We are in the thick of winter, so the mornings here are dark. For my morning run last week, I had to dig out my headlamp because the storms in CA have left a ton of debris on my path, and the street light is not enough to avoid the branches.

The headlamp was dead because I hadn't used it in so long. I looked at the charging port and it looked different. Later that weekend I took about 20 minutes to go through a box of charging cables and finally turned to hubby when I continued to come up empty-handed. It took him less than 30 seconds to get it plugged in and charging.

Two completely different approaches. His way more effective but isn’t this how life goes? There’s more than one approach to everything.

This got me to thinking, I’ve talked a lot about my roadmap for life but there’s more than one approach. Let's get into some different ways to look at this. 

Let Life Happen

The first approach to life is to let it happen and go...

A new planner can be a special treat, whether you pick it up at Target or open your front door and discover a package waiting for you. In case you're not with me, this video may not be for you. 

Today, I'm sharing with you my process for setting up my planner for 2023. 

The planner that I use, and I'm going to share with you today, is the full Focus planner by Michael Hyatt. I've tried a bunch of different styles and I keep coming back to this one again and again and again. You're going to see why as we go through this video. 

There are different in the cover design. They even now have a spiral-bound version.  I start by going back to Q1 of 2022 and looking at my annual goals. I do feel the one thing that this planner is missing is the annual review.  There's a place to do a quarterly preview because it's broken down into a quarterly system. So at the end of December, I was just looking at where I was for my Q4 goals. I created a process...

Are you team NY resolutions? Or maybe you’re more of a theme word for the year kind. Perhaps January 1st is just another date on the calendar for you.

Goal setting moves into the spotlight as we enter a new year-regardless of the path you chose.

According to a study by FranklinCovey, a global performance improvement company. four out of five people that make New Year's resolutions never actually complete them. In fact, a third won't even make it until the end of January. Sounds like a recipe for failure.  Instead of setting resolutions, a good question to ask yourself is who do you want to be in 2023? 

Today I want to share my process for achieving goals. Goal setting isn't something you visit just while you watch the ball drop. 

Resolution vs. Goal

First, let's define a goal and a resolution. A resolution is a firm decision to do or not to do something, a firm decision I want to highlight that part. There doesn't seem to be any space...

My eyes welled up as I rolled cookie dough balls amidst flour-dusted countertops and a tower of dishes taller than me in the kitchen sink.

What I had intended to be a fun day of baking with my family had ended with a screaming match and me up to my eyeballs in cookie dough and left alone to fill 3 dozen cookie tins with a cute bow on top.

Some of my best holiday memories were baking cookies with mom and this cookie explosion in my kitchen left me feeling like a failure and completely overwhelmed.

Now I know better and I’m happy to report that I’m looking forward to baking cookies this year. In fact, my whole scrooge attitude for the holidays has turned around thanks to my new outlook on avoiding overwhelm.

I want to share with you how I have gotten to this new outlook and the secret is creating reasonable expectations during the holidays. In the scene I described above, I was trying to bake sugar cookies. You know, those perfectly formed...

Bravo to you!

Nice!! And not a problem!! love you too!

Good morning!!!! Thank you so much for your text!!! So happy!! Love you, my friend!

How would you like to get messages like this on your phone on the regular?

I'm going to share with you a practice I started about a year ago that has blown my phone up with these messages and made life more meaningful.

I want to talk about my favorite way to show gratitude. This practice fills my phone with messages like the ones above. 

When you hear the words gratitude practice, your mind may go to writing in a journal or gathering around a Thanksgiving table. 

I practice differently.  I send a message of gratitude to someone.  It could be a friend, family member, coworker, etc.  I recognize them for having done something good.

Acknowledge them with detail. Check out the video above for an example. If you want a deeper dive into gratitude, I held a masterclass on...

When you're stressed or feeling like you can't keep your head above water, taking a little something off your plate is the best feeling.

A good way to achieve this is through delegation, but so many of us get it wrong or have fears surrounding it.

Myself included. 

In order to focus more on growing my business, I hired a virtual assistant about a year ago. Her responsibilities included engaging my followers on Instagram. After a few months, I realized that the $$ I was sinking into that was a waste. It wasn't because she wasn't doing her job, but because I hadn't grown my brand voice and account to the point that it was ready to take over.

Lesson #1 delegate the right stuff. Check to see if the task you are passing off can be done better by whoever is getting it, or if it is one you are running smoothly and can be passed on with a detailed workflow. Where do you find "the right stuff"?

• Make a list of your tasks
• Identify your most leverage work (your...

When does creativity strike? 

I'm a runner. I often experience my aha moments on the trail. Also, I am a morning person. I find my focus is better in the early morning hours, but it's different for everyone. 

The Creative Process

Let's talk about your creative process. In 1940, an advertising executive named James Webb Young published a short guide titled “A Technique for Producing Ideas”. I want to explore his concept of the creative process, and why it goes beyond a spark. 

The first step is to gather ideas, experiences, and information, regardless of your creative outlet, The painter can gather ideas in nature. The content creator may need to get out there and experience life. This can fit into a time block.

Step two is to reason and consciously think about what you want to create. This is the step in the process where we connect ideas in new and different ways. As Mark Twain wrote, “There is no such thing as a new...

Do you remember the time when the stars aligned and you had a pocket of time all to yourself?

While I cleaned up dinner last Sunday, hubby had his fantasy football draft and the kids decided to go to the gym instead of hanging out with me.

My Sundays are spent planning out my week, doing housework, and hanging out with my family. I was sad at first that the kiddos didn’t want to hang with me but I have a teenager and preteen so I shouldn’t be too surprised.

One of my favorite indulgences is to take a bath. Since it was the end of the day, I quickly filled the tub and grabbed a book. I’m currently reading Ditching the Dream by my friend Bethany Clemson.

I emerged from the tub feeling better than ever. Were there loads of housework that still needed to be done? Was I tempted to mindlessly scroll through videos of how other people clean their homes? Yes to both!

I chose the bath with clarity and purpose because I knew the gift of...

Life has seasons. I’ve written about this before.

Choosing the path of entrepreneurship leads to one hectic and exciting season: growing your business. However, if we are not careful, this can quickly lead to burnout.  The combination of coffee-fueled late nights and dragging yourself out of bed in the morning is a recipe for disaster.

Your caffeinated growth sprint may feel like an impossible task when you're piled with the duties of motherhood (or just life).

Here are some ideas for how to add more hours into your business that won’t push you into overwhelm.

Delegate House Duties

You can delegate other aspects of your life when work spreads you thin like butter on toast.  A good place to begin is to look at those who live under your roof.  

When I decided to go back to work, my husband (bless his heart) assumed laundry duties. Since he works from home, it's easy for him to throw in the wash while he's on a...

You can choose how you want to proceed! Your day begins when you awaken, and it can take two paths.

The first is that you head straight into the office with your morning coffee.  Your phone is blowing up with text messages from friends and clients. Right away, you start putting out fires: sending an email to a client who needs one, checking in with your dad to see how his doc appointment went yesterday, and confirming details with the contractor about to begin work on your kitchen remodel.

Next thing you know, it's 8 am and the kids are up and hungry. It's time to make breakfast, get everyone ready, and take the kids to camp. You're back in the office at 10am, and there are a flood of emails to wade through. In about an hour, you pull your head out of email to take your client's call, eat a quick lunch at your desk and finally get some time to work on your big project before you have to pick up the kids.

In the next scenario, you wake up and begin your...