The girl scouts are genius. Have you ever considered the perfect timing of when their top fundraising effort-those boxes of delicious cookies. They usually start arriving mid February when your commitment to the goal of healthy eating has waned.

In this blog post, we'll explore how to stay committed to your goals and achieve success. As we approach mid-March, it's a good time to reflect on the goals we set at the beginning of the year and recommit ourselves to achieving them.

Setting the Right Goals

When setting goals, it's important to ensure that they are the right ones for you. In this post, we'll briefly cover how to set the right goals, using the SMARTER method for goal setting. It's important to note that everyone has different systems that work for them, so if the SMARTER system doesn't resonate with you, check out other goal-setting methods.

The SMARTER method stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound, Evaluate, and Revise. This framework allows you...

Does your 5 am morning routine boost or kill your productivity?

I am excited to discuss this topic with you today because I am currently reconsidering my stance on it. For a long time, I have been a proponent of having an early morning routine. However, last month, on Friday the 13th, I was involved in two minor car accidents. I believe this was due to my extreme exhaustion. Therefore, this conversation is particularly relevant as we approach daylight savings time, during which we will lose an hour of sleep. I look forward to exploring the advantages and disadvantages of waking up at 5 am.

Science and the Early Morning

Let's begin by examining the science behind an early morning routine, with the caveat that the research generally supports an early morning routine rather than specifically a 5 am routine. The Sleep Foundation describes circadian rhythms as 24-hour cycles that are part of our body's internal clock, which carries out vital functions and processes. One of the most...

“What are your go-to strategies for managing workflow while also maintaining flexibility?” This is a question I hear often when I’m speaking to a group of female creatives.

I would like to answer it for you today. I know how hard it is to juggle everything. As a creative entrepreneur, a mother, a friend, all the roles we must play and pour into ourselves, our businesses, and our personal responsibilities are a lot to manage. In the past week alone, I have: 

• Dance comp for my daughter
• Visiting family 
• Doctors app
• Husband traveling
• Basketball playoffs for my son
• Insomnia issues (yes still)

Today, I want to share with you my simple productivity system that keeps me organized and focused. Having a system in place is crucial to catch all the balls we juggle daily, and to have the confidence to navigate through life. A good productivity system should help keep track of everything that needs to be done, and it's essential to set it up correctly.

There is no...

Nobody showed up! Last week I hosted a Masterclass and not a single person dialed into the zoom call.  Did I feel like a failure, yep, but I feel like that’s a good thing, and let's explore this topic of failure so I can explain why.

William James, a renowned American philosopher, and psychologist was one of the first to identify the impact of self-doubt and negative beliefs on a person's ability to pursue their goals. He believed that these internal barriers can be just as powerful as external obstacles in preventing people from reaching their full potential.

The inspiring story of basketball legend Michael Jordan illustrates this point. Despite being rejected by high school, college, and NBA teams early on, he continued to pick himself up and learn from his failures, eventually becoming a basketball icon.

Impact of running from your fears

Fear of failure leads to a lack of action and missed opportunities. Recently, my son was reluctant to attend a...

I’m BORED!!!! As a parent these words make me cringe, but what if I told you there was a way to eliminate some of the boring tasks in your life?

Yep, automation. Today I’m going to point out 7 boring things you can automate today to spend more time doing what you LOVE!

Automate Boring Work

 Sales/ Marketing Funnel:

To make money, we need leads for our business. That's why many of us started these businesses in the first place. The good news is that by using an evergreen funnel, you can automate this process and take out the hassle of following up with leads constantly from your business. You can do this in a variety of ways. Brendon Bouchard taught me about the opt-in value offer model, and there are many different ways to create opt-ins. Among them are PDFs, video series, quizzes, and micro audio Summits. 

With this funnel, you get their email address and give them some value. They love what they see, so you make an offer, and it's...

First, I'd like to answer a question: what makes a day productive? The question has actually been asked a couple of times. I will give you my own example of what a productive workday looks like for me. Here goes:

• Wake up at 5:30 am
• Morning routine
• Exercise
• Getting the kids off
• Work 9-3 broken into time blocks
• Reset Routine
• Kids activities/Dinner
• Recharge

Let’s get back to the original question - is productivity a skill?

The answer is yes, but I think it's actually a set of skills, and I'd like to share with you some tips on each. There is more information about them that I can give you. If you want to delve deeper into any given skill, you have that choice as well.

1. Problem Solving: Going back to my ideal day, there's a lot of room for problems to pop up. As I was recording this video, the tech wasn't working on my phone. I was having trouble with the audio. One quick tip on how to become a better problem solver is to just identify the problem clearly....

I'm staring at my keyboard right now. I need a failure story. I need a story about failure. I need a failure story.

In writing, there's something I learned from Anne Lemott in Bird by Bird called "the really shitty first draft." Basically, you have to get your ideas down on paper (hence the opening line). My time behind the keyboard became exponentially more proficient since I’ve grasped this concept.

Instead of worrying that I didn't have the right words, I just let my ideas flow out.  It’s ok if it’s not perfect. In fact, I expect some absolute garbage to pour out of me.  The faster I get the words all down, the sooner I can get to work on refining them into something I’m ok with publishing.

This is true in writing but the lessons in failure apply from everything from business to more personal pursuits. Let’s explore some of the reasons why you should fail FAST.

Failure Creates Motivation

I just took a trip down...

I often get asked, 'how can I be more productive?’

Thinking about this question, I realize that the answer could go in a million different directions.

It's a pretty vague question that leads to a lot more questions...productive at what? What resources do you have available? What makes this thing important to you?

In this article, I've kept the answers more theoretical (in keeping with the question). Basically, I've boiled it down to three principles.

Connect with Your Future Self

When I graduated from the University of Nevada Reno, my first job was in sales and marketing in the casino industry.  For a girl in her twenties, it was a fun gig and I moved up the ranks.  The next step was a Las Vegas job offer which I accepted immediately before suddenly having a change of heart.  I had always wanted a family, but I couldn't imagine raising them in Sin City.

I didn't know it at the time but I was protecting my future self. It's easy...

It's my trigger word: busy. 

When I ask someone how they are and I get the reply "busy” I want to primal scream into a pillow. Yet, sometimes I notice that word slip out of my mouth.

If I manage to catch it, I change my response to “life is full right now.”

“Every time you say you’re busy, you’re actually saying that you can’t prioritize your life.” Darius Foroux

I love this quote because we all choose to do what we do. If your life feels busy here are some ways to turn that around.

Work Hard & Smart

I am sure you have heard this term, but what does it actually mean?

Think of working hard as being efficient. You pour time, energy, and resources into something.

Making sure that something is the right something is working smart.  

Imagine you want to start growing your own food. Then you go to the nursery and buy everything you need to build your backyard...

“An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” Benjamin Franklin warned fire-threatened Philadelphians in 1736.

I watched this play out on TV last night. Any This is Us fans in the house? 

It was the Saturday in the Park episode where Kate and Toby’s house starts crumbling because of a leak that hadn’t been fixed. The writers for this show get me every-time. The failed roof was a metaphor for the marriage that seems to be falling apart.

Prevention can play a role in fire, home maintenance, and marriage.

The same rings true to managing overwhelm.  If we took some measures to prevent it, we could stop it from taking down our lives.

In the last few blog posts I’ve dove deep into overwhelm as an entrepreneur and as a mom.

Today I want to offer you a seven minute fix to emotional overload:

Let me introduce you to the Weekday Shutdown Routine:

It's my secret to creating boundaries...