A few weeks ago, the lovely Laura from Create as Folk sent me a note that her newest ebook, Roadmap to Action, had launched. Intrigued, I headed over and grabbed a copy. And after just a few pages, I knew it was going to be a good read.
What drew me in to Roadmap to Action was that it’s a business guide that let me set the course of my business myself, versus trying to mimic someone else’s model (I’m especially taken with the section about how my critter self works best – that was eye-opening for me). When I started my first business back in 2007, there were no how-tos for creative business owners, no ebooks or eclasses to help get me started (and trust me, I looked). As a result, most of what I tried back then was trial and error, and I was occasionally plagued by the notion that maybe I wasn’t doing things “right.”
After a few years of experience, that feeling has lessened, but there are new challenges now – feelings of stuck-ness, feelings of overwhelm. As I’m going through those exact feelings right now, I took the promise of helping me clarify where I’m at and where I want to go that Roadmap offered as a sign.
I have a feeling that a lot of lessons will unfold over time, and that I will be rereading it over and over as part of a continuing self check-in. But I thought I’d take a few minutes to share some of my biggest takeaways right now.
First Takeaway: Clarification
My first aha moment had to do with clarifying what I wanted. I’ve been really reluctant to plan lately; part of it is indecision (so many things interest me, I’m like a magpie with ideas over here), and part of it is fear. The idea of setting a course or making a new business plan felt limiting to me, so I wasn’t quite sure how successful I would be at some of the exercises.
But to my surprise, the life I imagine and the directions I want to go in were clearer than I realized. Roadmap was a gentle prompt that allowed me to settle down and think about what I wanted, what wasn’t working, and brainstorm a few steps to get started. It helped me clarify for myself what I really wanted to do.
Second Takeaway: The power of setting limits
The second thing that hit me was the positive power of setting limits. I used to find limits, well, limiting. But I’m slowly coming around to seeing the benefits of them; the visual in my head has shifted from seeing limits as a way to hold me back to protective bumpers – things that keep me safe from burn out, from distraction, from overwhelm. Things that keep me focused and on-track.
Maybe that’s not as mind-blowing to you as it was to me, because you all don’t live in my head, so you can’t really understand my aversion to the word “limits.” But it was a true aha moment for me, and I’m starting to see everything I do in terms of it. Does this mesh with my goals? Does it truly help me or is it really a distraction in a pretty package? What do I really have time for, energy for? So, this takeaway was a truly powerful one for me.
Speaking of limits, since I was doing these exercises last week (when I took a few days off from blogging), I was able to put into action some of my new protective barriers. Specifically, I was able to identify the things I do that veer me off track, then worked to curb those habits. It wasn’t easy, but it was eye-opening. And at the end of each day, I didn’t feel like my was wasted; if anything, I was amazed at how much I got done when I wasn’t goofing off (imagine that!).
With help from the critter self section, I was also able to identify when I naturally work best, and am slowly tailoring my schedule towards those times. Progress, people, feels pretty good.
Third Takeaway: Being in control
I love knowing that I’m in control, and for a while, I’ve been feeling the exact opposite. Like I haven’t been the one deciding my life, which is a little silly now that I’ve figuratively said it out loud. It was just how I was feeling; I can’t really explain it other than I felt like I was floundering a little. Turns out, I’ve been in control the whole time – I just needed someone like Laura to point it out to me. I just needed to be reminded that I’m already capable and whole and in control.
I’m a fan of ebooks that guide me – those are the ebooks that I constantly come back to time and again. I love that I can use Roadmap to Action as a self check-in exercise from time to time. It’s less a book that is full of definitive answers, and more a book that guides you as you brainstorm. Though I’ve never had a coaching session with Laura, that’s what Roadmap to Action felt like – a coaching session with a friend who only wants to help me do what I want to do. It felt like a chat session with the girls over coffee – friendly, familiar, and honest.
What about cost? Well, Laura’s got a special price for Roadmap to Action – you can pay what it’s worth to you. So, if you’d like to grab a copy for yourself, or read a little more about Roadmap to Action, click here. That’s an affiliate link, so if you prefer not to click that, you can find out more information on Laura’s website, Create as Folk.
