Goal Setting for 2019- Sometimes less means more!
A new design debuting in my booth at Seattle Gift Show!
2019 so far has been pretty intense, but good. I worked my booty off in January to get ready for Seattle Gift Show, my very first wholesale trade show. I was hoping to find retail shops who want to carry my greeting cards in the area. It took a lot of work to launch wholesale- I spent most of my waking hours in January building the tools I needed to do all of it. Thankfully I had a binder of notes from Trade Show Bootcamp’s Paper Camp e-course I’d taken a couple years ago to guide me through the process.
So how was the show? The show was extremely slow due to Seattle’s #snowpocalypse, but I can proudly say that I reached every single goal I’d set for Seattle Gift Show and you’ll be able to find Cat Snapp Studio in Seattle, Bainbridge Island, California & Utah!
This was the best seller!
Show prep was all-consuming (I hear it gets easier and faster with experience), and I needed a break to unwind and re-focus. So last week I went on a solo retreat on nearby Whidbey Island to spend time working on goals and a plan for 2019.
I used Making Your Life As An Artist by Andrew Simonet (the book and workbook pdf’s are free!) as my goal setting guide. I’ve read this book every year since I first got it in 2014, and each time a new piece resonates with my creative journey. It can be read in less than an hour, which I appreciate!
One huge takeaway: “95% of your plan is the stuff you choose not to focus on.” Last year I tried as many things as I could in my business, but taking on all the things in business meant I took on none of the things in my personal life. I work from my home studio, so technically I'm home all the time, but I was still hardly spending time with Mike (my husband) or friends and family. That felt crappy and sad and I knew I wanted a shift this year.
Sunshine at my AirBNB retreat!
So one of my three goals in 2019 is to have a set work week so I can take off nights, weekends and holidays. That sounds easy given that it's a standard work schedule for many people, but it means I’ll be limiting the number of markets I commit to and how often I teach workshops. It means saying no to a lot of benign things that take up time in my business with little return.
By doing less, the idea is that I get to do more of what's most important and this goal is beneficial for both of us! By limiting my working time and in turn taking some things off my plate, I get to do more of what I love- create new art & products and share it all with you! So even though it’s a challenging goal, I’m pretty excited it. :)