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It’s 2010 and I’m thinking big. I’m adjusting my perceptions, making some decisions and keeping my ThemeWord (CREATE) at the forefront of what I do and plan to do. Granted, it’s only Day 2 of the New Year but I have hopes for this year. And I think that those close to me may be a little bit surprised about some of my plans.

Now, I know a lot of people tell anybody who will listen what their plans are. Not me. I keep my plans all tucked away inside my head. Why? Because I think that sometimes sharing everything with those around you gives the naysayers an opportunity to speak up. And speak up they will. Especially those closest to you.

Oh sure – they’ll say it’s only because they care about you. They’ll say it’s only because they want the best for you. In some way or another, they’ll shoot down every shining star you try to reach. And maybe it’s because they’re insecure in their own thoughts. Maybe they’re jealous. Or maybe they just don’t know any better.

Whatever the reason, my solution is to just not tell them in the first place! I may give a general idea, but I’m not one to actually put my whole thoughts out there for all the world to see and say “This is what I’m going to accomplish this year.”

I know that often the big goal and motivation gurus will tell you that putting your intentions out there for everyone to see will keep you accountable. Maybe for some. For me? It simply doesn’t work. And I hope maybe that gives you a little bit of hope as well, to realize that the gurus don’t always know the answers . . .

In any case, let me just say – I don’t do resolutions or set goals. I find they hinder my achievements. That’s not to say I don’t have some sort of a road map for what I want out of life – it just says goals and resolutions, which some say are meant to be broken – aren’t the end all, be all thing. And if you don’t do them, it doesn’t make you a bad person.

Personally, I choose to call them something else, such as intentions, that doesn’t have some stigma or preconceived idea attached to it like “You’re a failure if you don’t reach the goal.” Failure is fine and sometimes necessary. But not meeting the goal isn’t always failure and I think a lot people get caught up in that, thinking it IS.

Again, I’m here to tell you – not meeting the goal isn’t always a failure. Only YOU can decide whether you’ve failed or not. Maybe the outcome wasn’t the end result you expected but that doesn’t mean something wasn’t learned or gained along the way that is far more important than the outcome.

I encourage you to find a system that works for you in creating some kind of plan for your life. Call them goals or resolutions if you wish but know that you don’t have to. You can call them whatever works for you. The idea is to have some sort of concept about what you’d like to accomplish and by when.

There is a lot more I plan to share about goals and the process of mapping out your ideas over the coming days and weeks as this New Year gets underway. I think it’s an important topic and while it’s at the forefront of everyone’s thoughts, I figured I’d put my .02¢ worth in.

Right now, I encourage you to just pick a word that you feel lead to associate with this year. As I mentioned previously, my ThemeWord for 2010 is CREATE. For 2009, it was ACTION. And basically, you just take that word and apply it to everything you do. Let it be your motivator, your guide and your anchor.

Be blessed,

And PS – I have some cool tools coming soon! Tomorrow, look for 3 forms I designed that I use in my own work and family life including a Weekly Menu Planner and a Mini Character Sheet. I hope you enjoy them!

When you’re taking time over the next few days to establish the goals and accomplishments you want to complete in 2010, don’t play it safe. And by that I mean, whatever you THINK you want to achieve, multiply by about 3.

Yes, really.

Because I’ve found for myself that I often tend to stay within a “safe zone” when setting my goals. But you know what? Goals aren’t about being safe! They’re about pushing your boundaries. Exceeding the limits. Claiming victory.

Not about settling.

Annie’s 5 rules on how NOT to play it safe

1. Pick a word, any word. Well, at least pick one with some meaning, like COURAGE, EXPLORE, RELEASE.

For 2009, I chose ACTION and made it my single-minded goal, my ThemeWord. Like I mentioned earlier, for 2010 I’m choosing CREATE. And everything I do for the year will be as a result of that one thing. Every goal, every task on my list will be the question, “What can I CREATE from this?”

2. Take your word and keep it at the forefront of your mind all the time, day in and day out. Breathe it. Earn it. Live it. Let everything you do come from that one idea. Make it your mantra. Put it on your desktop wallpaper. Write it on your mousepad. Whatever. Just make sure it’s always confronting you.

3. Every time you make a list of things you want or things to do, multiply it by at least 3.

I’ve found that often I will stay within my comfort zone, my safe zone and put down something that’s probably a little more than I’ve done but still too easily reachable. For example, I may have a goal to ride my bike every day for at least 4 miles. Well, 4 miles is definitely doable for me and doesn’t really challenge or stretch me. Putting down 4 miles would be a cop-out.

Be honest with yourself – what can REALLY do? Multiply the number by at least 3. Can you ride 12 miles? Is it a little OUT of your safe zone? Well, put THAT down. Push the limit of your comfort level.

4. Get out of your preconceived box and go for the challenge! Don’t take no for an answer. Do your best in all things.

5. Be fully engaged and aware. No half-assed attempts. Either do it, or don’t. Nothing spells defeat to your inner self like doing something half way and feeling guilty. Like Yoda said, “Do or do not, there is no try.”

If you pick a ThemeWord for 2010, let me know what it is. I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas on this concept. I’ll try to keep you posted periodically on how things are going with mine.

And with that, I’d like to just say have a Happy New Year! Be safe! Drive carefully. Be responsible and all that stuff.

Be blessed,

Just over 24 hours from now, it’ll be 2010!

There’s just something refreshing about a New Year. Like the slate gets wiped clean and one can just start over from the beginning. I don’t know, maybe it’s just me, but that’s how I feel about the turning of calendar. (Yes, I do realize I said “just” at least once in every sentence in this paragraph.)

And I’ve already posted about New Year’s over on margin of {error} so go ahead over there to read all about it. It’s a short ‘n sweet post.

Be blessed,

{ write * design * blog }

Even though I’ve been moderately successful over the last several years with design and writing, I’ve always felt I was not at the level I should be. And even though each year things seem to get just a little better than the year before, they were never as good as I intended.

But I think that’s changing. Finally.

I just got an incredible phone call from The Short Dude’s school — It was the DIRECTOR of the school. She called to tell me she was very impressed with a newsletter I did for one of the committees I’m on. In fact, she told me she was so impressed, she took it the county level administrators!

How cool is that??

Perhaps 2009 will be the year I break through to the next level.

So far, I’d say my one intention for this year is already paying off. It’s only the 16th day of the year.

What are you doing to make your intentions happen?

Sticking your head in the sand in these tough economic times isn’t going to do you any favors. You want to come out ahead at the end of the year, then you’d better have a plan to get there.

Because I can guarantee you – if you climb in a hole thinking things are just too bad to get anywhere, the economic climate will beat you.

It’s important to move forward every day. Even when you don’t feel like it. Even when you’d rather just shore things up and hide under the covers.

Like I said in my 2009: year of action post . . .

When we show ourselves as serious about our desires by taking action, things begin to happen. Those things might be little at first but like a snowball, they get bigger and bigger as they continue to develop, as new snow is added to the ball.

Pretty soon, those snowballs turn into something grand.

I encourage you to think daily on what you’re doing to create the life you deserve. It is possible. Some of the greatest advances in modern times have occurred in spite – and maybe even because of – tough situations.

In the arena,

You can’t build a reputation on what you’re going to do. ~ Henry Ford

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

I’m not really one for resolutions. I think they do more to keep us stuck than to help us achieve our goals. But I do believe that the Universe conspires to help us when we ask.

Now, I don’t think we can just sit back and do nothing once we’ve asked the Universe for our desires. We must take some action. Because the Universe rewards that action.

When we show ourselves as serious about our desires by taking action, things begin to happen. Those things might be little at first but like a snowball, they get bigger and bigger as they continue to develop, as new snow is added to the ball.

And so this year – 2009 – I resolve to take ACTION. That’s my only goal.

I have a whole list of things to take action on but, you know what? I find that achieving things comes much easier only having one goal to keep track of. One simple goal to maintain. One goal I can apply to anything I wish.

Some things I plan to take action on:

Now, taking action isn’t trying to imply I’m going to finish everything. And that’s the point – you don’t have to finish every goal you set.

It’s not really about finishing anything.

I think that’s where most people get bogged down. They think that if they’re going to add something to their goals list, it must be finished. Not true. This is why most people give up – the goal is too big to accomplish in the time frame it’s been set within.

Make your goals manageable. Break them into chunks. You’ll find them much easier to handle and you won’t run the risk of burning out before anything is accomplished.

What do see for yourself in 2009?

In the arena,

“Following another’s path leads to who they are, not to who you are.” ~ Henry Palmer
Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

Every year during the month of December, I take a break from many business related activities and concentrate almost solely on my purpose and plan for the next year. It’s a time I use to reflect on the past 12 months and to think about what I’d like to do for the next 12.

This usually means I make lists, go over everything I’ve done the past year, and adjust my long-term goals as needed. If I’m lucky, during this reflection, I find that I’ve met or exceeded the plan I created the previous December.

Since the kids and I have been taking turns getting sick since Thanksgiving, I haven’t really started my December reflections yet. Or well, at least I’m not to the point I normally am by now. But I’m finally getting going this week and so I wanted to share my process with you.

One of the first things I do is write down highlights from the year.

These are things that for one reason or another are significant to me or for some reason, stand out in my mind. Some are personal, some are business. Some are happy or fun and some are sad.

But I write these things down and then I pull out the list of goals I made last year. This allows me to see where I’ve gone and if I was on target for what I originally intended or if something else happened. Sometimes I find that I’ve not done much of what I wrote down and other times I hit nearly every mark.

Where I find the most growth – and oddly enough, the most contentment – is when I *have* missed the mark, when I haven’t reached many of those goals I thought I wanted.

In these times, I realize, it’s true the Universe knows better than I.

It doesn’t mean I’ve failed. It just means plans changed along the way.

And that’s ok. That’s what it’s all about. Learning, growing, sharing. I can reassess what I find important and define what doesn’t really matter to me.

Once I’ve done that, I decide what my top priorities should be for the next year. Sometimes things will carry over but quite often, nearly everything on the list is new or different than last time.

Often, I have multiple lists including:

• Personal
• Family
• Relationships
• Business
• Fun
• Education
• Health
• Spiritual

And sometimes others. It just depends on what is important to me at that time. I like to break it down this way because it forces me to really be in tune with every facet of my life and not neglect anything.

The next step is to set targets.

At this point, I take out the calendar and set some targets for myself. Having a specific date gives me a concrete reason for getting started on each goal. Otherwise, I procrastinate. This step also allows me to prioritize each item.

One thing I try to keep in mind is to spread out the “big” goals in between the “little” ones. By spreading them out, I ensure I don’t get overwhelmed. Too many big goals in a row is a good recipe for burnout. I try to avoid that as much as possible.

What do you do to get ready for the new year? Do you set goals for yourself? For your business or career? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you.

In the arena,

Want to work with an award-winning writer? Now is your chance! Hurry and book for the 2009 before the calendar is full. I still have some space available. Check out the Hire Me tab above for info on how to contact me and your reserve your spot now.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.

I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up.

There. I said it. And it’s true.

Now, don’t get me wrong – I love design and writing and coaching and real estate but I still feel like there’s something else – something I’m missing, maybe. I don’t know.

(Yeah, I know – how could I be missing something with my plate so full, right?? Yep, I wonder, too.)

But even as a child, I knew I wanted to be a writer. It truly is my passion. The way words come together on a page is magical for me. But even so, I still don’t really know what I want to be when I grow up.

(Mind you, I’m in my 30’s. With 4 kids.)

It’s just that often, I don’t even feel grown up. Sure, there’s responsibilities and bills to pay and those little people (who are getting so tall, I nearly don’t recognize them) to take care of. A house to take care of, a car to maintain and all those good things and yet, sometimes I think “What do I want to DO with my life?”

There are so many things -

• Travel the world
• Go on a cruise
• Learn to fly helicopters
• Teach
• Build an orphanage
• Live on farm with animals and a huge garden
• Start a non-profit organization to help others in need
• Travel the US in a motorhome
• Learn another language . . . or two or twenty

And stuff like that.

I read Tim Ferriss’ Four Hour Workweek a while back and found I could relate to a lot of the information there, wanting to get to a point that my business runs itself more or less, leaving me free to do other things with my time. And frankly, by this age, I always thought I’d have it all together and be getting ready to do just that. Not so. It’s a little depressing at times.

All of this to say, it’s time to get there and ratchet this gig up to a new level. What do you think? Have you read the Four Hour Workweek? What are your thoughts and plans to achieve the lifestyle you want? Mine is finally beginning to seriously get somewhere.

Hey, I might even grow up soon.

Or not.

In the arena,

PS – Just found a great post by Cath Lawson called “131 Star Bloggers and Their Best Posts” and I’m honored that Cath would include me in the list. What a special way to say thanks to all of her commenters and readers. And so I’d like to say a very heartfelt Thank You to Cath for making my day, being so generous and for all the great things she shares with us on her blog. Do yourself a favor and check out Cath’s blog.

Annie Anderson is a freelance copywriter and graphic designer specializing in the small business and real estate markets. Her tagline “Making your business, my business” means that she’ll take the utmost care when creating words and images for your business – just as if it were her own.