Dear Future Me...

Dear Future Me... Have you watched our Spring video yet? Arent I annoying, bothering you about it every second? Well, this time its for a reason the reason being that I stole a fantabulous New Years exercise right from my Spring collaborator, Jess LC. Jess went into detail in that very Spring video (did ya watch it yet? Did ya? Did ya?) to talk about a letter that she writes to herself every New Years Day from a coffee shop, she even time travels while doing it. Nope, she doesnt have a DeLorean (its 2010 where are all of our DeLorians?), but she pretends she does. She dates the letter a year from that day writes all of the things that happened   that year how she looks, what shes accomplished, where shes living, yada yada yada. I was intrigued. THEN she said that 83% of the statements she made in the letter were true when she opened the letter on the actual day it was dated. Did your head just explode? Because mine did.   Read her post about it watch the video (did ya watch it yet?) because I ca nt explain it any better Im getting too excited about my letter to explain any more. I so loved this idea (so, so loved!) that writing the letter to Future Michelle on 1/1/11 from Present Michelle on 1/1/10 was the only thing I put on my calendar on New Years Day. Yup, I took time out of my movie marathon to write it. And write it I did, for an hour or so, I cried during most of it. It was just super emotional   encouraging really real, if that makes sense. I was going to keep it to myself, tucked away in my Google Docs until 1/1/11, but instead I figured Id put my money where my mouth is post it for all of you. I hope it inspires you to take the time do the same to not only allow yourself to Dream Big visualize your dreams made real, but to feel them too. I do admit, there were names numbers that I was uncomfortable in disclosing, so Idid a bit of rewriting. I also left out 1 little paragraph that was so personal it scared me even writing it! But honestly, I dont think it took away anything from this letter. So, lets just say I revised the letter to protect the innocent. OK, this is scary! Can you tell Im stalling? Eek! OK, here we go: Dear Future Michelle, Isnt it amazing what 2010 brought? I knew going in that it was going to be exciting scary new, but I never imagined how much Id grow in such a short amount of time. Im so proud of Luke I, making our new home a sanctuary with our own 4 hands help from our family. I really feel like I belong here, on the 12th floor overlooking Manhattan by day or in lights. I know our time here is limited, while we still have another 4 years here I feel like I might have to leave kicking screaming. Clinton Hill is just the perfect little neighborhood for me right now- the perfect mix of urban quaint (I feel like I dont want any mix of suburban or rural!). I love having the run of the neighborhood during the weekday, working at the indy coffee shop (no Starbucks here yay hooray!) running in the park taking yoga just a few blocks down. I feel like its a real community, the fact that most of my neighbors are old-timers, artistic students or young couples like us make me feel right at home. I love my work nook, even though its just a tiny desk next to the picture window in the living room. I keep my Right Brain Business Plan always close at hand, add to it h owever I want (by writing, drawing, doodling whatever!) regularly so I always have my new ideas fresh in my mind. I love giving myself time to dream of where my business is going to go, maintaining Me Time each every day. Every day! Isnt that crazy? This is coming from me, who a year a half ago wouldnt allow myself even 30 minutes of Me Time a week! But now I know its an essential part of my day, to ensure that I take care of myself, recharge my batteries keep on going for the sometimes 15-hour days I put into When I Grow Up. That number wasnt very scary at all! I knew I could do it. And did I mention how awesome When I Grow Up is? Im literally crying just thinking about it. The closer I got to leaving my desk job, the more time I spent smiling, full of optimism energy, but was also filled with some worry anxiety, crunching the numbers seeing how long Luke I could go on the money I had saved up. But once I broke it down saw how many sessions I needed to do each week to meet my goal,   it made me breathe a bit easier. Thankfully, I didnt have to stress about that at all! The year was such a whirlwind, I still cant believe Im actually pulling this off (although I knew I would all along. How did I trust that? I glad I learned that skill along the way). This year I conducted 10 group sessions ( got 4 people/session each every time without a problem!), 5 teleseminars, 2 in-person workshops, coached 50 people one-on-one, either by phone or email. I grew my blog readership to a solid 250 views/day, increased my newsletter subscribers by 300! I even started working on my e-book expect to have it done by my birthday this year. Aint that nuts? I wrote a book, essentially! Im so glad I asked for help with the design layout, which made such a difference really makes my e-book like like a book! I cant wait to have a real live product to sell. Eek! What a great birthday present to myself. Im also super smart made sure to keep delegating whatever was taking my mojo away. I love utilizing Sarah as my VA learned to trust her with more stuff, so besides the newsletter the online articles shes been helping me with, shes been doing some data entry light bookeeping, too. I love not having to do that myself! I registered my business found an accountant that specializes in working with coaches, so I know Im able to write off everything I possibly can while continuing to pre-pay my taxes quarterly. I also found an SEO specialist to help me bring my website up in Google searches, that was worth its weight in gold. Im actually getting people finding me on there now! Crazy! I put some money into marketing, too, as scary as it was. Putting my ad on high-traffic blogs that artists visit, as well as trade papers, GoogleAds Facebook seems to have paid off! Of course, the free workshops that I gave in the city were also great for picking up paying clients. It looks like Ill be a ble to conduct in-person coaching in 2011, which would be amazing! Id love to rent out space one day a week know that Im conducting private sessions, workshops group sessions there. How fun would that be? Id have my own little out-of-the-apartment office wouldnt spend all my time on the phone. Sigh. Oh, and Spring! I met the Spring ladies! It was so amazing, being all together in one place knowing we had a whole weekend to spend together. Talk about finding your tribe! I hope this becomes the start of an annual tradition, my own Lovebomb group to connect grow with. And Spring itself is just so ridiculously fulfilling. I learn something new (or ten new somethings!) from those geniuses every time we talk, theyre constantly keeping my head spinning in a positive, motivating way. I really clicked with the right crowd. Not to mention all of the eyeballs were getting onto the site thats coming over to When I Grow Up! Its the best way to market myself ever. Im thinking back on this year what to mention next, all Im left with is this feeling of being full. Yes, I worked my ass off this year yes, it wasnt easy by any means. Some days were downright scary anxious stressful! But this is the definition of fulfillment for me. Being in this ridiculously terrific relationship with Luke, loving my home my neighborhood, actually making a living doing not only what I love but what I feel like Im meant to do wow. It kind of blows my mind that Im here. And I know all of the steps I took to get here that it wasnt overnight, but maybe thats what makes it even more meaningful exciting. I paid my dues, I made it. Im here Im happy. Whats sweeter than that? Its scary exciting at the same time, which is what Ive learned I should always search for follow through on. Those scary exciting risks are the ones worth taking. Ive really stood by my word for 2010, simplify, went to town with it. I purged everything in my closet that I dont like or dont feel great in, continue to get rid of stuff thats no longer serving us on a quarterly basis. I also have actually figured out my time management, how to guard my work time from the friends family that think Im free all the time because I work for myself. Conversely though, I love meeting those friends family during the day (so fun!) when I have the time its just such a treat! I have my 2-4 coaching sessions a day, 6 days a week, spend the rest of the time writing exercising connecting with the family friends that add value to my life. Now that Im home shopping at the greenmarket Trader Joes, Luke I have actually expanded our What We Can Cook menu to more than a dozen dishes, Im eating so much healthier than ever before. Nothing makes me happier than a baked sweet potato with cinnamon for my mid-afternoon snack. Its the little things ?? I just FEEL healthy am at ease with my style, my wardrobe, my health my home. Style Statement really helped me hone in on that! Its amazing how much crap I brought into my life tangible otherwise just because I didnt know myself well enough. Now that I know my own two words Im able to know immediately what I want to attract how I want to present myself. Coming to terms with how making myself feel good when I step aside has just really boosted my self-confidence. I didnt even need to spend a lot to do it! Oh, and have I mentioned that my credit card debt is paid? PAID! I can hardly believe it. In celebration, I cut up all of my credit cards promised Luke that I will never, ever, ever carry a balance on a non-0% interest credit card again. Ever. And Im going to stick to it. Ive also made great headway in really understanding finances more, in general. My business coach really helped with that, I loved the biyearly meetings I had with my financial coach. Its such a great check-in to know where Im at get a snapshot of my business every 6 months. I dont know why, but it really calms me down. Can you believe this year?! I knew when it started that it was one more full of potential than I could remember, but I cant believe how far I came. OK, I can believe it, Im proud. Im proud of me. I did it. Have a fantabulous 2011, Michelle, make sure you celebrate 2010 to the tilt. You deserve it. Love, Present Michelle Well, dont leave me out here on my own! Write your own Present/Future Letter share it in the comments, or if thats too scary, just share your experience in general! Also, please be nice give me a hurrah (or ten) for sharing. I deserve it.