The First of 365 Days (and Beyond) of Living a Life of No Regrets

I’ve spent most of my life saying and doing the right things. I’ve never been one to rock the boat. Never been one to speak up for myself but always the first to defend those I love.

So as I reached a milestone birthday this week, it occurred to me that the next chapter of my life will be making sure it’s lived without any regrets and to know I’ve lived it to full capacity doing what makes me happy and loving fully and completely with all my heart.

It may mean I have to make changes in both my personal and professional life.

It may mean I will lose friends along the way.

But I’m okay with all of that. Because in the end what matters most is that I’m the best person I know I can be.

A little over 10 years ago I watched helplessly as my boss died before my eyes. I watched how a vibrant man in his early 50’s left a young family behind not having the chance to live life to the fullest and express his deep love for them one final time.

I know he didn’t get to say and do all he’d hoped in his short lifetime and I know I don’t want that to happen to me.

Jim was also an entrepreneur. A man who worked harder than he should have and lived a life where the stress likely played a major role in his death.

This is not how I believe entrepreneurship should be.

However in the last year I’ve been living a very stressful entrepreneurial life.

All of which I’m intending to change in the coming year.

If you’re an entrepreneur I hope you’ll join me in my journey and if you see yourself in any of the things I’m working to change for myself, please do them for yourself as well.

So here’s the short list of what I’ll be doing differently over the next 365 days to create the change in my life and business I’d like to see.

1. Mandatory weekends:  from here on I will no longer be working past Friday at 5pm (if I even choose to work on Fridays at all!)
2. Weekends are for recharging my batteries: Just because we’re entrepreneurs doesn’t mean we need to be “on” at all times. It will be a time of sleeping in. Reading books. Dating my husband again and being with friends and family I love.
3. Not saying “Yes” to everything: I have an automatic “yes” switch. It comes from being a people pleaser. From now on I’m saying “yes” only when I mean it and not because I should. (I’m going to stop “shoulding” myself too!)
4. Taking a lunch break every single day: I’m a self proclaimed workaholic. Remembering to take lunch is hard for me. More greens and fresh veggies too!
5. Exercising 5 days a week: Even if it’s 20 minutes a day, I’m doing it!
6. Putting my feet in the sand as often as possible: I love the beach. The ocean in particular. My feet belong in the sand. Enough said!
7. Mani’s and Pedi’s: I love them, I deserve them. I’m getting them more.
8. A glass of Prosecco every so often: I’m not a drinker but I do love Prosecco. One glass every once in a while is all I need.
9. Daily tea for me: Coffee’s fine but I LOVE sipping a cup of tea every day. More please!
10. Shoe Shopping: In my spare time I’m going to try on more shoes and buy the ones I love!

Joining a Mastermind and finding a Mentor that’s right for me:

I believe in the importance of both. I know I’ll find them, I’m patiently waiting for the right mentor and mastermind group to appear. I’ll know it when it happens. It will be worth the wait.

Creating more leverage (time and money): this next year I’ll be growing my business more online. This means creating more passive income through the courses and products I have in my head. I’ve already created Client Converting Talks(TM), next up my course on workshops and we’ll see what comes next.

Screw the mailing list size: I’m so sick of “You have to have x thousand of people to join this or that!”… that’s BS to me. I’m all about growing a mailing list of people who are real people who resonate with me and what I have to teach. If it takes me longer to build, so be it.

Fail and talk about it: I’m done pretending that everything is peaches and cream as an entrepreneur. Launches don’t work sometimes. Technology messes things up sometimes. Stuff happens. I’m going to talk about it and not pretend I’m sitting in some castle high up in the clouds and make you think everything’s rosy. When it’s not, I’ll tell you. I’ll even tell you the lessons learned and what you can avoid. (But I promise to tell the good stuff too).

Speak on more stages: I’m already doing it but this year I’d like to be speaking on more stages and reaching more people. Having my signature talk helps me do that!

Host an “amazing, intimate, workshop style, that everyone will want to come back to every year because they LOVED it so much” type of event (like I’m planning Talk & Profit LIVE! to be this October 5-7th):

So I’ve tried the big events. Go to them once in a while. Tried to host one. Don’t love them. What I really LOVE about events is to create connection and offer high high value to all of my attendees. Events don’t have to be shows. They don’t have to be all about me. For cryin’ out loud, if you so choose to come to my event I’m making it about you!!! (Registration officially opens May 2nd so mark your calendar!!!)

Create two levels of my Coaching Club: More news coming soon on this but I’m really excited about the next group and mastermind programs I’m working on.

Get more headshots: We can’t have enough photos of us for our business. If you’ve got a personal business, get more shots, use them and have fun getting them done. Celebrate yourself. I’m going to get a lot more of them and use them in my social media.

Use Social Media differently: I go back and forth on this one all the time but it’s time for a better strategy to reach people and do it my way. Unscripted and straight from the heart. Enough with the “must do” this approach. The more real I am, the more real people I work with. Drop the pretenses, be more you! I know I will be too.

Use video more: I’m really liking Facebook Live. You can check what I’ve been doing with them here on my Facebook page. 

Delegate more to my team: A given…I’ll be delegating more to my VA so I can do less.

Design more Profitable Business Models: I’m sick and tired of people not making money in their business. Especially coaches, consultants and service-based entrepreneurs. You need three things: 1) A Business Model that makes you money 2) A Marketing Strategy (and it MUST include speaking) and 3) A Sales Funnel (and within it the skill set to learn how to sell from your sales conversations and from the stage). If you learn nothing else from reading this post, then this is the gem right here. If you want to make money and you want to be in business 18 months after you started (and continue to grow and make money), you must do those three things! Every single flippin’ day I see people slap down money at an event, join a program that promises them the sun, moon and stars and then they leave regretting their decision. NO you don’t need to mortgage your house. NO you don’t need to sell your first born. There’s a time and a place for getting support for your business. Make smart decisions. Invest in the right people. You’ll know who’s right for you and when. If you want more help on this let me know. But please, please, please…do not invest in a high level, high cost program if you aren’t sure who you want to serve and what you want to do. Work with someone privately first so you can figure this out. Way too many entrepreneurs are going into debt unnecessarily because they’re joining programs that aren’t right for them. If you’re not sure, email me. If I can help you I will. If I can’t, I’ll give you references. I know many many people who can help you! Feel free to connect here if you’d like.

Go to Europe (especially Italy): I’ve never been, I want to go. It’s on my bucket list! I’m 1/2 Italian, I think I deserve an amazing meal, fabulous bottle of wine, a trip to Tuscany and the best gelato I can find!

Go to Yoga: I love it…I need it. It’s good for me. 

Tina’s my lifeline to yoga and more. If you don’t know this woman, you must. She is spectacular inside and out.

Eat less junk: I don’t eat a lot of it anyway…I’m just going to add in more healthy and crowd out the crap. I’m never giving up dark chocolate (it’s not that bad for me anyway).

Watch more romantic comedies: I’m going to make it a mission to laugh every day. I’m a sap, I love a good romance. Yes, I still love “The Notebook” and give me a Nicholas Sparks book and I’m ready for vacation.

Get involved in my community: I’m not sure how or where…but I will. It’s time to give back. I love it. I miss it. I crave it. There’s too much going on in this world that needs our attention. If we have it in us to give back in the smallest way, let’s do it.

Work more efficiently: there’s plenty of things I don’t need to spend my time on. I may miss your FB or Twitter posts, but I’ll catch up eventually. I always do!

Surprise my clients: and continue to thank them for choosing me to support them with their growth.  From little things like ice cream sundae parties or Lobster Dinners at our Intensives…to gifts I think they can appreciate. I’ll continue to thank them for allowing me the honor of working with them! Without them, this work would be meaningless. Without showing them how to speak, build profitable businesses and sell – none of this would matter. Every day they have a “win”, I have one too. Not because of me but because they are saying “Yes!” to themselves. I celebrate each and every client…they deserve to be celebrated!

Love and appreciate my Family (even more): If it’s possible, I’ll love them even more than I have before. I’ll listen more. I’ll date my husband more. I’ll keep holding his hand. I’ll hug my kids (I do that all the time)… continue to give them kisses and tell them all I love them before going to bed every night. I end every conversation with an “I love you” because I never, ever, ever want it to go without being said!

Lastly…I’m going to blog more and share my lessons of living life without regrets. I hope you’ll keep coming back and following (of course there will be plenty of business, speaking strategies and sales posts too)…but let’s build businesses around our priorities, shall we?!

In the comments below I’d love to hear from you. What would you add to this list for yourself?

xo,

PS: And if you’d like to connect about how your business is going or NOT going, let’s set up a time to speak. I’d love to share with you what I know works best for coaches, consultants and service-based entrepreneurs who want to grow a thriving business. Click here to schedule a time to speak.