My monthly goal check-in looks a little different this month, but I decided I still wanted to do it. Even though we're living through a chapter I know we ALL wish we could skip, I think it's still important to acknowledge some of our wins and progress -- even if it's different than we thought it would be. I'd even argue that it's MORE important right now to give ourselves some credit and grace for what we've made it through so far.

Here are some of the things on my end that are keeping me going as we close out March:

1. Did my best to support friends and family -- a lot of who are on the front lines or working around the clock right now.

2. Survived some really stressful conversations and tough days as a small biz owner and was able to shift our focus to some projects and ideas we had on the backburner at Bold & Pop.

3. Spent more time learning about mindset shifts and took the time to focus on moments of joy each day. Who knew that gratitude journal practice I started last month would be so important now!

4. Focused on showing up even more (digitally of course) for our #GoingBold community members and local business owners to brainstorm and support each other however we can.

5. Put the green light on a fun passion project that Faith and I have been talking about for years!

I know it's been a tough one, but hopefully this will inspire you to acknowledge some of the things you were able to do too. Hang in there guys, I know this is hard on SO many levels, but we're going to get through it! Some way, somehow. Just take it one day at a time.

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Why do I do goal check-ins?

I started doing goal check-ins publically as a personal accountability challenge. Working on my goals and strategies to accomplish them have always been really important and by sharing them I felt an extra weight of commitment. Plus, I wanted a way to try and encourage others to have their own check-ins and keep working on their own goals. Helping others reach their dreams has always felt like my purpose and by being vulnerable and sharing the journey of my own I hope to inspire others as well.

Oh hey #MonthlyGoalCheckin crew, what's up! After a slow-mo start to the year, February definitely picked up the pace! Which was both exciting but also a little nerve-wracking at times. 😳Let me explain.

As I've really leaned into getting my priorities in line and chasing new goals, I've realized how key structure is for me. I've always been an organization nerd but I've kind of taken that to the next level lately by getting intentional about building new habits, managing my schedule and creating systems that support all of the above.

Making improvements is something I'm always working on but I've been giving this more attention lately because I'm entering a really busy season personally. A season that really embraces a lot of the reasons I moved back to Washington and one that I want to be really present for. Something I also want to be able to do without having to push the pause button on other aspects of my life. Basically I just want to do #allthethings!

February was the first test run to see how my efforts would hold up and I have to say, I'm pretty proud of everything that I was able to prioritize. It’s definitely still a work in progress but I was out of town nearly every weekend and had a calendar full of get-togethers with friends, family and biz events and still managed to make a lot of progress without losing my mind (most of the time at least)😜 So that being said, let's celebrate some of this month's highlights..

1. Bold & Pop was interviewed on the Thriving Creative podcast

2. Launched 2 client websites, wrapped up some client design projects and signed 4 new accounts

3. Started a daily intentions/gratitude journal -- thanks Home Goods for the $5 find and nudge to finally give this a shot

4. Planned my sister's baby shower + designed the cutest invites

5. Got my taxes filed + finances in order thanks to the Countless team

6. Survived through week 7 of my new workout plan that has been kicking my bootyyy!

Cheers to another month of progress! Make sure to take some time to celebrate your little and BIG wins in the last month too! 🎉🎉

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Why do I do goal check-ins?

I started doing goal check-ins publically as a personal accountability challenge. Working on my goals and strategies to accomplish them have always been really important and by sharing them I felt an extra weight of commitment. Plus, I wanted a way to try and encourage others to have their own check-ins and keep working on their own goals. Helping others reach their dreams has always felt like my purpose and by being vulnerable and sharing the journey of my own I hope to inspire others as well.

The last two years have been really monumental in getting clear on my priorities and goals and coming up with systems and strategies to actually help me reach them. I always say being a business owner is the toughest personal development challenge you can do and I whole-heartedly believe it. Want to learn your strengths and weaknesses really fast? Start a business. You learn really fast about both when you’re the only one responsible for getting things done. The experience is truly life-changing and I really credit it with also influencing how I’ve approached goal setting the last few years. Each year proves to be another trial and error experience that helps me streamline my process and systems a little better to continue to better my life.

Having a phrase has been something that has really motivated me in previous years, as well as bring my goals together and the phrase I picked for this year is “showing up”. I picked it because when I was working on my goals I realized a lot of them had to do with visibility as well as taking that next step. Showing up for my community, showing up visually in our business marketing and press efforts, and showing up for the next phase of some of my goals that need some extra dedication this year. When the wheels are already in motion, it can be easy to sit back and enjoy the ride a little and my phrase will remind me that I need to show up and give it my all each and every day if I really want to make the progress I’m after.

2019 set a lot of good bones for the lifestyle I want to live so you’ll notice there’s a lot of carryover in what I want to accomplish this year too. Here’s a look at how things breakdown.

Mulah Goals

Let’s jump right into a juicy one and talk moneyyyy! A lot of people like to keep their money private, especially when it comes to their goals and that’s totally fine… but not this girl. We didn’t have money growing up and it was always a sore subject, but as a woman in business, I think it actually needs to be talked about more. Not from a place of fear, greed or bragging, but from a standpoint of stability and using it as a vehicle of empowerment.

That being said, I have 3 main money goals when it comes to 2020:

1. Increase our business net income by an additional 33%

2. Build up my savings

3. Pay off my car loan

As I’m sure you know, buying a house isn’t cheap. so one of my big goals is getting my savings back at a comfortable level. When you’re self-employed your income is often unpredictable so it’s nice to have a healthy cushion so that finances aren’t a stress factor if we have a slower month here or there. On top of a pretty hefty savings goal, I also reallyyyyy want to pay off my car loan this year. I still have 3 years on my loan and a nice chunk of change but it’s my only other debt and biggest bill aside from my mortgage so I’d love to say bye bye to that. Plus, I’d like to free up that money monthly to reallocate for future real estate investments paying more towards my mortgage and investing more into my retirement. 2020 is all about building more stability and putting my money to work.

Prioritize Professional Development

Personal development work has been high on the agenda the last few years, and I want to continue that too, but I also want to focus more on professional development. Something we’re implementing this year at our business is one working day a month dedicated to learning new skills or diving into a current skill further. There are so many things each of us wanttt to learn more but up to this point we’ve been learning on the fly so I’m really excited about scheduling in a dedicated day.

Prioritize Health & Fitness

2020 will be another day of focusing on being a healthier and stronger version of myself. I was on a really great track and then threw in the towel when I jumped into the house-hunting process. For 2020, I want to get back into the healthy routines I started last year including:

• Averaging 3-4 workouts a week (starting with 3 in Q1 and working way up to 4 again)

• Daily walks during the weekdays to hit my 10k step goal — I need to find a new route now!

• Prioritizing drinking more water throughout the day

Hiking is definitely another part of my fitness goals this year.

• Mission to Mailbox Peak is getting carried over into 2020! My goal is to go on 10 training hikes leading up to Mailbox

• I also want to hike Mt. Peak at least once a month

Be More Visible and Personal in Business

This one is new and one that I know I need to push some boundaries. Last year, we had so much growth that I was definitely guilty of putting my head down in our work and wasn’t as visual in our business publically. So why does this matter to me..? Well, I know personally I connect more with business owners when they’re consistently showing up in their marketing and more visual. It’s easy for me to stay behind-the-scenes and this year it’s time to jump back in the spotlight both online and locally.

• Seek out more press and guest blogging opportunities highlighting professional expertise

• Show up on Instagram Stories intentionally for Bold & Pop

• Stretch my professional reach for speaking and networking opportunities

• Prioritize personal branding and blog content

Increase Local Footprint

Now that I’ve put roots down, I’ve noticed I really feel more grounded and am excited about making more connections locally. In 2020, I’d like to dig deeper into being involved in the community as well as expand my footprint professionally and personally. I’m in it for the long-haul in Washington so now it’s time to really spread my wings a little and put myself out there more.

• Continue to attend Tacoma Boss Ladies meet-ups and help out on the social media side

• Become more involved with community garden as social media chair

• Become more visible professionally as an expert in the area

• Explore more local events and businesses in Tacoma to support local

• Visit new places in Washington and the PNW I haven’t been before

• Create more local based content on blog and social media accounts

Lean in to Passion Projects

The last few years, my business has dominated most of my goals (and I love that) this year, I’m going to make another attempt to really lean in to my passion projects too — like this blog! I have so many ideas and things I want to share… but it’s been a goal that I continuously let slide when other things come up and I want to be more intentional about it this year. That includes getting clear on my purpose, creating an actual plan and prioritizing that time.

Read 12 Books Throughout the Year

I’ll be honest, for years while I read a TON at my job… reading a book in my spare time was just not on my radar. Like I hadn’t actually finished more than a few books a year for probably the last decade 😳. In 2019 I changed that by setting a reading goal and I’m setting that goal again in 2020. Another thing I changed was I started reading non-fiction books. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fiction book too (well maybe not as much, since I wasn’t reading them either…) anyways, the point being non-fiction is my jam. I sought out reading books on topics I was interested in or curious about. I didn’t always love every book, but having this goal helped me push through the giving up part and I pushed through them.

Prioritize Relationships and Being Thoughtful with Time

Being intentional with my time in 2020 is going to be important and I look forward to implementing some of the systems I worked out last year. Having systems that work when you use them is SO key and I think that’s why a lot of my goals are continuations because I finallyyyy found some things that worked for me. This year I want to prioritize:

• Monthly date nights

• Monthly girl time

• Time with my family

• Intentional with travel and trips

Try 5 New Things this Year

This has been one of my favorite goals each year! It might be something you already do naturally but having a minimum number I want to hit has helped me pay attention to making time for new things. It’s also led to finding things I really enjoy like hiking and kayaking. I have a few ideas in mind but we shall see where 2020 takes me!

Embrace Rest

I’m starting to wonder if rest is going to be a thing in 2020 after writing out all of these goals! Ha… While I’m most successful with things when I have structure I’m working on listening to when I just need some rest and the most important part of that — not feeling guilty for it. That’s the big one! I know I’m most successful when I’ve built-in good structure and systems so here are some things I’m doing this year:

• Taking a minimum of 20 days off from work this year — We’re taking a reverse approach to time off at Bold & Pop this year. I know 20 days isn’t even that crazy but it turns out we take a lot less time off than we thought we do so setting a minimum is forcing us to actually plan ahead and take time off. It turns out our business doesn’t totally burn down when one of us steps away and instead we could really benefit from that time

• Actually take lunch breaks — Clearly we’re really tough bosses 🙈I never got lunch breaks when I worked at an agency and that bad habit just compounded when we started our business now going on 5 years ago. This year, we’re going to work on actually taking lunch breaks and shutting our computers down during that time.

• Summer Fridays, year-round — Summer Fridays are really big on the east coast and this year we decided we wanted to extend them year-round as much as possible. It’s only a few extra hours (we close up shop at 2pm EST on Fridays) but it’s been SUCH a nice treat and something we’re going to try to keep going with.

• Self-care days — I started having “Anna Days” last year which are planned alone time each month and it’s been such a good thing for my mental health and something I’ll be continuing

Whew, okay that’s a lot but I have a big vision for my life and I’m not slowing down anytime soon!