment”. I was so high on the possibility of doing this for a living, I told her YES! I could do it. Let’s meet for a no-obligation consultation.

She met with me later that week. In my home. That’s where my studio was.  I brought out my scrapbook with ornately cut photographs from a wedding where I was a guest. I told her that I’d never photographed a wedding before, but that I would be able to photograph hers and get as good, if not better photographs than what she saw in my cheesy, embellished scrapbook.  

It Worked

Well. She hired me. For $300 + cost of goods – which was basically 4×6 images in an album. I don’t remember for sure, but I believe I shot the whole wedding in auto (THE HORROR!!!). I used a camera I’d received only a few weeks before and I bought a 2 gb CF Card for $200 along with our new iMac computer. We risked over $5000 for that first wedding. And I’ve never looked back.

The post My Start to Entrepreneurship appeared first on Watch Your Business Grow.

I’ve always had a pretty natural draw to positivity. It could be my personality, it could be my naïveté, but either way, I’ve never really struggled to see how blessed I am in my life. So putting an effort to have a growth mindset was never really on my radar.

However, in the last few years, I’ve been thinking more about that word and it’s potential impact on each of our lives.

Do you realize how big of a role MINDSET plays in our lives?

Mindset is my word of the year, but equally important is the word that precedes it. I’m focusing on three words that will go along with my word of the year.

Growth Mindset

The first kind of mindset I’d like is the Growth Mindset. When I make a mistake, do I believe I have the ability to learn from it and apply that knowledge next time? Or do I have a fixed mindset where I am unaware that I even made a mistake – thereby never seeing the need for improvement?

There are not many things I regret. As a matter of fact, even sitting here writing this blog post, I can only think of two things that I “regret”. And regret feels like too strong of a word for those experiences. I don’t like saying that I “regret” something. The reason is that each and every experience helps guide us to the next stage in our lives.

For the most part, I don’t make decisions that I KNOW will harm me. Every decision I make is the absolute best decision I can make, based on the knowledge I have at that very moment.

So, I don’t regret many things.

I simply learn from them. THAT is a growth mindset.

Abundance Mindset

I first hear the term “abundance mindset” last year when listening to “You Are a Badass” by Jen Sincero. She encouraged her listener to think of money in abundance. To think of it as something that comes easily, something that is attracted to me and something that has a universal supply.

This kind of thinking is scary for me. I believe that money can be used in very good ways. And living as a Christian, the verse, “Love of money is the root of all evil” is always at the forefront of my mind. However, the first part of the verse is often left out: LOVE of money. It’s often misquoted as “Money is the root of all evil.” And THAT’s where our misconception of what the bible means by this comes from.

Money is not evil. The LOVE of money is evil. When I believe that there is an abundant supply, I’m prompted to give generously & cheerfully (see HERE).

I want to believe that there is an abundant supply because I want to anonymously gift that flight attendant $10,000 to help make her dream of adopting a little one come true. How wonderful would it be to be able to provide a great home for my mom with all the help she’ll need as she ages? The idea of having my children attend any college they’d like without having to worry about loans or working 30+ hours week makes my heart sing!

You can’t tell me that those desires are wrong. Yet, they require money.

You see, money is not evil. Therefore, I am hoping for an Abundance of it this year.

Courageous Mindset

My desire for success has been there since I was a little girl.

I may not have had the best study habits in school, but I was the first 6 year old to go around the trailer park asking to shovel neighbors’ driveways for a couple of bucks.

It didn’t scare me to approach strangers’ doors to ask them if I could work for them.

That work ethic has followed me throughout the years, but unfortunately, life experiences have soiled the courage I once had with approaching people who may tell me no. I’m stopping that today. Fear will not continue to hold me back. I will move forward with courage, understanding that every “no” brings me that much closer to “yes”.

The Relationship Between Beliefs and Brain Function

The relationship between our beliefs and how our brain works is profound. Believe in yourself and realize that your ability is NOT FIXED. When you do, your brain will spark and grow when mistakes are made.

So mindset is my word of the year.

I want to have a Growth Mindset, Abundant Mindset and Courageous Mindset this year.

What’s your word of the year?

The post My Word of the Year: Mindset | Boise Photographer appeared first on Watch Your Business Grow.

In 2014, our family made the decision to move to Delaware. Lumuli had been laid off work and the quickest job offered was from a company in Delaware. When he called me to tell me about the offer, I was excited at the opportunity to have a new adventure.

We only lasted 5 months.

Moving Makes You Question Your Mortality.

We missed Boise and wanted to come back home as soon as humanly possible. However, that meant that our dream home that we’d built just a couple of years before would still be rented out. It also meant that we would need to live an an apartment until our home became available again.

So, here we were, moving from our 3500+ square foot house in Meridian, to a 3000+ rental in Delaware, to a 1300 square foot apartment, back to our 3500+ square foot house. Wow. I’m exhausted just writing that!

We couldn’t keep everything we owned. We were going to have to get rid of a LOT of stuff, but I didn’t realize HOW MUCH stuff, until we figured out that we were going to have to move three times in a matter of months. That meant that for each move, we’d be getting rid of more and more stuff.

The other thing that caused us to continue to get rid of stuff is the mere fact that the “stuff” would not fit into our 26′ trailer. I was SUPER proud about how much we got rid of to fit all of our belongings into that trailer. You think that’s a big trailer, but it really isn’t when you factor in a toddler, two kiddos and two grown adults. You think you can do it? I double-dog dare you to – my bets are that you can’t.

I don’t think anything makes you more aware of your mortality than moving. You can’t take any of this stuff with you. And all the stuff you’re probably keeping for your kids? They don’t want it. Trust me.

So what in the world are we to do?

We donate. And donate, and donate and donate. We also take four weeks to catch our trash up to the number of times the garbage man visits. No matter how we do it, we MUST get rid of that crap!

Marie Kondo’s Influence

Over the years, I’ve learned not to hold onto stuff I don’t need/want, simply because they cost a lot to replace, or because I might use them some day. I’d read Marie Kondo’s book years ago and LOVED it and implemented many of her ideas. But the Netflix show she came out with motivated me to do it again. This time, with my business!

This is a whole different beast, Friends. Picture having samples (no pun intended) of photographs, frames, albums and marketing collateral from being in business over 10 years! You can imagine how much space that would take up! Not only that, but I’d gotten to the point of being so overwhelmed by the space, that I was afraid to try to tackle the job alone.

Do it With a Friend

My friend Kacie came over after she dropped her kids of at school to help me with that room. This was AMAZING. She was able to help me get out of organizational paralysis and into the mode of getting it done. It was still a tough road, but about 30 minutes ago, we finally put the donations in the car, the trash in the bin and the furniture back.

What Went Through My Head

There’s so much that went through my head when I was sorting out stuff:

1. Shoot. Those guys are divorced. I don’t want their divorce to sully my samples of beautiful images. I kept hearing Marie Kondo say (or rather her translator), “Does it bring you joy”. Nope. TOSS.
2. OMG. This was one of my VERY FIRST weddings! I can’t get rid of this – too many memories of how I started. But – they aren’t my favorite photographs and the Album Company isn’t even in business anymore. TOSS.
3. There are thousands of dollars invested in these samples. YIKES! How can I just throw this stuff away? Do I really need 20 album samples? I guess not. TOSS.
4. These samples are GINORMOUS. I can’t do anything with them. I don’t want people’s faces on random things in the landfill – but I certainly don’t want or need them. Slice through the images with a blade (ouch!) to break them down. TOSS.
5. I LOVED this couple. Their wedding was beautiful. I don’t need the sample any more, but they probably would like to have it. DONATE (to my client).
6. I want to use these frames at SOME POINT. After all, I’ve got a 3500 square foot house – surely there’s some wall space to use these well. But I may not ever get to them – at least not within a few years. Ugh! TOSS.
7. This item could be used by other photographers or people who are in need. But honestly, the amount of headache and effort it would take to get those things to new owners is just too much for me right this second. Although we may get $50 or so for it on Craigslist – let’s just call it good with a tax write-off. DONATE.
8. These Camera and Lens boxes. I’ve kept them through the years because I may end up selling some of my equipment. But have I done it yet in my 10+ years of business? No. TOSS.
9. I have client gifts, packaging materials, yearly receipts and welcome signs that I need to keep for future use. But they need to be easily accessed. And the receipts from 7 years ago or more? KEEP – TOSS.
10. Frame Samples that I’ve acquired throughout the years? I’ve NEVER sold a single frame other than those from my top two drawers. I guess they need to go. TOSS.

Do you see that I only had two of those 10 arguments come to the conclusion of keeping the crap? That’s a LOT to get rid of! It feels so good to Marie Kondo this room and gives me a renewed sense of love for my Ordering Room.

Lessons Learned

1. If you need to break glass in a frame, put it WHOLE in a bag and then break it. Do NOT break it on the bare ground and then attempt to sweep it up.
2. If you’re overwhelmed, do it with a friend who will help you stay on task.
3. Don’t keep things around “in case” you’ll need them.
4. When you break styrofoam, have a vacuum handy, because those little white things will literally fly off your broom and dustpan.
5. Have coffee handy. Lots and lots of coffee. And tissues. For when it gets too overwhelming.

I hope this helps either motivate you to tackling your own organizational project or teaches you to learn from my mistakes!

Now, onto the shooting room. This will be fun. Stay tuned.

The post Marie Kondo Would Be Proud appeared first on Watch Your Business Grow.

I had had a bit of a break from him for a few months. The last time I’d seen him, he was at my front door, pounding and demanding me to let him in. Now – I had just seen him at a concert and he told a mutual acquaintance that he was going to find me. I left the concert that evening and finally began pressing charges a few days later.

Navigation around the legal system became my pastime. I soon realized that I would have to be in court with this man.

I Needed Help

Upon that realization, I knew I needed help, so I asked a close relative of mine – “Sam” – if she wouldn’t mind coming with me to the hearing to be my moral support. She willingly agreed with no hesitation.

As the time for the first trial came near, Sam called me to let me know that she wasn’t going to be able to join me at the hearing. She’d mentioned that her husband had recently lost her job and the stress of the court case was simply too much for her. After scrambling around in my brain for a second, I asked her, “Do you think you’ll be able to come once he gets a job?”.

I was immediately met with a combative, “YOU ARE SO SELFISH!!! How is it that you ONLY think of yourself?”

I buckled, sat in fetal position, cried and reflected. Was I blind to my faults? In that reflection, I loathed. I spoke unkindly to myself and told myself I was a burden and that I shouldn’t expect support or help from anyone. And that anyone who gave me that support needed to be profusely thanked and praised – knowing that I would NEVER be able to repay the “debt” of their support.

I was a 22 year old college student at the time, finishing my degree and dealing with the nonsense of a delusional man. Sam was a 31 year old stay at home mom with two children, 9 and 10, at home.

Okay. I wasn’t the most sensitive with my response to her backing out of her promise, but she had 9 years of life-experience on me. In asking that question, I was not being unreasonable. I was simply coming at that question from a 22 year old’s perspective. After all, she was telling ME that the trial I would testify in for MY STALKER was TOO MUCH for her.

I Did Not Want to Be Hurt

This may have been the beginning of difficulty setting boundaries.

I have spent the last 20 years attempting to see things from everyone else’s perspective. This kind of humility can be commendable, but most of it is a terribly unrealistic view of the world. Instead of seeing things from the truthful side, I often take the place of blame, whether I am to blame or not. I do this, simply to not rock the boat.

This is not a good coping mechanism as you mature.

I have lost friendships, my sense of self-worth and my compass for truth. All because I didn’t want to be vulnerable.

Well, friends. Times have changed. I am SO PROUD of the progress I’ve made in the last 6 months. Today was the perfect example.

Trades in Business

I met this gal, Tina, at a local “Trusting Your Instincts” workshop. She contacted me a few months later and asked if I would be willing to trade my services for hers. Not really needing any kind of natural healing at the time, I agreed. I had the availability. Besides, I thought – “Well – if it’s not something that works, I’ll just call it an even trade.” My pricing was sent and she replied. “Yes – that works great – it’s about the same as my sessions, so it will be a pretty even trade.”

Her Branding Session came and went and she ordered 18 digital files. This was going to be a large trade, but I wanted to do this favor for her, so I didn’t mention the amount. I gave her the images less than a week later. She’d asked for the invoice a couple of times, but since it was a trade and the amount was easily calculated (I charge per digital file for Branding Sessions), it was not on the forefront of my mind.

I saw her once before today, a few months ago. My fall/winter months have been exceptionally busy, and since our youngest is still at home two days a week, it was difficult for me to find time to see her – especially since I’d actually been feeling pretty well!

I walked in to her office/living room and we hugged. We sat down for a few minutes and I told her that I had sent the invoice to the Dropbox where she’d accessed the images before. I then approached the idea of possibly having my mom come in for some sessions since the trade was fairly large. Then suprisingly, she said, “Well, we’ll see. I’m feeling very put out. I’d asked you for the invoice several times and I had no idea how much you would be charging.”

I Won’t Take Responsibility for Your Emotions

My 22 year old self would have tossed aside my boundaries and said, “You’re right. It seems like there was a misunderstanding. I’m sorry I wasn’t more clear.” By itself, it’s not a bad response. However, when you take into consideration that we’d had a specific message on pricing, I couldn’t take blame.  I showed her in the Facebook message where we had “chatted” about the amount. She defensively responded, “I never saw that – I never got that”. Then – I showed her where she responded acknowledging the pricing. She tried to say that she never looks at messenger. Instead of saying, “I should have sent it to you in another way,” I said, “Well, you contacted me originally through Facebook.” At this point, I wasn’t relaxed for our session. I told her I just wanted to leave. Her debt would be absolved and I would cut my losses.

I continued, “I never want people to leave my services feeling unhappy in any way. And honestly, I don’t really want any services from you at this point. I am going to leave and just consider it a bigger gift than I had originally planned. Merry Christmas”.

She said, “I value your services, and I see where I didn’t understand what your charges are, but I would like to still try to make this right for you and for me.”

I told her that I simply did not want to waste any of my time or energy on coming up with another solution. That I’d rather just leave and cut my losses. I told her “Merry Christmas” and left.

I Have Worked Hard

I’m actually really proud of myself for not taking the blame when it wasn’t my doing. Instead of forcing the session to “keep face”, I called it what it was and left. I am a kind-hearted person. And I do still feel for her. I know how badly it sucks when there is a major miscommunication. But I was able to let it go. I didn’t take responsibility for her emotions. This is one of the few times I’ve been able to do that and I feel great knowing that I stood up for myself and spoke truth.

I guess a few months of self-help books, podcasts and working out religiously really does wonders in someone’s psyche. Damn, I’m proud of myself for setting boundaries.

Boundaries are Necessary

I really love this image I saw on God in Real Life. It has a religious connotation, but whether you are a Christian or not, the lessons on boundaries rings true. This is a great measurement tool when discovering healthy boundaries.

The post Setting Boundaries as an Entrepreneur appeared first on Watch Your Business Grow.

The time has come for me to plan. I realize that I am probably a little late to the game.

This year has been great for me in terms of clients, however, it’s taken me well into December!  In past years, I’ve had my last client somewhere around the middle of November. I typically enjoy the lack of “to do” lists around the holidays, but honestly – it’s been a nice change to have more clients to serve around this time of year. With the small client-load, the stress is often higher, simply because I need to make sure my marketing plan is on-point. I always say that when I’m busy with clients (in other words, providing for my family), I am less stressed than when I’m not busy (in other words, bleeding money through marketing). The clients I am privileged to hang out with during the holidays have made my holidays even brighter this year!

I Love Planning.

I’ve always been a dreamer, planner and doer.

When I started school at Boise State University, I was renting a small 900 sq ft home with my brother. After living there for a few months, I realized that if I stayed at Boise State, in 4-5 years (the amount of time it would have taken me to finish college), I would have paid over $30,000 in rent. That was NOT going to be me. I wanted to INVEST in my future. I didn’t want to be stuck with a huge student loan debt, nor did I want to flush my rent down the toilet. So I did what any 18 year old would do in their 2nd semester. I decided I was going to buy a house.

I met with Suzi Boyle to chat about what I would qualify for. She was amazing. She believed in me. Even with a $15,000/year paycheck, she went up to bat for me. She approached the president of the lending company (back when lending was more personal) and told them that she trusted that I would be a good buyer for them. I’m not sure what else she told them, but I do know that I did end up getting the loan!

I paid $58,000 for my 1200 sq ft condo in the middle of Boise, right near the Boise Towne Square Mall. I was so proud of myself, but not that surprised. Remember? I was always a dreamer.

Planning for.

With dreamers, there are goals. So for me, I had goals all throughout my life.

1. Finish High School
2. Buy House
3. Do Mission Work
4. Finish College
5. Build House
6. Marry
7. Children
8. Business
9. Build Dream Home
10. ?

What’s next?

2019 is Going to Be BIG.

With all of the working-out, podcast-listening, goal-making I’ve been doing over the last 2 and half months, my dreams are the biggest they’ve ever been. I don’t even see a ceiling at this point. Write a book? Done. Make 5x what I’ve ever made in a year? No problem. Achieve a goal that is frightening to even think about? No-brainer.

Getting to My Goals.

I’m excited to get to my goals. But – because I’m a planner – I want to write them down. I want to have the visual representation of what my year will look like. Here are some steps I take to plan out my year.

1. Consider Your Planner

I LOVE planners. I had one all throughout high school and college. As a Music Educator, there were no great planners, so I made my own. My planner was BOMB. It was well laid out and I LOVED using it. Since having my business, however, the planner-idea has gone by the wayside. I use the calendar on my phone, random tablets here and there, journals and sticky notes. I have purchased paper planners in the past, but I usually buy them from Ross or TJ Maxx and they’re cheap and not exactly what I want. This year, however, I am going to try “Plum Planner” (I have a code for those who would like a discount – just email me your email address and I’ll request it). It has customizable tabs and layouts. I LOVE me some vertical space for my days, easily accessible To-Do Lists and Social Media Planning. So – for a little under $50, I’ve ordered my planner. I’ll have to revisit my goals for 2019 at the end of the year to let you know whether or not I think it was a valuable investment.

If you are a paper person or electronics person, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that you actually use whatever it is works for you.

2. Goal-Set

Planning for 2019 should be fun – this is the fun part. Where do you want to be in 12 months? Do you want to make a six-figure income? Are you hoping for more connection with Friends and Family? Will you open your first commercial space? Where do you want to be in terms of health? So many goals to set – so many exciting opportunities to be filled! When considering your goals for 2019, think of the following areas:

1. Financial Goals – income, debt paid, savings, college funds, etc.
2. Business Goals – revenue, number of clients/parties/new sign-ups, assets acquired, etc.
3. Marketing Goals – Blog Posts, Social Media Posts, Emails acquired, new followers, etc.
4. Health Goals – weight loss/gain, muscle gain, energy, hormone levels, reflection, etc.
5. Relational/Family – spousal appreciation, gain a significant other, spend more time with kids, have a date night, etc.
6. Electronic Goals – leave phone in kitchen at night, read maps, utilize PAPER planners :).

So many fun goals to be set! I will share some of mine a little later – when I reflect how I am doing in achieving my goals.

3. Micro-Manage Your Goals

Micro-manage is usually a bad phrase. However, it is used for good in this post! I am currently reading “The Art of Stress-Free Productivity” by David Allen. It’s the second time I’ve read it, but the first time was about 10 years ago. I’ve never struggled with being productive, but being efficiently productive might be a different story. I am hoping this book will help me with that.

Since I am actually reading it and not audible-ing it, I am only on the first chapter. After owning it for a month. BUT – the one thing that has stood out to me in this book is that each LARGE goal – HUGE dream – needs to have separate little tasks assigned to it in order to make it a feasible goal. So – your main goal might be “ORGANIZE KITCHEN”. Under that main goal, you’ll have smaller goals – like “On Monday, I will organize the junk drawer”. And “On Tuesday, I will dust the tops of the cabinets.” So – I’m micro-managing my Goals so that I can perform the smaller tasks that will ultimately take me to that goal.

4. Work on Your Mindset

I know how it is. You’ve labeled yourself: “Well, I really enjoy my cup of coffee on the couch while I play Candy Crush” or “I don’t want to glorify ‘busyness’, so I’m going to just sit” or “I’ve always had a hard time seeing things through, so I’ll just resign to that reality”. Listen – we ALL have our hang-ups. But guess what? That’s YOUR hang up. Guess who can control YOUR hang ups. You and you alone. So start listening to some podcasts, reading (or listening) to some books, surrounding yourself with positive people and EXERCISING! This WILL change your mindset – I promise. And since Mindset is one of my words for 2019, I’m going to pass that right along to you.

5. Make a Word-List for 2019

Most of the time, when people talk about your “word of the year”, they simply mean ONE word. I’m big on getting the whole picture. So – to get the whole picture, I’m going to need to either expound on that word or create a few that encompass what I’m trying to achieve. Think of what you want from planning for 2019 and create a word list. Put that list in front of you – on  your bathroom mirror – above your computer – in your pantry – wherever you’re going to see it the most. SEE IT, READ IT, THINK IT. MAKE IT HAPPEN.

I hope this helps you in planning for your year.

I’m ECSTATIC for 2019. I can’t WAIT to see what’s in store. And I’m excited to bring you along in this journey.

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