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I felt a bit jealous when I saw many of my peers sending out 2023 recaps.

I know it’s a best practice and it would have been fun, but I didn’t have the time or mental space to make it happen.

Although I was tempted to throw something together – anything together – I read a book that alleviated this temptation: Essentialism, by Greg McKeown.

A major theme of the book is to do “less, but better”, and I’ve already started to apply that approach in regard to my business ventures.

So as of now, I’m offering less services.

No coaching, no consulting, no workshops for organizations.

(Sidenote: I’m still here to support you, and I’ll explain one opportunity at the end of this message)

So, why am I cutting out these revenue streams?

Well, those services take up a lot of time and there’s something else I need to focus on: Leveraging AI and Marketing Automation to grow entrepreneurial businesses.

Instead, I’ve taken on the role as Managing Director of Growth and Strategic Partnerships at Good People Digital, an agency that empowers the creator economy.

This is a better way for me to leverage my time and as a result I’ll be able to identify, share, and implement new ways for entrepreneurs like you to grow faster with less stress.

To avoid confusion, yes, I’m still an Expert-in-Residence at Smart Passive Income, and I’ll start delivering keynotes again in Q3.

I’m still selling courses too, but I’m not even going to bother linking to them since that’s not the point of this message.

So, what is the point? Well, I’m hoping that sharing my transformation will help you realize it’s ok to make pivots as well.

And I want to share how I’m tracking this transformation on a daily basis through my journal prompts.

In my opinion journals are just diaries, but for some reason calling it a journal makes it seem more sophisticated ‍♂️

Either way, I’ll walk you through my journal prompts now.

Wins

As you may have guessed, this is where I track my daily wins.

However, they don’t have to be big wins, I also celebrate the little victories along the way.

For example, getting good feedback on my latest LinkedIn post.

Family

I use this section to write down one observation I had about each family member that day.

It helps me stay present while I’m around my kids since I know I need to report back on one thing that stood out during the day.

And, I’m even more proud of my wife for everything she does.

Gratitude

No surprises here. This is where I jot down three things that I’m grateful for.

I do my best to get creative here and focus on the small things.

For example, I’m grateful I get to work from home.

What’s on my mind?

This is the most loosely-structured part of my system. It’s a place for me to leverage stream of consciousness writing or just reflect on my day with as little or as much detail as needed.

I even write down things that I’m upset about.

This release is beneficial, but it also serves as a catalyst to finding a solution to my problems.

Where am I falling short?

This is the opportunity to get real with yourself and search for areas of improvement.

One of my most recent entries here focused on the need to be more patient.

What’s on the horizon?

This is the most exciting part of the system. In this section I jot down events that I want to happen in the future as if they had already happened. I call it futurecasting.

For example: “Today my family and I are taking off for Europe. It’s our first time traveling there as a unit, and I’ll be speaking in five different cities while we’re there. I’m a bit nervous about how the kids will behave on the flight but I know it’s going to be an incredible experience.”

I can’t stress how important it is for you to leverage this exercise.

This is how you define the experiences you want to have and as a result, you’re able to reverse engineer the process needed to get there.

Why?

Connecting to the future version of yourself allows you to more easily identify the actions needed to eventually live in that reality.

I cover that more in the next section.

What will I do tomorrow to get me closer to my vision?

This is where you define – and commit to – the actions needed to become your future self.

So, since my goal is to become a global keynote speaker I could take one small step by contacting a few conference organizers.

Sure, it won’t immediately pay off. But this is what the future version of myself had to do in order to get on those stages.

Journaling has brought me a great deal of clarity, reduced stress, and helped form even stronger relationships with my family. So, I strongly suggest adopting the habit as well.

One habit I recently adopted is blocking off four hours per week to discover practical applications of AI and Marketing Automation.

And if you’re also looking for an opportunity to work on your business – not just in your business – I’d love for you to join me at an online event I’m organizing as part of my new role, the HeyCreator Summit.

This is your opportunity to learn from the best minds in audience growth, content development, and building a business on your own terms.

Speakers include Justin Welsh, Pat Flynn, Jay Clouse – and you’ll be hearing from me as well. You can sign up instantly by clicking here.

Hope to see you there, and have an amazing weekend!

Terry