Photo by: betsyweber

So far, we’ve talked a lot about goals (#CakeinHawai’i), pacing yourself, visualization, and other end game kind of items. Now we’re going to go back to the beginning. This is where some of December’s prompts are going to come in handy!

Let’s take a look at your business. Do you have a business plan? If not, why not? A business plan helps you realistically plan what you’re going to be doing in your business and who you’re going to be doing it for. A really simple business plan template is to answer the questions:

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?
• How?

This is all very important information that can become lost in the shuffle of day-to-day operations. Let’s look at each question a little more closely!

Who?

This is actually a 2-part question. The first part is: Who are you? What role do you  play in your business? Are you the owner/operator/service provider? All of the above? What role do you fulfill in your business and what roles do other people fulfill?

The second part is: Who do you serve? This might take a little digging deep, but you can do it! Get as clear a picture as you can of your potential client. Busy moms? Harried dads? College kids? Young executives? Middle-aged matriarchs of business and social dynasties? What do your clients spend their time doing? Who is part of their lives? What’s important to them? What does their Facebook feed look like? Their Twitter stream? And how do you fit into that?

What?

What do you provide? What problem are you solving? When people need your service or product, what are they looking for? What words are they going to put into Google? This is where you can really drill down and define the parameters of your product or service. What are the specifics? Dimensions? What does it look like? Is it virtual or physical?

When?

At what point are your client’s going to be looking for you? Are they going to need your services/products urgently, or is this a long courtship with a well-established relationship? When do you make your pitch? When do they buy? When do you deliver? What about refunds?

Where?

Where do you provide your service/product? Are you in local stores or online only? Do you go to people’s homes or do they come to you? Do you deliver? Do you need to rent space (by the hour, day, week, month)? Where are people going to find you? Where do you need to advertise? Where do your best clients hang out and how can you find and gain access to them?

Why?

Why should clients pick you instead of someone else? What are you going to do for them? What are you going to do for them that nobody else will? What makes you so special? Why are you charging what you are (more on that later)? Why should they pay you so much? Why do you provide this product or service? What do you get out of it? Why is it important?

How?

How is this all going to look in the end? What’s the overall picture and process look like? How are you going to ensure that you deliver what you promise? What contingencies and guards to you have in place? How is your client going to feel after using your product or service? How is their life going to change? How are things going to be different?

This isn’t the whole business plan, but it sure is an important part! This is the foundation for what we’re going to be doing later, so consider these questions carefully. Get out your journal, your notebook, your favorite word processing program, white board, mind map, collage paper, markers, and paint brushes and work your way through all these questions. Remember to express what your gut says and what your mind says and explore why each of these things is so important. We’ll be referring back to this later!

And check out the worksheet available in the forums for members – it has even more questions on it!

Photo by: zigazou76 @ Flickr

So, we know we have our big goal, our #CakeinHawai’i goal. It’s a beautiful, shiny, wondrous goal, whatever you’ve made it to be.

But right now it’s really far away and a long way off. So we’re going to need some smaller rewards or prizes to hold us over until we get there.

We call those Cupcakes (or sometimes we call them Cookies).

Cupcakes can vary in size – they can come in the quarterly version, which are rather large cupcakes, or they can come in daily versions, which are more like mini-cupcakes (so cute!).

An example of a cupcake is my My Little Pony collection. I’ve probably mentioned them before because I LURVE them, but I collect My Little Ponies. I get one every month where I earn at least $5 more than what I need to cover the bills. They’re a pretty small cupcake, though, being only $5 each, but they give me a lot of mileage. I have them all here on my desk right in front of my monitor where I can see them.

These My Little Pony cupcakes keep me moving forward and keep my eyes on a specific goal. If I wanted to make a bigger cupcake, I could, say, add my favorite smoothie from the smoothie place to my monthly rewards. Or maybe I want to make that my Friday reward instead. Perhaps every morning, I have a cup of my favorite tea just for getting out of bed. 

Your cupcakes will vary and can be totally different. Maybe if you accomplish tracking your metrics, keeping your finances in the black, and followed up on your potential leads, you allow yourself to spend $100 at your favorite bead store to add to your stash. Or you buy a collectible charm for a charm bracelet. Or you get to buy a new outfit or have a date night with your favorite hunny. 

Cupcakes don’t have to cost money, though – maybe you have your favorite girlfriends over to watch a show on TV and potluck. Maybe you treat yourself with ‘unplugged time’ (time where you turn off all the electronics and curl up with a book or a puzzle).

Cupcakes come in all shapes and sizes. So, an exercise:

1. How often would you like to have a cupcake? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? Quarterly? All of the above? Go ahead – they’re your Cupcakes!

2. Cupcakes should be the right balance between consumerism, food rewards, and experiences for you. What does this balance look like?

3. List some experiential Cupcakes.

3. List some Food form cupcakes.

4. List some rewards that you can buy for yourself.

5. Arrange your cupcakes according to size. Which ones are the smallest? Which ones are the largest?

6. Assign your cupcakes to a frequency based on your answer from #1.

You now have a cupcake plan! Congratulations!!!

Photo by: anoldent @ Flickr

Greetings!

As you may or may not have noticed, our Tuesday afternoon Tweetchats have changed formats.

Instead of being a synchronous conversation of live Qs & As and all the bits in between, we are going to a different format: one with the same Qs, (and hopefully the same As! ), but with the Qs being posted throughout the week.

There will be conversation around your replies, but the pace of the conversation will be dictated by your responses.

Much more mellow, much more doable.

Much more ease-filled. (Getting a mental picture of an ease-filled donut. It’s late at night when I’m writing this, what can I say? )

Why did we come to this conclusion?

Because it turns out that our Nathara hates Tweetchats. (It’s true! I really, really don’t like them. Tweets are fun, but not for discussions. I originally viewed the 140 character limit as a challenge in brevity and specificity, but I haven’t managed to adjust to it still. ~ Nathara)

Now keep in mind I’ve been attending them with her for about two years now, and I never knew that until recently.

But part of this year for all of us in the #CakeinHawai’i challenge is about speaking up when there are things we Do Not Love in our lives, businesses, etc.

So she did.

And so we are changing the format to one that works for all of us.

The Takeaway

This isn’t just about a Tweetchat of course. It’s about pointing out that you, too, can take the things in life that you Do Not Love, and change them.

• You can choose to pet them into a more pleasing shape.

• You can choose to get rid of them altogether.

• You can choose any point in-between those two points.

It’s all up to you.

• It’s your life.

• It’s your Attitude.

• It’s your #CakeinHawai’i.

What are you going to be changing?

Until next time…

Chirp, chirp!

-Birdy :>

Photo by: quantumbutterfly @ Flickr

Creating altars is a very old-fashioned method of magic, manifestation, and psychological focus that is becoming more and more accepted in other forms in our cultures. The things you now find in Journal, scrapbooks, and vision boards are all the kinds of things you previously would have found on an altar.

Because this is such a potent form of magic, let’s go ahead and make an abundance altar to help attract what we want into our lives.

You’re going to want to find a shelf, table, or other flat surface that you can devote to abundance. You don’t have to use the whole surface, but having a designated space is essential. Make sure you pick something that is going to be the right size for what you’re envisioning and, remember, if you need to re-do it later, that’s completely okay. An altar is a living, breathing thing that can evolve as you do.

Think about the space that your altar is going to be in. You want it somewhere you’re going to see it every day, but isn’t essential (like the bathroom counter) to everyday tasks.

Also, you can pick the area of your home in accordance to you abundance goals: the office, for financial abundance, the bedroom for abundance in love and family, and the kitchen for abundance in health and home.

You altar can be multi-purpose, or you might even have multiple altars with different focuses throughout your home.

Next, we’re going to want an altar cloth. This is a piece of fabric that is used whole, cut, or folded that will cover the horizontal plane of  your altar. It separates your altar from the rest of the shelf, table, or counter that you’re using and also provides some traction for the objects you set there. The altar cloth can be any color, but for more of a directed focus, you can use the color corresponding to your altar’s purpose.

• White: Multipurpose/any purpose
• Yellow: Health, prosperity, joy, abundance
• Green: Health, growth, life, prosperity, abundance
• Red: Passion, health, love, romance
• Pink: Joy, passion, love, romance
• Blue: Serenity, health, peace, travel
• Orange: Health, joy, vibrance, activity, travel
• Purple: Spirituality, serenity, family, home

If you’re going to use a container to hold your objects, you should choose something as natural as possible. Wood, shell, stone, and metal are all good choices, but anything will work.

If you’re going to work vertically, you’re going to want a whiteboard, magnet board, corkboard, or something similar. You can also just tuck in pieces of paper, such as magazine cut-outs, photos, and collages.

Place candles and other items that symbolize your goals on your altar in an appealing arrangement. Feel free to add objects or remove objects as time goes on as it feels right. As we stated before, an altar is a living breathing thing. If you need some ideas, check out the Altar Correspondences document.

Make a statement of purpose. This can be written and placed on the altar or it can be said aloud by itself or in combination with prayer, if it pleases you. This is where you tell your altar what you want and what you see for yourself in the future. Don’t hold back and don’t be afraid to think big! All things are possible!

TA DA! You now have an Abundance Altar! We would love to see pictures as you want to share them – check out ours in the forums!

Photo by: Artemis Dreams Productions

Wow! The end of the year was WILD, wasn’t it? I really feel like we just crossed the bridge from one Universe to another one and am SO excited to see what happens this year in Project #CakeinHawai’i!

First things first: We opened our doors! That’s right! You can now visit our Challenger page to join up and get access to the forum and all the other goodies. When I think of all the things that are on the calendar that we’re going to be creating for you, I get that excited-scared feeling. I know we’ll get it done, but I also know that the transformative power is so incredibly great! And WE’RE going to unleash it! Gives me goosebumps! So head on over and join up now so you don’t miss anything!

Another thing to be aware of – we’re (obviously) not doing the prompts every day anymore. That was a December grand-slam pre-challenge event to help get everyone’s motors running and to collect some valuable information. We’re going to start using that information, and you’re going to be referring back to those prompts, as we go, so don’t lose them! The more open and honest you were when answering them, the more helpful they’re going to prove. Little seeds full of potentiality! That doesn’t mean, though, that the prompts are going to stop. You’re going to keep seeing them, but we’re going to tone it down to something more like once a week. So keep those pencils handy!

Exercises are going to be starting soon! These are mostly going to go out to our paid members, but there will be  material for our free members as well, so stay tuned! If you haven’t joined our Facebook Page, now would be a good time to do that. We post an update to Facebook whenever we post a new post here, so that’s a great way to stay up to date. Another great way, join the mailing list! This mailing list will send you an email every day there’s a new post with little sneaky-peek snippets, too. Of course, Twitter is awesome, too! Don’t forget us there, either! We tweet whenever there’s a new post and frequently tweet out the older ones, too, so send us a hallo and we’ll follow you back!

Whew! NOT TO MENTION! There’s a Tweetchat every Tuesday (That’s today!) at 3pm Eastern USA. These are interactive, 140 character conversations where we discuss topics in the short form. Most the time they take the shape of a moderated Q&A session and involve a lot of really good group learning. We’re also going to try to get them up on the site so that you can read the archives, too. Check that out! Today’s topic is going to be about recognizing your personal truth and doing what’s right for you. Ooooooooh!

I think that’s enough for one morning. I’m sure we have more news and we’ll keep you up to date with things as they happen. We’re SO excited for this year! Transformative alchemical magic on it’s way!

Photo by: Fotos Gov/Ba @ Flickr

Back in the day, back when I got N.F. and landed in the neighborhood trauma center to undergo a buttload of surgeries, among other joyous occasions, there was a time in particular that stuck in my mind. (Actually, there were several of them, but this is the one I am being directed to tell now. :>)

I had had something like eight surgeries in two weeks, one every couple of days, to remove whatever leftover or newly-grown bits of rot that might have been hiding in my gaping wounds.

As one might imagine, I’d grown a bit tired of the routine. The people were wonderful, but the constant up and down was getting to me.

Plus there is the little thing where I’m claustrophobic. :> :>

Needless to say, this makes getting a mask on somewhat traumatic.

The day of my last surgery, I really started to panic when the gentleman began to put the mask over my face.

And then two things happen which I still remember to this day.

One was… he waited. He waited for me to take a breath and calm down.

The other was… he didn’t. When he tried again, and I started to push the mask away again, he gently but firmly put it into position, and that was that.

I had my last surgery and was done.

What I remember so fondly about this was the extraordinary awareness this man showed. I’m sure I wasn’t the first patient he’d had who felt that way, this was a trauma center after all. But he cared enough to take the time, and then to make sure I went through with what I needed to go through.

I felt, and feel, very taken care of in that moment, something that was all too rare in that situation.

Why do I bring this up now? Besides the whole ‘being-shown-the-picture-with-a-purpose’ thing???

Because last night I really wanted to quit the whole paranormal thing. Lot’s wife had turned into her pillar of salt and that was it.

And a good coach and friend told me ‘no’.

Photo by: JF Schmitz @ Flickr

May you find the same level of good people to help you on your Journey.

This isn’t easy, this pursuit of #CakeinHawai’i. There will be kicking & screaming along the way.

There will be sweat and tears, tho’ hopefully no blood.

The way we get through it is to get through it together.

So share your thoughts in the comments, in the forums, in the Tweetchats.

Hang out with us on Facebook & G+.

Start a conversation over a picture on Pinterest.

Help lift each other over the rough spots – it tends to do wonders for yourself as well.

Until next time…

Chirp, chirp!
-Birdy :>

Photo by: Chris Hunkeler

Monday’s prompt was: “What kind of relationship would you like to have with your business?”

I really want a relationship with my business that is symbiotic. Where my business nurtures me and helps me grow, and I nurture and help my business grow (and my business and I help nurture other people and help them grow, too!). I want to be able to get up in the morning and do what I want, and I want what I want to be working on my business. I want a sense of feeling and productivity to come from working on it in such a way that I don’t mind doing even the things that I don’t like doing, like balancing the books because I love what I’m doing that much. I want to work a ridiculous number of hours per week – not because I have to, but because I can’t help it, I just love it so much!

I guess I really want my business to be an extension of me. Part of me. Just the thing that I love doing so I can’t help doing it. I want to live and breath my mission and I want my business to fully support that.

Photo by: Educated Savage (This is my actual desk!)

Sunday’s prompt was: “How do you feel about your workspace? Does anything about it make you crazy?”

I actually love my workspace. It’s not perfect (YET!), but it’s pretty awesome. If you’ve seen those paintings of a wizard’s study, that’s what my office looks like. Computers, crystal balls, potions, books and paperwork everywhere, My Little Ponies, masks, drums, flutes, piles of fabric, and kitty cats. It’s a bit on the cluttered and messy side, but I don’t mind that. I also wouldn’t mind cleaning up a bit. Oh! I forgot to mention my beloved camera. All the things I love are within arm’s reach of me (except my hunny, he’s in the living room), and I have quick access to the books I need all the time.

My virtual workspace is also nimble. I have a habit of keeping too many tabs open in my Chrome, but they’re important! I’ve got Facebook, Google+, Hootsuite, CrowSong, A2A (this site), Pinterest, Wikipedia, and GetYeDone open almost all the time and I move back and forth between them quickly. I also have several programs running all the time – especially important are my Windows Media Player (for music) and Evernote. I feel I work pretty well in this environment and that it really encourages my creativity and passions. 

Yeah. I love my office!

Photo by: zigazou76 @ Flickr

Saturday’s prompt was: “How dedicated are you to your #CakeinHawai’i? How much does it mean to you?”

#CakeinHawai’i is VERY important to me. The last few years have felt like I’ve just been grinding it out to pay the bills and I never get to do anything fun. I NEED more fun in my life or I’m going to go crazy! I need to know that all my hard work is for more than just paying the bills. And I would LOVE to go to Hawai’i – I’ve always wanted to go and the more that time passes, the more I want to go. I want to be somewhere the water is blue! I’ve never seen that before!

Achieving this means SO much. It means that I really can be success, that I really can do things and get things done. That I really have what it takes. This means SOOOO much to me!

Photo by: wolfgangfoto @ Flickr

What kind of relationship would you like to have with your business?

This is our last prompt for 2012! Are we ready to get this show on the road? I know I am! Keep your eyes open on the first – the page will be available where you can accept the challenge and gain access to the forums and many other goodies as well! Stay tuned!

Photo by: nffcnnr @ Flickr

How do you feel about your workspace? Does anything about it make you crazy?

Especially pay attention to the physical aspects of your workspace that you can change – and remember to be creative! You can do a lot more than it first seems!

Photo by: valeriebb

How dedicated are you to your #CakeinHawai’i? How much does it mean to you?

Photo by: umjanedoan

Yesterday’s prompt was: “What’s your favorite game and why?”

And this is where I admit to being a huge nerd….

My FAVORITE game, of all time, is Dungeons and Dragons. Yup, that’s right. My parents introduced me to the game when I was 13 by buying a starter box for me and I fell in love. I love the idea of cooperative story-telling, world creation, and the creation and exploration of alien cultures. Anything can happen in a D&D game – it’s all up to the players what happens. As a group, you tell a story, meet and create exciting characters, and build an entirely new world. The possibilities are endless, and the games can be, too. I had one “game” last 3 years – and that’s not particularly long!

Photo by: vasta @ Flickr

Thursday’s prompt was: “What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?”

I always answer this question differently, so here’s another iteration!

I want to be a keeper of space for other people. I want to create and keep a space where people can explore themselves, their realities, and their worlds safely without reproach. I want to give them access to knowledge, learning, and experience. But I don’t want to be The Teacher. Maybe *A* teacher, but not the grand guru or source of all knowledge. Just someone who makes the impossible and improbable possible again and allows people to come together as a community to evolve the human mind further and further. I want to keep the space safe and sacred and watch all the beautiful growth and blossoming.

Photo by: thegypsykiss.com

Wednesday’s prompt was: “What does your perfect client look like? Do you already have a perfect client?”

I DO already have a perfect client! I’m not going to name them, of course, but I’m using them for my avatar for my perfect client. My perfect client is someone who is seeking for the truth in the Universe. They’re willing to explore within themselves and outside of themselves as well for the answers. They’re willing to consider any source that may have answers for them: science, history, religion, spirituality, philosophy, and personal experience. They’re familiar with some of the basic concepts, but maybe not the further ramifications of them or more advanced ideas. They’re more interested in a personal path than they are interested in learning dogma or restrictive methodologies. They feel a deep sense of connection with nature and the rest of the Universe. They seek to live a green lifestyle, but make each choice a personal decision instead of following someone else’s template. They enjoy intelligent and deep discussions and often find themselves lost in thought.

Last Tuesday’s prompt was: “What do you do to celebrate?”

I do a lot of things to celebrate! I love celebrating! A lot of times chocolate is involves. Mmmmmm… chocolate! But I also cuddle with my kitties, get myself a book, get myself a My Little Pony (I collect them and they’re all on my desk), treat myself to dinner out, spend some extra time with my hunny, or grab a nap! Celebrating can be anything that you want that makes you feel good about yourself. What makes you feel good about yourself?

Photo by: Damemusic @ Flickr

Last Sunday’s prompt was: “What is the most important thing to know about life?”

I’m torn between two answers here, so I’m just going to give you  both of them.

The first is, “that nobody gets out alive.” There’s nothing to be gained from not taking chances and not living out loud except for a very unremarkable life. Also, it reminds me not to take things so seriously. What happens today and what happens tomorrow are only as important as I decide to make them. And they have the significance that I give them, too. Life is what you make it, but you’re not getting out a live.

The other is, “time is your most precious asset.” It’s kind of related to the first one, but this one reminds us that we shouldn’t waste out time, because we won’t get it back. We should make the most out of all of our moments because we’re never going to get them back. Not that that should add a lot of pressure, because nothing’s more important than you make it. But don’t think you can bank your time. Don’t save everything for “someday.” More specifically, this comes from my finance mentor, Nicole Fende, and is used as a reminder that your time has value. If you aren’t getting a return on it, then you should be doing something different. That return doesn’t have to be monetary, but it should be worth something to you.

Photo by: Moyan_Brenn @ Flickr

Last Saturday’s prompt was: “What are your biggest challenges in productivity?”

Ooooh, this is a hard one to answer, too! My biggest challenges in productivity are actually my daily habits. Especially my sleeping habits. If I don’t get the right amount of sleep at the right time, my productivity drops and I start seeking out distractions instead of doing what I need to. Things get much more difficult and what would have been a minor speed bump becomes an insurmountable wall. Also, if I don’t eat right, it has the same effect – my productivity drops. So, during the #CakeinHawai’i challenge, I’ll be concentrating on developing and maintaining good habits in these areas as much as possible.

Photo by: marc falardeau

Last Friday’s prompt was: “What behavior do you have that keeps other people comfortable while holding you back? What are you doing just to maintain the status quo?”

I’ve probably actually got a few of these hanging around. I’m definitely a “peacekeeper” type and like to keep things comfortable for the people around me. The one that is holding me back the most, though, I think is my tenancy to just let people walk all over my boundaries and not stand up for myself. I just assume people will have respect for boundaries without having to demonstrate where they are and why it’s rude to cross them. If I’m going to move forward in my own evolution, and even just get things done in general, I’m going to have to start speaking up and saying when things aren’t okay. People just can’t put me off, ignore me, or brush me off – I have to have a presence and realize that people don’t do these things out of malice, but, instead, because they haven’t really thought about it or plain old just don’t know better.

Photo by: phphoto2010 @ Flickr

What’s your favorite game and why?

Photo by: Lawrence in Houston @ Flickr

What do you want to be when you grow up? Why?

Photo by: Educated Savage @ Flickr

What does your perfect client look like? Do you already have a perfect client?

It’s okay to model your idea of a perfect client after real clients that you have, but it’s going to be very important now and later that you have a clear view of who your ideal client is.

What do you do to celebrate?

Start compiling a list if you haven’t already done so – we’re going to be doing a LOT of celebrating in the days/weeks/months ahead!

Photo by: Jupiter Firelyte @ Flickr

What do you do when you desire some downtime? (Now go do some of that! :> )