Last January I attended a small retreat with online entrepreneurs to Bali where we challenged ourselves to be closer to free. We shared what was holding each other back from being successful and articulated what our ultimate lifestyle would be. I had 4 glorious kid free days connecting with likeminded women and relaxing by the pool writing in my 2015 Create your Shining Year workbook. And now as the year has come to pass I reflect on what happened and didn’t.
Things I definitely said I would do was get married in the Cook Islands, learn the piano, take kids camping and launch my first online product.
Things that were not written into my plan were also to get a divorce in the same year!
Does that mean I failed?
Does that mean every goal and vision in my workbook was a furphy?
Today I went back over my workbook that I had beautifully filled so many months ago and reflect that yes, this year had had some amazing highs but unfortunately some incredible lows. Yes, I connected with an amazing tribe of online business entrepreneurs and launched my first online product. I also got married but only to file for divorce months later. My beautiful twin girls blossomed into their first year of school and now the three of us are replanning 2016 as a new family unit and recreating our own vision boards.
This time of year is also a time to reflect. I have been creating an online business for a few years and focusing on multiple streams of income to create a lifestyle I want. These multiple streams are 1:1 consulting, affiliate payments, real estate investments, e-Courses and information products. I am yet to reaching a 6-Figure goal but I am on the road to get there.
The one big lesson for me this year has been that you should focus on just one project at a time and really only have 1-2 major focuses in your business as well as build a community of specialist outsource staff to leverage your time so you do not have to do everything.
I thought I was doing this when I launched my first course this year but on reflection there were many tasks like affiliate management, copywriting and website design I should have let go much earlier so I too could spend that valuable time with my kids to complement the lifestyle I am creating.
Did my launch cause my divorce? Haha no! But I will share my “Letter to my Daughters” – of what is important in love and life in the New Year.
But tell me. What did you achieve this year?
If you write down you goals at the start of the year, what feeling arise when you review them down the track? Do you feel confident and driven to complete them or content that you are doing something towards them every day? Or failure as things crop up and derail those perfectly filled plans.
I want to let you know that is A OK for things to not work out exactly. It is OK to change your mind or postpone things. It is OK if things take longer or at first go the success you envisioned did not play out as you imagined.
And this applied to your business too. The thing is it is OK to take your time. It is most certainly OK to make time for your business’ biggest asset – in case you haven’t guessed it that’s you! Your business plans should be flexible and evolve as you evolve.
So as we move into 2016 I would love to invite you to check out STILL my absolute favorite way to do my business planning every year – using the Leonie Dawson Incredible Year Planners. The 2016 Create Your Shining Year Biz & Life workbooks and brand spankin’ new weekly planner help you plan out & make happen your most incredible year in life or business (or both!). The books are available as a download or hardcopy but I recommend the hardcopy before they sell out.
Used by entrepreneurs, artists, mamas, creatives, coaches, teachers and women of all ages, the Creating Your Shining Year workbooks + daily planner are filled with powerful worksheets to help you create your amazing new year. Trust me – a divorce certainly won’t stop me starting 2016 again with a fresh new list of goals and dreams to pursue.
So now I’ll just leave you with the question – are you building the business of your dreams or someone else’s?
Lots of Love
Lisa Devereaux
Creator of Pincredible Marketing
P.S. Send me an email to say you got yours and we can keep each other accountable during 2016.
