I am writing a book.
Well, technically, last year, I wrote a rough draft of a book.
I committed to the priority of writing this year in a substantial way, multiple times a week, in order to produce another manuscript, a book proposal and sign with a book agent.
I just did our mid-year review, both personally and as a company.
Can you guess how much progress I have made towards the new manuscript?
Zero.
You read that right, zero.
I do have to give myself a small amount of credit because I have written some pretty compelling newsletters this year both to you, our community and posted on LinkedIn.
This work is not wasted, it’s quality and impactful for the readers and practice for me…
….but, that does not substantially get me closer to my goal.
Have you reflected on your 2024 priorities and goals yet? If not, now is the time!
You see, this lack of perceived progress could be discouraging, in fact, many times in the past, not achieving the outcome I set out to achieve would have been extremely discouraging, and in fact I may have even counted myself out completely from continuing.
This year is different. My mindset is different. I see through a lens of expansion vs limitation and know that these results are only information. This information is what I can use as fuel to make a different decision, take action, and build a sense of enthusiasm for the dream. They mean nothing about my worth or ability, and I hold no judgement.
Maybe you’re in my boat, too. If so, here’s what I am doing to move forward:
Instead of asking what I did wrong, I asked what did I learn? I learned that I do very well with discipline, planning, organization, and accountability. When I go through times of my plate being full, I am not giving 100% to these 4 pillars of success. Why? Because they take time; they take building in the whitespace to think, reflect, and plan. My ego self likes to be a “do-er” and it’s very easy for me to start “doing” but often it’s not on the things that really matter, the things that will really move the needle.
I am learning that when I do these two things weekly and daily, I can strongly uphold these pillars:
- Sunday planning session for the week ahead. This means planning out my calendar, my workouts, doing some meal prep, working with Joal to sync up our weeks, delegating, and planning my 20% that I will do in each daily work session.
- No matter what, each day I complete my task that is part of my 20% (the 20% is the important needle-moving tasks that only I can do), write out 3 WINS at the end of each day, 3 things I am grateful for, and something that I learned. This ensures that I have momentum towards my priorities and I stay high vibe, aligned and in a growth mindset.
- I communicate my goals to others (to help hold me accountable) and I also communicate my fears and doubts that come up during the week so that I can quickly get back into alignment and in action.
The next thing that I am doing is weekly tracking, with a new tracking sheet for my KPIs (key performance indicators) for both our company and my personal goals.
Instead of waiting until the end of the quarter or month, we are reviewing this weekly, all through the lens of these two things:
- What can we celebrate this week?
- What did we learn this week?
- Who do we need to help?
- How did I serve that I am the most proud of?
- What one focus for the upcoming week will make the biggest impact?
So here we are now into the second week of July and I am writing again in a substantial way. Writing that sentence brought a huge smile to my face. I hope that you can review your 2024 progress to reflect, adjust, and take action as well.
Before you know it, we’ll be smiling together. (Please do send a pic and tag me @carmenohling)
Here’s to an abundance of success and learning in 2024,
Carmen
