Do you start the year gung-ho, fizzle out, and then overcompensate in the last two or three months of the year? Me too! (See my 13 before 2013 to prove it.) The last time I visited Create Hype I asked you to explore your potential in the New Year, so today I want to talk about how to maintain a steady pace that gets you further than you could have ever imagined. It’s time for a mid-year review!
Soften Your Goals
Hey there, I know it’s summer. And believe me, I’m already enjoying mine! But with some planning and gentle plugging away, you can get a head start on your end-of-year checklist to knock this year out of the ballpark.
To do so, I ask you to begin this mid-year review by softening your goals. Your vision should always make you feel good (rather than anxiety-ridden). In the book, Psycho-Cybernetics, A New Way to Get More Living Out of Life, Maxwell Maltz offers this advice:
“You should use the same technique in all your affairs that Jackie Burke recommends in putting. That is, not to feel that you have to pinpoint the ball right to the cup itself on a long putt, but to aim at an area the size of a washtub. This takes off the strain, relaxes you, enables you to perform better. If it’s good enough for the professionals, it should be good enough for you.”
Furthermore, in the book, The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, Jack Canfield told about the year he wanted to earn $100,000 (up from his current salary of $18,000). He did what positive thinkers do: he made signs affirming his new and abundant salary, he worked all year-through consciously and subconsciously creating more income for himself, and by the end of the year he had earned more than $90,000. Others told him that he hadn’t actually achieved his goal, but he says, “I wasn’t disappointed!”
The point is not to cross every single goal off the list. What matters is that you’re setting the bar higher and stretching yourself daily. That’s the only way to grow and work toward your dreams.
S t r e t c h Your Comfort Zone
A couple of years ago, I moved from Virginia to New Zealand. Man oh man, it was one of the biggest stretches of my comfort zone that I’ve ever experienced … and so I really went with it. I pushed my quiet, introverted personality in every direction. For example, I got my license and became a Zumba instructor at a large university (where I taught dance in front of as many as 80 college students!).
In that same period of time, I met and/or worked with most of my major business role models, my Energy Shop bracelet was featured on the front page of the Wall Street Journal, and I was interviewed by Time Magazine.
The proof is in the pudding: reach for the giant things that simultaneously excite and scare you, open the doors all around you, and start to ask for what you want! The results will knock you right off your comfort zone pedestal and break the glass ceiling on your potential.
Here’s a few things not to worry about:
Having too many ideas and not knowing where to start. Pitfall number one! The key here is to choose one idea and start working with it. What needs to be created will take shape.
Last year I released my first informational product, and if you’re familiar with it, you might be surprised to learn that Shop Fundamentals was not part of my original plan at all. My first e-program was to be the one I’m writing now about Advertising and Exposure. As part of my research, I spent a lot of time in the forums discussing marketing with the handmade community, and I realized that the majority of sellers looking for answers are getting advice that is either (1.) generic or (2.) just plain wrong. Shop Fundamentals was born of my fear that I would teach advertising and exposure to sellers who didn’t have an effective online storefront, and all of their money and time would be wasted.
The point here is to start. It’s true: another idea might take priority over the project you started, and that’s okay. It’s all in the spirit of progress. Write your ideas down on paper, pick the one that you feel needs to be done first, and then number the order in which you think the others should follow. Be fluid with that plan, just as I did by letting Shop Fundamentals cut in front of Advertising and Exposure. It’s not how I originally intended it, but ultimately, Shop Fundamentals will make Advertising and Exposure a better product.
What if it doesn’t work? You could dance with potential failure for the rest of your life, and I could pull 8,000 inspirational quotes right here about why going for broke is better than giving up on your dreams. I’ve personally made a lot of mistakes, and I’ve seen a lot of failure. I also have an exceptional lifestyle. I get paid to do what I love to do, and I work from home. I’m able to create flexible business hours around my number one priority, which is my family. The reward always outweighed the risk.
This topic always reminds me of this picture and quote (I love it). I’ve cried like that, and it’s such a real and vulnerable moment; it’s sort of gooey sweet. Moments of rejection are an absolute prerequisite to moments of unadulterated triumph and elation.
Successful big leaps are the result of numerous missed attempts. Enjoy every part of your journey, and relish in those gooey sweet, vulnerable fails. Each one of them is making your story that much better: you’re writing the kind of tale that will give the room chills when you tell it.
What if it does work? Some artisans are paralyzed by the idea of opening a shop and being inundated with orders, dealing with the sudden popularity that comes with listing your products online for the world to see. How will they keep up with the demand? The rest of us are smiling at the naivety of that idea, because we’ve all been humbled by it. Let me tell you, dear friend, that’s just not how it works. You’re only given as much as you can handle. I used to wish for thousands of orders … when I had less than 30 items in stock. This year, I’ve done two wholesale orders (100 bracelets each) and it’s just too much for me to handle while I’m running an online store and blogging. If there’s space in your schedule (and there will be in the beginning), it’s there for a reason. Use it to grow into the success you wish to become.
Keep Pushing to Birth Your Biggest Dream
After interviewing Leonie Dawson just before the turn of 2013, I had a gorgeous A-HA moment. I asked her for tips about resolving unfinished business, and she gave advice that I so desperately needed to hear. She explained the “energy cycles of projects,” and how a brand new idea is easy, but the middle (the 40-80% mark) takes effort. It’s natural to feel sluggish as everything becomes a bit harder.
I’m in love with that realization because it makes total sense.
I’m also quite frustrated by the same revelation because it reminds me of my creative business, and unlike a project, I have no idea how close I am to birthing a full-fledged career. It feels very similar to giving birth to my children, and I’m metaphorically at the point of exhaustion where I push with every ounce of my energy, and then relax, rest my head, and doze off before the next contraction. When I feel the urge, I wake up and push, push, push again.
The only difference is, I don’t have a doctor to come in the room and say, “You’re almost there. Just a few more pushes to go, and you’ll be discovered, retained, contracted, and rewarded.” I have no way to tell if I’m 60% away from a the creative career of my dreams or if it’s within my reach.
Uncertainty is a common factor in creative business. There are many things that are out of our control, but here’s something we can take charge of:
Do something today that you’ll thank yourself for tomorrow
You know, that thing you’ve been putting off? That mess you haven’t cleaned up? That stack of unfinished business you’ve been avoiding? Tackle it. Go, right now. Do something today that will allow you to wake up tomorrow morning with a sigh of relief that it’s finished. Put in the hard work that you’re dreading. Stop procrastinating. You’ll thank yourself in the morning.
Finally, Give Yourself Permission
Give yourself permission to be an expert in your field. Claim your expertise. Move forward with the big goals you think you’re still too small for. Allow your greatness to unfold. Give yourself permission to take the big leaps and dominate your market. Don’t wait for an outside party to swoop in and give you your big break; create your big break and astound us all.
“Everything is energy and that’s all there is to it. Match the frequency of the reality you want and you cannot help but get that reality. It can be no other way. This is not philosophy. This is physics.” –Albert Einstein
Thanks for allowing me to share! It’s been an absolute pleasure. Until next time and all the best!
{Featured image via Desert Rose Graphics}
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