And Now….For What Did Not Work in 2013

Hello everyone! Still working on my Goal Setting series from my last post and now taking a look at what didn’t work in 2012. Again, if you haven’t visited my friend Lara Casey and her amazing exercises, you are missing out. Truly, it’s so very helpful.

Sticking to a schedule: This was a bit of a challenge for me, but I had trouble sticking to a consistent schedule all year long, and when something came up (child sickness, last minute event) I felt like it would derail me and then I would have trouble getting back on track.

Friendships: This is a huge BIGGIE for me. Friendships. I’m not one of those that has a million friends. Nope. I have a small circle of friends that I cherish but this year, I could not connect. Missed phone calls, voicemails, lunches and happy hours that never happened, the list goes on. The worse part? I needed my friends. I needed to hear their voices, their problems, their updates and get out of my world.

Networking Events: I’ll admit it. I’m lazy about attending Networking events for Chic Sweets. Sometimes it’s a mixture of the “oh, I’m tired” thing, but deep inside I think there is a part of me that is still deathly shy….like, it’s my first day of school type of shyness and the thought of walking in a room, with business cards on hand makes me want to run in a different direction and come up with every excuse I can. But I seriously need to get over it. Seriously.

My Phone: Raise your hand if you go on Facebook and Twitter too much. Crap. Like when did that happen? How am I holding Preston with one arm and glancing at my Facebook feed in the other??? What the heck is wrong me? I have to admit when I’m in “mommy world” I feel like it’s an outlet for me, but I still could cut down how attached I am to the thing. Sheesh.

Client Experience: Thank You notes, timely follow ups with potential clients via email, personal connections. I’m always looking to see how I can improve my client connections. Every day this year I told myself that I would set a “power day” aside to put postage on thank you envelopes, work on personalizing my paperwork a bit more, but it never happened.

Blogging: Writing is something I used to love but from two blog post a month, cut down to one, cut down to none is not working. Also before I used to just type whatever came to mind and not worry too much about making my voice sound “perfect.” Now I find myself rereading my posts, changing sentences that I don’t think readers would understand. I’m not perfect so why does it matter so much?

Finances: On the business end, SO need to work on this. I want to spend my day playing with pretty paper and making gorgeous layouts for my clients, but the reality is that as a business owner I need to have a handle on every aspect of my business. Steve has always handled the finance end of Chic Sweets, but I’m pretty he wants me more involved and more in tune with this area. And Steve–if you happen to read this, please stop laughing.

Finances (family): Honesty coming. Four boys, financially, is not easy. Lunch money, tuition, clothes, but I’m convinced instead of worrying about it (which is what I do 24-7) we need to think of better ways to manage finances on a monthly basis. And I feel like this sounds like such a cliché….New Year Resolutions—work on finances thing, but I’m convinced if we made some real lifestyle changes, that it wouldn’t be so hard.

Taking care of ME: Last time I went to the doctor for plain ole’ physical? Exercise? Diet? Dentist? Goodness, it was bad this year. And I know I should cut myself some slack…you have a houseful of boys…maybe it’s just not in the cards for you. But, whatever. I’ve got to make some changes. Same with Steve—I’m oh, so sure he wouldn’t mind some time for himself, to do whatever he wants. Yup, got to figure all of that out.

So that is where I’m at, my real list is a bit longer but this is just a snippet.

Next up-the hard work. Goals, action steps, all the good stuff. Yippee! Next week, I’ll likely interrupt these series of blog posts for a really wonderful (and colorful) shoot I did with my friend Shay Cochrane not too long ago BUT again, go to Lara Casey’s blog for all the goal setting, what fires-you-up goodness!

Have a great weekend everyone!