The Smell of Change

Hmm the smell of change is in the air as I embrace the moving of my cheese. I am on day 35 of my 100 day challenge and am enjoying immensely the fruits of my indulgent work. I am still blown away when I turn around to survey the road built from the last 35 days; if I squint I can vaguely see in the distance the red wine bottle left by the roadside, forgotten. I am not however spending a lot of time looking back especially in light of the recent moving of the cheese.

After Kirk's lay off from work I decided to thrown another ball into the mix; to expand my business and support our family. I am extremely lucky to have at my fingertips resources for almost everything you could imagine. I dug into these looking for a strategy to expand my business and came up with "25 Steps to Filling Your Practice" courtesy of Thomas Leonard and coachville. So I will be using this as my anchor as I focus on expansion over the next 65 days.

• Step 1: Get your clean sweep score above 75

Clean sweep is a great way to take a snap shot of your life. It is comprised of 100 true/false questions which address money, home environment, physical well being and every area of your life. It had been a while since I had taken the clean sweep and I was extremely pleased to see an increase in my score but I am still below 75. So I reviewed the questions and came up with 14 things I coud do which would bring me well over 75.

1. Car - oil change, check-up, clean and vacuum and set up a system to do so on a regular basis.
2. Clean and organize the laundry room.
3. One last sweep of my closet removing any items I don't wear, don't fit or need fixing and set up a clothes swap with my friends.
4. De-clutter guest room and post items on freecycle.org
5. Get a new toaster.
6. Set up an ironing station.
7. Fine tune office and add inspiring quotes, cork board in coaching area and create client progress sheets.
8. Shop for and install new shelving in Sofie's room.
9. Floss daily.
10. Save 10% of income.
11. Co-create a financial independence plan with Kirk.
12. Be mindful of gossiping and talking about others.
13. Review my wants and needs and the needless program.
14. Clean and organize dogie area.
15. Buy a really good pair of sun glasses.

A lot of you are probably wondering what all this has to do with expanding my business, having a solid personal foundation is essential for growth. I have been diligently working on mine for the last 2 years and am noticing all the wonderful benefits. By taking care of and getting your personal life in order you free up your time, money and energy to focus on moving forward or simply enjoying what you have.

• Step 2: Make a list of 25 people you know and write 3 things you want for each of them.

I have made my list of 25 people and this weekend will be exploring what I want for each of them.

How will this new ball fit into the challenge?

Every night I will review the 25 steps and schedule activities for the next day around the steps. I will also do the same thing over the weekend to springboard me into next week.

Now the smell of change smells like bacon and even being a vegetarian I can appreciate and enjoy that wonderful aroma. Out house is full of love, warmth and we are extremely comfortable, I have an amazing husband and am thankful for the wonderful things in my life.