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A few words :: 02

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Colleen EakinsColleen Eakins is a dynamic and creative individual that possess a knack for great design. With over 15 years of experience in the field of graphic design, Colleen is able to effectively brand her clients with great design pieces. Her motto is: “Anyone can make a pretty picture, but is it effective? Will it […]

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A few words :: 01

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Colleen EakinsColleen Eakins is a dynamic and creative individual that possess a knack for great design. With over 15 years of experience in the field of graphic design, Colleen is able to effectively brand her clients with great design pieces. Her motto is: “Anyone can make a pretty picture, but is it effective? Will it […]

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2016 Year in Review and 2017 Goals

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Last year instead of making New Year’s resolutions, I decided to set 3 goals instead for the year. By choosing a small number of goals, I felt I was more likely to achieve what I set out to do, rather than make a bunch of resolutions that would probably fall by the wayside. I am happy to report that I was successful in achieving those goals.

To recap, the goals I set were:

  1. Create an additional revenue stream.
  2. Fix my eyes.
  3. Find more balance in my life.

Creating An Additional Revenue Stream

This one was by far the most difficult goal to complete. As I mentioned in my post last year, I have a running Evernote doc with tons of ideas. The problem has been trying to find the time to research, test and implement those ideas. I have a shop that is attached to this site, but sadly it’s sad. I have tons of product ideas that I think would be great for the shop, but it requires that extra time to sit down, sketch out the concepts and make them digital designs for the products I think they would look great on. I have the concepts written down, but that’s still their status.

I joined a client and became a co-founder for a great start-up in the Washington, D.C. area that focuses on cultural and language learning activities for kids. Shout-out to Mully Lingua! Again, time became my enemy and I had to back out of the start-up because I could not meet the time commitment demands.

By the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2016, I was beginning to think that I may not reach this particular goal. So I decided a new direction was needed to approach accomplishing this goal. Instead of doing something completely new, I decided to work on one of the ideas in the notebook that was complimentary to the services my design business already offers–mobile app design and development.

I already did design for mobile apps, but I only did the front-end design work–not the development. Adding development to the mix and handling the ‘hosting’ of an app would provide an additional revenue stream. So that’s what I did.

Starting in November of 2016, I put all of the resources in place to begin offering mobile app design and development. The service is still in a soft launch state, but things are up and running and I currently have apps launched in the Apple and Google Play app stores, as well as a few in development. Need an app? Head over to this page: CED Mobile App Design & Development

Fix My Eyes

This one was somewhat of an easy one. The biggest hurdle was fear. I was scared and I talked to anyone and everyone that I knew had had a LASIK procedure done. They all said the same thing. They were scared too before they did it, but wished they had done it sooner, once they had.

I now say the same thing. In June of 2016, I had my LASIK procedure done and now I am 20/15 with both eyes together.

Find More Balance in my Life

I was already on the path to trying to accomplish this goal when I set it as a goal for 2016. I had found a great massage therapist and I continued to get regular massages throughout 2016. I have carried this practice into 2017 and I have no plans to stop. It really does help me decompress from the hustle and bustle of running a business.

I started practicing mindfulness and added yoga and meditation to some of my daily routines. I still do it a bit randomly, but I have been doing it regularly.

I travelled a lot last year. Most of it I did without bringing work with me, which allowed me to relax more. Two trips I did, but the other five or so, I didn’t.

Last year was not a good year for health within my family and close friend circles. A handful of relatives passed away, several became terminally ill and a close friend was near death. To help me balance out dealing with the stress of it all, I had to let go of a part-time contract assignment that I had been doing. Making that decision for me, was a part of this goal. It was necessary at that time, in order to balance the scales of life.

Goal Setting

Setting goals, writing them down, and actually achieving them, was pretty rewarding. It has helped to add to the positive feelings I have of last year. There were some things that were bad, but overall I feel the year was a good one. Being able to see things I said I would do and actually followed through on, is pretty awesome!

So for next year, here are the 3 goals I am setting out to do:

  1. Learn to speak conversational Spanish.
  2. Be better with personal budgeting and savings initiatives.
  3. Reduce my overall debt significantly.

Did you make and keep any resolutions/goals last year?

Social Media Live Broadcasting:: My Conundrum

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First it was Meerkat, then it was Periscope that I couldn’t quite get a handle on. I wanted to stay current and jump on the latest wave of social media platforms to utilize for my business. However, I just couldn’t seem to find a way to use them in a workable way. To be completely honest, I didn’t really try that hard. Next up, was Snapchat. Like the others, I created an account and never used it. Now we have Facebook Live and Instagram stories. With these latest two developments, I’m just now figuring out what my problem is/was–social media live broadcasting.

All of these platforms and added features to existing platforms require me to update live and in real time. I’m not much of an in real time poster. I’m a scheduler.

I write blog posts, and schedule them to go out at future dates and times. Content on my active social media profiles are curated and scheduled. My photographic content that I post on social media profiles are shot in real time and then edited later during my leisure time. My video content…is almost non-existent. I shoot in real time and then never make it around to editing the footage later.

Creating and posting content for a Periscope or Facebook Live format is an awesome way to engage with fans on social media. I love viewing Snapchat stories and so far, I have enjoyed the stories on Instagram as well. I want to participate and I have a ton of content ideas, but I just don’t seem to have the capacity to do so live and in the moment. Primarily, because it takes me out of the moment in real life…and I have ADD (attention deficit disorder).

At the beginning of this year, I set three goals for 2016. The first was to get my eyesight corrected–done, I am now seeing 20/15. The second was to create an additional revenue stream–still a work in progress and the third was to create more balance between work and life. I’ve been doing pretty well with the balancing act. A part of my success has been to try to focus on living more in the moment. Instead of trying to split my already fractured attention span into more than one direction, I try to focus on one thing and enjoy that one thing.

So, no watching television and checking social media. Or, going for a walk in the park and trying to play Pokémon Go at the same time. I have to focus on one or the other. Trying to capture daily activities while working, or business related events and then edit, add text, and cool effects, seems to take me away from that moment I want to share. Staging it solely for the purpose of posting doesn’t feel authentic and I’ve deleted all of those attempts. My stories, I actually want to be stories, but to capture and share them hasn’t worked out for me. Every time I think, “I should capture this,” or “this would be great on Snapchat,” I also think that I will miss out on what is happening because my attention is diverted to the act of capturing and not the act of living and enjoying that moment.

Being and living in the moment, seems to cut down on some of my stress and anxiety and helps me maintain some of my balance. Social media live broadcasting, or the act of trying to do so, seems to increase it.

Am I the only solo-preneur that is having this struggle? Post your experience in the comments and let’s talk about it!

Set Unattainable Goals

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We’ve all heard, and possibly pondered the question: “Is there life after death?” Well, here’s another somewhat similar question for you to think about: Is there life after ‘the dream’ has been accomplished? Have you ever taken the time to think about what life would be like after you’ve achieved your goal(s)? Chances are that you’ve thought as far as the overall enjoyment of life due to the achievement of your vision of success, but what this question is really getting at is: Have you thought about how you will keep yourself motivated about life after achieving the things that you have set out to? Essentially…what will keep you from totally letting yourself go, giving up on life and becoming a zombie…or even worse…a corporate robot?

Most recently, I’ve been really thinking about some people that I know – acquaintances that shall remain nameless (due to my personal goal of self preservation). Now these people seemed to have set out in full speed in the beginning…gone to great lengths in order to obliterate mountains, and made one, possibly two amazing dreams into reality. On one hand, it’s great to have seen them achieve so much early on in their 20s, but on the other…it’s sad to see that life for them is essentially over. I’m sure that you can think of a few examples of people who made it to fame and just seemingly disappear.

So how do we make life continually be worth living, and maintain a healthy heart and brain throughout the years? Unless you trust yourself enough to continually challenge yourself by making new goals after each accomplishment (kudos to you if you do), the trick may actually be to set at least one humanly possible, but somewhat unattainable goal. Now hear me out. I’m not suggesting that you dive into a world of stress due to an almost impossible goal. What I am suggesting is that you prepare your mind to keep working on maintaining the best version of yourself.

Think of an elderly couple, where the two individuals have been best friends for over 40 years; the couple has done everything together…to the point that when you see one…you see the other. They have lived life with the goal of being with each other until the very end. What happens when the elderly lady passes on? You probably guessed it; the goal, in a sense, is complete, and the elderly gentleman will most likely pass not long after. I’m sure we can all agree that his quick passing isn’t due to old age or even health complications, but simply because in the absence of the journey with his best friend, there is nothing more to live for and his heart truly believes that. Though his passing is majorly due to him grieving the loss of his best friend, and you may not physically die from a lack of goals or motivation, it’s important to note that one can be emotionally, mentally and psychologically dead…in which case, life is essentially over and survival at that point is based on automated tasks, repetitive behavior and routine.

We can survive as robots for quite a while, but is that really living? Humans need to dream; we need to believe that there is something worth living for. If not, we just become the real versions of the walking dead. My friends, do yourselves a favor…keep your hearts and minds active by continually chasing the butterfly in the wind.