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!!

Goal Setting - Networking

As a self-taught designer, I've always felt like an outsider in the world of graphic design and stationery. There are so many incredibly talented people out there that I seriously admire - I read their blogs, follow them on twitter, and cyber-stalk the crap out of their business adventures. One thing I don't do is actually tell them how much I admire them. I feel like they are untouchable; too busy to read emails (that aren't from other design celebrities), too involved in their own amazingness to read my blog, too elite to be want to have coffee with a stranger.

But it's dawned on me that these people aren't really as untouchable as I've made them up to be in my head. I think it's more my own intimidation, fear of rejection, and genetic link to hermits. I mean, who doesn't love a little note that says "hey, I think you're awesome"? I personally LOVE those notes (hint hint), they make my day week - so, why am I so afraid to send them?

A few weeks ago I made myself a new goal; to proactively network more and send heartfelt notes to the people I admire. If one of those people happen to live locally, I'll see if they'd be interested in meeting up over dinner or coffee or tea or whatever. If it's somebody I could see myself collaborating with creatively/professionally, I'll say that too, and maybe they'll be interested. I won't beat myself up if somebody doesn't write back, and I'll allow myself to be totally giddy (think me circa 1990's with N'Sync) if one of my icons really does write back.

So far I've sent out a few little notes, and I'm really excited by the responses I've been getting back. I'll be meeting up with some people in the future, and maybe doing more collaborative work. I am so, so, so proud of myself for taking the first step and I can't wait to continue moving forward with this goal.

I also want to make sure that I am as available as possible to anybody else out there. I don't ever want people to be too intimidated to shoot me a quick email, I might not get back to you within 24 hours, but I will get back to you, I promise. You can find me at believenotes@yahoo.com, and I seriously do welcome any kind of notes!

A few months ago I posted some of my tips for setting goals, both personally and professionally. One of my goals was to obtain a Tax ID, which I am happy to announce I did finish on time. Which is also why I was able to share my fun recap of the National Stationery Show and the Matchbook Notebook Hunt.