I have an intimate relationship with my goals. They aren’t things I ponder once a year. They’re with me every day while I work, pushing me. These are all ideas that have been percolating in my head for a while. Now that 2012 is here, it’s time to start implementing them.
My goals for 2012 are more specific than last year. They’re big. Big and scary. But that’s what makes this fun.
Business goals:
1. Speaking
I’ve decided that 2012 is the year I’m going to start speaking publicly. I want to overcome the fear that I’ve held onto for so long and begin hosting workshops and webinars, both in person and online.
In order to get a jump start, I’ve set an external deadline for myself. On Thursday July 6 (the day before WDS begins) I’ll be hosting a workshop for multipotentialites in Portland, Oregon. I’m not sure what the topic of the event will be yet, but you can mark it down on your calendar, because it’s happening.
I’m also going to be hosting a series of free workshops and webinars on Google+ Hangouts starting in a few weeks, so look out for that.
2. Write and (self-)publish my book on confidence
I started writing this a couple months ago, but got hit by a massive wave of Resistance. I was traveling at the time, and realized that maintenance work is possible to do from the road, but creating something new is very challenging. And so I stopped stressing over the book and put it aside. I’ll return to the project when the time feels right, and it’ll be out sometime in the next twelve months.
3. Membership site
This is the top secret project that I’ve been working on. I want to provide those of you who are serious about integrating all of your interests into your lives, with a high quality, mastermind type platform for networking with other multipods.
Every time I receive an email from someone who says that it’s so comforting to know that they’re not alone, because I exist, I want to forward them the hundreds of other emails I’ve received from other scanners that say exactly the same thing!
I love receiving these emails. It always feels very rewarding. Nonetheless, I get frustrated sometimes, because my god! Our community is PACKED full of incredible multipotentialites, who have experienced the exact same thing!!! You are, by no means, alone.
I know that I could be doing more– that while I’m doing a good job of speaking to each of you individually, I’m not doing much to connect you with one another.
We have an unbelievable pool of talent here. A high level community could be a tremendous resource to connect with other multipotentialites for support and advice on careers, productivity, coming up with business ideas, dealing with disapproving family members, and so on. The community could also be used to find a partner or freelancer for your business– someone who has a particular skill that you’re lacking and can fill in your gaps.
Health and lifestyle
I’m flying back to Portland in a few weeks, at which point I’ll be finding a nice place to live and getting the puppy I’ve been dreaming of for years now. (Finally, I have a lifestyle that can accommodate a dog!) I want to continue building my community of wonderful friends, connecting with new people, putting myself out there, and just setting down more roots in the city. It’s my home now.
Health-wise, I’m going to start exercising and meditating regularly. I find meditation really difficult, but I’m ready to find a local sitting group and commit. I’ll also be getting back to my daily gratitude jog.
Overcoming health issues
I haven’t written about this on the blog before, but I’ve been dealing with a lot of digestive issues and food intolerance over the last couple years. It’s been incredibly taxing, both physically and emotionally. 2012 is going to be the year that I sort out my health issues once and for all. I want to stop relying on restrictive diets that help, but don’t provide adequate nutrition or energy to my body.
This whole process is very thorny and hard to navigate (there are so many “experts,” and so little real information). But I’m committed to finding the right answer for me and getting my body back into balance.
There we have it, my major goals for 2012. Knowing my scannerly nature, I will almost certainly be adding to the list. But for now, this is it.
Your Turn
What are your goals for 2012? I’d love to hear them.
Love your goals – simple, but powerful! I wish you the best 🙂
For me, I haven’t formally written them out, but here’s an impromptu list:
Business – I’ve been making hand painted gifts for children for 2 years, but haven’t taken it super serious, so next year I want to take that waayyy further next year.
Lifestyle – I’m hoping to move next year and start a whole new life for me & my family… Me and my 2 kids currently live with my parents, so that’s gotta change! I’d also like to travel a little and meet some of the writers behind the blogs that I read, so I’ll let you know if I’m ever on the west coast next year! 🙂
Hand painted gifts for children sounds like a great (and quite profitable) idea. I bet you can take it far! Parents love spending money on their kids. Do you know Dallas Clayton‘s work? He’s one of my favourite multipotentialite artists. Most of his work is “for kids,” but I have a feeling that his online community is made up largely of amazing, creative parents… and big dreaming weirdos like me. 😛
And your lifestyle goal is fantastic! So inspiring. Definitely let me know if you’re in the Portland area. I’d love to meet up.
I actually love Dallas’s work! Been following his work for a while.
I’d say I’m both a creative parent & a big dreaming weirdo, and proud of it 🙂
Have you ever tried the Primal diet (a variation of the paleo diet)? I’ve had some digestive issues and, for me, the primal diet took care of them. The results obviously wont be the same for everyone and I don’t know your specific circumstances, but I figured it was worth mentioning.
The primal diet looks interesting. Not all that different from my current diet, though I’ll have to dig in some more.
Is the primal diet the same as Mark Sisson’s Primal Blueprint? That’s what keeps popping up in my Google results. Thanks for passing that along, Tim.
Yup, the diet’s based on his book (which you should definitely read!). But, you can learn enough about it just from his blog. (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/)
If you decide to go for it, you can make a food journal on his forum and the community can kinda help you out, let you know how you’re doing.
Nice work, Emilie. Glad to see you planning big things!
See you around PDX when you make it back…
Thanks Chris. And yes, lets grab that (official) tea once I return!
Those are some great goals and hope you achieve them all and then some!
Thanks Benny! I’m digging your “10 Greatest Things” post… Epic year for you, man. Awesome.
Great list Emily. Good luck to you in achieving all your goals next year.
Thanks so much, Livia. Same to you. 🙂
A mastermind program would be great. One geared toward beginners and creative types (though some other levels too so we have people to learn from.) It seems like a lot of the groups and resources out there are over the head of beginners. It seems almost a foreign concept that some people have never worked in an office or done traditional business stuff. Many creative types (there’s a lot in Portland) who I know already, have a hard time grasping the business side of things.
My goal for 2012: Learn Skype! 🙂
Thanks for the feedback, Josh. That’s super helpful.
I definitely want the group to be accessible for beginners. I too didn’t arrive here from a traditional business or employment background, but from the creative side of things. I’m very passionate about helping artists harness web 2.0 tools. Artists are also more fun to work with. 😛
Haha.. learn Skype. Nice.
Oh girl, you can tell health and healingis one of my passions when I practically drooled thinking of all the info I have on food intolerances and digestive issues! My kids and I all had food intolerances and allergies and I had Celiac, but we are all free and clear now. If you are interested I can save you a lot of time and money! Without elimination diets.
Otherwise awesome awesome goals. Can’t wait to see the mastermind!!
Go you!
Did you do the GAPS diet? I have met a few people this past year who have found a lot of help going through it.
I’ve never heard of GAPS, but judging from my googling, it looks to be pretty similar to what I’m doing. The diet I’m following most closely is the Body Ecology Diet. Though even at that, I have to make some modifications because of the principle of “individuality,” or whatever. Basically, no matter which diet I’m on, I try to listen to myself. Not everything feels right. I’m still having problems though. We should talk.
Manal,
Yes! I am SO IN. Lets take a few minutes before/after our coaching session on Thursday and talk about this. Very excited, thank you!
After would be perfect, Emily. You’ll already have me blabbering on about something or other:)
Holli, no, we didn’t do GAPS. We were on a severely restrictive elimination diet. My nursing son was allergic to EVERYthing and at one point I was down to eating plain white rice, chicken, pears and zucchini. That’s IT. Other times gluten free, casein free. But it didn’t help, other than to prevent symptoms.
We did it mostly through healing our digestive systems using herbs and chiropractic care.
Once my blog is up and running you’ll hear (read) all about it! Amazing journey <3
By the way, Holli, we DEFINITELY have to chat. We have quite a few things in common! 😉
Sounds awesome!
We found the most help from a Traditional Chinese Herbalist, but ours was to help heal severe constipation in my 9 month old – now she’s totally regular after a year of work and restricted diet:)
I look forward to learning more about your journey.
Love these goals! I’m still working on mine… but I intent to launch two programs this year (the first in Feb!), four info products, write 750 words a day 6 days a week, hold live workshops 3 times this year and bring more of my mixed media art into my work. I also am thinking of bringing back a goal I’ve tried for years and failed at, daily creativity. Whether it’s writing a poem, drawing, painting, working on an art project little by little or cooking… doing SOMETHING creative every day. I feel like this is the year I can do it. 🙂
xo
Wowow! Lots of fantastic goals!! I’m feeling inspired after reading your comment, Stephenie. I’ll definitely have to keep an eye on you this year. 🙂
Thank you for sharing them! I have no doubt you’ll achieve them. The fun part is that you’re open to sharing your process:)
Health – near and dear to my heart! I have been mulling over my own What went well? What did not? Post the past few days, and the one theme is that I’ve now seen the power our bodies have to heal, that what you eat does matter. But, I think it’s a subject for a deeper post where I can explain the experience in greater depth.
Happy early New Year!
I would love to hear about your experiences with health and healing. Really, a comprehensive post or even short PDF guide would be amazing, Holli.
Happy new year to you!
^Ditto. Would love to hear about your journey!
Thanks! I think finding something that heals you and helps is very personal, because we are so individual. But, there are some overarching topics I will share soon!
I didn’t even answer the question yet.
My goals for 2012.
1. Volunteer with the new immigrants center, teaching coping skills and stress management to newcomeers.
2. Launch my renaissance business
3. Launch an e-book (topic yet to be determined:)
4. Run a support group for struggling moms in my community
5. Host a workshop on healing from birth trauma.
These sound amazing, by the way!
Agreed! And I’m glad you two are linking up. 🙂
I totally look forward to joining up, learning more, and maybe meeting up with other fellow multipotentialites. That sounds super exciting!
Hope your health improves! I will be getting one of my wisdom teeth pulled out first week of January, that has been causing infections in the back of my mouth. Look forward to getting that obstacle solved!
My top 2012 goals are to definitely push on w/ learning to 1) footwear design, 2) Promote sustainability in apparel & travel, and 3) Develop my Confidence. All three, I’ve kind of meandered through 2011, so I’m going to hold myself accountable come next year on all of these goals.
Here’s to the 2012 New Year!
Excellent, I’d love to have you involved in the mastermind groups/meetups, Harrison! I’m a big fan of what you’re doing and I love seeing your work evolve. Also, you have some of the most rad, diverse interests ever. 🙂
Ah good luck with the wisdom teeth. The first time I had it done was a disaster. Got some rare infection. Second time went smoothly though. It usually goes fine for people.
Great goals you set for yourself too. Do you know the All of Us Revolution gals? Your second goal made me think of them. Check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/revolutionapparel/the-versalette-by-r-evolution-apparel. (Abe did a FABULOUS job with their video!)
Thanks for sharing that link. The Versalette is such an amazing idea! Ahh … hope they have a version for guys. Yea, I’m hoping to do the same thing, but within the action sportswear industry. More to come on that as I explore some options 🙂
Good luck with the public speaking!
I’m curious what you think about the idea of no goals. It was an article on zenhabits I read not too long ago about how goals shackle you to a certain path and can blind you to other better opportunities. Ive always had a love hate relationship with the idea of goal setting. In classic scanner fashion, I will put together elaborate flowcharts for scores of ambitious goals only to discard them a couple weeks later.
Does anyone else have this happen?
Having said that my #1 priority this year is designing a lifestyle centered around freedom, creativity, collaboration, personal development, video games, and movies.
Excited to see what develops in this community!
I think you should have goals, but you shouldn’t force yourself to pursue those you’ve lost interest in. Make a list of some of the actions you need to take to achieve all your goals. As you complete these actions, you may find that you enjoy those from some of your goals…. and come to dislike those from others.
For the actions you dislike, perhaps you should let go of the goal they were created for (even if temporarily). For the one’s you enjoy, you’re well on your way to achieving that goal! But, again, don’t get too tied up with the final result… just keep doing the “actions” that will eventually bring you there.
Does that make sense?
Of course, this method wont always be best. Sometimes you need to force yourself to do things you don’t enjoy, for your own good… but this is a method I definitely want to try out.
To clarify, I mean you would let go of the goals requiring the most “actions” you dislike. Almost every goal will likely require some “actions” you wont like, but you want to pursue the ones that contain the least amount of them…. and the most “actions” you enjoy.
And, again, that’s just one method I want to try. Not everything should be approached that way.
Hi Chris,
I heard Leo speak about having no goals at WDS last year. I have some issues with the idea. I think that a lot of people who have worked on themselves a lot forget that they didn’t have the same needs back at the beginning. Leo couldn’t have quit his job, dropped all that weight and become so much happier had he not set goals for himself. There’s no way. He needed to have goals FIRST, and then once he achieved those and had a certain amount of inner happiness, he could drop them.
To be totally honest, I actually think it’s a little dangerous to tell people who desperately want to change their situations not to have goals. But having said that, for some people, not setting goals can be very freeing. And whether I agree with Leo’s point or not, I respect him tremendously for sharing his honest perspective. I still love his work.
I set and drop goals a lot too. It’s definitely a scanner thing. As long as it’s a genuine loss of interest and not fear that’s stopping me, I try not to worry about it. However, I have gotten better at figuring out which goals are going to stick around long term and which are more fleeting. They’re all good and valid. It’s just that some dreams keep reappearing and begging to be pursued. Those tend to be the ones that last longer. Also, give me a project that has a lot of elements involved, and I’m in heaven. Running a Renaissance Biz for example, won’t get old any time soon. 🙂
Thanks for the comment, Chris (and for sparking this mini post, within a post.)
I totally understand where you are coming from. I think, more than anything, it’s about exercising the freedom to stop moving towards a goal at any point without fear of self punishment. And breaking down goals into actions, then focusing on the actions and how much enjoyment they bring as opposed to how much enjoyment you think you’ll have once you get the goal – meanwhile the actions themselves are drudgery. Is that what you mean?
I think there’s also a distinction between enjoyment that is also stressful (eustress) and the aforementioned drudgery (distress).
For example when I’ve done public performance, I was stressed but underneath was enjoyment.
How did you do goal setting in the past?
I totally agree. The public speaking goal will bring a lot of eustress for me. Heh. (Is that a Ferrissism? I forget which book I read about the concept in, but I feel like it may have been 4HWW.)
Excellent points. One thing I appreciate about you is that you take the time to give thoughtful responses to everyone in the community.
Eustress may be a term Ferris uses, but I was referencing Jane McGonigal’s Reality is Broken, where she uses it in the context of defining the kind of stress experienced by a player of a video game (or game of any kind)
Great set of goals. I’m also working on mine.
I just moved to Mexico City, so making the most of this huge city is one of my goals, learning a new language, learning how to scuba dive (it’s a work thing, can you believe that?). Taking yoga and meditating more, taking more time to develop my projects, start the new business I’ve had in mind for so long… stuff like that!
Wonderful, Lulú! Congrats on the big move, and enjoy those goals. They sound like a lot of fun.
Great goals, Emilie. Thanks for sharing!! I just made my “2012 Goals Guide” over the weekend and while it showed me that I didn’t accomplish much in 2011 (ugh!) it is making me feel more positive about accomplishing things in 2012. One of my big goals for 2012 is also speaking publicly. So I did what you did–set myself a “deadline” (sorta). I submitted a proposal to speak at one of my industry’s largest conferences. If I get accepted, it would be a HUGE jump-start for my speaking career. I tend to be very shy until I really know people, so this is a big jump outside my comfort zone. I’m all for it!
Nice! That’s a great external goal to piggyback on. I’ll see you on the “circuit.” 🙂
Goals. I don’t particularly like goals – they always seem to morph into something else and then, if I have shared them, they feel like (ugh!) failures. Now I realize that might just part of being a multipotentialite. This year I am limiting my goals in order to stay focused on posting on my site and doing all the behind-the-scenes stuff for a creative hands-on class I’m developing.
Btw, finding Puttylike and reading Renaissance Business were among the best things about 2011.
Aw that’s so sweet Pamela, thank you.
I understand what you mean, multipotentialites definitely hate feeling shackled to particular projects after we’ve lost interest. There are a lot of issues when it comes to setting goals publicly. Ultimately I find that they motivate me more than disappoint, so I do it. But it’s never really about sharing them publicly in order to get validation. If I change my mind, oh well. Granted, that’s easier when the people around you know you’re a multipotentialite and understand what that means.
Good luck with your business “activities.” It sounds like you’re up to some awesome stuff!
Emilie! Loved this post- I meant to comment earlier, but I’m back to drop some thoughts! I absolutely love all of your ideas and am totally on board to support you however I can! I am just finishing up my MA degree and am going to be working on writing an ebook (Oh my lord, I’m excited but the thought of sitting down to write it is the scariest thing ever!) and also launching a new site!
I’m excited you’ll be getting a dog- I know I was so worried when I took in a foster pug (who I ended up adopting) but it was the best choice I could have made. It’s a challenge both with scheduling and with finances to care for him at times, but totally enriching. I love my little Ralphie and feel his presence in my life has added a lot! Plus, putting kibble on the table makes me work harder! 😉
So excited to start this latest chapter with you- so glad I can still pop in and see how you’re doing. I hope to be more active this year now that I’m able to better focus on what matters!
You’re writing an ebook! Yes! I’m so excited for you. After my experiences with digital publishing, I’ve become a big fan.
Thanks for the dog encouragement. I’m so excited and have been dreaming about it for so long. I actually dreamed about little Grendel last night (Grendel is going to be my schnauzer’s name… Can you tell I’ve put a lot of thought into this? lol).
And yes, it’s great to see your progress as well! You were one of my first coaching students, so it feels extra special. 🙂
Next year I plan on focusing on ‘networking’ and starting the framework for my energy consulting business. This is my first time here, and I must say that I just realized my problem. I am a multipotentialite. I have lots of interest that do not necessarily interrelate but I enjoy doing them anyways. Have a great new year 🙂
Not a problem, Blessing.
Entrepreneurship is the PERFECT vehicle for multipotentialites. It excites our drive to learn, try new things, create new products. Running a business also requires a mess of diverse skills. Sure, you have to put a bit of extra work into finding an overarching theme. However, it is so so worth it. Entrepreneurship is possible the only “career” I could ever stick with.
I wrote this guest post a while back for Brazen Careerist. You might enjoy it: http://blog.brazencareerist.com/2011/09/27/specialization-is-overrated/.
My plans include getting 3 new mini-businesses going, and networking more.
Emily, on your food intolerances, I second the suggestion of a paleo or primal diet (I prefer paleo, but that’s personal).
Also, you might like to take a look at enzymes, both for temporary relief and for long term gut healing (and all sorts of other healing too). My son is intolerant of salicylates (which are in all highly nutritious plant foods) and finds that No-Fenol works really well for him. I use Peptizide to help with occasional eating of gluten and dairy foods and for gut healing.
A great web resource is http://www.enzymestuff.com, and the owner has written a few books including “Enzymes: Go with your gut”–maybe your library will have a copy?
Wow, thank you Jen. This is helpful.
I do take enzymes sometimes, but I’ve heard that you need to be careful because if you take them too often, your body can stop producing its own. Know if this is true? I’ve found them really useful for temporary periods when my tummy’s acting up though, just to get me back on track.
De Felice (the owner of enzymestuff.com) says in her book that we do keep making enzymes even if we take supplemental ones.
One reason that we often don’t have enough enzymes is due to cooking–even fairly low temperatures destroy enzymes in food that could have been used to help with digestion. That means that our finite enzyme production is used more for digesting food than it would otherwise be–there are fewer left over for things like gut healing, immune system function etc.
If we supplement enzymes (and time it correctly), the enzymes can be used for digesting or gut healing or immune repair or many other purposes depending on the enzyme. (I guess our bodies would have done a lot of this naturally before we started to cook most of our food.)
Enzyme therapy is a relatively new field of research and, from my reading, seems to have potential to help with a variety of diseases and physiological issues.
HTH.
Wow, I will definitely be looking more into this! Thanks again. Super interesting. I always feel better when I take enzymes, so there definitely could be something there.
Yay Emilie I’m so excited for you for 2012! It sounds like some amazing stuff is coming your way!
I have a huge list of goals but I’m starting to see connections in everything and I think a lot of stuff will come together one way or another.
As for healing and tummy health, I have been through the ringer and back and am finally *knock on wood* feeling WELL for the first time in over a decade. I am more than happy to share any info that’s helped me if you’d like! I know it can get annoying if everyone you know is throwing a possible cure at you from all directions, but it’d make me so happy if I could help someone else feel better.
In my instance we were dealing with food allergies, systemic candida, and replenishing a lack of good bacteria in the gut. I’m on my 6th month of a restricted diet plus natural supplements. I think we’ll start reintroducing things soon and hopefully I’ll be able to eat some more stuff soon. But yeah! Any and all info I have is open to you anytime!
My big overarching goal for 2012 is to launch my Renaissance Business. I feel like I talked to you when I was a bit too deep into other projects to be able to dedicate enough focus/time to the RB, but I’m in a better spot for it now. Bring it on, 2012! : )
Hey Emilie…
Happy New Year!
What a great post! You’ve inspired me to sit down and put my own 2012 aspirations in writing. I have the day off from work tomorrow and am excited about dreaming big and getting it down.
Also – we’ve talked before (Librarian RockStar) and I also have food intolerance issues and share that goal.
You might like to check out Chris Kresser’s Personal Paleo Program. It’s bio-individuality-centric and has an on-line tool to track your progress (I tend to be a bit of a data nerd). The program’s goal is to help YOU define YOUR OWN best diet. http://personalpaleocode.chriskresser.com/
Anyway… Thank you for a 2011 full of Multi-Potentialite inspiration.
I’m soooo looking forward to 2012!
Lori
It was great reading your posts. I like how you made your goals especially with the health issue. I also have to take care of my health this new year and do away with the unhealthy stuffs. I’ll begin with yoga maybe. Thank you so much for posting this one. I also recommend something that will inspire us to create something new for this new year. More than goal setting and resolutions, this video is a great stuff to get us going and be inspired. http://marieforleo.com/2012/01/free-planning-tool-reach-business-goals/
Emilie,
wow, I just found you and your site and am very excited to find that I am not alone. More later, but right now, July 6 2012 is a Friday, so would like some clarity on that. I would like to come to your conference. Also, what is WDS?
My Goals:
1) Identify a business path that incorporates my multipotentialite lifestyle desires.
2) Implement it…
Thanks
Dan
P.S. I actually found you from a podcast you did about a year ago. I have only found the one. Am I missing something? Would love to hear more…