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I’ve spent the morning “spring cleaning” – getting rid of stuff I no longer use – blogs I don’t write for anymore, links that no longer link anywhere and stuff like that.

This morning about 6:45 after my teenager got on the school bus, I was sitting here drinking my coffee and I just felt kinda bogged down. Not heavy bogged down, but just enough that it caused me to think about things. And I realized that in order to CREATE anything, I have to be willing to LET OTHER THINGS GO. (Of course, I knew that already really, but it was one of those moments like “Well, hey, no time like the present!”)

And so shortly thereafter, I got an email that reminded me about renewing my weight loss blogs domain name and even though I enjoy that blog and I really do intend to write there more often, I made the decision to let it go – to not renew it. Once I had that decision made, it just kind of snow-balled a bunch of other similar decisions and I’ve spent the last while letting go of all kinds of things that simply no longer serve my purpose.

I feel peaceful about this change and I think that’s really helping me feel peaceful about some other changes that I’ve been considering for quite some time. Some HUGE changes, actually.

Now it’s just simply time to get on with it. As much as these other changes will be difficult, I am feeling ok about them in the long run. I know the short term will be rough and I’ll have to make some adjustments, but in the end, I think it’s the choice I have to make.

And I know that’s pretty cryptic – sorry – but I’ll let you know about those things soon. I have to make them happen first before I can really discuss them. But trust me – when the time comes, I will NEED A LOT OF TALKING and I’ll be here saying all that needs to said.

Until then,

Be blessed,

You know, I always imagined that by this time of my life (I’m turning 37 today), I would have things figured out. I would have the life I’d dreamed about since I was young. That I would be well-off, educated, happy, successful. But about a year ago, the reality hit me I was not on target to reach all of those goals by this point in my life.

Frankly, it was a B.I.G. let-down. I’m not going to lie and sugar-coat it. I was unhappy about it. I felt depressed. I felt ashamed. I felt like I’d made a mess of my aspirations. And I was hurting inside. I wanted so much more for myself!

But you know what?

I came to the realization a few months ago that those were my own self-imposed limitations! I had set myself up for the feelings of guilt and shame and powerlessness. I realized sometimes things go a different way than we intend and it’s ok. It doesn’t have to be the end of the world. There’s nothing wrong with that.

So, here’s the deal – I’ve given myself permission to move forward from here and to CREATE new dreams. New intentions. New expectations.

And knowing myself better today than I did all those years ago, I’d say I’m much better prepared to actually become the person I long to be.

There are changes coming. I feel like a I have a second wind, a new beginning. I feel a new strength welling up inside me and I am ready to let everything I have to offer come pouring out to share with the world.

Of course, you know what they say about an overnight success?

It’s years in the making . . .

And now, my years in the making are over.

It all begins today.

Be blessed,

Earlier this year, I wrote about my new ThemeWord for 2010 – CREATE. So far, I must say, I haven’t created much of anything. Mostly as a result of having a house full of sick kids for going on almost 2 weeks now.

And if that weren’t bad enough – when I took them to the doctor Thursday, the doctor thinks my 11 year old son (the autistic one) may be diabetic. Hopefully, we’ll get the necessary tests done this week to find out for sure.

Anyway – back to CREATE. My birthday is coming up this week. I’ll be 37. I usually don’t tell people my age but I’m doing so in the interest of the topic – Reinventing Annie.

Now, don’t worry – I wouldn’t call this a mid-life crisis or something. I just feel like this is my 2nd wind. This is my time.

The first half of my life has been about other people – my family, mostly. Earlier in the scheme of things, it was about school or work or whatever else I’ve done in the past. And now this part of my life is going to be about myself. Not in some conceited, “me first” kind of way – but more like, I am me and this is who I am. This is what I want to do with my life.

I won’t be letting my family define me anymore. I won’t be letting my personal beliefs define me anymore. Nor my parents. Or siblings. Or my work. Or my writing.

This is me on my terms.

And I am Reinventing Annie.

Stay tuned.

Be blessed,

PS – Would you keep my son in your thoughts? He already has so many things in his young life and diabetes might be a hard row to hoe for him if indeed he is diagnosed with it. Thanks! I appreciate it.

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,

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 have a question I’d like to ask you today. And it’s sort of a serious question but before I ask you, let me share a little story.

The last time I wrote here a few weeks ago, I told you about my oldest daughters life threatening experience and how it pushed me into examining a few things in my own life pathway. And as the weeks have passed since then, I’ve sort of let a lot of things just coast – projects I wasn’t into whole-heartedly, books I couldn’t get into fully, tasks that seemed less important. Now, I wouldn’t say I deeply examined each of these areas but I did just sit quietly without distractions at times and just listened to my inner voice.

You know, a lot of people get so caught up in their daily lives – work, commuting, family, Little League, and all those things, that the true meaning of their lives is lost in the fray. Before you know it, life has passed you by and you’re left wondering where it all went.

When I was 18, my niece, with whom I was very close, passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 8 years old. I remember thinking that all the things I wanted to do life paled in comparison to the importance of family and relationships. I remember thinking that the inner voice was my best guide through life and I should listen to it at all times.

Unfortunately, as they say “life gets in the way” and I haven’t always listened to that inner voice. Periodically throughout the years, I’ve stopped to do so and always instantly felt calmer, happier, healthier and more wealthy. But something always distracted me from that. Or, I should say, I allowed myself to be distracted from that.

So, what’s this all about, Annie? I can hear you asking.

Well, it’s simple. The question I want to ask you today is Do you take the time to listen to your inner voice? Do you take the time to know exactly what you want out of life? And to go after it?

Or are you sitting on the sidelines wondering why things don’t go your way? Wondering why you have not yet reached any of those goals and ambitions you held as a young adult?

Let me tell you – it’s not too late to choose the life you want, beginning now. Remember that NOW is all we have. Yesterday is gone forever and tomorrow has not yet arrived.

Today, right now, I am making a pact with you – I will live each day in fulfillment of my desires, going in the direction of my life purpose and mission.

If you’ve looked at my “About” page, you may have seen my mission stated there. It says,

“To use my compassion, writing and intuitive gifts to inspire others to reach their full potential and discover their Personal Power.”

And that’s it. Yours is likely different. It could be to be the best mom or dad you possibly can be. It might be to the best wife or husband possible. Perhaps it’s to help others in some way. Whatever it is, I encourage you to start living your life from it.

Why? Because when you live from your inner-most purpose, everything else falls into place. I’ve seen this in my own life. And I can pinpoint each time I’ve fallen away from that. Things start getting harder, more complicated, less fun. I can always tell when I need to readjust.

I suspect the problem for most people is one of a couple different things –

1. You think things are too far out of whack to get back on the right track.
2. You have no idea where to start or how to get things back on the right track.
3. You have no idea where you’re going in the first place.

Well, I know from personal experience that it’s never too late to get things back on the right track. And that while it may seem like a daunting task to get things going where you want them to go, it’s truly liberating once you’ve begun. All it takes is getting started. Just one step. Then another. And another. And pretty soon, you’re there! And you feel good!

Start today.

We’ll speak again soon,

Annie