I spent the majority of my December mornings working on my 2024 planner. I’ve been planning, organising, scheduling, drafting and writing in an attempt to get myself in good shape for the year ahead.
Planners Galore!
For the first time since 2017 (when I bought my first planner) I started filling in my planner BEFORE the start of the new year. For some reason I thought it would be bad luck if I used my new planner early. What a load of old twaddle that was! Frankly I think I must have been a little delusional but it’s tame compared some of the other things I’ve convinced myself of recently.
Overwhelmed
Before now I was always hesitant to open my new planner before the turn of the year. I’d leave it in its “do not bend” envelope (sometimes I’d put it under the Christmas tree like a little gift from me to me) and hope that somehow all the answers would be held within it when I opened it on Christmas morning. My very own little Christmas miracle. I thought I’d somehow spoil the magic if I opened it early. This year, however I decided to approach things differently.
It Doesn’t Matter…
The truth was, there was no magic spell to spoil. There was a pretty planner with lots of colourful sections and pages of advice but there was no magic formula that would TELL ME WHAT TO DO! I recently heard someone say, “It doesn’t matter what strategy you use, as long as you actually use it!” and that struck a nerve with me. I’ve been buying these planners (which were not cheap!) with all these brilliant addons like Facebook groups, vision board pages, social media strategy sections, the list goes on and on and I wasn’t using any of them. It was almost like I didn’t want to ruin their pretty pages with my scribbles so I’d just avoid them and only use the diary pages. If I even used them!
It Works If You Work It
I’ve discovered through this awful process of waste and worry, that all the help and advice is brilliant but if you’re too afraid to use it, well, it’s useless! ANY PLAN is better than no plan and almost ANYTHING WILL WORK IF YOU PUT IN THE EFFORT. So, this year is all about the effort! I’m using my energy to build my business and focus on getting better and pushing myself to do new things.
Do You Have “The Fear”?
I’m a terrible over-thinker, over-planner, over-learner and procrastinator extraordinaire! I have an Olympic fear of failure that puts me in the “I might as well not even try” gold medal category. I can’t say for certain what has changed in my mind this year. To be honest, I don’t want to examine it too deeply in case I jinx it but I’m feeling super energised to work on my business. I don’t want “The Fear” to hold me back anymore. The only way I’ll truly fail is if I fail to try…and I’ve been proving myself right on that front for years now.
OMG What A Waste
It turns out that I’ve wasted hundreds of pounds on really useful stuff just because I was scared I’d ruin it with my own ideas. Well…not this year. This year I ordered a cheep as chips planner with the basic stuff in it and I’ve been planning up an absolute storm since the day it was delivered! Coloured pens, sticky notes, ideas from old planners, I’ve got them all out and I pick’n’mixed every idea I thought was helpful and filled in my January monthly schedule to see how it looked. It looked FULL! So I kept going and filled in more and more. It got quite addictive after the first couple and I stopped having to push myself to keep going.
No Waiting Around
I’ve realised as a solopreneure that no-one is going to come along and tell me what to do! There is no BIG BOSS, no agreed schedule of work, no plan. Unless I create a schedule, plan for myself and work the darned thing out as I go. We’ll see what works and what doesn’t then adapt it as I go along, because I’m making the rules, because…
I AM THE BIG BOSS
WOW that’s a little scary! Even just writing that down gives me the collywobbles. But essentially it’s true. If I want my business to work (and I do) I’m going to have to take charge and give it all I’ve got. I’ve spent way too long sitting around waiting for… do you know, I”m not sure what I was waiting for! Someone clever to come along and tell me what to do every day like they did when I had a “proper job”. Wake up, Vivienne, that’s not going to happen!!!!
Moving Forward
So now I am planning everything I can. I’m scheduling or drafting as many social media things as I can so I don’’t need to spend hours everyday worrying about what to post. My monthly planner has loads of content so I can see what I need to do each day/month and when. I’m doing my best to keep to a new schedule (Admi-rnings and Crafter-noons as Ben has nicknamed them!) and I’m keeping to it so far. Granted it’s the second of January and I may be a little premature in thinking this is working! But we all need to start somewhere, right?
Accountability Partners
Okay, so here’s where you can join in the madness with me. I’m looking for some accountability partners. I was thinking that, if there are any like minded solopreneurs, side hustlers or business toe-dippers out there, we could help each other to stay on course. We can keep in touch with each other and share the ups and downs and scary moments. We can have someone to run ideas with and cheer each other on when we’re feeling a little less than stellar. Being a solopreneure can be a lonely business so if there is anyone out there feeling the same as me, perhaps we can be there for each other.
Get In Touch
Email me at vivienne@littlepromisescrochetcrafts.com and we’ll see what comes of the next 12 months together.
Thank you for reading to the end you lovely person. You have no idea how happy this makes me. If you enjoyed this post you can find more here.
Until next time,
Be productive, be brilliant, be kind
Love,
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