I fell asleep last night thinking about the perfect copy for this post.
The words swam through my mind as I rested my head on my pillow. I knew that I should turn on my book light and jot it down in one of my cute small notebooks by Stephanie Fizer Coleman.
But, I didn’t. When I woke up this morning, I couldn’t remember anything from the night before. I hate when that happens. Don’t you? It’s not as bad as the hairdresser slipping up and giving you bangs that you didn’t want, but it’s just as annoying as when a fly is buzzing around you while you’re trying to concentrate.
I’m just going to let the video speak for itself. Hit that play button below.
To help you figure out your true priorities, I’ve put together a fun actionsheet for you for FREE. You can download it right here:
{Heads up: You have to have Adobe Reader–which is FREE– in order to download the actionsheet. And, if your version is pretty old, it may not work. You can update your version here.}
A great video April! Am going to look at my bank statements and calendar, such great advice, so obvious too. I was soooo interested to hear about how your husband makes your organic dog food. Can you share what he does as I’m really interested for my dog.
Much love
Julia x
We spend lots o’ money on our dog, too! It’s challenging to find that balance between everything that you hold value in…especially, when it comes to balancing a career and healthy lifestyle choices:)
Definitely agree Desiree! It is a balancing act…
Hey Julia! Our chicken stew recipe: 4 pounds of organic chicken {off the bone}, frozen green beans {1 bag}, frozen peas {1 bag}, carrots {half of a pound}, 3 stalks of celery, zucchini or yellow squash {5}, and rolled oats {1 pound}. Bring this to a boil and then lower the heat to low and simmer for 2 hours. Let it cool and then blend in the blender until it has a stew consistency.
We also make a veggie stew for them that includes: sweet potatoes {5 large}, brown rice {2 pound bag}, carrots {2 pounds}, celery {a whole thing of celery}, a can of black beans, and sometimes squash. Bring this to a boil and then turn the heat to low and simmer for an hour. Let it cool and then blend in the blender until it has a stew consistency.
You can add water if needed when blending.
We have three large dogs and this lasts us one week–along with a bag of Rachael Ray dry food. We feed them chicken stew for breakfast, veggie stew for lunch, and dry food for dinner. They are soooooooo spoiled. Can you tell?
This. This this this. I needed this. There are two big areas in my life that I really want to focus on and develop (health and starting my creative business), but lately I’ve been distracted by nearly everything else. Maybe if I start paying attention to how I’m actually spending my time and money (instead of how I’d like to be) I’ll get the wake up call I need and get back on track.
Thank you!
You’re so welcome Nicky! Glad it helps.
Thank you VERY MUCH ! April
I needed to listen this today and the action sheet.
=)
PD.
it is beautiful to see your “love face” when you see at your husband, hope you can always keep that face.
😉
M.
You’re very welcome! 🙂
all that and an action sheet, too?? perfect. the video challenged me to take a closer look and then you generously provide the needed tool to do it. No excuses. thank you!
Nope…no excuses! 🙂
Oh my goodness! April… have you been checking out my recently watched section on Netflix? Gossip Girl. Check! LOL!
Okay… great info. I don’t track my time, but I already know that I do waste a lot of time. It just seems like I’ve got so much already going on that when I get some me time or lounge time… it’s tough not to give in to it. Some days I’m more motivated than others to bust butt and work. As for my bank account… I’ll have to check into that one and see what it shows.
Thanks so much!
I know what you mean. You definitely need that down time! Before a big launch, I usually work really hard and then take about a week off to rejuvenate!
I often joke that our dog and cats eat better than we do:)
If I looked at my bank account it would show spending mostly on online courses, ebooks and forum memberships for learning as well as designers and manufacturers for my products. That’s a good sign right?
My calendar? Would probably show me trying to fit too many things in. Learning through my courses and books, social media for my biz, learning how to use Mailchimp and designing my newslette, setting up my product blog and working on. Holding relationships with other bloggers and members on a forum. Whew – no wonder I’m not getting it all done. Oh yeah – I also go to my full time day job.
For me, even an hour or two on any of these means I’m making progress. Not as quickly as I would like but it all counts and all adds up over the course of a week.
It’s definitely a good sign…as long as you’re putting all the information into action. It can be easy to keep consuming more and more without actually using what you’re learning.
Love how you throw in your day job at the end! I know what it’s like with a day job and trying to get a business off the ground. It’s not easy–not at all. For me, it was all about experimenting and prioritizing the things that were actually moving my business forward.
It does all count and add up!
i like that – calendar and bank statement. I do write down what I need to do , but i dont track my time on what I do . Its a great idea to get a visual on what we actually do . Thanks April !
It can be surprising. I know when I tracked my time closely, I found that I wasted a lot more time then I thought I did.
so you didn’t write your ideas last night… that’s why i keep my mp3 reader at bedside: it’s also a recorder, and i don’t have to turn lights on to whisper things in it. But the ideas that seemed soooo good at night often don’t seem soooo good the morning after… 🙂
That’s true…but I know it was good…I just know it… 🙂
I do the same thing Elena. When an idea pops up, I make an effort of recording it on my mp3 recorder and then I can refine the idea later on when I have got ample time.
This is great advice April! I always tell people to look at their expenses to work out what they need to make with their business and they are always shocked!
Spending hours on twitter and facebook is also dangerous because we can risk confusing activity with achievement … at the end of the day the only numbers we should be focusing on is the one in our bank account!
Awesome and super cute video April!
PS. I used to cook for our dog and it took hours (and a fair bit of $$)!
You said it beautifully…”we can risk confusing activity with achievement.” Busy work can really screw us up and make us believe we’re getting a lot done.
Thanks! Yes, it does take money and time–we’re actually thinking about outsourcing it by having someone come to our house and make it and can it during the week. We’ll see…
April already outsources the job to me 🙂
I can so relate to the money spent on your dogs. We made organic food for our vizsla puppy dog too. He had a wonderfully active live till he was 16 yrs, when he passed away peacefully at home. I saw that as time and money well spent.
HOWEVER I am not always so good at making such healthy food for myself, especially when I am absorbed in a work-related project ( I do love my work). Funny thing is… I just wrote a post on my own blog about getting clear on ones values. But that’s just the first step. Giving them the energy and attention (and money sometimes) they deserve is often another matter. It’s always good to get reminders. Thanks April.