There was a little meme that went around the social media world that said January was a “free trial month” and that 2019 was going to begin on February 1. When I saw it, it really resonated with how I was feeling all month. In hindsight though, I realized that despite feeling that way I actually did accomplish a lot and January was a good start for me. So why was I feeling that way? I think it was because I never sat down in the beginning of January to set goals for myself or think about what I wanted to accomplish. When the new year began, we had my sister and her family visiting us and it was SO fun but also made it hard for me to carve out space and time to do goal setting (for the year OR for the month), and I felt out of whack all month as a result both personally and professionally.
When it comes down to it, I am someone who does like freedom and flexibility but I need it to exist within structure. I have anxiety or feel like I am missing something without a framework, without goals. It doesn’t mean I can’t or won’t accomplish things, it just means that I will probably either avoid things that need to be done or feel like I am floundering even if I am succeeding.
So, for February I am taking some time today to think about some things I want to accomplish this month AND how I am going to go about it – on both personal and professional levels.
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Here’s a snippet of what I am thinking about for FEB:
1. Relationships: go on a date with Robert (scheduled it already – a double date with our good friends!) and go on a date with Abby (we need our girl time – I want to schedule a time for us to get our nails done, go out to a movie or dinner, maybe do a craft class together at Michael’s!). I also want to plan specific 1-1 time with each of my boys.
2. Financial: we have some debt to pay off and have been working on this for a while, making huge progress in 2018. I can’t even begin to describe how good it feels to be making a difference here. This month I want to pay it down more. To do this, I am committing to not buying anything for myself that I do not absolutely NEED and also focusing on growing my income and contributions to my family on a financial level.
3. Professional:
Beautycounter – I stepped away from Beautycounter in the new year. I think I was partially just tired from working so hard at it toward the end of 2018, and the break was good for me, truthfully – however at the same time I started this work because I need the income and when you don’t work your business, guess what happens? You don’t make money. SO – I am committing myself to getting back to a rhythm with this, reminding myself WHY I do this – to make money for my family, to reduce our debt and afford the lifestyle that’s important to us! I love and believe in the products and mission of the company wholeheartedly. When I decided to do this work, my reasons were twofold – I needed the money but wanted to make it in a way that was both flexible and aligned with my personal values. Beautycounter fit that bill so I am going to stick with it! In November, I made Director and had my biggest paycheck ever – which felt amazing! I get squirmy and have a hard time selling sometimes…I think this is where my roadblocks have been in the past. It’s hard and uncomfortable, but the rewards personally and professionally are great. On that note if you are reading this and want to learn more – please reach out! I would love to introduce you to it and help you and/or have you join me and my team!
Coaching – I currently have a roster of 20 athletes and am LOVING the 1-1 work with my clients. This work makes my heart sing and I love what I do so much! I have been growing my coaching business slowly because my vision for it is and always has been to be able to provide very personal attention to each athlete. I don’t want to have other coaches under me, or make mass plans for people. It’s just not how I operate. That being said, I do feel I have room and time for a few more people so I need to talk about this and share that with all of you! Again, shy about “selling.” But being a business owner/entrepreneur requires that you market yourself! So in February I am going to make more of an effort to share the work that I do as a coach, the accomplishments of my athletes and their amazing stories and how we work together, as well as letting you guys know that I have room for a few more!
Art – well this is a new one for me! I need a creative outlet on a personal level and have always dreamed of somehow combining my passions for running + making art. Well it has come to be! I am working on 10 orders right now of personal custom illustrations of running photos and I want to do MORE of this! So once again I need to promote/share/talk about it and let you guys know I am doing this and want to do more 🙂
4. Health/Fitness: I am focusing in 2019 on building strength, power and endurance. In Jan I consistently went to my strength class 3x a week and am feeling the progress in my running too. I don’t see changes on the outside yet, but I think when you build muscle the way I am trying to, it takes time and consistency. So in February I am dedicating myself to the process and focusing on being steady with my weekly strength workouts, core work and run training. I have some big hairy scary goals for my racing this year (I see you, 26.2!) and I want to have a robust and STRONG body to tackle them.
5. Writing: welp, this is the last one I will share for now 🙂 I started this blog YEARS ago (I think it was 2009? Maybe 2008. I need to check) in order to connect with others who loved running. A space to share my journey, maybe inspire others, make connections, process my thoughts and chronicle the ups and downs. Over the years I stepped away. I want to return to it with consistency. Writing is as hard for me as selling is … I just get so critical of myself, nervous of judgement of others, etc etc etc – but ultimately it is good for me and I feel it helps me grow in so many ways. So I am dedicating myself to this more consistently in February. I am setting a goal of writing 3x a week. I think I can do it!
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That’s it for now. Thank you for reading if you have made it this far! Off to hop on my treadmill for a hill workout! Tomorrow is my buddy’s 8th birthday and I am going to his school for lunch today! My mom flew in late last night and he has NO idea that she’s here – so he is in for a big surprise when Nana shows up at his school today!!!
Happy Friday, friends. And HAPPY FEBRUARY. Rabbit Rabbit Rabbit!
