What does it take??

As I wrote to you all yesterday, I had an amazingly inspiring time in Palm Springs this past weekend.
Being surrounded by such talented and driven women (and feeling SO blessed to be hanging with them) really convicted me to push myself to the next level. To step it up with my design work, my client interactions, with my personal brand, and my blog content.

If you've been reading my blog at all this past year, you know I love to blog inspiration, thoughts and my graphics work from time to time. Now I'm thinking it's time to be more focused. Not that I won't blog any of those things anymore, I started blogging to journal my thoughts and that won't change. I will continue to show my work and inspirations. But I'm ready to step it up.

Now I'm wondering to myself, what does it take? I'm sure you have felt the need to step things up in some regards. It may be with your job, your relationships, or business. We all feel it, as we should!

But how does one go about doing that? Just because I WANT to step it up doesn't mean I know HOW!

So, I'm taking the big picture things I've seen from successful people and compiling them into 5 basic points. These are general statements, each I could talk about for a long time, but since we're in the day and age of quick info, I'm going to be separating these into separate blog posts.

Here's the first one! Get ready to step it up with me, friends. We're in this together.



1 // Get organized.
I'm not just talking about getting organized with your receipts and paperwork... (though that is a good thing!) I'm talking about getting organized with your thoughts, goals and vision. Don't just have them jumbled up in your head, changing day to day and week to week. Write them down and stick to them! Your long term goals, short term and present day. Keep them short and to the point. Having organized goals will allow you to live them out.

2 // Focus.
What is it you want? If you don't know where you're headed you will never get there. When learning how to draw I learned that when you create a line you need to know where it ends, or your drawing will be off. It is the same with life. If you don't know where you are headed and what you want you won't make it there. It's ok (and good!) to be flexible. It's ok to take opportunity as it comes. But having an end goal can really give you motivation and drive. When you know the purpose behind what you're doing it will help you get there.

3 // Hard Work.
Don't you despise the people who always look effortlessly amazing? Let me tell you a secret... it's not effortless. It takes hard work and discipline. Do you think celebrities are born looking like that? No, they work hard for what they have. All good things come with some sort of hard work.

Working hard means going against what you feel. Feelings will lead you astray. Just because you feel like sleeping in, doesn't mean you should. You must go against what your body is telling you and get out of that bed. It's the same with anything. As much as you love what you do, you're not always going to feel like doing it. You must learn to be disciplined and work hard. Want to step it up? Ya gotta work it!

4 // Reach Out!
I think so many of us try and do really difficult things all on our own. I know I do! But there are 7.043 billion other people in the world with talents and disciplines different than yours. Reach out to them and ask for help! You'd be surprised at who will lend you their advice and expertise. And if not, you're in the exact same place as you started - no harm done :) If you really want to run your own business but aren't sure how to run your finances, ask other small business owners how they do things. Let down your pride. It's the best way to learn!

5 // Confidence.
Here's where I struggle. I'm a HUGE people pleaser and do what I can to keep people from feeling any sort of uneasiness. But one thing I've learned is you must trust yourself. If you take the time to dig within you, you will find that you already know the truth, you know what you should be doing and the answers to your questions. The only thing that stops us from living that out is our fear. We must have the confidence to do what's right, despite what others think. This is honestly one of the hardest things for me to do. It's what holds me back the most. I have a fear of succeeding and what it will do to me. What other people will think, who will criticize me. I've come to terms with the fact that I'm always going to have fear, I just have to continue to act even with that lingering feeling. Stepping it up can't happen without confidence. Something I'm learning everyday!!

I hope these inspire you on how you can step it up in whatever it is you're doing. Since I'm planning on doing more focused blog posts with better content, I've decided I won't be posting every single day. If you follow me on Twitter or like my Facebook page, you'll be able to see when I post a blog. Find me over there! Let's chat it up!

Happy Tuesday friends! Hope it's a good one!