This year has been absolutely crazy for me. Anyone else feeling like, whew, made it out alive! Gold stars all around.
At the end of 2018, I sat down and made some intentions, as I do every year. I recorded them as a podcast, and I recently listened to the podcast and evaluated how I did. Now, normally, I do this every few months - a little New Year’s Intentions Check-In, if you will, but because the year was so nuts for me, I didn’t get around to doing this until a few weeks ago…. in November. Womp womp. Ah well, that’s just how things go sometimes.
I wanted to share my self-evaluation, because I know that for me personally, I find inspiration in hearing about the goals and aspirations of others, and I also wanted to chat about my inspiration for setting goals for 2020. Let’s get to it.
Intentions for 2019
Increase revenue by 25% - LOL. Well, you know what they say…the best laid plans… Between the opening the new studio, expanding with new hires, investing money into my own 300hr teacher training, and more, there have just been so many more large expenses than normal. In addition, I do think we are headed for a recession, and as such, not as many people have been signing up for retreats and teacher trainings, which is something that will influence how I’ll focus in 2020. That said, I am proud of the work we’ve done, and of the revenue we’ve brought in. Ultimately, we wound up bringing in about 10% less than last year, but those numbers are still really respectable.
Improve upon my own leadership skills - With the opening of the studio and trying to be more involved in the local community, as well as with our new hires at YBC®, I wanted to step up my confidence in my own leadership strategy. While I wasn’t able to attend an in-person retreat as I’d hoped, I did read a number of articles from Harvard Business Review, and I read Delivering Happiness, and Becoming - both of which I felt were really influential in my leadership re-evaluation. I’ve also been challenging myself to be more direct in my approach to communication, and being honest with myself about my own strengths and weaknesses. The whole thing has really served YBC® well, so I’m happy with myself in this 2019 intention.
Creating Stronger Passive Revenue Streams - I am really pleased with the progress on this intention. We unveiled our app at the beginning of the year, and it hasn’t been the easiest ride by far. The venture capital company we went with is run by an old high school friend whom I respect and deeply admire, but the communication can be tough because his team (our developers) are based in Cairo. The app started out strong but has had some minor formatting issues and then had some payment configuration issues through Apple (which is a big deal, as we are still trying to recoup the $30k we invested into this app). Both are now resolved, but we’d received some really nasty emails from customers which has been tough for me personally because I genuinely care so much about our customers, and I want them to be happy. At the same time, I know the developers are working as hard as they can to fix the issues, but YBC® simply does not have the budget, say, Facebook does, and things can’t be fixed with the snap of our fingers. We are doing our best, but sometimes it is not enough. That said, the app is currently working beautifully, and I finally feel like I have a good idea of what YBCers want from us on the exclusive section of our app. In addition, we unveiled our first Online Business and Marketing Intensive Course, and we did a weekend promo that did unbelievably well, so I am excited about future online passive revenue opportunities. We’ve also been stepping up our game in terms of our newsletter. Our Marketing Director, Lauren, has been instrumental in leveling up her email marketing skills and our weekly newsletter is doing really well (sign up here to receive it). We also landed our first major podcast sponsor via Lauren’s hard work, and I’m thrilled to announce that sponsor is Sweaty Betty! This is a brand I love so much - and they’ve offered our listeners a 20% discount with code YOGABYCANDACE. Also, our Instagram Story strategy has been doing so well thanks to our Social Media Manager, Ashley, who is killing it. She’s such a creative, think outside the box kind of person, and her work is so beautifully executed and has been instrumental in converting into sales. So overall, our passive revenue intention is doing really well. It had its kinks, and we are still working some of those issues out, but overall, we crushed that, and I’m so proud of our team.
CrossFit Competition - I had set an intention to compete in a CF competition, but I didn’t end up doing it. My boyfriend herniated his back (L4/L5/S1) in February, and we had wanted to do the comp together. His injury profoundly impacted his health, our relationship, and the way we view fitness as a whole, and so the competition was put on the back burner and now, to be honest, is not even on my radar. I’d rather work smarter, continue to learn more, and forget about competitions. To be honest, I’ve never been into competitive sports, so I don’t even know why I wanted to do it. I think just to say I’d done it and to do something fun with him. Even though this didn’t come to fruition, I’m not upset about it at all - I think it was a blessing in disguise.
Be neater around the house - Ok so I honestly have tried and personally do think I’ve become a bit more neat around the house, but I’m no sure my boyfriend would agree. I just really, really struggle to be consistently neat. I’m not a slob or anything, but I have a hard time keeping things neat. Clothes will be folded in my drawer one day, but then a few days later, they’ll be a complete mess in the drawer. It’s still on the back of my mind though, and I do try to pick up and be as neat as I can, but I am just not a clean freak by nature. Shrug emoji.
Better Work/Life Balance - I do feel I’ve done a better job this year. In February, I took a 90% vacation (I did spend one day filming and taking photos for YBC®) but for the most part, I was off duty. This summer, I was able to take another 90% vacation while I was in France and Amsterdam even though some of it was a work trip. I’m pretty happy with where I am in my Work/Life Balance situation, but I do want to have more fun in my life. More on that in a bit.
Improve Diet, Particularly with Simple Carbs - I have crushed this one. Micronutrients and nutrient-dense food has been a strong focus over the last year, and I really feel good about where I was at up until this fall. Then, I went to Italy and all hell broke loose as I arrived to the land of pasta and breads. I don’t know. A part of me is irritated by it, but the other part of me doesn’t care. Like, how can you go to Italy and not have pasta and bread on the daily? You know what I mean? That’s not a life I want to live. However, that said, I discovered that I have an egg sensitivity which is the culprit for this rash I’ve had on my scalp for years, and when I went to Italy and ate #allthepasta (pasta has egg in it), the rash came back with a vengeance, and I felt like garbage a even up to a few weeks after my return. The bottom line is that I am happy with how well I did in stepping up my food game, but I’m ready to get back on the horse now that I’m home and will re-focus on eating more nutrient-dense foods.
Thoughts for 2020 Intentions
I’ve not yet completely hashed out what I’m aiming to strive for in 2020, but here are some random thoughts off the top of my head:
Recession - I believe we’ll be feeling the recession in 2020, so I’m going to re-evaluate my business model and adjust accordingly. This may mean focusing on lower price point options, and making some changes with regards to retreats and teacher trainings.
Have More Fun - I work a lot. And I love my work, but burn out is easy when you don’t try hard to cultivate a sense of work/life balance. While I made a good dent this past year, in being off-duty when I’m meant to be off-duty, I want to take that a step further and try to do things that bring me joy and try to have more fun while I’m at it. Simply not working means I just sit there, and maybe I read or watch a show or something. And while that’s entertaining, I wouldn’t necessarily call it very fun. I don’t have kids, I’m still young, so I want to force myself to get out and do things. There are museums around. Restaurants I’d like to try. I’d like to take a cooking class, and maybe try a boxing class. Essentially, I just want to get out and about more and force myself to get out of my comfort zone.
Become More Financially Secure - My boyfriend and I would like to buy a house soon. He’s got this plan we jokingly refer to as The Big Three Year Plan, but it’s actually genius even though I (jokingly) roll my eyes at it, and pretend it’s so rigid. He took the time to sit down, map out his student loan debt, and then figure out how to completely pay that off, so that he could essentially be as debt-free as possible (he still has a mortgage on his condo). As much as we joke about the big bad three year plan, I really do think it’s so smart to have a plan, and that’s what I want for myself as well. I want to know exactly what is coming in and what is going out in terms of my money, and then make a plan as to my student loan debt (that’s the only debt I have), and see how much I can continue to save. (Read the Budgeting 101 post we did in our Finance Series, if this is on your mind too.) Overall, I do feel like I’ve been doing a pretty good job of saving money, but I know I can do better, and honestly that’s what intentions are for me each year - just an opportunity to evaluate, learn, and grow.
How’d you do this year with the intentions you’d set? What are your thoughts as you begin to think about what you want for 2020?