I’m not one for new years resolutions as such but I do set my intentions for the year. In fact I set intentions for each month and, when I’m being shit hot organised, I even set them for the week and each day. I call it my ta da list. I love a list and I love ticking things off my list even more. I have been known to write things on my list *after* I’ve done them so I can tick it off. 

 

I also review how I’ve got on at the end of each month towards these goals aka intentions. 

 

My ‘system’ has evolved over the years and I’ve taken bits of teaching from lots of sources to create a Lisa style mash up that works for me. I’m not a naturally organised person. My workspace is a mess most of the time . I do, however, know where things are roughly. I’m the type of person who keeps ALL the emails in my inbox and uses the search button to find things. I paid a very organised VA friend a few years ago to help me get sorted. It didn’t work out. She did a great job of filing all my emails and organising my inbox into folders etc ...I couldn’t find anything! I drove her mad, we had very different ways of working. 

 

I’ve also wasted many hours in the past trying to find files on my computer that I’ve forgotten what I called them. A method of file naming that was introduced to me a few years ago has really helped with this. It’s by no means Lisa proof but it’s much better. I now save files by date and then content led name. At least this way they are all in order when I go to do my searching. I go backwards eg “20240103 tips on being organised”. 

As 2023 was drawing to a close I did my annual round up and set my intentions for 2024. 

 

It was interesting to note that I felt much more aligned and in flow on the whole, during the last year, in terms of my work. 

 

I consistently sold out places at the FAB online meetings for several months on the trot. This led me to open up a second monthly meeting from July onwards. 

 

The SWISH Clothes Swap fundraiser was such a successful beautiful community event again as we raised money for Maggie’s Nottingham. We go again Sat 3rd Feb 2-4pm in Nottingham. Full details here. 

 

March saw me celebrate the first birthday of the FAB Network. We broke arrows with our necks and walked on glass – so empowering! 

 

Then in the spring I noticed that I was feeling a bit flat and wasn’t enjoying stuff as much as I had been. My back went and I was struggling with pain more than usual. 

 

I plodded on until Aug and then faced up to needing a bit of pharmaceutical help. Once I’d taken action things perked up again. I renamed the FAB Network as the FAB Business Club. Momentum started to build and I got my first “daughter” who started to host her own meetings from September. 

 

I scratched a few design itches in 2023 too as I spent some time doing bespoke design projects as part of several personal branding packages which I really enjoyed doing. Plus I finally got around to publishing a calendar, journal and planner which I’d wanted to do FOREVER as well as having my artwork on various merchandise items as I launched my Red Bubble shop. The sales are never going to make me a millionaire but it was something I needed to do. 

 

My vibe was raised towards autumn and I stepped more into my Queen energy as I revisited several books I’d previously read. They helped me gain clarity on my next steps in business. 

 

I get a lot of ideas as a creative person and have to rein myself in or I get distracted from the bigger picture. I’m always in danger of not consolidating and moving on to the next new shiny thing. My actual word of the year for 2023 was CONSOLIDATE. Which I felt like I did as far as FAB Business Club was concerned. The foundations are set now to build upon. My second “daughter” launches her first meeting 25th January so the members now get 4 opportunities each month to get together all included in the £35pcm membership. 

I ended 2023 on a high and looking forward to what 2024 will bring. 

 

I made the decision to close the doors on a few things that had run their course and will be taking my business in a slightly different direction whilst still utilising my unique skills set and working towards Ikigai. 

 

I am broadening my offer to incorporate more of the skills I’ve picked up over the past 10 years of being self employed. It will provide a more holistic experience to my community as I launch my new signature programme in March 2024 called Raise Your VIBE. The finer details are yet to be added but essentially it will be about supporting women to have tools and resources to be the best version of themselves so their VIBE attracts their tribe and they magnetically attract ideal clients to work with them. 

 

There’ll be 8 modules around the topics covered by VIBE and will be all about stepping into Queen energy and being a flamingo because Fabulous Luminaries Always Make an Impression and Never Get Overlooked: 

 

 

· See yourself 

 

· Be seen 

 

 

· Fab-YOU-lous 

 

· Brand Style Personality 

 

 

· Acceptance 

 

· Comfydence 

 

 

· Boundary Setting 

 

· Comfort Zone Stretching 

 

The outcome being that you are no longer at home to self doubt and self sabotage, you have clarity on your message and branding so you feel uber confident to show up in all your glory as the FAB-you-lous woman in business you truly are. 

The idea has been percolating for a while. And although I’m still very much on board with supporting my clients with how they show up look and feel, there’s so much more to it than colour and clothes. This feels a natural evolution for me. 

 

“Clothes won’t change the world. The women who wear them will.” Anne Klein 

 

I’m a big advocate of letting go of things that no longer feel right. My regular process of setting intentions and reviewing them monthly helps me get clarity and focus about where I’m heading in my business. I always aim to do more of what I enjoy and release what no longer serves me. It has to make my heart sing whilst simultaneously making the boat go faster. 

 

The other tool that really helps me keep on track is my annual vision board. I always create a digital collage of images that relate to my business and personal goals for the year and use it as my screensaver. 

So there you have it. My annual tasks around this time of year that help me stay on track and keep me Lisa Style organised. 

 

1. Review last year 

 

2. Decide what to do more of 

 

3. Decide what to let go of 

 

4. Set intentions/goals for the year 

 

5. Create a rough plan for when to focus on the intentions goals across the year 

 

6. Book in time off 

 

7. Set goals for the month that will help towards annual goals 

 

8. Block time in diary to work towards the goals 

 

9. Create a flexible structure to work within that harnesses creative mind whilst achieving goals 

 

10. Review at month end, carry forward or ditch anything not achieved considering how much of a priority it is- especially if its not making your heart sing. Outsource if necessary. 

 

 

 

I’ll be sharing more of my flexible structure tips around content strategy during Flamingle Fest 17th-22nd January. Register here for more info.