2013 Future Letter

It’s the middle of January and I’m reading about everybody’s resolutions and goals, and I can’t help but feel a little intimidated. I thought that I would really be in the mood to write my 2013 future letter, but the end of 2012 was such a struggle that I feel like I started the new year beat down and defeated. While I would love to say that I hit the ground running, the truth is that I totally didn’t. I wanted to sit and write my 2013 future letter sooner, but I knew that I was in no mood to be able to sit and write the optimistic and upbeat letter that I knew I deserved. I put a lot of thought into writing my goals, so instead of trying to force myself to write something I didn't feel connected to, I decided to give myself some time to relax, recharge and reconnect. There are also some really big personal goals that have been tossing around in my head that I’m not completely ready to share in such an open forum. However, I decided to let go of those issues, and share them when the time is right, and instead dive into the things I know for sure.

So here I am, and I’m excited to say that I’ve got my mojo back. I am so ready for 2013 to be the biggest year of my life.

2012 was a fabulous year, despite the rough ending. I grew leaps and bounds and I really view the year as one where I began laying the groundwork for future big things. From finally creating a website, to getting my Tax ID, I feel like I'm entering 2013 with a legit business on my hands. I’m anticipating 2013 to be my biggest year thus far – kind of my make-it or break-it year. I’ll be more strategic and business minded, with a genuine focus on my goals and my brand. I feel like I have little tiny egg in my hand, and I can either take that egg and nurture it into a beautifully majestic bird, or I can drop it and never see what it might have become. Fingers crossed that I don’t end up with scrambled eggs.

Without any further explanation, I give you my 2013 Future Letter. (and if you don't know what a future letter is, find out about them here)

Dear Jackie,

     This year was one that stuck out in your mind as absolutely life changing. You're business grew, your life grew, you grew (but not around the waist, please God, no), and you worked hard to lay the foundation for many years to come. I'm proud of you and the way you approached everything this past year!
     You really figured out your personal direction and made sure that your business aligned with where you knew you needed to (or wanted to) go. Instead of trying to cut corners, you spent what you needed to spend – in time and money – to invest in the future of your business. You still get giddy every time an editor or something pops into your inbox with a wonderful “opportunity”, but instead of taking all the bait, you made sure to only take the lines that were best for you. It was hard to say no, but you always had your business in mind. This was the year that you finally turned your hobby into a business.
     You were able to grow your wedding line substantially, all while continuing to find your voice as a designer. You’re finally comfortable in your own skin and have confidence in your talent and abilities. While it’s so easy to see other designs styles that you love, you’ve realized that you don’t have to be like everybody else, you just have to be like you. One thing that you’ve continued to do is stand by your product and ensure great quality. It’s hard to swallow your pride and admit that something failed, but by showing that you’re human, you were better able to connect with your customers. On that note, you resolved the issues you had with your iPad case line, and continue to use that experience to guide the way you launch and test new products. You've finally figured out which vendors are the ones that match your business values, and you are comfortable counting on them to help you move forward.
     Some of your most comfortable habits were challenged on purpose, and you even got yourself an @believenotes.com email address. You also worked up the nerve to migrate your blog off of blogspot. It was sad, since you really hate change, and felt so loyal to the service you'd been using for years, but your business is more professional because of it. You've also worked on some of the other professional, but not-so-fun things like contracts, invoices, accounting, bookkeeping and yadda, yadda, yadda. It's still a struggle, but with the help of a good accountant and adviser, you're able to keep everything in order and you are no longer worried about the IRS knocking on your door. In fact, if they were to knock on the door, you might even have a loaf of banana bread ready to greet them with.
     Instead of guarding your business, you’re opening doors and continuing to network with the larger community. You’ve collaborated with some amazing professionals and you have a network of people that you rely on and trust. It’s refreshing to have done away with the “me against the world” attitude and to have embraced the “us against the world” partnership. It’s still uncomfortable to be in networking situations, and you may never be a master mingler, but as you gained confidence in your business, you also gained confidence in yourself during social situations.
     Moving away from Believe Notes - you've also had a new venture to take care of, Designers Care. It's been so rewarding to have a project which such a worthy cause, because that's something you believe in from the bottom of your heart. Instead of letting Designers Care be a one-and-done project, you've grown it into a business. You spent a lot of time working on making sure it's a legitimate and sustainable company, which was both challenging and rewarding. You've got a process in place for new designers, donating to a variety of organizations, and a way to maximize donations while still earning enough to keep the business growing. It still makes your heart warm to know that amazing group of people that have rallied with you to make this project successful - and who knows, maybe someday you really will be on Ellen!
     Even though you carefully planned out each of your goals for 2013, there were a lot of unexpected turns in the road. You may have felt stressed, but you never lost your composure and you were able to learn from each new experience. At the end of the day, it was all of those little unplanned things that really made you proud of how far you've come. Each challenge you faced also presented you with the opportunity to make something right – and you continued to follow a business model that is warm and trustworthy for your customers.
     It's amazing, isn't it, how much can happen in just one year? Every year seems to have been full of learning, growth, and challenge, but this past year was the one that was groundbreaking for you. You may be ending the year with a lot on your plate (and mind), but you are so ready for everything that's coming your way. I know you’re scared, because you’re pretty much always scared, but you’ve worked your ass off to get where you are, and I am so proud of you!

Best,
Future Jackie

2012 Revisiting the Future Letter & A Year in Reivew

I first read about the idea of a future letter from Jess Lively, who has been writing herself letters for over 6 years. The idea is to write a letter to yourself in the beginning of the year, as if it were already the end of the year and you knew what you had accomplished. It's a fun way to set goals and expectations for the year that's coming.

Last year was the first time I sat down and wrote myself a future letter, and now that 2012 is over and I'm able to look back on what I predicted vs what I actually accomplished, I am really amazed at how productive and growthful 2012 was for my business.  Here is the letter I wrote myself last year, and here are the milestones I hit:

•  We finished our flooring and kitchen remodel. I'm not done with the home yet, but I love how it turned out.
• I did get my Tax ID number & am officially an LLC
• I put together a thorough pricing list, and I update it regularly
• Believe Notes grew tremendously - new products were launched, the NSS was attended, and staging photos has become a whole lot easier (and prettier)
• Networking is still a challenge, but I reached out and made tons of new friends and contacts this year, including the awesomely awesome Jainé, of Brklyn View Photography, who snapped my gorgeous new head shots (which were also a goal of mine!)
• Mike and I did not get to travel nearly as much as we wanted to. We went to Vegas for your one year anniversary, and we had an amazing one year anniversary dinner at home. I don't know that Mike will ever be able to outdo himself. We still aren't thinking about kids, although all of our friends seem to be popping them out lately. Peer pressure ain't got nothin on us
• I've grown a lot on my corporate profession and still hate flying
• And yes, I think I definitely do deserve to congratulate myself! What an amazing year!

I had some other HUGE accomplishments in 2012 that I didn't even know were on my horizon, such as launching Designers Care. Obviously, nobody could have predicted Hurricane Sandy and the damage she would have caused, but I am so proud of myself and the designer community for coming together and creating something awesome! After tackling so much in 2012, I cannot wait to see the huge things that are bound to happen in 2013!!

2012 Resoluations - Future Letter

Better late than never, right? And even betterer if the resolution involves being better??? (Betterer is a word, according to my 5-year-old cousin, and if it works for him, it works for me)

I managed to squeeze in one last post back in December to recap some of what 2011 was for me. Reading that post again, I think I need to revisit that while 2011 was indeed a year of growth,  it was not necessarily a year of "bettering".  Not totally sure if that makes sense to you, but it's the only way I can think of it in my head. Oh, and keep in mind I haven't had my morning coffee yet.  It seems that 2011, for me, was a year of settling into "newness" and with that "settling" also came growth. To be honest, I didn't really seek out that growth, it just happened. I wasn't growing for a particular reason other than to keep up with my life, not that that's a bad thing, because I grew anyway, but this year I want to grow with intention to be better.

So 2012 is going to the year of being better.

Jess Constable from Makeunder My Life does this awesome thing called a "Future Letter" where she sums up her years resolutions in the form of a letter to herself in the vantage point of her already accomplishing the goals at the end of the year. I think it's a fun way to write out some goals so I'm going to give it a shot.

Let's now pretend it's the end of 2012, and I'm writing a letter to myself, as a pat on the back for all I've accomplished.

Dear Jackie, 

          Wowza! 2012 was an amazing year, wasn't it! The past twelve months have been a wild ride, but you handled it with grace and composure, such a lady you are! (Ok, am I taking this too far??? Read on...). It's not easy living through a home renovation, and even though your home isn't huge, the challenges were still, well, challenging. You dove into the new year, back in January, by ripping up ALL of your floors and doing a DIY kitchen renovation. They came out so great that you moved on to renovate the second bathroom as well. You've now got a beautiful home, that's mostly finished and decorated, and you can relax and enjoy it without having to plan the next major renovation. *phew*.
          When tax season came around, you finally decided to make your business legit. Yes, you finally got yourself a Tax ID Number for Believe Notes and have been growing your business guilt-free. Taxes stink, and the book keeping is challenging, but the business is better for it. You can now enjoy all sorts of great designer discounts which have allowed you offer new products at reasonable prices. 
          On the topic of prices, you did a great job of putting together pricing sheets, paper options,  invitation suite options, and so on. You're life is crazy, but that doesn't mean it can't be better organized! Your customers are super happy for the easy info too! Job well done!
          Let's talk new products; 2012 was the year that you became a better designer tenfold. You used more of your hand drawn illustrations in your designs, you finally launched your wedding suites (rather successfully, you foxy lady, you!), you started selling custom rubber stamps in your Etsy shop, and you mastered the art of staging photos. Lady, you're on a roll!! You attended the National Stationery Show and finally got to meet so many of your Mintie friends for real - they ROCK ROCK ROCK! It's still a blessing to be part of the Minted community.
          This past year, I'm proud to say, you overcame your fear of networking and have made new friends in the design world. You're Twitter has tons of followers because people are just really damn interested in everything you have to say (HA!). OK, seriously, you've been more active in the blogging community, the Twitter community, and you've began advertising your brand. You're realizing that it's OK to reach out to people, ask questions and be vulnerable. That's what makes you human and relatable, it's what makes people understand that business don't happen out of thin air, and everybody has a secret challenge that can be overcome. It also gives you great material to blog about. Double whammy.
          You're still enjoying the feeling of being a semi-newly-wed with Mr. Law, and he is still safe and sound after every day (night?) of work. After a lack of traveling in 2011, you've managed to take 2012 by storm. You've gotten out of the country and had plenty of time to act like newly weds again. No, you still aren't thinking about children. Although you don't mind hanging out with other peoples' munchkins, there's something that happens when children become tired/hungry where you're reminded that, deep down, you still think of children as scary little aliens meant for other people to endure 24/7. Harsh? Maybe. Got the point? Definitely. Are you ready? NO!
         Corporate world is still treating you well. You've had tremendous growth over the past year and are a better coach, practitioner and I/O professional because of the experience. You no longer shake every time you board the corporate plane. OK, you shake a little, but you don't need meds anymore. 
          On that note, let me take one more chance to congratulate you on a year well done. You've had your bumps and bruises, but you're BETTER for all of it. Not just a better designer, but a better person. You're a better wife, a better daughter, a better friend, a better professional and a better designer.
                   
                           Warm regards, 
                                      Future Jackie :)

I can't wait to check in at the end of 2012 and see if the above letter is accurate. I sure hope so. Does anybody else write a future letter to themselves? I'd love to hear about it!