You may have noticed lately I’ve been working extra hard. Today’s post will be a little different. I’m purposeful – I’m taking it easy.

I always am busy, I always work a lot – but lately my mind has been spinning and I have been going a million miles an hour. We have launched some BIG & gorgeous websites, I’ve started the new session of Design Life Project, I just launched Pretty Perfect Process and next week I’m opening up registration for the BIG one, Create Passive Profits. So far, it hasn’t bothered me, until today. And it’s not the busy that’s bothering me. It’s my expectations of MYSELF.

I’ve been awful hard on myself since the start of 2014. As soon as my morning sickness had subsided, I pushed the pedal full throttle. I planned/executed a big party for Aven’s 3rd birthday, and put a lot of pressure on myself with that too. As a creative, I want to feed my artistic soul, as a serial entrepreneur I always want to be starting things. As a sort of perfectionist, I want to do everything I do bigger and better. I really enjoy everything I do, so it’s not really work per se.

My biggest problem, is my expectations of myself.

I set the bar crazy high for myself. I expect a certain outcome and when it doesn’t happen, I tend to be very hard on myself. Does this sound familiar? I can’t be the only one! I’m sitting here today, wondering about the new course I’m opening up next week. I’m REALLY excited about it. It’s exactly what I WISH was out there when I was looking. It’s chock-full with valuable information and I’m so excited to share it with the world. I’m expecting it to totally change lives and directions of businesses. But I started to think… what if no one registers? What’s my goal amount of sales on it? Am I launching it too soon? Is it ready? I then started to think about the pricing. Is it too low? Just right? Too high? I’m giving out a ton of information – is it too much? Is it enough? I never really put this much pressure on myself before. This just means so much to me, and I’m so excited – that I’ve set the stakes really high for myself.

But you know what I just realized? No matter what, it will be okay. It is what it is, and it’s not ultimately in my hands. I started to think back to when I was dealing with my tumor – how I was convinced junk like this just didn’t matter. And in the long run, it doesn’t. What matters is that I love every second of learning, teaching, sharing and helping. THAT’S what matters – and that’s the bar I’m going to set for myself. As long as I just help ONE person – that is enough. I am enough. The bottom line does not matter – I’m not doing this for the money anyway. It’s always been about spreading my reach so that I can help others with what I’ve been through.

Helping others is enough. It matters more than anything we can do in this life.

I’d love to encourage you today, to be easy on yourself. Maybe you’re worried about sales, about marketing, about social media presence… just pause for now. Just let yourself be. You are perfect just as you are, right now. You don’t need to prove anything to anyone. Just be perfectly imperfect as God made you, and enjoy it.

I think lately my drive and spirit has pushed me to be pretty salesy and businessy (not that there’s anything wrong with that)… but I’m looking forward to getting more personal and open again with you all. I’d also love to encourage you all to share with me. Have you been through this recently? Are you going through this now?

Happy Friday, wishing you rest and rejuvenation this weekend!

Passive income is a hot-button issue right now in a lot of circles, and for GOOD reason. It really fits hand-in-hand with the Design Life Project lifestyle, as a real way to create more balance in our lives, work less for more money, and develop a business that supports our lifestyle, rather than the other way around.

If you’re like I was, you may think:

“I’m busy and my business is thriving. Why would I need to develop a system for passive income?”

I’ve thought this over and over – and figured the whole “passive income craze” had no relevance in my service-based, client-based, CUSTOM, built-from-scratch, one-of-a-kind business. But I was totally wrong. It is relevant – to ANY business, but especially creative ones, and here’s why:

• Invest your time instead of just spending it

The biggest case for creating a passive revenue stream in your business is it’s an amazing INVESTMENT. Not investment of money in the traditional sense, though. As your business grows, you’ll realize your most precious asset is time. You may think time is time and goes by no matter what – but it’s not really true. There’s a way to invest your time – and it’s in developing a passive income system. You spend the time ONCE and it keeps working for you – without you spending the time over and over again. Your time is exponentially MORE valuable when spending it creating a passive income system. It can potentially grow and grow, unlike how you’re spending time now. Time is finite in the trade-hours-for-money scenario.

• Easiest time in history for passive incomes

Right now is the easiest and most fertile planting ground for developing a passive income system. It’s a bit ridiculous how easy it is to start. The cost is super low, and you can start it RIGHT NOW. You don’t need a degree, or even a specialty. You just need a passion – ANY passion. If you know anything about anything – there’s a profit to be made on it. There are people out there who want to know what you know, or want to buy what you make. And connecting those clients with you and your offering is the easiest it’s EVER been. NOW is the time to start. It truly is the future, and the entrance gates are unlocked and are wide open right now. Why NOT start now?

• Business “insurance” plan

As women, building a business can be particularly scary. We have an extra set of worries when it comes to starting a family. There is such an uncertainty. If you already have children, you already know how big of a change happened in your life. If you don’t already have kids, you can only imagine how your life would change. For all of us though, when a business depends on only us – we get worried something could happen to us and render us temporarily unable to work. Developing a passive income system is a way to serve as a backup plan – or an insurance type business for us. It reduces our client dependency for our business to thrive. And who doesn’t want a little extra security right?

• Helping other people isn’t limited

The businesses that do the best, are those that HELP people. It is fulfilling as a business owner, and a as person, to be able to help people. As it currently stands though, you can only help so many people, because you’re just one person. When you develop a system, it can grow and grow and help many more people than you could ever handle on your own. Your reach is spread to the sky – and you can truly feel amazing about that! It is worth it!

 

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So now that we’re in agreement – you may be wondering where to start? How do you develop a passive income stream in YOUR businesses? This is exactly why I developed my newest e-course, Create Passive Profits. There is information out there on how to begin, but it’s very general and super muddled. I’ve worked hard to devour all the information, speak to those currently doing it, and clean it up in an easy to understand and customizable way for CREATIVE businesses. There’s a lot of junk information out there, car salesman type techniques and just generally outdated information. I created a course that I wish was out there! This course will help you to develop the idea and hit the ground running with it. Early-bird registration for Create Passive Profits opens next week. Make sure you’re signed up to the DLP newsletter to be first to know when registration opens!

Cheers to a bright future – filled with passive incomes, fulfilling work, and being with the ones you love!

Lately, I’ve been thinking a LOT about the future. Entrepreneurship and running your own business can both stable and unstable at the same time.

Now, when comparing it to a 9-5 for someone else, I do think it’s MORE stable. You control your destiny ultimately, after all. No one can lay you off or fire you. You control what you charge and how much you make, you control how much you work. Why then, is going out on your own (and STAYING out on your own) so scary? Why is it seen as such a big risk? I think our biggest fear of starting our own business – is the FUTURE of our business. Will people always buy what we’re selling? Will we always be busy? What if what we offer goes out of style? What if what we offer becomes obsolete? I’ll still argue that this can (and does) happen to a 9-5 you could be working at as well. They can get phased out as well. BUT… there are MANY successful businesses that have been around for double digit years and I think they have some knowledge of what it takes to survive. It’s NOT just sitting still and keeping your head down. You have to be flexible, have lots of passion and tons of tenacity. Here’s a few steps for the small business entrepreneur and how we can future-proof our businesses:

Dream, Dream, Dream

Maintaining a successful business takes ideas – and lots of them. Good ideas, and bad ideas – but it takes ideas. If you don’t already have an idea book, get one. Ideas are fleeting and the good ones will leave your brain just as soon as you get distracted. Whether you’re using dictation software on your phone, or an old-fashioned journal – don’t trust your brain to remember. Also, don’t edit your ideas and dreams. Just write them down, because they may lead to something else in the future. Dreams are the sustenance to a thriving business. They keep the business nourished, happy and healthy.

Listen to your Heart

It’s imperative that your HEART is in what you do. Infuse yourself and what you love into your business. You have to have an undying passion for what you do. If you’re heart WAS in it, but isn’t anymore – it’s time to re-evaluate what you do and maybe change it. If you don’t love it, why will anyone else love it? A lot of creative brands these days are creating umbrella brands (most often self-branded) so that they can be free to follow any path that it takes them. If you develop a strong brand around YOU, you can always change things up when you change. This will ensure your heart is always in it. Not sure what you love? Fill out the YES list and see what you need to infuse into your life/business to bring in more passion.

Action speaks – Do

The best idea in the world will die if you don’t take action. I’m very action oriented now (I did NOT use to be though), and it KILLS me to see dreams fly away when someone doesn’t take action on them. Fear is so strong, that it holds many people back. It took me awhile to understand that fear is an emotion, to recognize, and then move on. If I let fear stop me, and I had sat by and didn’t do thing I was afraid of, I might not be here (see my story if you haven’t read it already). Action doesn’t need to be dramatic or grandiose. It can be small, simple action. The more important principle to action is to just DO. As long as you are moving, you are moving. If you just spent 10 minutes a day on something, before you know it, you will be far on your way!

I hope this encourages you today friends. If you haven’t taken the leap into entrepreneurship, or if you want to change up your business but you’re afraid of change, take this to heart. I see this work every day with all kinds of businesses. Give it a go, friends!

 

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Tired of trading hours for dollars? Interested in learning how to build systems to develop passive revenue streams? I’ll be opening registration next week for the Create Passive Profits e-course. This session is going to be information PACKED to give you lots of options for your business, whether you are service based or product based. Make sure you’re signed up for the newsletter so that you can snag your spot!

I’m so excited to let you all know that the Pretty Perfect Process digital workshop has now launched!

This is a self-study course that you can take at ANY time! You can take it NOW and it’s 100% online.

If you’re like most creatives, you started your business out of your passion and your love. You probably developed a system or process as you went along – and it revolves around YOU. Now you’re getting busier and you’re burning the candle from both ends. Perhaps your business relies a little TOO heavily on your input now.

There’s a smarter way to work, that will free up your time AND will be better for your clients.

Whether you are still in the early stages of planning your business, or you have been in business for years (but can’t seem to take it to the next level), Pretty Perfect Process is your chance to streamline your processes to make your life easier and to make the process easier, clearer, and more fun for your clients. You will put them to ease with your knowledge and ability to provide what they are needing before they even ask for it.

Pretty Perfect Process is a 4 lesson self-study digital workshop designed to streamline your processes in a thoughtful and intelligent way.

Pretty Perfect Process is customized to your business, and will help automate the processes that are extraneous so that you can get to the parts you LOVE about your business.

PPP focuses on 4 modules to design your process:

1. How perfecting process catapults your business
2. Evaluate ideal clients and audit current processes
3. Perfect client experience every time
4. Speed up and streamline the steps so that you can focus on the fun!

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Pretty Perfect Process is a online, self-study digital workshop that you can take anywhere, anytime.

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Each module will be available immediately in the digital classroom online. For each module, you’ll get:

• A comprehensive training video for each lesson (approximately 15 – 30 minutes long)
• The video lesson in on Vimeo – Mobile-friendly
• Worksheets and examples to help you apply the techniques to your business
• Action steps so you can get actually build your processes as you go

Pretty Perfect Process is taught by Graphic and Web Designer Cathy Olson, owner of the design studio Love-Inspired. She has over 14 years experience as a professional graphic designer, and has worked with a range of businesses – big ones like Disney, Costco, Best Buy and Walmart – to small ones like work-from-home moms, working from a desk and a laptop in the wee hours. Cathy started her own design business over 6 years ago, and in that time has helped hundreds of businesses find their authentic voice through exploration, social media, marketing, graphics, and web. She has dealt first-hand with the juggling a thriving business, being a mom to a growing family, and personal goals. She’s experienced overwhelm first hand, and has learned how to balance work AND life in a fun, personalized and EASY TO STICK WITH way. This class is perfect for designers, photographers, artists and creatives who want to have more free time, attract their dream clients, work smarter not harder, and truly start to LIVE the LIFE they want to.

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Thank you sincerely to the moon and back to everyone who applied for the scholarship to the Design Life Project! Goodness gracious this was SO, SO tough to choose a winner, but the winner is…

Laura Helm!

Cathy- I so appreciate your willingness to open this course up to a scholarship attendee! What a gift. I ended up going full-time with my company in August during, by far, the toughest year of my life. While I am grateful for where it has lead me, the year challenged me down to my core. August certainly wasn’t my “planned” timeframe to go full-time. However, it has been a steep learning curve coupled with an enormous blessings of ideal clients that have filled my plate up to (even past?) the brim. I’m so desperately in need of structure, hiring, delegating, etc., and would absolutely love to be a part of your Design Life course. I’m incredibly grateful for where He has lead me in the past year, and I just want to glorify Him to my fullest potential. It’s incredible to read through the bullet points/questions you’ve listed in the description and see just how accurately they describe my life. I’m so relieved to know there are other creatives out there that have journeyed through similar seasons! Again, thank you for your generosity & kind heart. I so appreciate the opportunity to apply! Now, I’m going to bed (since I obviously need to work on my boundaries). 🙂

Congratulations Laura! I’m thrilled to offer you a spot in Design Life Project! I’m so excited to have you join us, and I know that your input will also really be able to help others in the class.

 

Thank you all again for applying! It means a lot to me that you would spent the time. I hope everyone has a fantastic week!

 

I’m excited to share with you that I’ll be offering a scholarship opportunity to someone for the New Year’s edition of the Design Life Project e-course that starts in a couple weeks!

Since we are so close to selling out, I’d love to offer up this opportunity to someone who may be needing a little help, but who wants to find some balance between work and life and may be feeling a little stuck.

To enter to win this scholarship:

• Comment on this post below. In your comment, please let me know how this course will help you in your business/life and what you look forward to most.
• OPTIONAL: Share on social media about the Design Life Project, and what excites you most about finally gaining some balance. You can use this graphic for posting if you’d like!

That’s it! Winner will be picked next Monday, February 10th and will be notified by email. Class starts the following Monday on February 17th. Woo hoooo!

 

Good luck everyone!!

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Create a balance between work, play, life + love.

Design Life Project is a five-week, online course to help you custom-design your LIFE. Design Life Project will help you find your balance between work, play, life and love by identifying your core, discovering your strengths and weaknesses, and your natural rhythm. Design Life Project will help clarify and simplify your scheduling, help you to know what you should be working on when, get things out of your head and organized, and allow for maximum creativity to do the BEST DESIGN WORK you’ve done. Let’s make the REST OF YOUR LIFE, the BEST OF YOUR LIFE.

You will learn how to tailor a life balance so that you can wake up in the morning feeling FREE and totally present. Design Life Project will help you to develop a customized and flexible schedule that will FINALLY bring all the pieces together, once and for all.

Are you a creative who is:

• Juggling too many things at once, and are afraid of DROPPING the balls?
• Afraid of being too stressed to do your BEST work?
• Making mistakes, and being TOO HARD on yourself for them?
• Burning the candle from BOTH ends?

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Perhaps you’re JUST starting out in a design business, and you want to start it right so that you develop the balance early on. You’ll learn what I’ve learned in YEARS of running a business, balancing a new family, and doing your best work, in just 5 weeks! I will be completely TRANSPARENT with you and tell you EXACTLY what did and didn’t work for me!

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Would you like to:

• Wake up in the morning and LIVE out your ideal day?
• Be clear on what you need to work on, and WHEN?
• Use a schedule you can finally STICK to?
• Use 100% of your creative potential and feel TOTALLY inspired?
• Work with your IDEAL clients?
• Know the VALUE of your work and price it right?

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Some testimonials from past students:

“When you work in any creative industry, or work for yourself, most likely you let that seep into every aspect of your being. As full filling as this kind of work can be, it can also be exhausting and overwhelming. It wasn’t until this course that I realized I was missing something. I am a designer by trade, and I wasn’t designing my life! The number one thing that I loved about this course was the confidence Cathy instilled in all us to take control. We truly have the power to design a life we love. There is a place where work and family coexist without guilt, and where we can do our best work free from burnout. I am so excited about the directions my life and business will take with this new found knowledge and support.”

“The Design Life Project encouraged me to really think about how I spend my time. I also took a long hard look at my business practices and the reasons behind why I do things a certain way and where improvements could be made. I walked away with a clear picture of what I need to implement in my business and a list of action items. More importantly, I feel encouraged and inspired to actually get those things done!”

“This course has helped me spend less time on the things that I don’t enjoy, while spending more time on my creative projects. I feel like my creativity has grown as I have gotten more inspired to spend time on the fun parts of what I do. During these weeks, I have given up some of my responsibilities to spend more time on fun projects. I am so happy that my work and quality has gotten better as I am zoning in on the type of work I do. I also started raising my prices on my cakes and will be raising prices on other things I offer as well. By raising my cake prices, I’ve been able to hire an assistant to make the process of baking and decorating go quicker and free up my time. I used to work 7 days a week, but I am now working 6 days a week and spending Sundays with my family. This is HUGE for me as I previously had no life/work balance and worked 24/7. I am making a conscious effort to stop working at a certain time each night and eat dinner and spend time with my family. It doesn’t happen every day, but at least it happens a few times a week and will start happening more as I keep working towards my goals. Thank you Cathy for all of your inspiration! I still have work to do, but I now know what needs to be done, what my priorities are, and have a clear vision for my businesses, know the type of clients I want to work with, and I see that I can’t say yes to everything, and I know I need to pay for help to make it all happen. I have learned SO much.”

“Being a business owner, wife, and mother of 3 little ones can be challenging at times. Last year, I was helping my kids with homework while answering emails on my phone, and ordered pizza for dinner far too many times. I took the Design Life Project last fall and it has made such a difference in the way I schedule my day! And Cathy is awesome!! If you want to design a new and better way of doing things, go get your spot!”

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Week 1: Your Ideal Day, Motivations and Goals

In the first week, you will learn how to discover who you are and what you were made to do, and how you’d like to do it. I will help you identify what brings you JOY and what ignites your best work. You will learn exactly HOW to map out your ideal day, and what you’d like it to look like. In little, easy ways, you can start filling your days with JOY.

Week 2: Developing Boundaries and Implementing Them

In the second week, you will learn how to create boundaries, and I will teach you how to start implementing them RIGHT away to start clearing the clutter. I will help you choose which boundaries to put in place, for your desired results. You will be able to start clearing out some time and getting some time to yourself to do the things you love.

Week 3: Getting Help and Developing Your Team

In the third week, you will learn how to get help to clear off your plate, and how to afford it. You will learn tips and tricks to simplify your workflow so that YOU are doing less of the work you don’t love, and MORE of the work you do LOVE. You will develop a plan to work smarter and not harder, right away.

Week 4: Creating a Customized Schedule, Get Laser Focused and Be PRODUCTIVE

In the fourth week, you will learn how to custom-tailor a schedule to work WITH who you are, and how you like to work. You will learn that it’s okay to throw out the traditional ways of doing things and you will learn how to design it to work with your personality and style. You will finally develop a plan JUST FOR YOU, so that everything fits and everything flows. I will also help you get you laser focused, by following your schedule and allowing yourself to be FULLY present in what you are currently doing. You will learn the art of focusing on your project, on your family, on your friends – at the right place and time. You will start getting the MOST of your time so that you can stay productive and get more MEANINGFUL things done (in less time).

Week 5: Putting it All Together and Fine Tuning

In the fifth week, you will learn how to fine tune everything you’ve developed, and help you put it all together. You will start to master living out all of the pieces in balance, and you will be able to fine-tune the areas to work even better. This week we will be oiling the machine that has brought you to living your ideal day. It will all come together this week, and you will finish the course with a well-developed, customized plan to fit only you.

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Design Life Project is taught by Graphic and Web Designer Cathy Olson, owner of the design studio Love-Inspired. She has over 13 years experience as a professional graphic designer, and has worked with a range of businesses – big ones like Disney, Costco, Best Buy and Walmart – to small ones like work-from-home moms, working from a desk and a laptop in the wee hours. Cathy started her own design business over 5 years ago, and in that time has helped hundreds of businesses find their authentic voice through exploration, social media, marketing, graphics, and web. She has dealt first-hand with the juggling a thriving business, being a mom to a growing family, and personal goals. She’s experienced overwhelm first hand, and has learned how to balance work AND life in a fun, personalized and EASY TO STICK WITH way. This class is perfect for designers, photographers, artists and creatives who want to have more free time, attract their dream clients, work smarter not harder, and truly start to LIVE the LIFE they want to.

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Let’s FINALLY develop some balance and peace in your design/life. In this course, you’ll learn about setting goals to make your heart SING, determining which boundaries are necessary and ACTUALLY how to STICK to them. You’ll learn how to create laser focus and to REALLY stay productive. You’ll learn how to really be present in what you’re doing and be the BEST at it that you can be. Instead of living someone else’s life/dream/way of scheduling, you will learn the skills to design YOUR ideal day, YOUR ideal week, YOUR ideal year.

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

I’m so busy and overwhelmed already. Will I have time for your course? Can I register, but start it later when I know things will have quietened down? The course spans over 5 weeks. Each week we will have lessons and worksheets, and you can do them in your spare time. If you don’t have spare time, the course will HELP you FIND some. Honestly, the BEST time to do this program is WHEN you are overwhelmed, because you’ll start to clear it out RIGHT away. You will also have access to the private Facebook group to bounce your ideas off of. If you would still rather go at your own pace, you can. You will be able to download all the content and access the course site for three months after the program finishes.

What kind of teaching can I expect in the course? What’s included? The Design Life Project e-course is robust. Enrolling in Design Life Project includes full access to the online classroom, video tutorials, Q&A and worksheets to identify your ideal day, as well as access to a private Facebook group where you can connect and share with your classmates and get feedback directly from Cathy. You’ll create an actual working system that is customized to you, so you don’t have to waste another moment in overwhelm or frustration.

When does the class start? Registration opens January 15, 2014! Class begins Monday February 17, 2014. You’ll be able to download all content and access the course site for three months after the program finishes.

Does the course meet at a certain time? Does it matter what part of the world I’m in? Design Life Project is a virtual course, you can participate from anywhere at anytime! Lessons will be posted online throughout the week, and you can log into the course at any time to view them.

How much time can I expect to spend on the course? You’ll get new content on the course site throughout the week, M-F. We’ll start with a lesson, then a worksheet, some observation and testing, and then end the week with an action step. You can expect to spend anywhere between 30 to 90 minutes reviewing the content and completing the exercises and work for the class each day, depending on the length of the lesson. Some people may work through the content more quickly, and others may want to spend more time. All the content will help you develop your personalized plan by the end of the Design Life Project course.

How are payments handled? Payment is securely processed via PayPal and can be made using your PayPal balance or credit card. Please note that all course correspondence will be sent to the email address associated with your PayPal account. To use a different email address, please forward your PayPal invoice to cathy@love-inspired.com.

Other questions? Email me at cathy@love-inspired.

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I think anytime we start a new year, we do the same thing – we take stock of where we are, how far we’ve come, and what we want for the future. Then comes in the comparison. Where is everyone else? Where are they heading? How do I compare to them?

I recently posted an instagram from a quote from Jon Acuff:

“Don’t compare your beginning, to someone else’s middle.” – Jon Acuff

It got a lot of likes from yall. Which leads me to believe we all do this, and we all know we shouldn’t. When we compare, it’s completely unfair to ourselves. We aren’t comparing apples to apples, and we are pretending like we are. I don’t think there is a problem with a bit of healthy competition – but we take it so much further. The trouble with comparison is that it is like a thorn. It starts simple enough, and starts bugging us, bothering us, and getting worse. It soon becomes so bad that it has morphed our sense of ourselves. We now see ourselves through a false set of eyes. We are lying to ourselves about our worth by comparing ourselves to someone else. We are also lying to ourselves if we think someone else’s path is BETTER than our own.

Let me say something refreshing for a moment –

It doesn’t MATTER how you compare to someone ELSE. It really doesn’t. All that matters is how you compare to YOURSELF.

The only way to compare apples to apples it to compare our present selves with our past selves. How does past ME compare with now ME? How can I make future ME even better?

It’s silly to think we should follow someone else’s path. Our lives are so complex – we need to realize WE are more complex than that. WE are different than THEM.

You have been created to be completely unique. There truly is no one else out there like you. Really. So there will be NO other path like yours. The real success comes in being true to yourself, and to stop comparing.

Once we stop comparing to others, we can start to create our own path:

• What are YOUR goals?
• What are YOUR passions?
• What works for YOU?
• How do YOU learn best?
• How do YOU create best?

Once you focus on yourself and being you – and not anyone else – the thorn is removed and you are free to soar to be the BEST you.

Let’s stop comparing our ANYTHING to anyone else’s ANYTHING. Let’s be us and let’s be awesome because of it.

 

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Need help in customizing your path and being true to yourself for 2014? I’ll be opening registration tomorrow for the Design Life Project e-course. Our last session was nothing short of AMAZING and I’m so excited for the New Year’s edition of this course. We are going to have a wonderful 5 weeks together and we are going to grow SO much! Make sure you’re signed up for the newsletter (sign up in the sidebar on the left to be reminded when registration opens TOMORROW, January 15th)  and you can snag your spot!

This and last week have been a bit crazier than usual. My daughter just started preschool, and is having a rough time with it. She also brought home a sickness that both of us get to share. Combo that with our busy season at Love-Inspired, and things are going all topsy-turvy on me.

I have been hearing a message over and over lately, it’s nothing new, but it keeps repeating in my world. I’m hearing that people wish they could slow down, take a break, or have some time for self-care.

It got me thinking, when was the last time I took some ME time? It’s been awhile. I’m not sure even what one does on ME time. I had to Google it. I found some suggestions, that I really like. I decided this week I’m going to schedule in some ME time. I’m going to block out 2 hours of this week, somewhere, turn off my phone and emails, and head to a movie by myself. Okay, I wrote it down, so hold me accountable!

Self-care is essential to a balanced life. We all KNOW it. But do we live it? When was the last time you SLOWED down and took some time? Maybe it’s a date with your boyfriend or husband. Maybe it’s a trip to the mall (or if you’re me – to Target) to shop. Maybe it’s coffee with a friend you haven’t seen in awhile.

I know it’s inconvenient. I know it’s hard to schedule – but DO it anyways. At least once a month. Don’t you think you deserve to slow down at least ONE day out of the month for a couple hours?

Let’s do it together. Go to your Calendar, pretend it’s a meeting, and schedule some YOU time, “MEETING WITH ME.”

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Registration is open for the Design Life Project e-course! This week is the last week of the early-bird discount! We have had great feedback, and I’m so excited to start this with you all. We are keeping this class purposeful and smaller, so grab your spot before it sells out!

I planned on discussing a different topic today, but I decided to address something that has been on my mind instead.

I want to tell you, openly and wholeheartedly, that I am NOT perfect.

I never have been perfect, and I never will be. I do NOT have it all together. I think a lot of times when someone decides to teach a course on something, or decides to be a speaker on a topic, that there is a pressure to be perfect in that subject. But all of us fall short of perfection (Romans 3:23).

I decided to share my journey with you all – in the quest to continue my own balance. I have found such a joy in sharing with you all. However – I am not perfectly balanced, and I don’t think I’ll ever be – but I have LEARNED what it takes to create some balance. And that’s why I share it with you. I was forced into a situation, where I had to get my butt in gear. I see now that so many people struggle with this same overwhelm, and I want to help with my past and continuing experience.

So then, it’s not about being PERFECT. It’s about learning and being a BETTER person because of your failures.

It’s about working smarter and not harder. It’s about filling your days with things you love and the people you love to work with, and letting go of those things you don’t. It’s not about being perfect; it’s about letting go of worry, of doubt, of fear, when you aren’t perfect. It’s about being OKAY with the fact – even embracing – that we aren’t perfect. It’s about the beauty in imperfection, in vulnerability. It’s about being real with each other.

Yes, I’m a busy person. But yes – I do have TIME for the Design Life Project – because it’s important to me. It’s my passion project. I find the time and I make it work, because it fills up my heart with joy. I stay up longer or wake up earlier and I MAKE the time. This is important to me, and more importantly, this has been put on MY HEART to do – so I will obey.

I’m on this journey too. I just wanted you all to know how grateful I am for each and every one of you. I am so thankful to have you on board with me. Thank you for your supportive emails, comments and messages. Thank you for telling me that what I’m doing here, and in my business, makes a difference to you. To the naysayers, thank you for reminding me what I’m saying NO to – so that I can truly fill up my days with more joy.

I want to close with an encouragement, as usual. I’d love to encourage you today to be at peace with your imperfection. It’s okay to fail. It’s okay to mess up. What’s more important is that we are joyful and we DO IT ANYWAY.

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Come one, come all. We welcome the imperfect. Registration is open for the Design Life Project e-course! We have had great feedback, and I’m so excited to start this with you all. We are keeping this class purposeful and smaller, so grab your spot before it sells out!