2017 is moving behind us in a few short hours. It was a good year of living with joy, focus and growing as a wife, mama and business owner.
As you may know from reading my blog, each year I choose a specific WORD to focus on in all areas of my life. You can read more about this movement that inspired my own practice from Ali Edwards here. You can also hear about my one little word journeys from the past here:
2011: Peace
2012: Balance
2013 Grace
2014: Grow
2015: Content
2016: Play
2017: Connect: Play
I spilled water on sports class on 50 student letters but the kindness in the words made me forget about the mess
In 2017, my word of the year, Connect played out quite nicely. Here are a few of the top examples of how connecting helped me grow and improve in several areas of my life.
Personal: This may sound silly, but my friends and I started using an app called Voxer. It is a walkie-talkie type app where you can leave instant messages, in a group if you like, back and forth with your people. I feel a deeper connection to my friends, my sister and my dad and stepmom thanks to using this app with them! You can share stories with your loved ones when it is a convenient time for you, then they respond when it works for them!
Received two amazing books
Business: Connecting in my business was fantastic and allowed me to grow individually, as well as as an operating business. Here’s how:
*Grew my team at Cardinal Rule Press from 7 to 15 this year!
*Strengthened my team by connecting on an operations system called Asana. Clear lines of communication happening in this platform.
*Connected with publishers at the IPG Summit in Chicago then began a monthly publisher’s chat over coffee, networking and supporting each other.
*Interviewed 7 publishers live on Facebook and connected with them personally and created relationships.
*Developed new partnerships with educational influencers, resulting in a very successful book launch for The Jelly Donut Difference, along with two amazing Instagram giveaways.
*Attended the Boss Mom Retreat in NC and made SO MANY new connections with women. So many that I ended up hiring FOUR women as a result!
*Found the perfect Mastermind buddy at Boss Mom and will be starting a new Mastermind in January with a small group of women.
*Interviewed on over a dozen podcasts this year as a result of connecting with others!
With @scbwi Professional Development Workshop speaker @guidesbydeb
2018 Word of the year is: Intentional
Not only do I choose a word, but I set specific goals in three areas of my life: Personal, Family and a Couples/Marriage goal.
Here’s a recap of how it went in 2017.
2017 Personal Goals and Resolutions
Personal
Goal: Get bendy and strong!
Resolution: incorporate two days of strength training and stretching into my weekly workouts. My friends and I are also taking on a reading challenge to help us expand the types of books we choose to read! More on that soon!
*I did get strong and bendy but it didn’t look exactly the way I planned it to. Instead of taking strength training classes or videos, I started swimming twice a week which is great for the upper body! I also have been using the sauna twice a week after a workout and stretching in there. My friends and I read books and met for about six months. Then I continued reading two books a month but we stopped meeting due to my friends schedules.
My article in IBPA magazine
Family
Goal: Connect and strengthen our family unit
Resolution: Our kids are still at the prime impressionable age and I want to be intentional about the books we read at bedtime, the conversations we have at dinner, playing together, dancing, being silly and continuing our Family Meetings each week.
*#nailedit I love our family time and we did a great job this year saying NO to busyness and YES to our family time. Our family meetings went down to once a month which is fine, but still so powerful when they do take place!
Coming soon! Editions in Spanish and other languages
Couple
Goal: Spend less money
Resolution: Track and Budget (For me, Dave doesn’t need this resolution but I am going to work with him so that I can move forward in spending less in our personal life!!!)
*I tracked all of my spending all year and added categories to them in an excel spreadsheet. Super excited about completing this. However, we never sat down and discussed what the monthly benchmarks would be for each category. Room for improvement!
Featured ad with other amazing women
2018 Personal Goals and Resolutions
Personal
Goal: Continue with getting bendy and strong!
Resolution: continue to swim twice a week and incorporate a yoga or PIYO video twice a week as well.
Book bundle giveaway
Family
Goal: Connect and strengthen our family unit
Resolution: Our kids are still at the prime impressionable age and I want to be intentional about the books we read at bedtime, the conversations we have at dinner, playing together, dancing, being silly and continuing our Family Meetings each week.
Group Coaching
Couple
Goal: Save more money!
Resolution: Track and Budget meeting the monthly benchmarks we set based on 2017 spending habits.
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