Every year, I take some personal time to assess, adjust, write new goals for the New Year and make a plan for achieving those goals. I’d like to share part of this process with you – and encourage you to use it for yourself to create a powerful, prosperous and joyful 2011. I hope you will find this peek into my process helpful.
In this second post, I’m continuing the first section of my process which comes from Brendon Burchard, author of Life’s Golden Ticket. This series of questions helps me to look at the year past as well as clarify what I want for the coming year. I’ll be answering them over the next several blog posts.
Remembering 2010 – Start Where You Are (cont.)
The one thing that held me back from moving faster in 2010 was…
- I spent several months wrestling with a lack of clarity about how best to move forward. I tried several new product ideas that didn’t work. Part of that was undoubtedly due to the economic climate. But I think it was really part of the creative and research process I needed to go through.
- My ancient computer also held me back – and replacing it with my shiny red Dell has certainly helped to eliminate that log jam.
- I also struggled with my time management and for the first time in many years, working in an office outside of my home. Part of that was the amount of stuff I had in my office – a lot of which I got rid of before the move.
The way I’m going to remedy this in 2011 is…
- Well – I’ve found a new product format that is already selling well, now I need to complete creating it so that I can deliver it on schedule. I’ll be blogging more about that when I announce its release to the world
- I need to expand my technical expertise this month both in working with my Dell, but also in using some other Web 2.0 tools to help me move forward
- I’m spending the next several days creating a solid plan for both my day-to-day time management as well as the specific accomplishment of goals. I’ll be setting up my office without anything that I don’t need every day. Because I have a storage unit on the property that I can access 24/7, I can be very lean in the office to create an open, efficient and organized office. I will also be setting up and experimenting with my time management system over the next few weeks. That may be the most challenging part as I’m no longer only beholden to myself but will need to keep my parent’s needs in the forefront of my plan.
The person who drained me of energy the most in 2010 was…
Wow – there really aren’t any people in my life I consider draining. Isn’t that interesting? I’ve really created some empowering and positive relationships. There are some peripheral people but no one who is in my immediate circle.
In July, I started working with someone partly as coach and partly as personal assistant. In all truth, I had a strong instinct before I started working with her that she was a crazymaker (for a full definition of that, read Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way). But I ignored that instinct because I needed the money and because there might be a trip to China in the offer. So, I ignored my intuition and went ahead with the job. It became clear to me within 24 hours of working with this person that she was going to suck the life out of me.
In the past, I might have continued working with her – because I don’t quit – that’s part of who I am. But I quit this job immediately. And when she attacked me (verbally) for quitting, threatened to damage my credibility and used it as an excuse not to pay me for the day of work I delivered – I could have been drawn into her drama. I could have sued her for non-payment. I could have pursued legal action because she wrote a bad check. I did none of those things. I decided that the energy drain wasn’t worth the money she owed me.
This person would have been a huge energy drain had I continued to work for her. And even after that, she could have continued to drain me while I fought to be “right”, pursuing her legally for the money she owes me. For the first time in my life – I saw the trap and evaded it. I’ve often fought battles that were not in my best interest because I wanted to be right.
I think I’ll add this to things I’m proud of myself for!
The way I’ll deal with this person in 2011 is to…
Even though I don’t currently have energy drains in my life, I think this is worth looking at – because obviously I did something well in 2010 that I want to continue doing. So:
- Listen to my intuition and inner voice and continue to limit my interactions with people I feel are draining
- Maintain and strengthen my boundaries
- Don’t buy into other people’s judgment of me
- Believe/trust that the money will show up and make decisions based on that
- Choose being successful, joyful, loving and forgiving over being right
The way I feel about the amount of free time in had in 2010 is…
Free time? What’s that! I didn’t give myself nearly enough free time, play time, open time, down time. I definitely have workaholic tendencies. Something for me to look at.
The way I treated my body in 2010 has led me to feel…
I definitely pushed my energetic limits in the last part of this year. In a way, I’m proud of that – part of my recovery from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome is the ability to push my limits periodically without relapsing. But, I did spend some time this last week really resting. And I’ve recovered my energy level nicely. So even though I pushed myself – and circumstances really required that push – I didn’t relapse.
Overall, I haven’t exercised as much as I’d like. And I’ve regained some of the weight I took off in previous years. I didn’t live in a good walking area and I didn’t take advantage of the opportunity to walk near my office. I consistently chose work over self-care.
However, I received body work every month, got the occasional pedicure and monthly haircuts. All of which makes me feel good about my body.
So it’s a mix, and something I definitely will be looking at as an area for improvement in 2011
I could have shown even more love to my loved ones in 2010 by…
Mostly this is around spending time, either on the telephone with family and friends who live far away and in person with those who live close to me. Again, choosing work over relationship.
I could have had even more fun in 2010 by…
I really regret not spending more tourist time in the Bay Area while I lived there. There were so many places I wanted to explore. Museums. Landmarks. So many events I would have liked to participate in.
One of the biggest challenges for me living in the Bay Area during this last few years is that while the economy has tanked and my business has been knocked down (but not knocked out) – my cost of living has only increased. San Francisco is really an expensive place to live. And I often felt that I couldn’t afford to stop work in order to play. I couldn’t afford to spend money on having fun.
This was a message I gave myself a lot last year.
However, I also feel like it’s a message I cleared at Billionaire Bootcamp by installing the mindset of a billionaire. And I’ve noticed a major difference in how I feel about these issues over the last few weeks.
To be continued…
3 Responses
I love this, particularly how you dealt with the draining person last year. I’ve ignored my intuition about business relationships in the past because I felt I needed the money and I always regretted it!
Will follow your advice about expecting the money and clients to be there.
I’m definitely still working on that myself. It’s a process 🙂 What I loved about that experience was how quickly I realized that my intuition was dead-on and was able to take immediate action (basically to run screaming for the door!).