The last two years have been really monumental in getting clear on my priorities and goals and coming up with systems and strategies to actually help me reach them. I always say being a business owner is the toughest personal development challenge you can do and I whole-heartedly believe it. Want to learn your strengths and weaknesses really fast? Start a business. You learn really fast about both when you’re the only one responsible for getting things done. The experience is truly life-changing and I really credit it with also influencing how I’ve approached goal setting the last few years. Each year proves to be another trial and error experience that helps me streamline my process and systems a little better to continue to better my life.

Having a phrase has been something that has really motivated me in previous years, as well as bring my goals together and the phrase I picked for this year is “showing up”. I picked it because when I was working on my goals I realized a lot of them had to do with visibility as well as taking that next step. Showing up for my community, showing up visually in our business marketing and press efforts, and showing up for the next phase of some of my goals that need some extra dedication this year. When the wheels are already in motion, it can be easy to sit back and enjoy the ride a little and my phrase will remind me that I need to show up and give it my all each and every day if I really want to make the progress I’m after.

2019 set a lot of good bones for the lifestyle I want to live so you’ll notice there’s a lot of carryover in what I want to accomplish this year too. Here’s a look at how things breakdown.

Mulah Goals

Let’s jump right into a juicy one and talk moneyyyy! A lot of people like to keep their money private, especially when it comes to their goals and that’s totally fine… but not this girl. We didn’t have money growing up and it was always a sore subject, but as a woman in business, I think it actually needs to be talked about more. Not from a place of fear, greed or bragging, but from a standpoint of stability and using it as a vehicle of empowerment.

That being said, I have 3 main money goals when it comes to 2020:

1. Increase our business net income by an additional 33%

2. Build up my savings

3. Pay off my car loan

As I’m sure you know, buying a house isn’t cheap. so one of my big goals is getting my savings back at a comfortable level. When you’re self-employed your income is often unpredictable so it’s nice to have a healthy cushion so that finances aren’t a stress factor if we have a slower month here or there. On top of a pretty hefty savings goal, I also reallyyyyy want to pay off my car loan this year. I still have 3 years on my loan and a nice chunk of change but it’s my only other debt and biggest bill aside from my mortgage so I’d love to say bye bye to that. Plus, I’d like to free up that money monthly to reallocate for future real estate investments paying more towards my mortgage and investing more into my retirement. 2020 is all about building more stability and putting my money to work.

Prioritize Professional Development

Personal development work has been high on the agenda the last few years, and I want to continue that too, but I also want to focus more on professional development. Something we’re implementing this year at our business is one working day a month dedicated to learning new skills or diving into a current skill further. There are so many things each of us wanttt to learn more but up to this point we’ve been learning on the fly so I’m really excited about scheduling in a dedicated day.

Prioritize Health & Fitness

2020 will be another day of focusing on being a healthier and stronger version of myself. I was on a really great track and then threw in the towel when I jumped into the house-hunting process. For 2020, I want to get back into the healthy routines I started last year including:

• Averaging 3-4 workouts a week (starting with 3 in Q1 and working way up to 4 again)

• Daily walks during the weekdays to hit my 10k step goal — I need to find a new route now!

• Prioritizing drinking more water throughout the day

Hiking is definitely another part of my fitness goals this year.

• Mission to Mailbox Peak is getting carried over into 2020! My goal is to go on 10 training hikes leading up to Mailbox

• I also want to hike Mt. Peak at least once a month

Be More Visible and Personal in Business

This one is new and one that I know I need to push some boundaries. Last year, we had so much growth that I was definitely guilty of putting my head down in our work and wasn’t as visual in our business publically. So why does this matter to me..? Well, I know personally I connect more with business owners when they’re consistently showing up in their marketing and more visual. It’s easy for me to stay behind-the-scenes and this year it’s time to jump back in the spotlight both online and locally.

• Seek out more press and guest blogging opportunities highlighting professional expertise

• Show up on Instagram Stories intentionally for Bold & Pop

• Stretch my professional reach for speaking and networking opportunities

• Prioritize personal branding and blog content

Increase Local Footprint

Now that I’ve put roots down, I’ve noticed I really feel more grounded and am excited about making more connections locally. In 2020, I’d like to dig deeper into being involved in the community as well as expand my footprint professionally and personally. I’m in it for the long-haul in Washington so now it’s time to really spread my wings a little and put myself out there more.

• Continue to attend Tacoma Boss Ladies meet-ups and help out on the social media side

• Become more involved with community garden as social media chair

• Become more visible professionally as an expert in the area

• Explore more local events and businesses in Tacoma to support local

• Visit new places in Washington and the PNW I haven’t been before

• Create more local based content on blog and social media accounts

Lean in to Passion Projects

The last few years, my business has dominated most of my goals (and I love that) this year, I’m going to make another attempt to really lean in to my passion projects too — like this blog! I have so many ideas and things I want to share… but it’s been a goal that I continuously let slide when other things come up and I want to be more intentional about it this year. That includes getting clear on my purpose, creating an actual plan and prioritizing that time.

Read 12 Books Throughout the Year

I’ll be honest, for years while I read a TON at my job… reading a book in my spare time was just not on my radar. Like I hadn’t actually finished more than a few books a year for probably the last decade 😳. In 2019 I changed that by setting a reading goal and I’m setting that goal again in 2020. Another thing I changed was I started reading non-fiction books. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fiction book too (well maybe not as much, since I wasn’t reading them either…) anyways, the point being non-fiction is my jam. I sought out reading books on topics I was interested in or curious about. I didn’t always love every book, but having this goal helped me push through the giving up part and I pushed through them.

Prioritize Relationships and Being Thoughtful with Time

Being intentional with my time in 2020 is going to be important and I look forward to implementing some of the systems I worked out last year. Having systems that work when you use them is SO key and I think that’s why a lot of my goals are continuations because I finallyyyy found some things that worked for me. This year I want to prioritize:

• Monthly date nights

• Monthly girl time

• Time with my family

• Intentional with travel and trips

Try 5 New Things this Year

This has been one of my favorite goals each year! It might be something you already do naturally but having a minimum number I want to hit has helped me pay attention to making time for new things. It’s also led to finding things I really enjoy like hiking and kayaking. I have a few ideas in mind but we shall see where 2020 takes me!

Embrace Rest

I’m starting to wonder if rest is going to be a thing in 2020 after writing out all of these goals! Ha… While I’m most successful with things when I have structure I’m working on listening to when I just need some rest and the most important part of that — not feeling guilty for it. That’s the big one! I know I’m most successful when I’ve built-in good structure and systems so here are some things I’m doing this year:

• Taking a minimum of 20 days off from work this year — We’re taking a reverse approach to time off at Bold & Pop this year. I know 20 days isn’t even that crazy but it turns out we take a lot less time off than we thought we do so setting a minimum is forcing us to actually plan ahead and take time off. It turns out our business doesn’t totally burn down when one of us steps away and instead we could really benefit from that time

• Actually take lunch breaks — Clearly we’re really tough bosses 🙈I never got lunch breaks when I worked at an agency and that bad habit just compounded when we started our business now going on 5 years ago. This year, we’re going to work on actually taking lunch breaks and shutting our computers down during that time.

• Summer Fridays, year-round — Summer Fridays are really big on the east coast and this year we decided we wanted to extend them year-round as much as possible. It’s only a few extra hours (we close up shop at 2pm EST on Fridays) but it’s been SUCH a nice treat and something we’re going to try to keep going with.

• Self-care days — I started having “Anna Days” last year which are planned alone time each month and it’s been such a good thing for my mental health and something I’ll be continuing

Whew, okay that’s a lot but I have a big vision for my life and I’m not slowing down anytime soon!

2019 was a YEAR! Yes, all caps worthy. It was a year of SO much growth, really getting my footing on my goals and future and digging in roots. My phrase of the year was “level-up” anddd I feel like I did that in just about every way possible. So before we officially say peace out to 2019, here are some of the highlights I want to share!

Leveled the Heck up in our Business

I thought 2018 was a game-changing year at Bold & Pop… and don’t get me wrong, it was, but it turns out it was just the warm-up for what 2019 would bring. We increased our business by another 46% and increased our salaries by a whooping $25k. Holy freaking crap. Not only that but 57% of our business was from repeat clients. They like us, they really like us! Real talk though, we pour our hearts into the work we do for our clients so to work with so many repeat clients in different phases of their businesses or new projects was really exciting. We also increased our website traffic by 22%, grew our #GoingBold Community to over 1,200 members, had our first annual Co-founders retreat + two other trips to work together, and grew each of our local communities in both of our cities. Starting and growing a business continues to be one of the toughest yet rewarding things I’ve ever done and I’m just so dang proud of the impact we’ve been able to have so far and where we’re headed.

Bought my First House

Talk about something I didn’t think was going to happen for at least another year… I bought my first house! Thanks to the extra savings from our business and Mama Duck for helping secure my financing! I know I’ve talked about this a lot, but it’s something I’ve looked forward to for SO long so now that I actually made it a reality…. just so dang happy. Most women dream of their wedding day and all of that jazz…. I’ve dreamt about the day I’d be able to buy a house 😜Mission accomplished!!!

Worked on Becoming a Stronger and Healthier Version of Myself

This was one of the first years I really prioritized self-care, implementing healthy habits, developing systems and actually holding myself accountable and it felt good! I got a little off track with my fitness goals during the house-hunt, but progress is progress! Some of the things I focused on this year was:

• Started strength training and daily walks with a weekly goal for each and a journal to keep track of my efforts and keep myself accountable

• Prioritized drinking more water throughout the day and started planning meals for the week

• Started a regular bedtime routine to try and get more rest and also started reading before bed helping me read over 10 books this year.

• Started listing to business/motivational podcasts and e-books during my weekday walks/hikes to expand my viewpoints and life toolbox

• Set a hiking goal with my eyes on making it up Mailbox Peak — I didn’t quite hit that one yet but I went on 9/10 training hikes and 11 other local hikes for a total of 20 this year

• Started doing monthly intentions worksheets and check-ins for my goals which was SO helpful for accountability

• Scheduled one self-care day/month for alone time

Stretched my Boundaries

2019 was a year of doing things I didn’t think I could and also trying new things I didn’t think I would. Last year, I started a goal of trying 5 new things throughout the year and it turned out to be such a good challenge so I continued it this year too. Some things I enjoyed more than others but the key was to stretch my boundaries a little with each, which I think has helped my self-confidence in other parts of my life. A few things on this year’s list included:

• Public speaking — which has always been something that terrified me but this year I spoke to the biggest group yet and survived to talk about it after

• Meditation — not really my jam but I gave it a swing

• Clamming — surprisingly harder than I thought it would be

• Horseback riding — I had a lot of fun with that

• Shooting — another thing I didn’t think I’d ever try

Worked on Finding more Balance and Prioritizing Relationships

It is reallyyyyy easy for me to get wrapped up in work… I pretty much worked around the clock the first 2 going on 3 years of our business and it’s something that is still easy to fall into. In 2019, we really made a conscious effort to continue to try and have a better work/life balance by shutting things down at the end of the day and we also decided to extend our Summer Fridays beyond just the summer and throughout the rest of the year. I also tried to do a better job of prioritizing time with my family and friends and making plans instead of just talking about making plans. The weeks and months go by so fast and I feel like my efforts really did make a difference. Some of the things I prioritized this year in my relationships were:

• Using a shared calendar/list app Cozi to block off time and stay on top of my commitments

• Bi-weekly visits to my mom’s to cook dinner, hang out and have some quality time each month

• Took advantage of local weekend getaways in the PNW for a change of scenery and went on an anniversary trip to the Methow Valley where I fell in love with the Methow Valley and the North Cascades

• Started getting girls days and craft days on the calendar with my friends and planning our next ones at the end of each visit or shortly there after

Grew a lot Personally through Life’s Curveballs

While 2019 was a BOMB year in so many ways, I was also thrown quite a few curveballs in my personal life. It was a year of reallyyyyy stretching my empathy muscle, problem-solving and standing up for myself. And as much as I’m thankful most of it worked out, I’ll be honest it was uncomfortable as heck a lot of times. Two things I hate the most are conflict and when I don’t have any control in a situation and this year was stacked full with both. I’m definitely hoping 2020 has less of those moments, but at the same time, I’m also really proud of sticking it out, finding solutions and growing through it all.

2019, you were a BIG one… A year of firsts, a year of bests, and a year of stretching boundaries but I’m ready for all that the New Year will bring.

Before we ring in the New Year, I wanted to take a chance to look back on 2018. It was a year of hitting goals, pushing myself further than I thought I could and a whole lot of change. I may have moved back to Washington mid-2017, but in many ways, a lot of those changes rolled into this year and now that we’re inching into 2019, I finallyyyy feel a little more grounded. About dang time right?! Listen, uprooting your life and making allll of the changes can take some time to get used too though! All-in-all 2018 was a pretty dang great year and I wanted to give it a proper send-off by celebrating the progress that was made.

Crushed ALL of the Biz Goals

2018 was a game-changer for Bold & Pop. We’ve been working our booties off since we started 3+ years ago and THIS was the year where I feel like everything really started to line up. We increased our business by 38%, hit our income goals early, doubled our web traffic, and grew our community to nearly 900 biz owners, side hustlers and bloggers — just to name a few! Seriously though. It was a HUGE year for our business and every success has felt really damn good.

Another one of our big goals this year was to work on a better work/life balance and I’m so proud of the progress we made. When you start a business, it can all-encompassing and this year we learned firsthand why time off is one of the best things you can do! We still had our moments, but we were able to take more time off this year than the last 3 combined and I think it was a big reason we found so much success! We both went through a huge year of growth both personally and professionally and I cannot wait to see where we go in 2019 because the bar has been set!

Moving to a New City + Apartment

This year, I joined the adult world again and moved to a new apartment in a new city! Tacoma to be exact, which definitely deserves a blog post of its own. It’s kind of funny because if you would have told me that I would have not only moved back to Washington, but to Tacoma, I would have laughed at you a few years ago. I’ve learned that sometimes the best things in life are unexpected though and Tacoma has definitely surprised me in the best way. I still love Seattle and dream of living there one day, but Tacoma’s small city vibes have been a nice transition. Plusss, the rent prices here are kind of amazing. Having a 2-bedroom for less than I paid for my studio in NYC will never get old.

Paid off My Student Loans

BOOM baby, I paid off my student loans this year! I think this is exciting for anyone, but I wasn’t really expecting to do it this year so I’m really proud of this one. My personal financial goals were really just focused on building my savings back up to where I wanted them to be. They definitely took a hit the last few years after starting a business, moving cross-country, and buying a new car so building those back up was my top goal. With such a high increase in our business though I was able to build up my savings and pay off all of my remaining loans almost 2 yeas earlier than planned!

Made Personal Development and Self-Care a Priority

As I mentioned earlier, having a better work/life balance was a big business goal of ours this year and that really goes hand-in-hand with this one. We’ve really lived and breathed our biz the last few years and while we still do, we realized we both reallyyy needed to take some time for ourselves. Thank goodness for biz besties who are literally on the same page as you. Really though, this year I learned just how important self-care is and how bad I really needed it. So I worked on myself a lot.. I took up hiking and walks around the new neighborhood, I listened to podcasts, I read a ton of self-development books, and started scheduling “Anna days” to literally just relax by myself. Becoming a healthier, better version of myself both physically and mentally was a top priority and I am really happy with the progress I made this year.

Tried More New Things

I set a lotttt of personal goals this year (I talk a little more about in this post) to push myself! Which resulted in doing some things I never thought I’d do + finding some new hobbies I really love! Some of my fav things that came from those goals were doing my first public speaking appearance, attending 4 local business owner events in the Seattle/Tacoma area, recording our first podcast interview, running my first 5k, joining a community garden, learning how to pickle and how to make jam, going on longer (and harder) hikes, starting a regular workout routine and joining PNW online communities!

2018 is definitely one of those years I’m going to look back on and remember. It was a year of so many amazing memories, a ton of growth and one that has really set a strong foundation for what’s to come! Bring it on 2019, I’m ready for you!!