PODCAST • Passion Design Project

084: How to Create a Podcast from Start to Finish

by haleybadenhop | Feb 19, 2018 | 0 Comments

Today I go over all of the details on how I started a Podcast. Kara wrote in with the following questions and I answer every single one in great detail. Enjoy and let me know if you start a Podcast!!

What equipment did you start with? Where did you buy it?
How did you prepare?
How did you set up interviews and prepare for those interviews
Editing, do you outsource a company that helps with editing?
Did you have them all recorded before you started posting?
How did you promote it?
How to come up with refreshing content? Did you take suggestions from listeners
How do you get people interested in being interviewed?
Do you feel it has helped with your mission?
Roughly what did it cost to get started?
do you have sponsored ads or anyone wanting to sponsor you?
do you make money at it?

And as always, have the best day ever!!!

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083: Creating a Product that Sells + Learning as you go | BUBBA ALBRECHT

by haleybadenhop | Feb 12, 2018 | 0 Comments

On this episode, I’m talking with Bubba from the company Give’r. Starting as just an idea from an adventure back in 2011, this company has grown in recent years and is now regularly featured in some of the outdoor industry’s biggest publications!

Today, we deep dive into what it takes to start a product company (hint: a lot of patience and enjoyment of the little things) and Bubba gives a lot of great tips on how to start if you’ve got an idea for a product. Plus…

how he got started & why gloves
the struggles (and benefits) of working in a ski town
how to stay ahead business-wise & what his biggest marketing asset is
how being patient plays a part
what he wishes he knew from the beginning
what/who motivates him

If you’ve got a product you’re going to put out into the world, let us know on Facebook!

And as always, have the best day ever!!!

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082: Why Giving Matters

by haleybadenhop | Feb 5, 2018 | 0 Comments

Do you ever have a book sitting around for a long time but never make the time to get around to reading it?

Okay, I have more than a few of these, but The Go-Giver is probably the shortest book that has been. Yesterday, I gave myself a rare off-day and decided to pick up the book. Actually, I won’t lie, I threw a delicious smelling bath bomb into my tub and started reading it in there! To my pleasant surprise, the book wasn’t like a typical business book jam-packed with practical info but was told in the form of a parable.

Now that the book was super simple to swallow, I actually couldn’t put it down. What’s the last book that’s been like that for you? Probably a fictional book, right? Combining these methods is pretty genius!

The book ran through 5 keys to having Stratospheric Success, which were the Laws of Value, Compensation, Influence, Authenticity, and Receptivity. Alone, these words sound pretty boring and typical, but what’s interesting is the way they can be used that you might not think of.

But before we get into that, let’s talk giving. I like giving, it’s fun. Probably you do too. The part I don’t like, buying…spending my money. Unfortunately, these two things go hand in hand, for the most part. If you aren’t spending your time, resources, money, maybe you should re-examine if you’re really giving anything haha! I find it especially hard to give when money isn’t just freely sitting around for me to spend on others, charitable causes, even church tithes.It’s just not the easiest thing to watch your money go to something besides your personal benefit.

I actually heard a quote recently and it said something like, If you don’t give when you have little, you will find it much harder (and probably won’t give) when you have much. Take a 10% tithe for example. If you won’t give $1 out of $10 that you have, do you think you’ll be prepared to give $1000 out of $10,000 that you make? Tough right?

So, knowing and hearing the importance of giving, this brought me to the question: How do I produce a giving heart, and is it even worth it?

To expand on the Laws I mentioned above, let me dive a little deeper. My biggest takeaway from this book is that giving isn’t always just about handing money over, there are many other ways that we often overlook which may be more important. So let’s explore these.

By Value, I mean you give more value than you take in payment. This means that if someone is paying you to do something, you freely go above and beyond. Every day you have the opportunity to do more than you’re paid to do in your workplace. Look for ways to jump in and help with a giving heart.

By Compensation, I mean your income is determined by how many people you serve. No, it’s not how good of job you do. Of course, doing good work is important for anything, but how much you can get paid has no limit. The more people you serve, the more you can get paid. Think about ways you can expand the realm of people you serve – this usually means you have to get creative!

By Influence, I mean how much you place other people’s interests before your own. I must say, I’m quite guilty of this. If I do something, it’s usually for my benefit, and even if I do it for someone else, I still want the majority of the benefit. This book dives into the importance of letting others win and helping others achieve what they want. By placing others interests before your own, you develop a unique type of respect that isn’t given very often.

By Authenticity, I mean offering your personality, offering you. Many people think that they are limited when it comes to having specific skills, but we all know that more often than not, people get jobs or clients because of knowing someone and that someone liking them. By simply being a good person and maintaining confidence in yourself, you already have a ton to offer.

By Receptivity, I mean that you have to be willing to receive. I always find it funny when people feel awkward receiving gifts. It’s unfortunate because the gift-giver has probably spent tons of time and thought preparing this gift, only to have the receiving not be confident enough to receive it with an open heart. So remember this next time a gift comes along and receive with a smile. You deserve it.

Giving doesn’t have to be hard or feel like you are giving up everything you worked for. Hopefully, those ideas gave you some clarity and you can work on successfully giving more in your life of work. Two points, to wrap up.

First off, I believe we won’t know the power of giving until we do it. We all get irritated with those people who judge everything on the internet when they aren’t even out there doing anything, they’re sitting behind their screen trolling.

And second, I do believe there is power in giving and letting go of things we want to hold so hard onto. You’ve all heard that quote: All the Magic happens outside of your comfort zone. If giving is uncomfortable for you, start small. Find a way to pay for one person’s coffee a week. Most likely, it will be exciting and addicting.

Have the best day ever!!!

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081: How to make your One Life Count

by haleybadenhop | Jan 29, 2018 | 0 Comments

Yooooolo!

That’s right, I’m bringing back that obnoxious cliche phrase that went viral a year or two ago. But to be honest, I wish it hadn’t been simply a fad.

If you weren’t in the YOLO loop, it stands for You Only Live Once, and people used it mainly to describe silly things like having a huge piece of cake or staying up all night in Vegas. But I wanna get down to the real, serious – and fun – meaning.

Do you think about it very often? I know I forget a lot. I get wrapped up in day to day things and almost forget what it’s all for. We surely weren’t created just to make enough to pay our bills and then retire and die, were we?

I DON’T THINK SO! And that’s one of the MAIN reasons I created this podcast. I don’t want that for you and I’m sure, when you think about it, you don’t want a life even close to that either! I hope that the podcasts I broadcasts are getting you closer to discovering and living out your passions. Therefore, this phrase really hits home for me.

When you realize that you only have this ONE life, and you’re probably a fourth or a third of the way through it already – eek sorry, just being real! – you gotta stop and check yourself. What are you living for right now? Let’s explore a few things that aren’t very healthy to be living for:

Only being able to pay the next bill that comes by. Yes! It’s smart to pay your bills, but not smart to let your bills control your life. If they are, first, figure out where you can cut down. It’s almost always possible. And then begin to save. A few episodes back I talked about a Money Makeover, listen to that. Before long, you will be focusing on what you like instead of what you don’t like.
To make sure your kids are successful. Everyone wants successful kids and wants others to see that they are a top-notch parent, but using your kids as a scapegoat to get out of facing your own dreams is a tactic of fear. And since I don’t have kids, I believe this allows me to see it clearer, because I see people with kids doing both sides. Think about it this way: actions speak louder than words, right? If your kids see you striving to live out your dreams, they will be motivated to do the same!
To be as good as that person you see on Instagram. Oh, the dreaded comparison. I think we can all say we’re familiar with death by comparison. We finally get started on a project we’re passionate about and then start following someone who is three steps ahead of us and boom, lose our drive. What Instagram doesn’t show is how long that person has been working, or what they are doing behind the scenes. Have patience and allow people who are further ahead to drive you and show you what’s possible!
To always give off a good image. Another one that is often exploited online, always trying to maintain a perfect image can be an exhausting way to live, especially if you are pushing it on others around you as well. There’s a quote that goes something like “people are impressed with strengths, but connect through weaknesses.” Remember that the next time you try to put on a perfect act, and instead think about letting others connect with you.
Retirement. Though I DO think saving for retirement is vital, I do NOT think living for retirement is. I’m the biggest advocate for crunching your goals into smaller timeframes and living the life you want right now. And to be honest, there’s no reason not to. If others, who started from nothing, have, then you can too. Reframe your thoughts to think about this year and even how you can condense your goals to make what you most want to happen in, say, the next 5 years. There’s no reason to wait 30 years.

By changing up the way we are looking at life and going super strong after what we really want right now, one life really is enough. I encourage you to remind yourself once a week that YOLO!

Have the best day ever!!!

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080: Winning by making Others Feel Awesome

by haleybadenhop | Jan 22, 2018 | 0 Comments

Do any of you have an Alexa Echo? I got one for Christmas and even though I thought I wouldn’t use it that much, I’m constantly talking to her. She tells me the weather, gives me morning inspiration, helps me study Arabic, and reads me free Audible books, which brings me to this topic! My current one is How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Now, I’ve heard of this book a million times, I think I even have an ancient copy sitting around. But for me, I always think reading current books are more relevant. I should, however, recognize that if a book is still popular 80 years later, it probably has some EXTREMELY good wisdom.

As suspected, this book is quite enlightening. I would boil it down to treating others – not just as you want to be treated but – better than you want to be treated. The book discusses over and over again how the author used this tactic to achieve almost every one of his business deals. I wanted to talk about this subject today because I’ve already tested it and succeeded.

First off, how do you generally treat people? Be completely honest. Do you prefer to talk about them or yourself? Most likely, it’s yourself, and don’t feel bad about that, we all like talking about ourselves! If you said others, I would actually question if you’re being serious. EVEN if we like to get to know others, there’s something exciting about talking about ourselves and something even more exciting when the listener is eager to hear about it.

I’m passionate about business and everything I discuss on this podcast and get super excited when people tell me they are enjoying listening. I could discuss this stuff all day and if I get an engaged audience, it feels good!

So now that we’ve established that, let’s turn that around. Being that excited listener. You know what it feels like to be heard and have an audience that is engaging and excited about your topic, so why not be that audience to other people?

In a past podcast, I talked about personality traits and said one of mine was that I thoroughly enjoy debating for fun. Well, if it isn’t already obvious, that trait doesn’t exactly win friends and influence people the way I would like it to. Since reading this book, I’ve taken a good look at the times when I would prefer to say something I think is smarter, and simply let the other person win. To be a pushover? No. Mainly because in the long run, it’s more beneficial to be friendly than be constantly right about the little things.

Can you think of times in your life when you could improve to become an excited listener?

This could mean putting down your phone when talking with someone. It could mean listening to a story you’ve already heard before. It could also mean pointing out the good qualities of a person instead of the bad.

I’ve been putting that last point to work and have had tremendous success. In Carnegie’s fabulous wording, he repeats over and over, “be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.” In today’s words, that means, easily show approval and pile on the praise. If you think that just sounds like you’re trying to get something from the other person, give it a try and see that you’ll probably have a much livelier conversation and it’s not a trick, but just a great way to operate.

Because what’s your alternative? Be critical of people and stingy in telling them what they do well. Unfortunately, this seems to be more acceptable by today’s standards and isn’t that wild!

So, if you haven’t read the book, I would urge you to, but even if you don’t, give these tactics a try this week and let me know how it goes!

Have the best day ever!!!

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079: How to Thrive with your specific Personality

by haleybadenhop | Jan 15, 2018 | 0 Comments

Oooooh! This is a fun one! So I recently helped launch a church campus and as part of Fresh Life Church’s Crash Course, you go through a series of personality tests, one of which is 16personalities.com. I’m sure most of you have done personality tests sometime in your past. I always found them somewhat hard to understand – they describe you in letters and give a little generic description and, whatever.

But not this one. This one is dead on. For real though. Once you finish, it gives you one of 16 personalities, and details exactly how you act in about 10 pages. Nothing short of incredible. Of course, most of us are not just one because that would mean we’d have tons of identical people like us in the world, but I’d venture to say it gets the majority of your personality correct, and it’s incredibly enlightening.

Over Christmas, I had my entire family take it and it was so perfect and so funny. But the best part was that it made me understand everyone SO MUCH MORE. For example, I always wondered why my boyfriend always wanted to be in groups instead of just us two. Turns out a big part of his personality as a Consul is that they see friendship as extremely important, fun, and almost a responsibility. Or why my mom never wanted to participate in an energetic argument, because in her Mediator mind she only seeks harmony.

It was truly fun to explore this about everyone, but then there was mine. Debater. I couldn’t believe it. I actually thought it was wrong. Thought I should be an Adventurer or Entrepreneur! But no, I got stuck with Debater. Worse was reading the description and recognizing myself and even worse yet was my boyfriend reading it and saying “I’ve never read a truer description.” Or maybe it was the pastor emailing me back and saying he hadn’t met a Debater before.

Of course, you have to embrace your personality right? Obviously, you enjoy yourself – or I should hope you do! So here’s my motto and it says, “Smart and curious thinkers who cannot resist an intellectual challenge.” To be honest, I never before had thought of myself as debating person. Yes I like to speak my side and have a jolly ol conversation around things, but now I realize I actually often push my ideas for the fun of it. What I failed to realize all this time is that not everyone likes to play this, let’s banter back and forth for the fun of it, game. It made me realize that times I think I’m sharing smart information, I might actually come off as too much. This was incredible for me to hear.

Apparently, we Debaters only make up about 3% of the population, which is probably a good thing so we aren’t all endlessly debating ideas, but also a good thing because it’s unique. Because along with everything else, there are some cool tendencies I found to be true, too. We enjoy reworking systems creatively, we live to become more knowledgeable about subjects just for the fun of it, we think logically in emotional situations, and best of all we’re known to be charismatic and energetic.

So now what?

I believe the trick becomes harnessing the good qualities while approaching the less than ideal qualities day by day. No, I’m not saying attempt to change your personality, I’m suggesting borrowing some good qualities from others. As a purely logical thinker, it’s next to impossible for me to make judgments emotionally. But a lot of people are very emotional decision makers, and so it would do good for me to allow emotions to enter conversations along with logic, and not just dismiss emotionally charged conversations as nonsense. And as for arguments that arise, I could add a bit of compassion to my lively debates. Allowing ideas from another view never hurt anyone and would probably help my case in the long run.

But how do we change when these things are so ingrained in us? Well first, by knowing yourself. You must be able to recognize your faults and strengths. And then by reigning them in. Show off your strengths in ways that help others and you; I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that! But when it comes to some of your traits that others may find hard to swallow, all correction to take place. Take into account if you are losing people in conversations at specific times, or if you aren’t feeling satisfied at certain times. Try to place why this may be happening and then attempt to tone down that trait the next time you notice it. Are you a stickler that needs everything in perfect order? Well, guess what, sometimes it doesn’t matter believe it or not. Are you spontaneous? Some people need and thrive on a plan!

Honestly, it’s just small things like recognizing things like that that can make an incredible difference! Let me know on Facebook what your personality is and one this you’ll work on!

Have the best day ever!!!

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078: Conquering a Fault: Patience

by haleybadenhop | Jan 8, 2018 | 0 Comments

All of last year I was in a rush. A rush to make things happen. A rush to make money. A rush to stand out in the world. A rush to look successful.

That rush not only broke me totally down emotionally but didn’t leave me conquering much of anything. It was disheartening and annoying. And I was most mad at myself. Mad that I couldn’t just make everything happen the moment I wanted it all to happen. Mad that my investments weren’t panning out the way I’d planned.

I’d hired a business coach back at the end of 2016 because that’s when my initial impatient breakdown happened. Irritated and upset that I wasn’t getting anywhere (later to realize I hadn’t even offered anything for people to buy), I invested heavily in an online coach to guide me to the next level in entrepreneurship online. I felt that this was my path to financial freedom, my road to incredible success.

I was a diligent student in that six-month course, ready to make anything happen. Until half-way through I started paying more attention to what the other students were saying. It was a resounding message of impatience. “How do I get thousands more followers this week?” “How do I get my first high paying client for this stuff that I just learned last month?” “I need to hire the most high-end services that make me look professional because then people will buy.” “Nothing is happening for me yet and I’ve had my website up for a month.”

Honestly, it was crazy talk but became normal. It was normal to hear the coach talk though peoples’ impatience by telling them to up their prices and find a client somewhere, anywhere, even if they just learned what they should tell clients. In my opinion, a lot of the people in this program needed time to figure out what they really wanted to do and discover where they were meant to be, and work through their emotions, before coaching others! I don’t say that in a bad way, I say it because we all should be doing that, as it’s an important step to self-discovery before telling others what to do.

Is it so crazy for me to say that people who aren’t even sure what they want to do with life shouldn’t be life coaching? Just like people in a relationship where all they do is fight, shouldn’t give relationship advice. Very simple.

So there I was, in the middle of my heavy investment, battling with what I was even doing now! It was about that time that GaryVee reentered my life; a guy I’d heard once before and thought he wasn’t my style, suddenly he was speaking right to me.

“Hustle and have patience” he would say repeatedly. I wasn’t interested in the phrase at first, but the more and more I listened to him say it, yell it, yell it in people’s faces ha, I started listening. I started to realize that if I’d had patience all along, I wouldn’t have needed any of this coaching. Sidenote: I did enjoy the mindset portion of the coaching which was a concept I was unaware of, but I’m speaking of the rest.

I’d love to say that poof! Patience entered my life and I became smarter, but for some reason, that didn’t happen. Mainly contributed to the people I was now surrounding myself with (the people in the coaching program, all of the coaching ads on Facebook, the millions of biz people I was told to follow, etc.) Everyone was telling me that they could grow my e-mail list, make me Instagram famous, get me 10 clients next week. Honestly, it was EXHAUSTING. I tried to attend every seminar I saw. Tried to use all the tactics when I would remember them. I needed things to HAPPEN yesterday.

By the end of the year, I was burnt out on online coaches and people who said they would help, mad that I felt like I’d wasted a ton of money, and unhappy with the way things were progressing (or more like weren’t.) I broke down. Don’t ask my boyfriend. He will be obligated to be nice about how I acted, but I was a mess. I was also on a cleanse, and someone told me recently that those mess with your emotions, so I’m trying to attribute some of my disaster-sesh’s to that.

Greg didn’t say much at the times when I expressed my frustration. He’s a good listener like that. But he did often say, “Haley, you’ve only been working on this what, a half year? What did you expect?” What did I expect you ask? Well I expected a bank account overflowing. I expected a beautiful cabin in the woods to call mine. I expected to be a world-renowned artist by now. I expected to not have a worry in the world. Oh. My. Gosh. I hope you’re laughing. Can you even take me seriously anymore? At least I have big aspirations, right?! HA!

Maybe you’re laughing, but can you relate? I’m willing to bet you’re expecting a heck-of-a-lot out of yourself right now too, and most likely if you wrote it out or told someone they would be like, be easier on yourself and give yourself some time!

And so that’s 2018 for me. My patience is at an all-time-high and I’ve never felt better. My goals are more focused. I’m deleting 95% of any emails telling me to grow my list faster, and unsubscribing from most as well. Some days I’m worried maybe I’ll get behind by doing this, but believe me when I say: the less I let others tell me what I need to do, the more I can focus on what I actually need to do.

Thanks for listening, I appreciate you and your patience for letting me get this all out!

Have the best day ever!!!

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077: Do you Add or Subtract Energy around others?

by haleybadenhop | Jan 1, 2018 | 0 Comments

Do you ever find yourself in situations where all of the people around you are totally bringing you down? Like, you walked into a place filled with energy but left completely drained…in a bad way?

It’s a real thing. There are energy-suckers out there. They are alive and well and much to my dismay, I occasionally feel myself being one.

Not that I intentionally do it. Maybe something bothers me and I decide I “need” to debate it. Maybe someone achieves something but I don’t feel like they really deserve it. Maybe I’m just tired and don’t want to be super energetic around people. Anyone feel me?

Hopefully, you recognize times you are being a downer, but if you don’t, it’s time to check yoself!

I’ll say something bold now. You should ALWAYS bring positive energy when interacting with others. No matter WHAT, you should always try to leave a person better off. I don’t care if they hurt you or you think they’re useless, or if it’s a bad situation.

The reality is, leaving a person better off makes you a better person. It’s that simple.

Maybe you’re saying, Haley, I’m in a funk, I’m tired, and I have no extra energy to give to others. Okay. I hear you. Let’s explore that.

THE SPACE AROUND YOU: What’s your work area or home look like? Is it cluttered? Dirty? Overwhelming? Fix that first.

WHO IS GETTING YOUR ENERGY: Are you saying yes to events when you should be saying no? Are you doing things because you “should?” Are you constantly fighting with someone? Tidy up your friend life!

WHAT ARE YOU FUELING YOUR BODY WITH: What snacks are currently in your cupboard? Do you bring healthy snacks to work so you don’t have to eat fast food? Are you fueling with the right foods and not just caffeine? Exercising? Eliminate one bad food habit!

Okay, so those are 3 things to explore first, before even attempting to bring positive energy to a space. Remember: you have to take care of YOU before you can successfully take care of others! So here are some REALLY SIMPLE ways to add energy to the spaces around you, always!

ENTER CONVERSATIONS WITH A SMILE: Do you timidly approach conversations? Maybe you frown without knowing it. By focusing on a smile, you instantly add energy and automatically put others at ease. Also, Laugh if something is funny!

DECIDE YOU ARE AWESOME: If you are confident that you are a positive addition to conversations and you know you have something to add to this world, then it will be easy to exude positive energy. You will want to celebrate with others and give off that confidence you have!

TALK ABOUT POSITIVES NOT PEOPLE: Conversations that are about people, unfortunately, are usually not the most positive – unless you’re celebrating everyone else! However, if you find you are always tending toward gossip, stop and speak about positives. Speak about events, activities, world events, fun things. And ask questions!

It’s that easy! I know it’s hard to sometimes fathom doing this when we’ve had a bad day, but believe me, there’s nothing better than some positive energy after a crappy day, and if you are able to start it, that’s powerful!

So remember, whenever you are showing your face in the world, you are either adding energy or subtracting it. Which one will you choose?

Have the best day ever!!!

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076: Six Questions to Ask Yourself at the Beginning of a New Year

by haleybadenhop | Dec 25, 2017 | 0 Comments

I love setting goals for myself when a New Year rolls around. I’ve been doing them in the same journal for about the past 6 years and it’s so fun to look back and see that because even when I don’t accomplish the goal in the year I wrote it, I usually do sometime in the next few years. This is great, especially for people like me who never think I’m doing enough…turns out, I’m doing exactly what I want if I would just be a little more patient!

If you’re a goal setter, awesome! These questions will be a great supplement to that. If you prefer not to set goals (even though I’d really encourage you to write a couple each year) these questions will be a great head start or just interesting for you, regardless.

The new year has recently become more and more cliche, with people making fun of those lofty goals people set to only eat kale and get a 6 pack in 10 days. You know. However, goals can actually happen if you set a plan. So I want to help you along and insert a little dose of patience. If you have a 2 pack by next December, that’s pretty darn good!

I’m gonna give you a list to mull over as I talk. Feel free to jot down answers or just press pause and think about them. Pick out one of two that you will definitely work on this month, or longer, and go from there! Happy 2018!

When was I the happiest last year? Get specific. Who were you around, what were you doing, why did you feel that way? Now, can you recreate that feeling or work towards creating more of that happiness this year?
When were you at your lowest during the year? What caused this feeling? Are you past it or is it reoccurring? Now, how can you prevent this feeling from coming back (or at least minimize it?) If it is a big problem that seems daunting, cut it up into smaller steps. A bad relationship…say no to going out. A money issue…find the source of the biggest problem, which is usually either spending too much or not enough coming in. Make a change.
Why do you do what you do? According to Simon Sinek’s book, this is perhaps the most important questions to ask yourself. Here is the link to watch the TED talk about this. If you don’t have a great reason why you are doing something, your motivation will just plain not be there and no further goals will likely happen. Figure out the core of why you want something and then work from there.
What part of your work do you love? Pinpoint your favorite part of your work and figure out how you can slowly but surely do more and more of that. I believe that if you are bold enough to do so, you can always get more of what you want. If you can’t think of one single thing, did you know that this month there are 5.6 million jobs available in the USA?! No excuses for not getting something closer to what you love.
Who is pushing you to be a better version of yourself? Without people around us who encourage and challenge us to do and be more, we either get caught in contentment or develop bad habits. If you don’t have positive people around you, join some encouraging groups online. No excuses.
What are you the most grateful for during this year? There’s ALWAYS something to be grateful for. Once you decide on it, how can you keep that a priority this year?

Have the best day ever!!!

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075: 2017 Wrap-Up: What I’ll do More and Less of Next Year

by haleybadenhop | Dec 18, 2017 | 0 Comments

On Instagram recently I encouraged everyone to take a few minutes to jot down notes about their year. I think it’s extremely important to look over your past year in order to recognize everything you accomplished, and what you can do better.

Some of my favorite accomplishments were:

Finished visiting all 50 states
Took 87 flights
Put myself through an online business course for 6 months
Celebrated my 30th birthday in London
Sold a lot more art and put on classes
Went to Morocco twice by myself
Painted a mural for Pat Flynn
Went skiing in Japan, Canada, and all over the States
Dated my boyfriend for year 5 of long distance
Finished my first year of podcasting weekly

Obviously, this was a pretty extreme year.

I tried to do it all and make “living the dream” a reality for me. While from the outside it looked pretty spectacular, I really struggled with feeling like I wasn’t getting to where I wanted to be, professionally. This was in part due to two major things: 1. I traveled more than I should’ve while trying to start a personal business and 2. I didn’t recognize and be happy with all the small things that I actually did accomplish.

Maybe what I did sounds like a lot, but unfortunately, my goals at the beginning of the year were more business related, and since my accomplishments are more lifestyle-related, it left me feeling pretty crappy about where I wanted to be at this moment.

Though I’ve been pretty hard on myself for not accomplishing more business-wise, I have to recognize the good and what I learned with everything I did, because truth-be-told, it was all pretty darn awesome and fun.

Being quite a dreamer and person that looks at possibilities instead of practicality, this past year has kind of slapped me around a bit and made me think about possibly having a happy medium work-wise. This brings me to my list of what I’ll do more and less of in 2018.

I had to ask myself if stressing with the beginnings of solo entrepreneurship is actually better than side-hustling entrepreneurship. Kind of surprising myself, I had to eat a little slice of humble pie, and look at working a job in addition to just being an entrepreneur, and not feel bad about things not happening fast enough. So next year, I may have a job alongside my art business and podcasting. For me, this means I can actually be more creative while not freaking out about paychecks. So LESS stress is on the agenda; a roundabout win in my book.
As the year went on, I definitely developed MORE patience. And I plan to continue this until I get to the point where I’m not beating myself up if I’m not making everything perfect in 2 seconds. Patience is freaking hard in the social media world, when every time you jump on, someone you follow is doing exactly what you want to be, so on that note, let’s go to…
LESS social media. This is hard because my business is online for the most part. But I’m determined to check out this Freedom app I keep hearing about, and do less watching of people I admire, and just put in my own work!
MORE money managing. I’ve always been interested in investments and such, but never in the whole money/watch your bank account game. In 2018 I’m changing this, mainly because of a couple books I’ve read recently, Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover (which I talked about in my previous podcast) and The Automatic Millionaire. I recommend both, and they got me really excited to manage my money more efficiently.
Talk MORE about everything with my boyfriend. Since my bf and I have been together for 5 years and long-distance, this is a pretty big deal for us. We spent most of the last 5 years on more surface level stuff, and yes, planning vacations. So we had some pretty serious sit-downs and decided this year is the year of goals and focus.
LESS people pleasing. As I was recently thinking over things I wasn’t pleased with in my life, I realized a good deal of it is stress related to trying to please everyone around me and often putting what they want first. This coming year, I’m going to evaluate my answers to everything to see if they are coming from a place of excitement or guilt.
MORE art murals
MORE languages learned
MORE tithing
MORE podcast guests.

All in all, this year sounds a lot more boring than last, and maybe that comes with age, but I also think it’s just timing. What I did last year and the previous years have all been exactly what I wanted to do in life and I’m proud that I followed that path. And this year is no different in that regard, it’s simply more serious and honed in on the future.

I would encourage you to take a look at your past year so that you can see what you’d like to continue doing and what you’d be better off letting go of. On the next and final episode of the year, I’ll go through a list of questions to ask yourself at the start of the new year to get a fresh plan going!

Have the best day ever!!!

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