Once upon a time I remember in college they would teach us that learning was a good thing – that the more you learn, the better off you’d be in the real world – or more specifically – the workforce. And while I whole-heartedly agree that knowledge is power, I think it creates a sort of misconception that we’d be expected to use ALL of this knowledge. It creates a false truth in our heads that being a jane-of-all-trades is highly useful for the future. After almost 6 years in business for myself, I strongly disagree that a jane-of-all-trades should be your goal in business. I actually think it’s in the narrowing of your field or expertise, where the sweet spot lies.

As I mentioned before, I do think multifaceted knowledge is a great thing – but not because you want to be OKAY at a lot of things. I think knowledge is power when you use it strategically – when you decide when, how and what to FOCUS on. I think the key to harnessing the power of knowledge is in elimination. It’s great to learn a lot, and in many areas, with the sole purpose of getting RID of the information or the directions that don’t fit.

So how do we go about cutting out which information/skills should stay and which ones should go?

1. First it comes in shifting this mindset that we’ve gotten into our heads – that it is a sign of success when we can do a lot of things well (enough), or that it’s a sign of strength that we have a LOT of offerings.

In fact, I truly believe it does the opposite. I believe when we spread out our offerings and offer too many things to our clients, that we actually get weaker, that the entirety of our work gets weaker. To illustrate my point – think of something pliable. Think about how when you stretch it and stretch it, the material becomes and thinner and weaker and soon may break. The key to start narrowing our focus is to truly BELIEVE it works. If we prune the bad branches/fruit – then the fruit that is flourishing in the plant THRIVES and gets stronger.

2. It’s easier to become successful when you are a big fish in a little pond, versus a small fish in a big pond.

Another thing to think about is how unique your offering is. It’s much easier to gain success and business when you are doing something that not many others do. This is another kind of narrowing. This could mean a narrowing of your clients. Maybe you only work with a certain type of business. You get KNOWN for working only in that niche, so your name grows like wildfire among that niche. It only takes a few people that are in love with your service to turn all their friends on to you.

3. It’s better to completely WOW a few, than to simply SATISFY many.

Go above and beyond with less clients. Instead of doing a few things for everyone, do amazing things for a just a few (click to tweet this). Charge more, lighten your load – but give those clients more added value and give them truly great “white glove” service. It is simply impossible to compete on price these days – you will NEVER win competing on price. Instead, you compete on value, on substance, on quality and on customer service. This is how you win hearts and minds, word-of-mouth, and how you truly become fulfilled in what you do and make a difference in other’s lives. This is what matters right?

Today, I’d love to encourage you to take stock of your offerings and perhaps make some changes. Do you have some things that you just aren’t in love with anymore, that are weakening your chain? Perhaps you have some NEW offerings that you think may take off like wildfire and will help you stand out?

Here’s how to get started:

Which areas do you have that:

• Are the most fun for you and your clients
• Garner the most acclaim
• Make the most money?

What areas do you have that:

• Are a drain on you or your clients
• You dread doing
• Take up too much of your time?

The areas that are your high-producing fruit, you keep, and you focus your energies on strengthening. The areas that are your weakest – you simply get rid of them. They aren’t working and they are a drain on what you’re doing well. You’ll be surprised at how quickly things will flourish with your prize fruit when you get rid of that dead weight.

Happy narrowing!!

Now that the first class of Design Life Project has wrapped up, I’m excited to start writing again on the Design Life Project. The Design Life Project class was nothing short of amazing and it was so fulfilling to see LIVES CHANGED! I could not be more pleased with the fabulous group of women we had join us, and I was in awe of their talent and determination! I’m excited to run the next class in 2014! The registration for the next class will be opening January 1st, so stay tuned!

Today I’d love to talk about procrastination. With the Holidays and the end of the year looming, I have been more distracted than ever before.

We are also BUSIER than ever before, so it is a tough combo to deal with sometimes. I find it very hard to focus when the allure of the holidays roll around. If you’re anything like me, the colder weather makes you just want to curl up with a cup of soup and sit by a fire. Sitting in an office chair in front of a computer is not as glamorous right? It seems hard to get any real work done this time of year.

So what makes us procrastinate? Is it just distractions? I don’t think so. Being distracted is definitely one part of the equation, but it’s not the only part of the equation. In an effort to up my holiday/new year productivity, I did some research on the topic. Here are the top 5 reason we procrastinate, and what we can do to combat them:

1. Easily Distracted

• This one is the most obvious and is probably the most universal. We are easily distracted online, in person, or internally with our thoughts, worries or stresses.

What do we do to cut the distractions so that we can get productive? The first step is to purposefully clear the distractions or clutter. Notice what’s distracting you and actively take steps to get rid of it. Take off the notifactions on your phone. Close down Facebook. Close your office door and put a do not disturb sign up. Silence your cell phone. Clear off your desks and clear out your work environment to an blank slate. Get it cleared out and ready for a productive day!

2. Lack of Confidence

• Sometimes we feel like we lack the confidence or skill to complete a task. It seems too big, too difficult, too hard for us to complete.

How can we build our confidence? Work on building yourself up. Focus on what you’re doing well, and praise yourself for the little things. If you feel you lack the skill, invest some time into yourself and learn. Build up your confidence and skill so that you can put your best foot forward and get it done!

3. Feeling Overwhelmed

• We see a project that seems so overwhelmed that we get paralyzed into inactivity. This can happen easily if we are thinking in terms of the big picture.

What do we do when we are overwhelmed by a task? Break it down into baby steps. And then break those down into smaller steps. Set small deadlines for yourself along the way. Have smaller goals. Move forward. Take down the elephant one bite at a time. Also – remove judgement and the need to be perfect. As my lovely friend Lara loves to say – “Done is better than perfect”. Start anywhere, just start.

4. Creative Block

• Sometimes we feel like we are blocked creatively and can’t come up with any new ideas.

How do we battle the Artist block when it gets in our way? We combat it by going in the opposite direction – get motivated. Get inspired. Remember why you started doing this in the first place, and FEED your creative soul. This of it like gas in our creative tank. Do whatever it is to make you feel inspired and refreshed. Get away from the project completely if that’s what you need. See the world with new eyes, and then come back to it.

5. Dread the Task

• This one happens to all of us. Maybe we just genuinely don’t WANT to do the task, we’re dreading dealing with it.

Take a look at why we don’t want to do it. Is it more because of one of the reasons above? If it’s not – is it something we need to start cutting out in the future? Life is too short to be doing things we hate on a daily basis. How can we change this circumstance for ourselves for the future? Perhaps we remove it from our offerings. Perhaps it’s a red flag client that we should not have taken in the first place. Perhaps we over-promised and we didn’t give ourselves enough time. Identify the cause and try to fix it for the future. For the task at hand, use a combination of strategies – break it down into smaller pieces, and reward yourself positively when it’s done.

I am going to employ these strategies for the rest of this year, and I hope these will help you too. This is a wonderful time of year and it should be enjoyed – so let’s get our work stuff done so we can enjoy the fun stuff and the love for friends and family that the holiday has to give!

Happy weekend everyone!

photo credit

Today, on a Monday, I’d love to talk about sharpening your focus. Mondays are always my busiest days, and need the most focus possible (which can be pretty hard to do, when you’re coming off of a weekend full of fun).

When we give things focus, we get the most done, to the best of our ability. When we lack focus, it makes us feel pulled in a million directions. It’s important when we’re busy, or overwhelmed, to try our best to focus. Sometimes it doesn’t come naturally, so I have some tricks that I use.

There are four ways that we can easily improve our focus right away. Heck, even implementing one of these will help you improve your focus! Here’s my cheat sheet to getting better focus when things get blurry.

1. Give FOCUS Priority.

Make the goal of FOCUSING in, #1. Let go of your other pressures, or at least ease up on them for now. Maybe let go of knowing the latest gossip. Let go of being RIGHT in your inbox as the email comes in. Let go of the pressure to be perfect. Just let being FOCUSED be your number one goal for right now. Give it the respect it deserves and give it your attention.

2. One thing at a time.

The other day I posted an instagram, saying “Let go of anxiety as a lifestyle, or exhaustion as a badge of honor.” I’d like to add a third thing – let go of MULTITASKING as a secret to success. Multitasking in it’s simplest form is fine, but nowadays multitasking has gotten completely out of hand. Now multitasking is actually a surefire way to make sure you get almost NOTHING done. Focus in on getting one thing done at a time, and then knock out the next. Kinda like the snowball effect for tasks.

3. Write it down; make a list.

There is crazy power in pen and ink. I suppose you could use the computer too, but honestly a piece of paper works the best for me. I don’t have to scramble to find it, or find the file to check it off. I also love that I can see all the things I’ve gotten done that day to really feel accomplished. Another perk to writing it down, is getting those thoughts out of your head. Getting your to-dos on paper gets them out of your head, and clears up room in there for you to be able to really focus on the PRESENT.

4. Give things their space.

Respect your tasks, and give them the time they deserve. Stop trying to work at break-neck speed. At first, give your tasks 1.5-2x the time you THINK they will need. Under-promise and over-deliver to yourself. Give yourself breathing room. You’ll have the time to fully relax into what you’re working on, and you know you’ll have plenty of time to get it done, without worrying about the next thing on your list. If you finish early, it’s time to go out and do something for yourself. Everyone wins!

Today I’d love to encourage you to try out one, or all four of these things, one day this week. Let me know how you feel that day! Probably super productive, and fresh! Woo hoo!

These are some basic steps. We’ll be going into more detail on how to customize and best execute your focus in the Design Life Project e-course. Registration is now open, and this is the LAST week for EARLY-BIRD rate. There are limited spots to keep the experience personal, and we actually only have a few seats left. Go grab your spot!

Today I’m keeping it short and sweet. I want to talk about human connection through social media. I’d love for you to watch this video, if you haven’t already seen it. It’s beautifully animated on top of a powerful message.

I couldn’t believe how much this hit home for me. It is so true. We often watch other’s “highlight reel” and compare them to our own. It’s not a fair comparison to make. I’m also a huge fan of sharing positive news, so I don’t think complaining and showing the ugly is necessarily the answer too.

I think instead of the edited and fake, we share TRIUMPH. I think we show COURAGE when things went wrong. I think we show the fear, and do it ANYWAY. I think we share our circumstances, and what we LEARNED from them. I think we show HOPE. I think we show LOVE against ALL odds.

• I would love to encourage you today to show some TRUTH in your social media feeds. Tell someone what you’re struggling with – but show them that you have HOPE about it. Tag your share with #designlifeproject. I’d love to hear from you.

I think if we can show the true colors, but show hope and faith instead – that we will finally make real connections online again.

Happy Weekend!

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!

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.

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!

Let me know if this sounds familiar. Your time is never spent “well enough”.

When you are working, you feel guilty that you’re not spending enough time with your family, or friends… and you feel like you’re constantly missing out on fun things because you have to work.

But then, when you ARE with family or friends, you’re thinking about that client that is pleading for your help right now. Maybe they are emailing you on a Saturday with a crisis. Or maybe they are texting you in the evening after hours (or maybe you don’t even have office hours -you are like 7-11 to your clients). Maybe you’re behind, and you feel like you don’t deserve “free time” when you “owe” clients things.

The answer to feeling you are in the right place, at the right time, is developing a plan, and being ABLE to stick to it.

Developing a plan is essential to designing your ideal day. You need to know where you are heading, a roadmap to get there, and a compass to make sure you’re still on track. Having a plan gives you permission to be doing what you are doing, with no regrets.

There is a power in writing things down, and getting them out of your head, and in print. The components to a plan that make them awesome, are essential to your ideal day success. Even if your plan is to do nothing that day, and relax… You will be able to fully relax because you planned for it, and everything else has its place.

Sounds easy enough, we need a plan. So why then, is developing a schedule, and sticking to it, so impossible?

Sometimes having a plan is scary. It’s scary because you have something that you need to adhere to, no matter what life throws at you. And that is really tough. Life throws us curve balls on a regular basis. But it doesn’t have to be that way.

Here are the 3 things keeping you from developing or following a plan:

• Plans can unravel when things go differently.
• Plans don’t allow for emotion, feelings, inspiration and motivation.
• Plans are hard to create in advance when things are always changing or are varied.

Sound familiar? That’s because I have been there. And I finally found what works. The answer is, YOU PLAN FOR THE UNEXPECTED. You plan for the unraveling. You plan for yourself to be un-inspired when you go to work on something. You plan for there being 5 emails of someone needing something right now, when you first check your email. You plan for things to be changing weekly, daily and even hourly. You face the reality that things aren’t ever perfect, and you plan around them, knowing that they will be there.

I want to be totally clear – this is different from a back-up plan. A back-up in plan is in place for IF something goes wrong. What I’m suggesting is a plan for the unexpected WHEN it goes wrong. You assume it will be there (because it will) and there are no freak outs involved. You knew it was coming, so you scheduled it in. You are working on what you need to be working on (putting out a fire) and it won’t affect the rest of your day, or the rest of your schedule.

I’d love to encourage you today to start writing things down and giving them space. Need to take a trip to Disneyland with the family? Block out your schedule and write it down. Tell your clients in advance that you’ll be out of the office, put up an office message, and GO be with your people. Schedule that time to relax and REALLY be present while you’re there. You will quite literally have NO other place to be.

I’m just skimming the surface on the topic of planning here. In the Design Life Project e-course, we are going to go IN DEPTH about EXACTLY how to develop a plan that works WITH the crazy instead of coming undone when the crazy happens. Registration is NOW OPEN, and there are only a few days left of the early bird rate! Grab your spot before it fills up!

A little preview of what’s to come for the Design Life Project e-course.

Have a wonderful weekend full of joy!

The answer NO is an important ally when you are focusing in on your ideal day and ideal life. I talk a lot about IDEAL DAY – and really it’s because it is the answer to clearing the overwhelm, doing better work, and doing what you love. If you design your ideal day, you really can fill your days with joy. Saying NO is a huge part of constructing your ideal day.

Let be begin this post by saying I am HORRIBLE at saying NO. I really am, and I have to be honest about it. I am learning everyday from the mistakes I’ve made, saying YES to something that should have been a NO. So I’m learning right beside you.

I guess I’m a people pleaser or something. It really HURTS me to say NO to things – but I understand the importance, and I’m on my way! The first step to recognizing a problem is admitting to it right? So can we all just admit we are terrible at saying NO? Okay, cool. So let’s start now!

So what are the kind of things we need to say NO to?

1. NO to anything that doesn’t serve our bigger purpose.

This comes after we define our WHY, our bigger purpose. What is the ultimate goal you’re working towards? Let’s develop a filter in which we ask ourselves a question when something comes up. Does saying YES to this serve my bigger purpose? Does this job/project/opportunity help me get to my goal of _____ ? If not, that can trigger a NO.

2. NO to things we specifically don’t NEED to do.

If you’re wearing a million hats, and some of those hats can be worn by someone else, we should probably say NO to wearing that hat. For example, if you are charging $50/hour for your services, and you can pay someone $10/hour to clean your house, wouldn’t you be better off making that $40/hour profit by hiring a house cleaner and working instead of cleaning? Identify which jobs/commitments you CAN say NO to, and get it off your plate so that you can do more YES things.

3. NO to things that are not on your YES list.

This one is really simple – but can be pretty powerful. A couple weeks ago we created a YES list. Is this task NOT on your YES list? Then perhaps it deserves a NO!

4. NO to mindless distractions.

Are you distracting yourself with social media, just to feel bad afterwards and defeated after something you read? Time to limit this, gut your feed of the negative, and get moving on things that matter. NO to social media distractions.

5. NO to being taken advantage of.

Keep your time off/time with family/refresh SACRED. Develop your boundaries and stick to them. Don’t let others cross those lines you’ve set. Set your office hours, and say NO to letting things TAKE OVER your personal time. Keep your prices firm. Say NO to being bullied.

6. NO to self doubt and fear.

This is a big one, but it’s super important. We talked about fear before, and that we can’t let it stop us. We need to say NO to the negative thoughts in our head, to the naysayers, to anyone who doesn’t believe in us, or encourage us. Let’s say NO to doubting ourselves, and NO to being afraid to take a leap of faith when it matters.

So today and moving forward, let’s say NO to more things. Let’s be a steward of our precious time and talents. Let’s give them the importance they deserve, fill our time with more joy, and use our talents in those ways that will be TRULY appreciated.

Registration for the Design Life Project e-course is NOW OPEN!. There’s gonna be some earth-shattering, AMAZING transformation in your lives, I just know it. We are going to have a wonderful 5 weeks together and we are going to grow SO much! I’m super excited. We are purposefully keeping this first class small and intimate, so SNAG YOUR SPOT and catch the early-bird rate!

If you’re anything like me, your right brain and your left brain are in a constant battle. Your Left brain craves order, a system, to know what to expect at all times. On the other side, your Right brain craves freedom, inspiration, and is completely moody. Way to get along, guys.

Also if you’re like me, you’ve gone back and forth trying to please each side of your brain. You’ve tried listening to the Left brain, you’ve read books on organization, you’ve purchased calendars and planners. You’ve read about the newest app that will suddenly organize your life for you. And your Right brain just wasn’t happy, it wasn’t able to create properly within those way-too-serious time constraints – so these plans ultimately failed.

Then you tried listening to your Right brain – you let your creativity run your schedule, you created when you “felt” like it, and heck yes – you did some awesome work (BOO-YAH). But then, everyone counting on you started asking where things were, and when they were going to be done. Your Left brain went into full-fledge panic and wanted to know when things were going to get done, and how you were going to stay on top of things. Your Left brain called your Right brain a slacker! The nerve!!

So, now, you’re drowning in busy, and you’re not sure WHAT to do. The traditional business strategies just aren’t working for you! The problem with the systems, apps, books and calendars that you’ve tried – is that they were made by someone ELSE, for someone ELSE’s personality. Let’s just admit to ourselves right now, that as creatives we will NEVER fit in a one-size-fits-all personality type.

I’m a part of a group of creatives, and I asked them one day, what their personality types were. I was completely SHOCKED when they pretty much ran the gamut – and none of them matched mine. I thought surely, all creatives are somewhat the same. But they are not! The only thing we really have in common is the battle between both sides of our brains.

With all these different personality types, how will we ever develop a system to work and create efficiently and consistently? And what about your lifestyle? Your motivations? Your dreams? These developed systems don’t take into account what you really care about. Are you able to have time to do the things you’d love to do? To share time with the people you love? To go to the places you’d like to see? How can we fit those in to our system?

The answer is CUSTOMIZATION. I finally realized that I had to develop a system just for me, and I had to test it, tweak it, and mold it to fit my individuality. My system is like my fingerprint – and instead of fighting who I am, it takes in to account who I am, and works within my framework to create that perfect balance and harmony between my Left and Right brains.

Today I want to encourage you to stop using someone else’s perfect system, and design your own. Need help on how to start? Tips and tricks on how to balance them? I’d love to invite you to join us! The Design Life Project e-course will help you create a system to work efficiently, create beautifully, and LOVE those around you BIGGER and BETTER. If you feel like you NEVER HAVE ENOUGH TIME, than this course is for you! Scheduling is just one part of a whole new balance you’ll create in your life with this 6-week e-course. There are limited spots to keep the experience personal, so make sure you’re signed up to hear about when registration opens NEXT WEEK and you can snag your spot!

I can’t wait to hear how much you are loving this new system for scheduling! It REALLY works!