Perhaps you’ve already made your New Year’s Resolutions, and perhaps you’re still thinking about making your New Year’s Resolutions. Perhaps you’ve already made the New Year’s Resolution to give up making New Year’s Resolutions! Most resolutions are broken by January 4th…which happens to be World Hypnosis Day! What a coincidence!

If you’re thinking about setting a New Year’s Resolutions for yourself, AKA “A Goal,” then please read on about how you can crush your goal this year.

When I was 10 years old, a family friend asked what I wanted to be when I grew up.

Without hesitation, I answered “self-employed.”

He laughed. “What kind of business will you own?”

“I don’t know that yet, but I’m sure I’ll figure it out.”

In November of 1995 I moved to Palmetto, Florida, and began selling promotional products through another company. Palmetto was in Manatee County, and at the time, people only did business with people they knew or people they heard about. Since no one knew me, I had to be someone they heard about.

"Sometimes, you just have to kick some ass and take names." ~George D Kanaan

When I was about 11-12 years old, I was being bullied. I told my dad about it. He shared with me how he grew up with a bum leg due to polio, making him a target for bullies as a result. Thanks to being on crutches for much of his young life, his arms were very strong so he was able to defend himself most of the time. He explained that he never earned the friendship of his bullies, but he did earn their respect and they eventually left him alone. He ended our conversation with "Sometimes, you just have to kick some ass and take names. Do what you gotta do and defend yourself."

Yesterday, I got to wear a Halloween costume that I made. Doug and I came up with the theme, I tried to find a costume from the store but none of them fit. I ended up finding a sewing pattern for the costume I wanted, picked out the fabric, and made the costume to fit me. It took maybe 6-8 hours between shopping for fabric, cutting the fabric, and sewing the costume. The day of the event? I heard stuff like “You made your costume? You must be so talented.”

Years ago, I was wide awake at 3am and watched these two ladies dance and pitch their new workout program, Yoga Booty Ballet. Funky yoga and ballet? Sign me up! I bought the programs and began a new way of thinking about exercise and my body with Beachbody programs. One of the concepts that came out of my Yoga Booty Ballet series, was the idea of working a little each day on becoming the next best version of yourself. Little changes every day lead to big goals down the road.

COVID changed our lives for ever, and as a result I had to make changes in how I do business. I had to rethink what I wanted out of life and reshape a few goals I had set for myself. Some of them I wasn’t sure about. They seemed stupid, silly, or just plain impossible. I decided that even though my new goals were lofty, I had to try. If I just broken them down into small enough steps, I could achieve them. But then I had my doubts. Could I do it? I’d never done anything like this before. What if I failed?

I know many of you think this past year being quarantined taught us all a thing or two about difficult moments, but I kicked off my 2015 with separating from my ex-husband and then a week later becoming my mother’s full-time caregiver. The next 3 years were pure HELL. My mother was rushed to the hospital at least 10 times for various ailments, falls, and UTIs. I moved myself, my mother, or my mother’s stuff 12 times in less than 3 years. I was constantly getting phone calls from whatever assisted living facility my mother was at informing me mother was “spicy.”

On the anniversary of the quarantine, I’ve been reflecting on what’s changed this past year. My goodness, it seems everything has changed! In February of 2020, I was having the time of my life on a cruise, and less than 2 weeks later I was wondering how I was going to survive a pandemic and a stock market crash. I had a lot of life changes hit me at once…only to find a LOT of free time on my hands.

Years ago, I found a paperweight pictured that says “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” I thought it was a great question, so I started asking my friends this same question.

Watching the Bucs game last night, I was happy for my 2nd Home Team. My 1st Home Team being The Cleveland Browns. I grew up in Berea, OH, which is where The Browns are headquartered.