Posted in Round-up
2012 Year in Review
Dude! My first blog post of 2013 is also my 100th post!
2012 was a huge year for me. I made tremendous progress, learned a ton, faced some big challenges, got help from some wonderful people, and had a really good time doing it.
If I told you everything, this post would be way too long.
I get pretty long-winded anyway, but with so much to say, it would just be ridiculous! So I’m to limit myself to the top 5 things in each category.
Here goes:
Five things I’m proud of:
1) I made a lot of stuff: 3 products, 2 courses, 1 service, 10 articles, 2 online videos, and a teleclass.*
2) I started the Belly Dance Geek Clubhouse.
3) I finally owned my role as The Belly Dance Geek: I never resisted my geekery per se, but I wasn’t living it to the fullest either.
4) I had my most successful business year to date. (By a lot. Yay!)
5) Aziyade’s moving review of Personal Style Snafus. (I still get teary reading that.)
Five people who helped me this year:
1) Julie Eason of The Belly Dance Business Academy
2) Sean D’Souza of Psychotactics
3) Catherine Caine of Cash & Joy
4) Artemis Mourat in DC
5) Melina in Boston
And most of all, my husband.
Okay, that’s six, but I just can’t leave him out. He helped me talk out difficult decisions, provided a lot of moral support, drove me lots of places, and (mostly) didn’t complain when I stayed up late working.
Five challenges and setbacks:
1) Caring for my stepmother in the last weeks of her life.
2) Three injuries: getting over last year’s lower-back issue, plantar fascitis, and a muscle strain in my foot.
3) A conference I was supposed to present at was canceled. (Waaah!)
4) Finding time to do all that. (This year was exciting, but exhausting!)
5) Saying no to things I really wanted to do, but that weren’t wise choices.
(Especially when it disappointed someone else.)
Five things I learned:
1) Many other people like to learn the same way I do: with the structure and accountability of a formal course, learning the material in small bites.
2) Don’t make things harder than they need to be. Ask: “is this piece necessary?” and “how can this be easy?”
3) Focus on what I do best, and let go of everything else: What can I delegate? What can I stop doing? What can I stop believing?
4) I get ornery when I’m being told what to do, especially when I’m the one giving the orders. To stay productive, I need to stay aware of my commitments and priorities, then let go and make each decision in the moment.
5) As a performer, my gifts to the audience are joy and connection. When I’m coming off an injury, stressing about my “lost” technique doesn’t help. Reconnecting with the joy does help.
Five favorite free things I made for you:
(If I included products, it would be too hard to choose!)
1) Imagery in Belly Dance (video)
2) Sensuality is Not a Dirty Word! (article)
3) Stage Presence Tweet Tips (round up of my twitter series)
4) Un-Traveling: How to travel when you have nowhere to go (article)
5)The What-How-Why Gap (article)
Five things I have planned for 2013:
1) Getting back into performing (following last year’s injuries).
2) Release Improvisation Toolkit Vol. 3: Transitions.
3) Run the Make Your First Belly Dance Video course.
4) Offer my Be Amazing in the Moment coaching intensive.
5) Launch my new web site.
(If you’re curious about my plans, you can see my 2013 Product Calendar.)
Your Turn:
What are you proud of from 2012?
What did you learn?
Who helped you out along the way?
What challenges or setbacks did you face?
What are you hoping for in 2013?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
* The things I made were:
Products: Personal Style Snafus, Rock the Routine home-study, and The Full Routine Playbook (currently a bonus for RtR, but will be offered separately later).
Courses: Rock the Routine, The Improvisation Safety Net.
Service: Personal Style Development Intensive (discontinued – it was a great program, but too labor-intensive to offer at a non-scary price).
Articles: too many to list, but you can find them on my blog.
Online videos: The Injury Effect, Imagery in Belly Dance.