How has your week been?

I’ve been digging out of a hole, from being both exhausted and behind on my todo list.

(Last week, I had to deep clean my house all of a sudden due to a problem and it was a lot.)

I am starting to recover and it feels like maybe I am on the other side popping out better than ever.

My trust in hope for good things coming from the universe at large

took a hit last week

but now it’s better than before.

Healing truly is not a linear process.

…

I’ve been craving talking about something.

Today I wanted to pop in to revisit some ideas I have shared previously and strike up this question:

How well do you communicate with yourself?

I think this question is so key and it has been a focus of my entire life and work.

Writing + Organizing

My life felt like a mess by the end of college, I couldn’t get over that my boss stole money from me.

When I graduated college, I felt lost on my next steps so I started writing every day.

​See my video or article about that: “My boss stole from me so I started writing daily. Then this happened.”​

Writing in particular was the gateway drug.

It was what helped me begin to listen to myself better.

I hadn’t even realized that we (me + me) were not communicating well.

And I’ve come to appreciate the tool of writing more and more over the years.

​Writing is a passion because it’s all about being a best friend to myself. (Here’s an article about that).​

And organizing for me is a passion for similar reasons.

Organizing my words was a natural next step as a writer.

Originally, I got into organizing because I ended up writing every day for years,

writing in such quantities I could not find anything any more. I had so many ideas that felt like they were falling in the cracks.

What I learned after a few years of embracing organizing is that it’s really all about:

valuing your ideas and making it so you can return to them later, aka basically talking to yourself in the future.

Think about it this way:

If you are disorganized, how can you trust that you can talk to your future self?

That she will get the message?

You can’t so you might not trust her in the future to follow through on important things.

​Here’s a podcast I did on this idea that organization is self care that will give you a better relationship with yourself.​

Having a good relationship with yourself is also a part of having clarity,

knowing what to do next in your life, book, business or creative practice. I believe you can do it by listening to both yourself and

what the things you are creating want you to do next.

​(I talked about that recently in a recent free class I did on finding your priorities.)​

It’s all about listening. Communicating.

You + you.

YALL THIS THEME IS ENDURING FOR ME

This question of how well you relate to yourself is at the crux of everything I help people do.

That includes coaching people to write for a book or business, organizing their ideas. Editing books and copywriting. Helping with marketing, productivity, business and project management.

Not to mention helping people heal from things like trauma and loss, which I always seem to do along the way of whatever I do even though I am not a therapist (I do have a masters in spiritual care though). Helping you find clarity in your life or work, listening to your intuition and what you discover through writing and organizing.

Also, I don’t talk about my love of Tarot because I know may seem random…

I used to offer intuitive readings all the time and my intuition is spot-on, if I do say so myself. (I gave out free Tarot readings to people who donated to my fundraiser to send 2 young women in Sierra Leone, Africa pay for college this spring….)

The truth is, I got good at it by learning to listen to myself. And when people tune into a good intuitive reading they start hearing their own intuition, and things that have been lurking under the surface for a while that they just couldn’t articulate / needed to confirm. Trust me, for the last 15+ years everything I’ve done is all about helping you (and me) have a good relationship with ourselves.

AND IT IS NEEDED

Women especially have SUCH a hard time with this because we are socialized to think of ourselves last. But it affects really cool dudes, too.

My learning about this

This topic of having a good relationship with ME has been an ongoing focus of mine for the last few years,

and I’ve talked about it in various ways (as you can see). Here are a just a few more:

• ​How it Went: ​ My 2023 Goal to Have a Better Relationship With Myself
• ​1 Thing I Learned in 2023 about life​: your relationship with yourself might not be all about you.

And trying to have a better relationship with myself may never end.

It’s not over! It’s never over! It is at the heart of the things I am working on behind the scenes in my own life to this day…

RIGHT NOW.

It is still my goal of the year to focus on my relationship with myself (yes, 2024 is the second year that I am focusing on this).

And the status?

Things are going well and I am learning a lot. About what helps me thrive.

And how to help myself feel good and motivated to move towards those important things I want done.

​(See my overview of what my process is and what is working for me super well in my life and work now, if you missed my email last week.)

​

SOCIAL MEDIA

And finally….

Part of having a good relationship with myself is noticing what makes me feel off.

In late July/ August I had to admit that all the craziness happening in the United State politically was getting me on social media a ton and thus more anxious and upset.

I worked to get the heck off –which was good…of course, lately I notice myself creeping back on at times.

It’s hard to eliminate completely because sometimes dipping a toe in is totally fine and fun. And I have so many good friends and contacts online I don’t want to lose, either. But of course…when I find myself mad about something I saw online or thinking about it at 3 AM that’s my evidence that I was playing with fire.

Anyway, this is not a new concept for me, but I need periodic reminders.

Here’s a clip of an email I sent in 2022 on the topic:

……

Are you spending a lot of time online, on your phone or social media?

Does it leave you feeling bored or off?

You might want to try this trick I used to make sure I am really filling my tank with what I really need, not just consuming crap that does not really fulfill me. ​

I noticed after I lost my father in 2021 that I was scrolling through social media and just feeling bad.

I had to ask myself, “Is this helping me or hurting me?” ​ ​ I decided to institute a new practice for a while called “microjournaling” which I heard about from a youtube video by Struthless talking about quitting social media ​in this video​. ​ ​​ ​

What I did:

​ For a month, every time I picked up my phone to scroll, instead I wrote a sentence about how I felt in a notes application.

I used one called Google Keep.

If you want to try it, you could do this anywhere you can keep a written or digital note, like Obsidian, Notion or Apple Notes. ​

What I learned:

​ I discovered I often picked up my phone and craved going on social media when I felt sad and just wanted a distraction. ​ But this was problematic.

If I went on social media while sad, I could easily see something that would make me feel worse, or at the very least,

it wasn’t really going to make me feel better.

In this period of my life, distraction from my feelings wasn’t going to help me process them.

So I decided that when I feel sad, I will refrain from going on social media. I decided to take a break for about a month and removed pressure to post for my business. I just let people know I needed a break for a while. ​

I kept up the practice of journaling when I wanted to go on social media.

And then something changed!!​ ​

After a while, in my microjournaling I noticed I suddenly wanted to go on social media for the purpose of creating and sharing. That was new, and it seemed fun and creative, which was positive for me, rather than a negative thing. ​ So I started experimenting with making videos and pictures to share my life in an authentic way just to connect with my people. That has felt really good.

​That was a good lead in to the new personal vlog I created about the lessons from grieving my dad for a year. I’m so glad I created that, it was really meaningful.

​

​These days I am not as rigid about microjournaling and sometimes I find myself scrolling for 20 minutes and still feeling bored—but I will notice and be like,

ok what’s going on here? What am I really wanting?

I don’t always know what I want or what I need

but stopping the scroll and doing something else usually helps me figure it out. ​

I’m figuring out how to balance everything along side you, but I thought I would share in case it helps you!

Next time you feel bored or off, try writing a sentence about how you feel, or asking yourself, “What am I really wanting or needing right now?”

It is okay to be with those feelings even if you don’t have all the answers quite yet.

I trust you will get closer to those answers in the end by being more connected to yourself.

​

…

Hope this inspires you. If you need more, look into the resources below!

Become the put together person of your dreams!

Want to get organized? Put ideas, notes, documents, + journals in order?

Make books, articles, emails, blogposts out of them? Achieve your goals faster than before? ​

If you are ready to put your random post its, notes, documents, articles, and ideas in one place

so you can make faster progress on your writing or business projects…

The 3 Month Fall Digital Organization Club is calling you!

​​Click to read more, you can still join.

As you might have noticed, I’m someone who has a lot of goals, who really wants to make progress on them…

and I’m also human.

And so all of this has been a journey, especially in the last few years since 2021, when life got hard, my dad died, etc.

I used to have boundless energy, which suddenly turned into a thimble full of capacity.

I have needed to pay extra, extra extra attention to what I’m doing and how I’m doing it.

As my capacity has gradually started expanding over the years (still limited though), it has taught me a lot.

It given me a little bit more of a fine tuned lens on things that I didn’t need as much support on when I was feeling 100%

Now that I’m operating on less than that,

I want to make things as easy for myself as possible and not rely on things that I can’t control to go perfectly,

like my sleep level,

my energy level,

my positivity level,

my mood and my health.

Everything is connected…

So I’ve been really paying attention to the process of how I do things,

because although life can’t be 100% optimized, I want to move in that direction.

To provide a softer landing for all the times when life is not 100% good or I don’t feel 100% well.

I want to move into higher percentages, even if it’s only 10% or something, hell, I will take 2% increase.

But I am really excited to share that I am finally narrowing in on how to bounce up a large chunk of percentage points.

I have made some recent changes to my life, and it feels like I’m on to something now.

The beginning

It started when I noticed that feeling unmotivated was a really big problem for me.

As a former workaholic speed demon, a sense of reluctance to do things is very foreign.

​And yet I noticed this persistent stuck, unmotivated vibe in late May. (You might have read about it.)​

And so I became really invested in trying to be more motivated since and have been writing about what I am learning on the journey.

In working on feeling motivated and fired up, rather than expecting that motivation to just be there (like it used to be),

​The core of these efforts is contained in a notebook, basically, a commonplace notebook which I define here.​

The book

This is a physical disc-bound notebook where I put important notes

that will get me fired up, help me advance my goals and other wise feel motivated to do things.

I call it my GET FIRED book. It’s supposed to be like a book version of drinking coffee.

I have collected these notes from my digital organization system

as well as written many things by hand.

I flip through this notebook daily so I spend time reviewing it every day,

thus reminding myself of things to help me get fired up and remain motivated.

Side note: although I have a high preference for things being digital because its so much easier to organize, archive and review over the long term…

When something is really important for me to focus on in the short term,

having it in physical form as well helps my brain.

That could mean printing it and putting it on my desk. I can’t look at a screen constantly and paper gives me pleasure.

So as I combine the benefits of the best of digital and paper worlds,

this has sparked me to attend to read my important ideas more often and

resulted in a pivotal change

The process

So what this looks like is picking things out to print out:

pieces of my notes and writing to read or review or highlight,

worksheets from classes made by others or things I make myself.

When I put printouts in my notebook

I add in my handwritten notes,

blank sheets to journal about things I want to dig into specifically,

handwritten lists like ideas for self care or

todo lists for the week for certain projects…

whatever inspires me, all in one place.

And every day I promise myself I will flip through it.

Because I am now looking at the right things, the right notes, each day,

it has helped me to move forward on whatever project I choose to arrange these things around.

I enjoy looking at it in the morning at my desk or outside on my balcony with a coffee.

It’s amazing to make something for yourself, like a book or a resource that you can hold on your hands tangibly.

We underplay how your notes or writing can be worth printing.

Paper and digital can be friends:

Using the best of your writings on your computer or phone, as well as things that you hand write, it can all come into one place.

And anything you have written by hand or annotate can go back on the computer later.

Print and digital work well together.

So they’re both intangibly part of my process.

This is my happy place.

What I’m Learning

And this is what my notebook sparked: a series of learning points.

Since I began my notebook dedicated to motivation, I added notes on Brendon Burchard’s book the Motivation Manifesto.

Burchard says motivation requires: ​

A. Ambition (a choice to do more) and ​ ​B. Expectancy (belief that what you want is possible).

I saw these notes a lot through reviewing my GET FIRED Common Place Book and eventually I couldn’t deny that optimism was the main motivation ingredient that I lacked.

Over time I began to accept that this was the cornerstone of my motivation problem:

I didn’t really have optimism. And hadn’t since 2021.

I think for me, my normal level of optimism is pretty high, and so

even if I feel middling optimism, I probably seem sunny from the outside.

But inside it is not enough. It didn’t feel right.

I trust myself that I know best what I feel and what I need as a unique individual.

In July, I started using a page in my notebook to track my mood daily, giving each mood a color.

I could quickly see that I rarely felt happy. Like actually happy.

And when was it last a regular feeling?

2020 when I fell in love with my husband, before my dad died.

Obviously I had every reason to feel bad after my dad died suddenly in 2021.

And I knew I felt worse.

But seeing it with your eyes is different.

I just thought, “right, that’s something that I want to work on.”

Given that any change requires me to do something and

That requires motivation and

motivation requires optimism…

Optimism seemed like a good place to start.

By the way not blindly optimistic. I really want to see whatever bad things I can avoid, because bad shit can happen.

Still it’s possible to think things can still go in a positive direction regardless.

The Optimism Challenge

To work on being optimistic, I set myself a challenge: a 30 Day Optimism Challenge.

For a while I was a bit aimless, but then I decided to announce it publicly in August.

​As part of this I taught a class and created a workbook that I could use, and share with other people​.

Printing out the workbook and adding it to my notebook gave my personal optimism challenge structure.

I followed the process step by step (utilizing what I know about forming habits as a writing coach.)

And I just finished the 30 day challenge last week.

Over this past month, I tracked a noticeable increase in my optimism level.

I tracked my optimism levels every day and took notes.

In addition to daily tracking I also did a weekly review

specifically exploring what was hard and easy about being optimistic that week and

what I could do or change the next week.

If you’ve never had a practice of reviewing your week with a series of questions, it can be a wonderful way to lock in memories, and learn from your experiences.

Adding questions to that review week after week to inquire about the changes you want to make, is a game changer.

I even have transcribed much of what I wrote down and added it to my digital archive

so that I never forget the insights I have been learning in this process.

I especially like to transcribe my weekly reviews.

I usually prefer to read these out loud into a transcription app several weeks later because it helps me remember it better longterm.

I can remind myself of the powerful insights that I began to forget

(it is amazing how quickly that forgetting happens, none of us are immune!)

For instance as I went into the final 2 weeks of the challenge,

I transcribed the reviews from the first half as a way to remember what I had learned so far

—reviewing the written weekly reviews.

Reviewing your reviews is not overkill. It is smart.

There are always pieces that pertain to goals, action steps, themes or topics that deserve more attention.

I want to keep track of my insights.

Sometimes what I read from several weeks ago can be applied immediately.

Some of that information ends up being added somewhere in an archive.

In the Summer Digital Organization Club, I shared how I have a note that serves as a hub for all of my goals for the year.

(That class and all classes from summer are now a bonus for fall members)

I try to update this central goal hub note whenever I write about goals

in my daily journal or my weekly reviews,

as all of that is enduring information I don’t want to forget about later.

I may not think about every goal I have day to day, but I will see it regularly.

Each month I reread that note about my goals, as well as my review from the last few weeks, month or season. I periodically review that kind of stuff.

And it feels good. This is definitely coming along in terms of a system.

Takeaways

I know because of this system I have, I’m probably always going to remember this time in my life.

There are dreams that have been lurking for years and feeling impossible that I am slowly turning into action.

I have a growing feeling in my life that I actually have some power and control over things (crazy I know).

I really can choose want to focus on and I trust in time I will see it improve.

I’ve noticed more optimism, more spontaneity, more joy, less anxiety, more hope and purpose.

If you are trying to initiate a change

I will share what helps me in terms of a mindset to begin:

It doesn’t need to be neat, it doesn’t need to be cute.

I repeat, to start it doesn’t need to be cute.

Sometimes you do it in an uncute way for a while and then it becomes cute.

My notebook was something I bought years ago that I repurposed and

gradually I’ve been adorning it in pretty pictures to display how sacred it really is to me.

If you want to write, get organized, change, or start system or program of some kind…

remember it doesn’t need to be neat and doesn’t need to be cute.

It just needs to be there so you can get started.

You can decorate and embroider your ideas, your notes or whatever you are working on…later.

When I reread my writing or notes, I can highlight or add an idea.

When I transcribe them, it inspires me to talk more about something or add new pieces of information.

When I go through an experience like giving myself a challenge, I see what works and changes each week and what doesn’t.

I tweak as I go.

Nothing about my process started perfectly, but I got started and bit by bit everything is getting better then it was before.

…

Hope this inspires you. If you need more, look into the resources below!

Click here to get the Workbook & Resources to

do your own 30 Day Optimism Challenge

Become the put together person of your dreams!

Want to get organized? Put ideas, notes, documents, + journals in order?

Make books, articles, emails, blogposts out of them? Achieve your goals faster than before? ​

If you are ready to put your random post its, notes, documents, articles, and ideas in one place

so you can make faster progress on your writing or business projects…

The 3 Month Fall Digital Organization Club is calling you!

​​Click to read more, you can still join.​

Thanks for reading!

How are you doing?

I’m hanging in there!

It has been a busy start to September and I’m trying to balance my self care and my work.

Today I’m sharing a relieved phrase repeated from entrepreneurs, writers or creators

“I finally don’t feel alone.”

Sometimes accompanied by happy tears.

These words are from creative folks who finally learned the secret weapon to making meaningful progress on work that matters.

It’s the escape hatch from a very real problem in creative work, books and business.

This sense of being alone in your work, it’s so pervasive:

-It’s all on you. If you don’t know what to do next, who will?

-If you don’t do it all, it won’t get done.

-How are you going to do it all?

-Why didn’t you do it yet, like yesterday?!

It’s a lot of responsibility, all on you.

It feels heavy like a ton of bricks.

You can try to stop feeling alone in your book or business by hiring another human… BUT there are risks.

It could be good, OR

maybe you follow the wrong guide or guru,

You could be out thousands of dollars and

still not know what to do, or

worse, end up in the totally wrong direction.

I know the struggle

as a seasoned writer, creator and entrepreneur myself.

I spent the money, wasted the time, got the t-shirt,

but I did figure a way out of this.

And for 10 years +

I’ve been an ethical companion to writers and workers on this creative journey, people:

-writing a book about their passion,

-crafting a bio and service description for their sidehustle or

-marketing their small business online full time.

The thing I learned is that none of this has to be ALL ON YOU.

If you are taking the entire creative process onto your own shoulders.

You are missing the best part!!

What if there is someone you can talk to who

ALWAYS knows what you should do next on your business or projects?

And no, I’m not talking about myself!

I’m here to tell you the real secret weapon to getting results that matter

Is LISTENING to what your project wants.

This is what I call:

CONNECTING TO THE SOUL OF WHAT YOU CREATE.

Your book

Your business

Your website

Same thing goes for any life change or creative practice,

This is the magic of the creative process!

What you want has a soul, a voice, and

it can help you be productive AF.

And it is also smarter than you and sees your blindspots.

SO

Whatever you are trying to create, maybe you are not alone.

Maybe something has been trying to help you and work with you all this time…

it isn’t on you to figure it all out by yourself.

If you want help figuring out what to do next

so you can juggle all the things and

make progress in your book or business,

WATCH THE FREE CLASS BELOW.

I’m teaching how to tap into this soul for your project in my class “Find Your Priorities,”

now available for free below

& to get additional support

read about my latest offerings below

Including a brand new 8 Week Business From Soul Intensive

Free Class Replay

Does your todo list feel like an endless black hole?

That’s okay! Watch the replay for this free class:

Identify what is meaningful for you to work on this week

from the most authentic, soulful place and connection to the work you are here to do.

Know What to Do Next &

Simplify the things you need to do,

with less overwhelm and analysis paralysis.

In this FREE 45 minute class entitled “Find My Priorities”,

you will learn to tap into the soul of your book, business or creative practice

to have a clear and profound sense of what to do next

so you can make faster progress.

Plus you will no longer feel alone!

Know what to do next in your writing, business or creative work by tapping into your soul

Watch the the free “Find My Priorities” Class below or click here to see it on Youtube

NEW

8 Week Business From Soul Intensive

For small business owners + creatives or writers

with LOTS to do this fall

If you don’t want to be adrift, distracted, or doing things that don’t matter this fall +

You want to make faster progress while honoring your mental and physical health, +

tapping into the inspiration of your soul

Let’s join forces to move the needle in a big way for your book, business or writing this fall.

Includes:

-8 weekly group calls like the Priorities class above on Tuesdays, 11 AM EST (with replay)

-6 weeks of personal mentorship with me via weekly virtual checkins over voxer or email..

-Access to the Fall Digital Organization Club (or credit if you already signed up).

A $700 value now only…

$300

or payment plans available

If you need a buddy as you tackle your todolist, a coach, a cheerleader,

someone who has been helping writers and business owners to do meaningful work for over 10 years,

Please contact me to see if you are a good fit for this program!

The sooner you reach out, the sooner you can make faster progress on the things that really matter.

Contact me to talk about the 8 week intensive.

Become the put together person of your dreams!

The Fall Digital Organization Club is about to start

Want to get organized?

Put ideas, notes, documents, + journals in order?

Make books, articles, emails, blogposts out of them?

Achieve your goals faster than before? ​

If you are ready to put your random post its, notes, documents, articles, and ideas in one place

so you can make faster progress on your writing or business projects…

The 3 Month Fall Digital Organization Club is calling you!

It’s only $90 or

3 payments of $33

​​Click to read more–we start on September 18th​

Thanks for reading!

Lots of love, courage & mermaid vibes,

How’s the first week of September treating you?

I know. September happened fast.

ME: I’m trying to enjoy being outside as much as I can

because winter comes early.

It might snow in October, it’s that kind of cold.

But I want to take a minute today to talk about perfectionism.

You think you know all about it, already, but you don’t!

Perfectionism is the sort of thing that you KNOW exists,

and we all think we know everything about it already.

But it’s sneaky.

It has subtleties you can miss.

So many of my organization and writing students,

entrepreneurs and creators,

have told me that I help them break through perfectionism.

And it’s a game changer because

suddenly. you. make. so. much. progress.

in so much less time.

So it’s worth looking again to see if perfectionism really ISN’T sneaking up on you.

Could it be blocking progress for your fall business, writing, or creative goals?

Hmmm?

​I made a 1 minute video on how perfectionism blocks people from getting organized.​

Whatever system you want to make, or improvement, or goal to achieve,

perfectionism creates a feeling of ALL or nothing.

You have to meet a really high expectation or else it’s not worth it to try.

I want you to challenge this assumption this week.

Watch out for the sneaky ways perfectionism has stopped you.

For instance one of my blocks has been needing

the next thing I work on to be exactly the right thing.

And sometimes I play ball with that because I don’t want to waste my time.

I’ve developed a toolbox of methods to discern my priorities

and what to do next

(which I’m teaching in a free class next Tuesday the 10th, more on that below).

But the thing is that sometimes, it really doesn’t have to be 100% RIGHT.

Not from the start.

Sometimes you just need to do SOMETHING and START.

This week, I’m letting myself break free and follow my spontaneity.

I’m leaning into distraction.

I’m letting myself go on a walk, or do what I feel like,

even if it feels like a distraction from my real work.

It gives me energy.

And I just do stuff so perfectionism isn’t stealing that energy from me.

PERFECTIONISM WASTES OUR TIME AND ENERGY.

We know this.

In classes for organizing, I often set a timer and challenge my group

to work with our notes, journals, ideas and files

for only a small chunk of time, like 10 minutes.

I’ve done the same in my writing classes, and this is what I find:

Sometimes we do more in 10 minutes than we could have done in an hour.

WHY?

Because in a 10 minute timed segment

there’s no time for facebook scrolling, or checking your email,

You Just Do the Thing Already.

So if you get stuck, try just setting a timer for 10 minutes and JUST DO something!

And if you need help or want to join my groups to get some work done,

be sure to check out my offerings below:

• a free class
• a sale on a class
• a video on perfectionism

And remember — if you see a typo or error from me,

take it as your permission slip to be imperfect,

because unless you are a brain surgeon,

a couple of mistakes are probably not going to kill someone.

Now let’s do this!

Does your to do list feel like a black hole?

Then it’s time to simplify!

This upcoming FREE class on Tues Sept 10 will have you feeling the EASE of simplicity,

so you know what to do next.

No more analysis paralysis, or wasted time…

How?

By learning techniques to drop into your best thinking space +

so you can HEAR your intuition and genius spell out exactly what you need to do next in your book, writing, business or other art form,

This is for business owners and creators of all kinds because you need simplicity the most:

I know how having too many ideas and projects can make your head spin!

Come to the free class to tackle your todo list and get clear on what to do first, next, and last.

It’s not your every day productivity class, baby, it’s got soul + creativity galore.

Come to the FREE class: “Find My Priorities”

Make sure you are signed up for the weekly email FunLetters because you will get access to this and future free classes!

Click here to see the recent FunLetter with the zoom invitation, and sign up to get the replay and other free goodies.

I hope to see you in the upcoming live class!

There is still time to join the – Digital Organization Club

to become the put together person of your dreams…

Want to get organized?

Put ideas, notes, documents, + journals in order?

Make books, articles, emails, blogposts out of them?

Achieve your goals faster than before?

The Digital Organization Club is about to start:
3 months of support to get organized starting September 18th

​

​​Click here to read more–It’s starting soon.​

Perfectionism to Avoid When Organizing Your Ideas

Trying to get organized?

Don’t let this mental block stop your progress.

​Watch this 7 minute video: “Perfectionism to Avoid When Organizing Your Ideas” here. ​

Also, I wrote an article on the subject, if you prefer to read.

Here’s the beginning:

Trying to get organized for fall?

Don’t let this mental block stop you from making progress.

If you’re anything like me and many small business owners I know, it’s go time. We are plotting our plans for the rest of 2024 and there’s a lot to get done.

Things to write, and people to talk to, and life-related events to fit into your schedule.

In my mind, the key to save time and use your energy more effectively this fall is to be BETTER ORGANIZED.

Because when you’re not, you are:

• Wasting your time looking for files, notes or contact info,
• overwhelmed between all the things you could do so you do nothing, and
• reinventing the wheel, rewriting things you already have somewhere.

I have been teaching digital organization to a hoarde of writers, creators and entrepreneurs.

And if I could change your whole fall with one insight on the topic, it’s this:

If you have a system you’re trying to implement,

if you have a desire to get organized, then

Don’t slip into this perfect trap:

if you don’t methodically sit down and organize every single little thing that you own,

if you don’t organize every little file on you computer,

if you don’t organize every single idea that you’ve ever thought or written,

then what’s the point?

THIS IS THE TRAP…

If this resonates you better read the whole thing!

​Click here to keep reading this short article, “Get Organized for Fall – Don’t Slip into this Perfect Trap”

It is with much excitement I inform you that it’s here!

The 3 Month Digital Organization Club is open for Fall!

And it’s 50% off for the early bird sale.

​Click here to read more–It’s 50% off until the 11:59 PM EST Thursday, September 4, 2024.

I used to have trouble finding things, and using my ideas.

Organization benefits my life and mental health by:

• Remembering my real priorities: I can finally break old patterns because I remember what I learn. No more forgetting. Clarity is lasting!
• Sense of peace: Everything is ok. I can relax. All my ideas are written down and I know I’ll find it
• Better boundaries: I stand my ground more because I know what’s really important to me.
• More confidence: I value my ideas and I take myself seriously. I feel empowered. I am learning and growing in all the right ways.​ ​

And of course there are major career benefits

Finding my ideas more easily benefits my writing and business by:

• Saving time: No more taking an hour to find a document or file.
• More energy: Since it’s easy to find everything I need, I can jump into the task at hand with full energy.
• Writing articles, emails and blogs easily: I am never starting from scratch when I write because all my great ideas are at my finger tips!
• The satisfaction of synthesizing: I’m building on my ideas, and developing them into something even better. I feel like a genius.
• Better quality work: I’m feeling prouder of what I create, and share it with more people. I can even reuse or reference my work again over time.

FINALLY A SOLUTION TO IDEA MESS AND CHAOS.

Across my life, writing and work, so much is steadily improving now that I am more organized! It’s really changed my life a lot,

is it your turn?

​Get organized with me this fall.​

USE THIS COUPON FOR 50% off

earlybird50

Enter the code above at check out for 50% off.

​Your earlybird discount is waiting for you. Come get organized with the 3-Month Fall Digital Organization Club.​

How are you?

I was sad summer is ending but it’s back! Hot here.

We have two things happening this week, I didn’t want you to miss them.

​First, the Optimism Event is live today at 5 PM EST.​

If you are having trouble being optimistic:

about your life,

your projects,

your writing,

your business,

Join me for an hour today

learn easy to use tools that will help you feeel more optimism.

These are the same tools helping me make a positive shift this summer.

Plus:

When you join, you’ll get a free printable workbook you can use, and 14 emails that you can turn on whenever you need an optimism boost.

(That’s in addition to the live event + replay!)

This is the final reminder to sign up for the live Optimism Event.

​Join me for the Live Optimism Event at 5 PM EST today ​

Second up this week, the Fall Digital Organization Club is opening soon.

And there will be a 50% off early bird sale!

If you are feeling disorganized,

can’t find all your ideas, writing and notes…

then jump on this while it’s on sale!

Get organized this fall.

Ensure you have the tools, support and reminders to organize all your notes and ideas

so you make faster progress on your book, business or other goals.

FALL round of the 3 Month Digital Organization Club

on sale for 50% off starting Thursday, Aug 29th

The sale will only be 1 week long,

so watch out for my email announcement.

​Your friend can sign up for an email announcement about the sale here.​

See you on Thursday

How are you?

You might notice something has changed about this post

–I updated the header to match my new hair!

It’s a bit lighter and longer than it used to be,

something fun for my birthday season.

Sometimes I just need to mix up the colors and designs of things to keep it interesting!

When was the last time you mixed things up?

Obviously, it is not all new but I am putting a little spin on what is already working…

And speaking of that,

below is an email I sent out last year.

It just feels like a good time to pull out the duct tape!

Enjoy that below!

Read it and you’ll see what I mean.

And don’t forget that if you are having trouble being optimistic:

about your life,

your projects,

your writing,

your business,

You don’t have to do this alone.

You are welcome to join me on this journey to be more optimistic

with easy to use tools that have been making a positive shift for me this summer.

​Join me for the Live Optimism Event ​

Tuesday, August 27th

5 PM EST

When you join, you’ll get a free printable workbook you can use, and 14 emails that you can turn on whenever you need an optimism boost. (And the live event + replay!)

And now for:

Organized but not anal.

A story about duct tape & your ideas

(Originally written 2023-11-30)

Duct tape is all that holds up the plastic panel on the back of my dad’s truck.

I inherited it so I have the task of keeping it up.

Every so often, I’ve gotta check: how’s my duct tape doing? Is it falling off?

A few weeks ago, I cleaned and waxed the car, removed all the old tape, and put new tape.

If I’d waited any longer that back panel would probably have ripped off in the wind.

Hopefully, it’s good now until spring, but I’ll be checking.

​Previously I’ve said, my fix for stopping and starting with writing is to be really organized. (Read that here).​

Please know: I am not an anal person.

I have duct tape on my car.

And although I like to talk about being organized,

I didn’t become anal about being organized.

Despite my best efforts, life is life.

But I’m organized or organized enough

–because I have to do other things in my life besides organize and I don’t want to waste too much energy on being a perfectionist…

So sometimes I still feel like things are like that duct tape:

BARELY HANGING ON.

But the point is:

it is hanging on.

And some things quite well actually.

Life is always a work in progress and a balance.

I just wanted to say

if you feel like you aren’t organized and are hitting a wall

if you feel like the only way to be organized is to be anal or perfect about every single little thing…

My news flash is:

there is another way.

You don’t have to become anal to be organized, you can embrace the duct tape method.

Duct tape is not a one-and-done, forever solution.

100% it will fall off eventually, but for now, it works.

MORE IMPORTANTLY, being organized isn’t about one and done solutions.

Being organized is about habits and maintenance.

AKA periodic check-ups.

No, you don’t need to become anal.

You don’t need to be super organized every second of every day to be organized enough.

Your personal way to organize can be held together with duct tape and a couple of prayers, just don’t ignore it forever.

Every so often, take a look at how it is holding up.

In writing it looks like:

– Do I know where am I at in this project?

– Do I know what my past or original idea was for the project?

– Is all of this recorded somewhere?

And:

• Do I really, really know where it is?
• Is there a designated spot for it? – Even if I don’t work on this now, will I be able to find my documents and notes to remember what I was doing later?

If you actually check and the answer to any of these is no– it’s time to replace your duct tape.

You need to spend a little energy picking apart the system holding your project together and tapping it back together more securely.

The sooner you do it, the better…

but as we all know life can get in the way.

But if you can clear a little time and mental space, you CAN get that taped back up.

And boom, you’ll be back on track. For a little while at least.

You just have to remember, every so often to keep checking your duct tape.

And then you’ll be secure.

Focused and Clear on what to do for your writing yet again.

Able to find things.

AND IF YOU KEEP UP THE HABIT of checking your system’s duct tape,

your organizational system will get better and better over time.

Believe it or not: You don’t need to go super crazy to be organized.

You don’t need to be super human or totally anal, if that’s just not who you are.

Stopping and starting on projects does not even need to be eliminated.

But this is key,

You do need to check every so often:

Are things (your ideas) sticking together?

Are they falling apart when you aren’t looking?

Just assume that everything is regularly going to fall into chaos and stop kidding yourself.

It’s a fact. Accept it. BUILD AROUND IT.

Meet yourself where you are, you ain’t never gonna be perfect, honey.

But there is so much cool technology now that’s even better than duct tape (What! I know!)

and many ways to keep things organized so you can find them.

You can even stop and start, handle life, and

still end up with finished, satisfying writing

because you have a system to find and remember things over time.

Just make sure you remember to check on things periodically.

If you’re naturally organized,

including organizing all your ideas and writing,

this message isn’t for you

–you lucky dog we all wish we lived in your shoes.

But for everyone else

I truly believe you can find a system that works for you!

Even if it includes duct tape fixes 🙂

–

And by the way, if you want some help with that…

I can help you organize your writing and ideas with regular check ins.

Want to make sure you don’t forget to organize?

Don’t forget to check in with your organizational systems regularly!

Ensure you’ll always remember to organize your ideas with the

FALL round of the

3 Month Digital Organization Club

opens for enrollment next week.

Where we aim to be just organized enough LOL

so you can find essential notes, ideas, and documents necessary to write for your book or business.

We meet every two weeks so you remember to do a regular check-in.

It’s less anal than checking every second but still keeps it from all falling apart.

Sign up for the waitlist to get notified:

Look out for an email on Thursday, August 29th

(This will be the 1st announcement of the sale.)

There will be an early bird special for 1 week only.

Get on the waitlist now!

How is your week going?

I am so excited and lit up right now about some things I have cooked up.

Last week I had the best birthday I’ve had in 4 years, I think.

The 7 day optimism challenge worked.

What about you?

Did you miss it? It was an email list Exclusive–

​Click here to see the optimism emails I sent out!​

I am definitely not DONE being more optimistic,

but I’m absolutely moving in the right direction.

And I want to keep going.

So I am thinking of ways to do that

Something helping me lately:

designing worksheets and printing them.

For instance, I made a cute chart for my health goals. I wanted to go to the gym once a week.

​I put this in my GET FIRED notebook that I’ve shared about a few times this summer.​

It’s a ring-bound notebook I try to look at daily to stay motivated and feel less stuck.

My worksheet has little bubbles for each day of the week, and I can color them whenever I go to the gym.

Last week I went to the gym 2 times, including on my birthday, and

I exercised MOST days over the last 2 weeks!

Including 6 days in a row.

There’s something about physically seeing a record of my progress and having that satisfaction of coloring it in that gets me hooked.

And let me just say

I really love taking notes and writing,

in a combination of both DIGITAL and PAPER.

BOTH.

BOTH.

I love them BOTH.

These days, I don’t choose just one.

Eventually I want to do a really big show and tell video to describe how this can work beautifully together.

— because digital notes can be printed, and

hand written notes can be transcribed or typed or photographed.

And then printed again….and written on and highlighted. Rearranged.

God, it feels so good to have both!

Sidenote, there is some effort and a learning curve involved to make this combo work.

Moving important hand written notes into my digital space, or vice versa and

reviewing all the things that really matter to me periodically to honor & uplevel my ideas.

It’s all about having a REGULAR habit.

Recently I started a Digital Organization Membership and it really helps me walk my talk on this front…

because we have coworking time to play with and organize our notes every 2 weeks.

IT KEEPS ME HONEST.

Creating an event or class is a way to ensure I show up.

And when I show up, it feels good and I build momentum.

Having people involved always helps infuse some energy into the things I want to practice myself.

(BTW A fall chapter of the Digital Organization Club opens soon – keep an eye out.)

BUT ANYWAY

BACK TO BEING MORE OPTIMISTIC

New idea = Printable worksheets for my Optimism Challenge.

This is a spontaneous idea,

& the whole Optimism Challenge has been very spontaneous.

This has all come together in the last 2 weeks.

My personal goal to do a 30 Day Optimism Challenge…

​and suddenly I decided to send you a free 7 day free challenge by email last week.​

This was very unexpected as I had OTHER STRATEGIC BUSINESS PLANS for fall.

I was going to do a “business intensive” for business owners to write together, connect to the soul of your business, get a bunch done really fast for 6 weeks…

so I almost didn’t share about the optimism challenge because of my previous plan,

but to be honest, I know that if I didn’t tell you about the challenge,

I PROBABLY WOULDN’T DO IT MYSELF.

My previous idea was good… but then I had a new idea, a louder one.

I have to say something big here

Although I “own” my businesses and write books, I believe I’m not alone in it,

I really do believe our books and businesses have other plans than we do sometimes,

and as an artist, it’s just my job to listen to what they want and try not to get in the way.

(Holds hands up to the sky in surrender because I know no other way to do this…

and I don’t know if I want another way, just guide me, oh creative muses…)

I’ve helped many other people take this approach of listening to the SOUL of their book or businesses,

and they’ve said it’s brilliant

so I know I’m not the only weirdo that finds comfort and wisdom in this philosophy.

So all I know is

the Optimism Challenge is on.

It’s what my soul wants, &

-what the soul of both of my businesses wants and

-what the soul of all the future creative projects, that desperately want to stream out of me, want

(including music, books, videos, and so much more.)

SO I GOTTA LISTEN.

Optimism is everything.

How can I do anything if I don’t think some of it is actually going to be successful??

This focus on Optimism isn’t how I thought this month was going to unfold because I had plans.

but…whatever I’m going with it.

The best things in my life have always come from listening to what wants to come through me.

As a result of just a few days of focusing on optimism:

I’ve already had the best birthday in years, and I’m noticing more happiness in my days than has occurred in a while.

My stress is going down, I’m singing again and playing guitar, I’m going to the gym, I’m cooking more, I’m feeling more lit up to write…

So I’m jumping in and have no idea where it’ll lead, but I’m positive it will be something good.

And isn’t a story better when you don’t know how it will end?

I’m doubling down on this optimism thing.

Me + the Optimism Challenge are in it to win it.

So to assist me on this journey, I put a workbook together for my 30 Days of Optimism Challenge

>>And of course I wanted to share the workbook with you as well.

​Get the new 30 Day Optimism Challenge Workbook ​

​when you sign up for the Optimism Event.​

Take a look inside

​Sign up for the Optimism Event and get instant access to the workbook! ​

​After payment, check your receipt to find the link to download it.​

Then you can fill it out on your computer or print it out in black and white.

FAQS

What if I’m too busy right now?

That’s okay, I’m creating these materials so you can use or reuse them anytime.

You can have a self paced experience.

Isn’t there a live event? What if I can’t come?

Yes there is a 1 hour live event: a zoom call on August 27th at 5 PM EST.

If you can’t come live, watch the replay.

What about the bonus emails?

​Unlike the emails sent out last week, ​you won’t automatically get the bonus 14 emails in your inbox.

You’ll get access to a special feature, and

the 14 emails will only be sent to you when you trigger them.

When you press play on the email sequence, you’ll begin to get a 14 part process of prompts, tips and reminders to be optimistic.

You get to choose the timing!

So it can be later.

These will be available starting next week.

In sum:

If you are busy now…

do the Optimism Challenge, anytime!

At your own pace

NOW ME…

Right after I finish this email,

I’m going to get this workbook printed stat!

I can’t wait to start filling it in.

And if you are eager to get your hands on it, too,

you now get instant access to the Optimism Challenge Workbook

Sign up for the Optimism Event.

The link to download the workbook will be in your receipt details.

Sign up here!

Now you know what I am off to do!

Hope you have an awesome day and, as always…

Thanks for reading!

Hope you are doing well today.

​Like I shared last time, I’m working on something new ​

​around the theme of increasing optimism. ​

This is personal to me and I’ll explain why today.

Several months ago, I realized I had a problem.

We were walking in the park and my husband said,

“I feel really happy. Like everything in my life is going in a good direction.”

And I said, “Yeah, I’m not. I really don’t feel that way. It’s great you do, though.”

It was just a fact. And I hadn’t realized it until he showed up as the opposite.

My position was nothing new, I’d been feeling deflated for a few years by that point.

But his star was rising all of a sudden.

And I knew after that conversation, that I needed to get up to where he was somehow.

This conversation was the wake up call.

I thought, “Gurl, get it together. You better not drag his star down, time to get happier. Get to it, chop chop.”

This is easier said than done and it is not like I haven’t been trying and succeeding to some degree.

But he’s set a new, higher bar.

And I’m going to catch up because the last thing I am going to do is drag him down or mess up our vibe. Don’t get me wrong–my husband hasn’t said a word about it, this is all me.

Like hell I’m gonna fall behind.

So after that convo around the end of spring, I wanted to step up my joy level. Somehow.

This summer I realized the missing link, the thing that was making my husband so happy, that I didn’t have, was the feeling that

Things are good and getting better…

A feeling I haven’t had since 2021, when my dad died.

I lost my trust in good things happening, just too many bad things had gone on.

So like why even bother. I did my best not to feel totally blah and unmotivated every day but still…

Feeling optimistic? Haha why would I?

But I have been really working on it because

I’m not just going to stay stuck here for the rest of my life,

especially not while my husband is flying around the moon high on life.

I want what he’s having.

And I definitely don’t want to be the one dragging things down.

Nope. I’m going to get there, too.

And the fact that I can even say that with confidence and hope and trust, or faith that this is even a possibility for me

(or better yet a certainty)

is a huge deal for me.

Being optimistic isn’t something that I can take a pill for.

I work on it DAY BY DAY.

And I am starting to see some progress which is really fun.

Recently I had the idea to focus on it every day for 30 days and invite people on the ride

Why? because it would make me happy and more motivated to follow through with company,

Could you be more optimistic?

Do you want to be?

Starting Sunday August 4th,

I’ll be sending 7 free daily emails about optimism;

one email a day with tools and thoughts to help you feel more optimistic.

And if you read them, and shoot me a reply back about your thoughts on optimism in response to my email

I’ll give you a $15 off coupon.

You can apply that coupon to my upcoming Optimism Event

A zoom call happening August 27th at 5 PM EST (yes there will be a replay) to increase your optimism with me.

Plus if you sign up for the Optimism Event, you’ll get 14 additional daily emails to increase optimism!

So you can see if you like the free emails coming up, as a taste.

Just don’t forget to shoot me an email back next week with your thoughts on optimism to get a coupon.

Without a coupon the Optimism Event is $45, so with a $15 off coupon, the event and 14 bonus emails will be only $30 total.

I could cite all the studies showing that optimism has benefits health wise, relationship wise and work wise – you will have less stress, and more energy and motivation. Plus everyone likes to hang out with happy people.

But sometimes you just have to feel that click of yes–I want this.

Before that moment, if someone tried to tell me about optimism. I would have rolled my eyes…

If you’re NOT feeling it, you don’t have to participate.

And if you are Interested in being more optimistic?

Make sure to sign up for my newsletter this week

Then you’ll get some free emails to inspire optimism.

Just look out for emails from me starting Sunday August 4.

So yeah…hope to see your replies in my inbox once the 7 day free optimism series starts!

Thanks for reading!