New Year for a New You – Day 1
This has been a roller coaster of a year for me. There was a move, marital issues (which I’m happy to say we chose to work through and have overcome), and a torn ACL (which resulted in ACL reconstructions surgery 2 weeks after we moved, and 5 months in a leg brace). I was tempted to say I’m happy to say this year is coming to an end, but I’m not going to. This year was a lot of work (personally), but some of the greatest things in life are the result of that hard work. I’m a firm believer that mistakes are ok as long as you learn from them, and I learned a lot of lessons this year! On top of all that was going on in my personal life, I tried to keep my business going as much as possible. My blog suffered the most, so that is my #1 priority going into 2016.
The one thing I did for my business this year was join The Luminaries Club. Lisa is the one coach I have found that talks like she’s a friend in my living room and knows that each business evolves differently so she doesn’t teach in box form. (Do this, not that. Etc…)
New Year for a New You
2015 in Review
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As this year comes to a close I want to truly evaluate my year, what has worked and not worked, and use that self-reflection to plan for a better year in 2016. Not only does Lisa run The Luminaries Club, she is also the founder of Marketing Creativity and this week we are working through her planner Your Best Year 2016. My favorite part about her planner is that she knows that a creative person cannot separate their personal life from their business, so she incorporates them both into one planner.
For the next 7 days she has some writing prompts that will walk through a review of the year and plan a business strategy for next year. While this doesn’t necessarily pertain to crochet, I will be making some changes to my business in the coming months (don’t worry it will still be 100% crochet), but I want to use this review process to help you understand where I am going with my business and why.
DAY 1 QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW:
- What was time very well spent this year? Working on my marriage, self-reflection/evaluating what is truly important to me, my family, and my business. I also spent some time working on business/personal development which was definitely worth the time.
- What was money very well spent this year? Business: The Luminaries Club which makes me feel like my business can be a success. Personal: Our new beach house (new to us, and right across from a lake), a much needed vacation, and
- What are your favorite memories of 2015? Spending time at our family reunion, and my brother and his family moving back to CT (from CA).
- What did you accomplish or complete this year? Business: I picked up some new tech editing contracts. Personal: For the first time in 15 years of marriage my husband and I are doing regular date nights.
- Did you make any progress on long-term goals? Business: I’ve decided I needed to step outside the box and refine my niche into something I love and am passionate about. (Being like everyone else is what burned me out!) Personal: I’m almost done unpacking the boxes from our move.
- What felt successful about the year, as a whole? Business: I did some reflection and decided what I do and don’t want from my business. Personal: I feel like I had a TON of personal ones but some of the biggest are working on my marriage and working at physical therapy for 5 months to get my leg brace off.
- Did you overcome any obstacles or mental blocks this year? Yes! I have felt burnt out in my business (more specifically my blog & social media) for a couple years now. I realized this year it was because I had lost my passion for what I thought my blog should be focusing on. I did a lot of reflecting and I know where my passion needs to be now. I’m hoping by refining my niche I will fall in love with my business all over again.
- What did you learn about yourself after all that happened in 2015? I’m strong, I can do anything I put my mind to and, most importantly, my family is my #1 priority.
- Who nurtured or supported you most this year? My husband, my kids, my family, and a few friends. And I definitely wouldn’t have been able to get through this year without Shilo from Shilo’s Gifts and Notions.
- Who did you enjoy nurturing and supporting? My marriage, my kids, and Shilo, because that kind of friendship goes both ways. We definitely supported each other this year.
If you’d like to work through this review with us, you can purchase Your Best Year 2016 here. It has been eye opening and life/business changing for me and I am looking forward to what 2016 has in store.
To read the rest of my New Year for a New You posts: