Weekly Check In Vlog, Plans for 2013, Ready for a Journal Challenge?

Hey there! Checking in for the week. I know, it’s an odd day, but weekends for us are typically Monday/Tuesday. We just happen to still be home because of the holiday.

My weekly vlog is below and the text is below that. I cover the challenges I’m already doing, my plans for 2013, and there’s an invite to the challenge that Britt Malka and I spent today setting up.

Yep, that’s right… Only three days gone and I’m ready to kick off another challenge!  This one is really simple and could make a huge difference in both your personal and business life.

So far this year I’m already a part of two challenges, both Squidoo related. The first one is Britt Malka’s [Case Study] – Five Days – Five Squidoo Lenses per Day Challenge where I’m creating five lenses per day for five days. The second one is Amanda Thomas’ 2013 Lens Making Challenge where I’m creating one quality lens per week. The reason I chose these two challenges is because for at least the first quarter of this year, Squidoo is where I’m focusing. At the end of March, I’ll evaluate my stats to see where my traffic and income are, and then decide what route to take from there.

While I was checking out the lenses that were already posted in the other challenges, I ran across one that Britt had done about Journals. It reminded me that I used to journal regularly but stopped a few years ago. I mentioned it in the comments to Britt and her response was that it would make a good challenge. That led to thoughts about the reason I had no clue about what I’d accomplished or not done during 2012 is that I had no record of it. I no longer have my journal to refer back to!

I know that back when I wrote in my journal regularly, even if I only “Doogie Howser’ed” it with a single line, it made a huge difference in whether I met my goals regardless of whether they were business or personal.

Then it dawned on me that the people I’ve met in the past year are all excited and ready to take 2013 by the tail, except Tiffany Dow of course…she’s bailed on us with the flu and an air gun wound. I think there are easier ways to push us out of the nest to see if we’d keep working without her kicking our butts but hey, that’s just MY opinion. 😉

Tiffany, we love you and I really hope you feel better soon! 🙂

I showed my sweetheart the new Challenge lens last night. He doesn’t understand much about what I do so I just keep explanations very basic so that his eyes won’t glaze over. One of the really great things about him is that, even though he has basically no clue about what I’m doing out here, he still supports me in it.

Sometimes he goes to the URL I give him and simply says “That looks really good.” Other times he stops on the way past me and tells me that he knows I’m going to get to where I want to be.

And then there’s times like today. I mentioned to him that I wanted to go get a new journal for this challenge today and he brought this butterfly one home to me. He went to 3 different stores to find it because he wanted to make sure it would be sturdy enough to hold up under daily use and being on the truck with us! This is just a small part of why I keep him around! You can’t tell with this picture, but it has a 3-D cover… SO cool!

Anyway… I digressed. We decided to invite everyone to join in on the this challenge. And rather than just putting up a blog post to say “Hey, come join in”, I put together a Squidoo lens. You can read all about it over at the 2013 Journal Challenge lens.

It’s as simple as you want it to be. If you want to just stop in only long enough to say hi so that we know you’re participating, we have a place for that. If you have a goal you set and you want to share, there’s a place for that too. If something happened during your day that made you smile, there’s places to share as well. You can share about your business, your personal life, your pets, your kids…whatever you feel comfortable sharing.

If you find a list you like, we set them up in Plexo modules so you can print them out and hang them up on your office wall to see all the time. It also lets you post anonymously since we know that journaling is a personal thing that not everyone’s ready to put their name on, especially on the internet.

I’m currently on the hunt for more motivational music out there too. And not the wishy-washy personal development kind. I want the good dance beat ones with a message that motivates. For example, I have one out there by Kelly Clarkson called Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You) and Home by Phillip Phillips.

Before we head out tomorrow, I’m gonna go grab my stats for the 5-a-Day Challenge (thank Goodness I can write it easier than I can SAY it!) and do a post on my blog about the lenses I’ve already published. Britt’s using the challenge for a Case Study so the numbers will be good to have for her as well.

During 2013, I want to keep my momentum going. So I’m thinking my 5 per day will go to 1 per day and then either 5 more during my weekend or adding content to 5 while I’m home. I’ll have to see how that works out timewise.

I’ll continue with the one per week on Amanda’s challenge. And for my blog, I’m planning to check in once per week about what I’ve gotten done. I’m working on my multi-tasking dilemma. My multi-tasking is a blessing AND  a curse.

It works in my favor when I’ve got a ton of stuff to get done at work or with housecleaning. But when it comes to my business, I’m figuring out that it’s getting in my way. There’s just too many ways for me to get distracted from the current project I’m working on.

I couldn’t remember who posted on my blog comments about opening a Notepad file on my computer to jot notes down in as I go. I thought it was Lisa Stoops or Bonnie… sorry Minna! But thank you so much! I’m using the notepad idea so that it forces me to stay in the window I’m working on, otherwise I’ll keep getting involved in a ton of other stuff that keeps me from getting the task at hand done first!

Then at the end of my week, I’ll compile it and put it in a wrap-up post. I’m testing this out to see if it helps me get more done during the week while I’m working.

It’s back to work for us tomorrow. It’s been SO great being home and seeing how much I can get done when I have the time off!

Come join us. Do you journal already? Have you ever journaled? Is journaled even a word? 🙂

We’d love for you to come join in! If you didn’t know exactly what you’d accomplished, started, dropped, succeeded or failed at when the end of 2012 came around, you deserve to be journaling with us!

Oh, I almost forgot. We even have Pity Party Palace! That’s right. We set up a module to journal in on those days that suck. That way you can dump it there and start moving forward again instead of staying stuck in the muck!

Looking forward to seeing you out there! Until then…