My 19 for 2019 List

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In the spirit of transparency and authenticity, and also to hold true to my 2019 word, “Steadfast”, today I am sharing my 19 for 2019 list with you. I feel raw and exposed sharing it, as some of these seem extremely small, but for me, they are actually big.

I know, however, that I need to share my list if I’m truly going to hold myself accountable for the list. And… I hope I’ll blow some right out of the water!

You may be someone who sets a New Year’s Resolution every year, however I encourage you to join me and create your 2019 list as well. My husband will actually be creating his list later today, and, when my older boys return from their dad’s, I hope to get my family together to create OUR 2019 list.

When we work together to set our goals, we’ll work together to achieve our goals.

So, without further ado, here’s my 19 for 2019 list!

1. Save at least $20/week

In my article, Tough Love: The Best Gift I’m Giving Myself This Holiday Season, I explained how my family had not celebrated Christmas with Santa. It is truly humbling to know how hard I worked this past year, and that we still didn’t have money for presents. I know there are multiple reasons for this, and I will be working on them all this year, but one of the easiest ways to prevent this from happening next year — and also to build emergency savings — is to save $20/week.

It’s become all too easy in our house to spend it when we have it. Together with my husband, I’ll be making a conscious decision to save a portion of every bit of income that comes in. In addition, we’ll be making a concerted effort to be better meal planners, thus saving money we may have otherwise spent eating out.

Goal: Save $20/week = $1,040 in savings
Better goal: Save $50/week = $2,600 in savings
Best goal: Save $200/week = $10,400/year in savings

2. Write at least 1 blog/week for Positive Productivity

In 2018 I made a big decision to rebrand my company. Formerly called Sutton Strategic Solutions, I realized the company is about much more than me and “strategies”. Positive Productivity, my podcast, focused on three pillars: systems, support and self-care, and I wanted to focus on these in the business as well.

Speaking to my team, “Team Awesome,” we all agreed that rebranding the business to share the name “Positive Productivity” would make the most sense.

Now it’s time to grow the brand, offer resources in the way of videos and articles, and grow our visibility. Writing at least one article per week will help with that, especially when we use Tailwind to gain further traction.

(Join the Positive Productivity Pinterest Tailwind Tribe HERE)

Goal: 1 blog/week = 52 articles/year
Better goal: 2 blogs/week = 104 articles/year
Best goal: 4 blogs/week = 208 articles/year

3. Secure first speaking gig

Compared to my visibility three years ago, my brand and I have grown a lot, however I feel pulled to help a larger audience this year — in person. This is where speaking comes in.

When we’re setting goals, we need to know where our priorities lie. Speaking is NOT a priority I will be focusing on in the first six months of 2019, however if you’re interested in booking me to speak, click HERE!

4. Contribute article to major publication

This is another visibility channel that I will not be focusing on for the first six months, as I focus on getting products created and the systems I already have stable. But in quarters three and four of 2019 I will be making a push to contribute to a major publication.

Goal: Write an article for a major publication
Best: Become a regular contributor for a major publication

5. Family vacation paid for and taken

My immediate family and I have never taken a vacation that didn’t involve going to visit family. It’s time to change this. I was initially thinking Disney would be incredible, but we can hardly keep our three youngest from running away from us at the grocery, so for now that is out of the question.

Building sandcastles and looking for shells on the beach, though? Yes, I think I/we can handle that.

6. Honeymoon paid for and taken

Dave and I wed in early 2012, and two days after our wedding returned to work. Our marriage was more important to us than all the hoopla, and we knew we didn’t want to wait until we had money for all the extras… So we didn’t.

Well, seven years and three more kids later, it is time. We need a break. I don’t care if it’s a motel down the street, but this year we are getting away… Just the two of us.

7. Monthly massages

I haven’t had a professional massage since 2004, and even then it was a 15-minute deal in an airport between flights. There are times now when I daydream about laying on a massage table in a tent on a beach, having all the knots in my shoulders and back caressed out. Wow, that would be incredible.

Even without the beaches, this year I commit to making monthly massages a regular occurrence. I can’t imagine the release and bust of creativity which will come from these, and I… drool just thinking about it!

Goal: Monthly massages
Best: Bi-weekly massages

8. LASIK

I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 10, and contacts since I was 14. This year I will be 40. At least a dozen times I’ve rubbed my eyes and wound up with a folded contact stuck in my eye for more than a day. I’m tired of it.

This is not an inexpensive goal, and it will have to be paid for completely out of pocket, however I took forward to not having to blindly search for my glasses in the mornings (when I’m not too lazy to take my contacts off the night before).

9. Launch Heartfelt Funnels

Heartfelt Funnels will be my flagship course… as soon as it’s complete. I’m tired of all the marketers who teach sleazy and pushy sales funnel methods, and am ready to empower soul-centered entrepreneurs with a heartfelt marketing method (that works)!

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10. First draft of Chronic Idea Disorder

I’ve been talking about writing my book, Chronic Idea Disorder: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Overcoming Idea Overwhelm, since 2015. It’s time to stop talking and actually DO. In 2019, I give up excuses. I WILL write, at least the first draft of, my book this year!

11. Pay off PNC

This is, by far, the most embarrassing of all the items on this list. In 2016 or 2017 (I don’t remember which), I had a personal checking account which fell negative when hard times hit. Despite the fact that I thought I had turned overdraft protection off, numerous debit charges went through when there weren’t funds in the account to cover them. The charges were covered by the bank, and then overdraft fees were assessed. Then the bank began assessing me continuous overdraft fees on a regular basis because the account remained negative.

Although I wanted — desperately — to recover the account, the fees were digging a deeper hole faster than I could climb out of it.

The account has been closed and accruing interest for at least a year now, and it’s time I take care of the balance. To be fully transparent, I NEED to take care of the balance because right now I can’t 1) open my own personal checking account or 2) be put on Dave’s checking account due to this balance.

UGH.

12. Read at least 2 books/month

I LOVE to read, and have at least 100 books waiting on my bookshelves to be read. My mind, body and soul will be nourished and expanded in 2019 through books.

Goal: Read at least 2 books/month = 24 books/year
Better goal: Read at least 3 books/month = 36 books/year
Best goal: Read at least 4 books/month = 48 books/year

Want to read with me? Join the Positive Productivity Book Club HERE!

13. Eat dinner with family every night

Less than 10… That’s the number of times I ate with my family at our dining table in all of 2018, and that’s so ridiculously sad. I don’t want my kids to remember that I was never at the table for meals. Rather, I want them to remember good food and conversation, love and laughter.

14. No fast food or soda

I’m tired of eating and drinking junk. The twins were born almost 4 years ago (next week!) and I still have twin belly. Yuck.

2019, my 40th year, will be my healthiest year ever, and it begins with eating and drinking healthier. I attempted a healthier eating practice in September 2018 and made it a couple of weeks, however a week on the road took me on a detour and I never returned. This year, I will return — for good!

15. No E.R. visits (for me!)

A severe lack of self-care in 2018 found me in the emergency room four times, and admitted to the hospital one of those times. When my brand is built on the premise of empowering entrepreneurs with the systems and support that make adequate self-care possible, this is an embarrassment.

This goal is much bigger than just not going to the E.R. It’s about taking care of myself — my mind, body and spirit.

16. Double 2018 income – in products alone!

The gross income for 2018 came in just shy of $100K, the majority of which was from trading dollars for hours. In 2019, I want to change this up… A LOT! With a brain full of products which can be created once and sold multiple times — for anywhere from $5-$2000 — there is no excuse for not generating more revenue.

Product creation will be a major focus in 2019, and I have a goal of creating at least one new product every week. Yes, I said every week. This does NOT mean I will be creating a new course or writing a new book every week. This may be something MUCH smaller, like printables or short guides which can be sold as opt-in upsells or in my Etsy shop, Faith and Focus.

Goal: Double 2018 income in product sales alone = $200,000
Better goal: Triple 2018 income in product sales alone = $300,000
Best goal: Quadruple 2018 income in product sales alone = $400,000

17. Double TKS.com web traffic – organically

October 2018 brought big change to the Positive Productivity brand when my team and I cut back on the podcast. For two years it had been released daily, and thanks to the recommendation of my podcast producer, I realized this was far too much.

The relief I felt after cutting back was felt immediately, but unfortunately drama from inside my house began shortly thereafter and the relief was short-lived. While marketing efforts for the two episodes per week produced far greater results, my inability to work cut much of the income necessary to sustain such efforts.

Why am I sharing this all?

Because just as web traffic was beginning to increase significantly, it had to be scaled back. While podcast production/marketing may be temporarily decreased, I’m realizing we have no excuse for not making the most out of the first 500+ episodes, as well as the wealth of blog article ideas inside my head and the heads of Team Awesome.

In 2019, we will work smarter, not harder, to make the most of our marketing and drive more traffic to this site as well as Positive Productivity. And, if we’re truly working smarter, increased traffic should contribute to increased revenue.

18. Weekly outings with family on weekends

Before I started my business, Dave, my boys and I used to find something to do together at least once a week outside of the house. The activity didn’t necessarily cost money, and we referred to them as “The Adventures of Team Awesome.”

It’s time to resurrect the adventures.

For too many years I’ve been using the business as an excuse to stay home, and even if I wasn’t working, laziness was keeping me from actually getting out of the house. I’m beginning to feel like I’ll become a mysterious person, like Sandra Bullock’s character in The Net (insert link), if I don’t get back out there.

Yes, there is a family who lives in this house. And it’s time we re-enter society and natural sunlight.

19. Talk to God multiple times a day!

While self-care was practically abandoned in 2018, self-sufficiency was a sickening, over-arching theme which led me in 10,000 different directions. Worry controlled too many of my days, as did anxiousness and stress. Unfortunately, the worse my worry, anxiety and stress, the more I tried to control and remedy on my own.

I forgot how to sit still and listen.

God has to — and will — be my #1 go-to in 2019. Faith has brought me here, and Faith will take me forward, but life will be much easier, even in the difficult times, when I remember that my life is in God’s plans and in God’s hands.

Your thoughts?

I would love to hear your thoughts on my 19 for 2019 list. Have you been inspired? Leave a comment below!