January 1, 2019, a day like any other day. Or is it?

Culturally, it represents so much… new beginnings, new dreams, new goals, new resolutions, new adventures… it’s like a reset for your life.

I’ve never been a fan of resolutions. But, when I started following Chris Brogan many years ago, I really liked his yearly reset with “My 3 Words.”  It makes more sense to me for setting intentions for the next 365 days. Choosing three words to shape the year ahead provides a roadmap and can be applied consistently to projects, relationships, business, and adventures.

Last year I chose 3 words. I wasn’t entirely successful in achieving what I intended, but they did provide a Northstar for me.

I’m back at it for 2019 and have been mulling words for the past few days. Slowly, words come into my consciousness and they roll around as I consider their meaning and how they relate to my life as it is in the moment and how I’d like it to evolve in the next twelve months.

As 2019 dawned, I realized I had my words and they make sense for me. One of them, I felt might be too negative. But on reflection, I don’t think it is and it supports the other two words. 

My 3 Words

Without further ado, I present My 3 Words for 2019 and what they mean to me…

EXPAND

As 2018 wound down, Affiliation was making its mark on me. As 2019 winds up, expansion is calling. I have a long-time affiliation with my good friend and colleague Ellen Britt. In August I joined her in a new venture that started me on the road to better health by starting an intermittent fasting practice. Ellen invited me to partner with her in building and hosting an Intermittent Fasting group for Entrepreneurs on Facebook that has grown quickly to nearly 700 active members. We have big plans for expanding the group and we have a secret project we’ll be unveiling in the first quarter of the year. 

I have big plans for expanding my business as well, focusing more on the Marketing Trailblazers Community I launched last year and starting a new side gig… as an independent travel consultant. 

The MT Community is growing and we’ve added new features that are rolling out in 2019. The side gig is just about ready to launch and expands my knowledge (big time!), my desire to travel, and helping others discover the joy of adventure. Stay tuned for details!

I also plan on expanding the number of adventures I have and my first big one of the year is accompanying a group to my favorite country for a trek to Machu Picchu in Peru. 

ELIMINATE

This is the word I was concerned would be too negative. However, I realize it supports EXPAND. Whether it’s my business or my life, there’s plenty I need to eliminate in order to give full attention to the areas I want to expand.

It will only help me to eliminate projects, software, social platforms, and piles of out of date content that no longer serve me and get in the way of creating clarity about new ideas.

I also still have some weight to eliminate and Intermittent Fasting is helping me get there. I lost 27 pounds in 2018 and have about 10 more to go.

FOCUS

Focus supports EXPAND and ELIMINATE. Without it, getting where I want to go will be messy. Focus is also critical in my personal life: with family and helping my aging mother; with my friends who I love dearly and make my life so rich; with my colleagues who I adore; and my clients who I cherish. Focus means keeping my commitments (not getting distracted) and making the people in my life high priority and the rest will fall into place.

Your Turn and What’s Next?

After you’ve claimed your three words, or set your intentions for the year, or identified the goals you want to achieve, what’s next?

What I’m doing, is creating a list of habits I want to develop that supports my direction for the year. I’m mapping out my calendar and identifying when and with whom I want to work. I’m itemizing the action steps required to realize the consolidated program schedule (and the promotion) I want to offer and then getting those steps on the calendar. I anticipate this will help keep me on track a bit better than usual. My first quarter is already shaping up to be incredibly productive and exciting. 😉 

How do you set yourself up for success? What are your rituals or the steps you take? Share in the comments below if you wish. If you need some help developing your plan, I’d be happy to speak with you.

The post My Three Words – A Roadmap for 2019 appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.

“If you don’t know where you are going, you’ll end up someplace else.” ~ Yogi Berra

You’ve probably heard or read Berra’s quote more than once. It sounds funny, and it’s absolutely true.

The last few months I’ve been working with a group who want to trek to Machu Picchu in 2019. They know where they want to go. So it’s simple to create a step by step plan to get them to their desired destination: selecting dates, working with the trekking company to develop an itinerary, booking flights, hotels and all the rest of the cool experiences they’ll have along the way.

Imagine if they had only told me they wanted to hike in Peru. Without any more information, I might have created an adventure tour that included trekking to Huascarán, the highest peak in Peru and definitely more strenuous than getting to Machu Picchu. And, not what they had in mind. 

But without knowing where they want to go, I would have to make assumptions and hope I get it right. Imagine the group’s disappointment when they didn’t end up at Machu Picchu!

The same is true with your business.

If you don’t have a plan for where you want to go, you’ll end up someplace else.

And it might not be what you imagined. It’s likely you’ll fall short of your expectations because there’s no clear path to meet them.

• You want to create an online course, but you don’t have a step by step plan to create, promote and deliver it.
• You want to increase your revenue by 30%, but you have no idea what actions to take to achieve that goal.
• You want to write a book, but you don’t have a marketing plan to implement once it’s published.

To support you in this endeavor, I’m facilitating a 2019 Q1 Planning Workshop designed to help you plot a plan of action for what you want to accomplish in the first 90 days of 2019.

On January 3, the (virtual) Planning Workshop is focused on creating your marketing plan and implementation timeline through March 31, 2019.

The time is now to start preparing for your Q1 programs.

In a small group, you’ll focus on what you want to accomplish in the first quarter of 2019 and the specific action plan to make it happen.

Here are the details:

• We meet on Zoom for 4 hours on Thursday, January 3, 2019, from 8 am to 12 pm Pacific time/ 11 am to 3 pm Eastern time. There will be time for breaks.
• We will look at where you are now in your business, where you want to be on March 31, 2019, and map out the path for you to get there.
• The Q1 Planning Workshop will be a blend of mastermind, facilitated exercises, ideas, advice, and Q&A. You will get worksheets to use throughout the planning process.
• We’ll identify what you need in order to meet your first quarter goals: resources, tools, skills, partners and your timeline of actions.
• My intention is for you to leave the Q1 Planning Workshop with a customized, actionable plan for boosting the visibility of your business, marketing your programs and services, and attracting more opportunities. This is a Get It Done workshop.
• Depending on the size of the group, time may allow for individual attention during Q&A while also enjoying support and wisdom from your posse.
• The session will be recorded so you can reference it when you need to.

January 3, 2019
8 am PT – 12 pm PT / 11 am ET – 3 pm ET

You have two options:

$97 for the 4-hour Workshop: Click here to register

$197 for Workshop + 60-minute private consultation to discuss your plan and get individualized help: Click here to register

This focused time together will set you up with the support, tools, and motivation you need to start your new year on a high note.

Sound good? Pick the option that works best for you and let’s get started!I’ll work with you to map the path to make your 2019 Q1 productive and profitable and look forward to sharing this adventure with you!

Wishing you a happy and peaceful New Year!  😀 

Denise

P.S. If you’d prefer to do a one on one strategic planning day, schedule a 20-minute discovery session and we’ll chat about how we can do that together.

P.P.S. Here’s what Georgia had to say after attending a Strategic Planning workshop in August:

“Just finished Denise’s Strategic Master Plan Think Tank and it was amazing! So much accomplished. I am set until 2019. The handouts alone were worth the admission. And, Denise’s warm, intelligent insights always push my business forward by a magnitude.”

The post Where is your business headed in 2019? appeared first on Adventures in Visibility.