Let's Get It! Goals/Intentions Nov 2015

I started this series to hold myself accountable on monthly goals and as a chance to reflect on the previous month. I used to be one of those people who only thought about my life on my birthday or on New Year's day. I want to be more intentional life.

Check out my goal posts from the last 2 months here

How Did I Do Last Month?

Here were the intentions/goals:

• 7 Day Detox/Cleanse
• Walk or Lift Weights Daily
• Upgrade my lighting & sound quality on YouTube
• Wake up at 6 AM each morning (including Saturdays) 
• Attend one live event

7 Day Detox/Cleanse - DONE! - I can't believe I finished this! It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I actually did 8 1/2 days and outside of being bored with meals (due to my lack of true meal planning), a couple of slip-ups (including a shot of rum-chile!), a headache and terrible acne (still dealing with this), it went well. Despite the setbacks, I just refused to give up and it paid off in the end.

Check out this post and this one from last month with more info on how to do your own raw food challenge. 

Walk or lift weights daily - DONE! - It feels great to be back on track! Even though some days were pretty cold and rainy, I didn't use that as an excuse to not get out there. 

Upgrade my lighting & sound quality on YouTube - NOT DONE - I spent the month researching options instead of buying lights. Now that I know exactly what I want, I will spend November saving for it and plan to have the new lighting kit by the end of the month.

Wake up at 6 AM each morning - ALMOST DONE - I wasn't 100% but I will keep working on it. Not having a set bedtime is my struggle right now. I'm usually really tired at 8 PM and wide awake again at 10 PM when it's time to start winding down for the night. The struggle

Attend one live event - DONE - Look at me stepping out 3 months in a row! I actually attended TWO work-related events in October. I went to the Hip Hop Green Dinner during the first week of the month.....

With Tracye McQuirter & Raw on Wheels

...and DC Veg Fest the following day

with Vegan Cooking with Love

Takeaways:  Overall it was a good month. I will schedule more time for self-care (mental days of doing things that make me happy), try not to eat as much junk food as the weather changes, and just be more gentle with myself about life. It's a process.

5 Intentions for the New Month

Take family portraits - My oldest son turned 14 on Nov 1st and I realized that we have never taken professional pictures as a family. It's time to take care of that and the pics will make awesome Christmas gifts for my parents and in-laws.

Test out a 5 AM - 10 AM work schedule - My ultimate goal? I want to turn my computer OFF at 10 AM and don't turn it back on until much later in the day (after 4 PM) to help me stay on track with the kids.  I plan my schedule every night before bed (this is so important if you want to get shit done) and will use the pomodoro method to focus and get as much done in this 5 AM-10 AM block as possible.

Cook dinner for my parents - I used to do this all the time when I lived closer to my parents, but now that we live nearly an hour away, I've been slipping. Last month we had so much cooking and hanging out with them, so I want to make sure that we do it again this month.

Vegan fried chicken, roasted potatoes & kale salad

Start A Consistent Podcast Schedule (4 episodes a month) - I average 1-2 episodes a month, so this is going to be a huge shift for my brand. I've already started batching episodes and will continue to work on improving the format and my workflow to make it easier for me to produce a weekly show. I'm really excited about this shift. Check out the podcast here 

Release a free email course on how to go vegan with a family - This idea has been floating around my head all year. The questions I get asked most often are, "how do you start a vegan journey" and "how do you start one with a family?" This 7-day email course will address that question and make the process so much easier for families. I'm super excited to get this out to you. Join the email list, so I can notify you when this free course is available.

Click to join the VIP list for weekly vegan tips, recipes and classes (It's FREE!)

I updated my consistency goals again this month. I've finally accepted that my idea of consistency will forever be this evolving thing. I embrace it.

For the new month:

• 4 podcast episodes (posted 2 in October) Check out my vegan podcast here
• 2 YouTube videos (posted 2 in October))
• Post at least once a day on Facebook  
• Send out a weekly newsletter to the folks on my list 
• 1 blog post that isn't related to my YouTube videos, the podcast and this monthly recap (I published 4 last month)
• 1 free virtual workshop (didn't do any last month)

That's it! What are your intentions/goals for the new month? Leave me a comment

Let's Get It! Oct 2015

I started this series to hold myself accountable on my monthly goals and as a chance to reflect on the previous month. Check out my goals post from last month here

I can't believe it's the last quarter of the year. Time is flying!

My birthday was this week, so naturally I've been thinking about what I want for my life more than usual.

How did I do last month?

Here were the goals:

• Being in the moment in Costa Rica
• Attend One Live Event
• Promote a New Meal Planning Master Class
• Homeschool Plan
• Consistency Consistency Consistency

Being in the moment in Costa Rica - I was definitely in the moment! OMG! This trip was amazing from start to finish. I ate some amazing food and connected with my extended family on a deeper level. 

Attend One Live Event - Even though I consider myself an outgoing person, I have a hard time getting out the house to attend events. I went to Vegan SoulFest in Baltimore last month and had a great time.

Raw vegan goodness from Khepra's  - almond hemp burger, cauliflower bites, curried wild "rice", broccoli and "fried" plantains

There was plenty of delicious food, live entertainment, I connected with several of my YouTube viewers (heyyy!), listened to a couple of speakers and watched a cooking demo.  

with Chandra Lee of OrganicFlavas

I'm so glad I went!

Promote a New Meal Planning Master Class - I used my email list, social media and virtual workshops to promote this class. I really want to present more workshops (online and off), so I invested in an online course to help me become more efficient. I'm really excited to share my experiences and teach more families how to start a vegan life.

Homeschool Plan - I finally have a plan for the new year that I know will work really well for the boys. They're taking online classes for some of the day to give them more structure and to take some of the pressure off of me. I'm feeling really good about this transition!

Consistency Consistency Consistency - Confession time - Before I started working on this blog post, I didn't think I did anything last month. Even though vacation was amazing, it felt like it took me a long time to get back in the groove. I was out of commission for 2 weeks.

My goals for consistency each month are:

• 2 podcast episodes (posted 1)
• 2 YouTube videos (posted 2 woohoo!)
• Post daily on social media  (I went a whole week without posting anything) 
• Send out a weekly newsletter to the folks on my list (done)
• 2 blog posts that aren't related to my YouTube videos & podcast (I wrote a whopping 7!)
• 1 free virtual workshop (I did 2!)

Takeaways: I am way too hard on myself! Even though I didn't have perfect consistency, I covered a lot last month and would have never known if I didn't write this post.

I struggled to get those 2 YouTube videos out on time, so I will probably start a monthly series sharing a vegan tip. Vlog style videos are usually easier for me to edit, so I can record and batch that content in less time.

I will also make sure that my podcast episodes are recorded and mostly edited by the end of the first week of each month, so that I don't have to scramble to get those out on time.

Being inconsistent with social media has shown that I need to finally invest in a scheduling software to stay on top of it. I can schedule all my posts in advance and not worry too much about my Facebook and Twitter turning into a ghost town.

 

5 Intentions for the New Month

7 Day Detox/Cleanse - I haven't done a detox in a few years, so this will be interesting. I really feel like it's time for a reset, so eating all raw/fresh food for a week will be helpful. If you want to follow along with the cleanse or join in, follow me on Facebook - We're starting on October 11th.

Walk or Lift Weights Daily - I walked each day all summer for a minimum of 30 minutes. The vitamin D, consistent movement & sweat (detox) did wonders! I kind-of got off track when I went on vacation, so I want to get back to doing it daily this month.

Upgrade my lighting & sound quality on YouTube - I am still researching this but it's definitely time to upgrade my production quality over there. I have some big plans for the new year, so the uplevel is about to get real.

Wake up at 6 AM each morning (including Saturdays) - In a perfect world, I would wake up at 4 AM and finish all my biz work for the day by 9 AM. I always have a productive day with both work and family when I do this....but maintaining this is another story. For this month, I will test out 6 AM and see if that's more of my sweet spot. Then again I should probably just work on going to bed earlier. *sigh*

Attend one event - I will pay attention to my Meetup notifications for events, attend DC Veg Fest or Hip Hop Green Dinner this month.

That's it!

What are you goals for the new month? Leave me a comment  

Goals for September 2015

Since I enjoy reading what other people are doing to move forward with their business and personal goals, I've decided to hold myself accountable with monthly posts about my goals.

I refuse to have my year end like it did in December 2014 - depressed, ashamed and with no real focus. 

My theme for the rest of the year is Confidence & Discipline because I really want to grow in those areas.

I've always considered September my new year (instead of January) because it's my born month and I tend to reflect more during this time.

Even though I plan to work on more than 5 tasks, I will keep it simple here and write about no more than 5 here.

Goals

1. Be present in Costa Rica - For the last couple of years I've struggled with being present while on vacation. I find myself thinking about how I haven't really "earned" a trip (since I'm still building my business) and whether or not we can truly afford it. I'm heading to Costa Rica next week and made the decision ahead of time to not beat myself up! I will instead spend quality time with my extended family and celebrate my dad's 60th birthday with JOY. 
2. Attend One Live Event - One of the reasons we moved closer to DC nearly a year ago is to get closer to the action. I haven't really done much to get out there, so this month I will get rid of my crazy excuses and attend Vegan Soul Fest or Naturalista Hair Show.
3. Promote A New Meal Planning Master Class - I've been working on course materials and a marketing strategy for this class and can't wait to help more families (I did a similar class to this last year) how to plan simple and delicious vegan meals. Get more details about the class here 
4. Homeschool Plan - Our family isn't new to the homeschool life but we really need to revamp our routine for the new school year. I want more structure and enrichment activities on our weekly schedule. I've been working on paper and in Google Calendar to theme our days to get more out of them.
5. Consistency Consistency Consistency - For the last couple of years I've struggled with keeping on a schedule with YouTube, the podcast, being active on social media and writing content here. My issue - I stay in my head and overanalyze to the point that I don't start or finish as much as I should. *shaking my head* I spent the last couple of days working on a content strategy and will work hard to start batching my work to get ahead. This will truly be a process but I'm down for the challenge.

That's it for this month!

Shout out to Think & Grow Chick, Be Free Project & Nectar Collective for inspiring this series. :-)

What are your goals for the new month? Leave me a comment :-)

What's Up, 2014? Mid-Year Update

Do you remember your New Year's resolutions? It's okay if you don't because that was my life for many years.  I still have a lot of work to do, but I can see improvements in my life.

This post is inspired these...

2013 Lessons

What's Up, 2014?

*Have I been uncomfortable? Hell yeah! My theme for 2014 is get uncomfortable-say and do things that scare the shit out of me. I started a little journal earlier this year to track all of my uncomfortable antics. So far, I've launched a 30-Day Vegan Jump-start, paid a chunk of change for biz coaching, met some YouTube & blogging peeps in person (I usually avoid this type of stuff), posted some pics on Instagram without filter (it's silly to think that this is uncomfortable lol), talked about my products and services more, did 2 live Q&A calls with my audience and a slew of other things that I would have NEVER done before.

Lesson learned: For the rest of my life, I will always have a theme for the new year. It's so much easier than a long list of resolutions.

*I'm still a scaredy cat, but not nearly as much as I used to be. It's crazy how you go most of your life not caring much about what people think, only to let an online presence mess with you. I will continue to practice doing me.

*I will also continue to practice enjoying the journey. I tell myself often that I should stop worrying about not having enough disposable income to do some of the things I want our family to enjoy together. Even though there's not room for "extras," our life is very simple right now. Enjoy the journey, Monique! You will regret not doing that.

I think this quote is from Frank Ocean

*I really need to get back to shut up and work!  I've been talking way too much. I check in with my accountability partner once a week, but outside of that, I find myself yapping too much to Eric and my bestie about some of the things I want to do. It holds me back. I will practice silence and get the work done. Derek Sivers was right!

*Gratitude is a game-changer. When I get down about something I always go to my journal and reflect on things that are awesome in my life. It works every time.

Recipe here

*I love cooking for the parents! Often my days, weeks and months run together, so carving out time monthly to cook and chill with my parents is essential. I will definitely continue this ritual!

*Being a woman of my word is still a challenge. I know...I know. I just have a hard time saying "no" and then get mad at myself later for committing. I still need major help in this area. I will practice.

Have you kept up with your resolutions or are you starting a new set for the last half of the year? Leave a comment

What's Up, 2014?!

I read somewhere that only 10% of people who set New Year’s resolutions actually make changes to their lives. I believe that stat.

Since I’ve already started making these changes in 2013, I feel a little more comfortable sharing a few of my resolutions.

*Gratitude. Gratitude. Gratitude.

“Gratitude. That’s the gift I’m giving myself this year, and the gift you just might want to give yourself, too.” –Oprah

I started a gratitude journal and nearly every morning I reflect and write at least 3 things/situations that I’m grateful for. This has been life changing for me. Instead of thinking about what I don’t have, I’m forced to take a moment and embrace all of the beauty and love in my life right now. 

*Cook for parents once a month-For the longest time my parents have been trying to get me over to cook for them monthly. I live about 10 minutes from them and there’s truly no excuse why I haven’t been making more meals for them.

It was so fun making dinner for them on Christmas Eve!  I’ve already marked my calendar for our cooking sessions in January & February. Good food and quality time. :-)

*My theme for 2014-Get Uncomfortable. I’m not shy at all, but since my confidence isn’t the best, I prefer not to interact with people. It gives me sooo much anxiety. The thing is, I really want to get better at this. I always talk myself out of doing fun things and going to events. 

An event I attended back in November

Each month I will attend an event (or local meetup group), say something that I’ve been afraid to say, or ask for something without fear of rejection. I have nothing to lose! Fuck fear and anxiety!

There are a lot of other areas in my life that I want to improve, but like I said in the other post, I need to focus on shutting up and working. lol

What about you? Are you making any changes in your life in the new year?