Day 3200 – Sneak Peek Of Our Weekend – Goat Yoga!

Posted on April 15, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Yesterday was a pretty epicly awesome day. I’ll tell you more about it on another day because the awesomeness is still continuing today.

But I had to share….we did goat yoga yesterday! I got some goat cuddles.

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Day 3199 – Why Are You Putting Off Your Dreams? – repost

Posted on April 14, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I’m a big pusher. I love this about myself. I love to push people to be better, to follow their dreams and to do things that make them happy. Once I figure out how to make that quality in myself into a source of income that makes sense for my lifestyle, I will be a very happy camper.

But just as a photographer really sucks at taking photos of themselves, their family and friends….AND printing them out. I suck at pushing myself. It’s easier for me to just give advice to other people and not give it to myself.

I have had a dream to publish a book for years. I honestly have no idea how long. At least 10 years. I am pretty sure as a kid/young adult, I had dreams of writing a book. I watched countless videos, went to seminars, heard many people say how easy it is to publish a book today. I knew it was possible and it did sound pretty easy.

But here’s the thing, I still dragged my feet. It took a lot of arm twisting for me to hire a proof reader/editor. I did and I know my book is so much stronger because of the changes and general clean up that my editor did. She even made a few changes that made my formatting for Amazon a ton easier.

I also delayed a while after the manuscript was done. To be fair, I was stuck on the title. It was so hard to say what the book was about. I had so many competing voices and advice. Do this, do that, you HAVE to do this, DON’T do that! One day, I finally turned everything off and just talked to God. I said tell me what you want YOUR book to be called. Because really, the book is what God has to say about work….not me. It was a big step for me, I figured out the title and everything clicked after that.

I met some resistance in getting things set up…buying the ISBN, designing my cover, uploading to Amazon. I realize now, it was mostly a “I’ve never done this before and I’m putting things off” type thing.

But now that I’m done, I can’t get over how easy it was. Not only to put publish the ebook but also the paperback (I’m still waiting for approval from Amazon, keep checking the link if you want to buy a physical copy). I had a little trouble with the cover design….but Amazon has a great program to catch any mistakes on the book.

I will be a major pusher to others who want to write a book now. I will also push affiliate marketing as well. Through people clicking on the link to my book, I’ve already made affiliate sales. Basically, if someone clicks on one of my affiliate links and buys either the product I’m sharing or something completely different, I get a percentage of that sale (at no additional cost to the purchaser). I’ve made more in the last few days through my book than I have in a few months of having an affiliate account. (If you have to shop on Amazon, follow the link to my book in the footer to make sure we get credit!)

So as I marinate over the fact that I am now a published author, I am struck by the thought “why did I put this off for so long?” It seems silly now…especially since I’m a big supporter of “go do these things that make you happy. Go take that cross country trip. Quit your job and take a chance on your own business. Get rid of all your stuff and live out of an RV.”

Why are you putting off your dreams?

originally posted 12/18/16

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Day 3198 – Listen To Your Past Self – repost – With Updates

Posted on April 13, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I am getting SO close to finishing one portion of my major blog project (editing old content with my affiliate links, and cataloging my good stuff for ease of sharing/updating later). I have less than a year left in the posts I have already marked as needing my attention. The post below came up in today’s update. It’s wonderful how some themes repeat themselves in your life over and over again. I feel as though I’ve always been different and one who embraces being different. When I was younger, I think I was embracing and flaunting my differences to gain attention. But now, I embrace who I am, the choices I’ve made, and the things I say no to because I see how healthy it makes me. I wear my cloak not to stand out and say “look at me! I am different and weird and I love it!” But it now says to me “I am comfortable in this because it’s warm, it takes care of a need, and it is a reflection of me.” (which fun fact, my cloak is about 20 years old). Where before I would wear a fun shirt or wear sparkles to stand out, now I wear them because they make me genuinely happy.

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Originally posted 12/4/16
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One thing I try to do regularly is journal. I’ll listen to sermons and jot down some notes. Sometimes I’ll write a little more if something is pressing on my heart. My journals are a conversation with God, talking like I would to my best friends. I’m nearing the end of my current journal and was searching for an empty journal. I found a book I received while rocking out at Cornerstone (a huge Christian Rock festival) 10 years ago. Sometimes I write notes to myself in books and this book was no different. Here’s what I wrote on 7/8/06

“This theme of being who you are meant to be has been haunting me for months. Maybe a year. This week though, it is evident in everything I do. It screams at me through the songs, the speakers, even the lines on the other side of this page. Every part of my being is aching to deepen this journey. To seek and find all that I truly am in Christ. I am excited, elated. I want to scream it from the rooftops. Yet, I feel the battle beginning to rage. The evil of this world already fights against me. As it always does when someone strives to be who they are in Christ. To let go of what the world and even Christians around them tell them to be. It is ok to be you. If you are keeping Christ as your central theme. Christ’s personality is so vast yet so precise. There is room for all of our personalities there. How glorious, how wonderful, it is ok to be you.

I must write this book. People need to know.”

I’m not sure what my theme of that book was. I’m not sure if it was even remotely about business since I had been photographing weddings for less than two years. But the desire to write a book has been in my soul for a long time. I can’t believe that I am so very close to putting my devotional on Amazon. I can’t believe in a short amount of time, I will be able to say – “Hello, my name is Jennilyn, I am an author.” I should have listened to past Jennilyn much sooner. I can only hope that this book will help more Christian business owners trust God more in their businesses and life.

For laughs, here’s me driving to the festival and goofing off. Somethings never change. 🙂

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Day 3197 – New Method To Manage My Millions Of To Dos – Productivity Tips

Posted on April 12, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

I have lists upon lists of things to do. From routines for myself, to tasks to do for our business, to the myriad of tasks for my clients, it’s easy to get lost and overwhelmed with it all.

I’ve used the same printed to do list for years, which lists my week and all of my major to dos. But I’ve started a new method of keeping track each day that’s been working really well for me – yellow legal pads.

I currently have a stack of six, one for each weekday and one for the weekend. I’ve noticed a big shift in quality of work when I write my to do list the day before. I had been creating 2 days in advance, since I had 3 legal pads. But I recently purchased 3 more, which allows me to create my to do list for the next week when I finish a current day. I love that I have my to do lists written for the next week. I can easily add a task where it’s needed. I typically leave my client spaces empty, except for definite to dos.

I use Asana to keep track of all of my tasks for each client, our business, and my personal projects. I can’t say enough good things about Asana. It has changed my life. When I am finishing out my day and adjusting tomorrow’s to do list, I look through my Asana for each client and for us for tasks.

I’m a big believer in the pen to paper method for things. It really does make a difference in retention and it just feels good to write things down.

This method of writing out all my to dos like this will likely change as time goes on, but that’s the beauty of it – it CAN change. You aren’t stuck with one method of keeping track of your endless to dos. One thing will work today, and it might be a totally different thing in a month or a year.

How do you keep track of your to dos?

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Day 3196 – Debt Free Since 2013!

Posted on April 11, 2018 by 365 days of marriage

Like my sobriety, it now feels like I’ve always been debt free. The good times of finally getting out of the debt trap have been outshined by the debt-free days.

What’s funny though, is that we are in the process of looking for a new to us car, and potentially a car loan….as well as purchasing our first house. But having had our current car for almost 13 years and that was bought new, and knowing that by purchasing a home, we are building equity, it’s a different view.

I’ve talked about how we paid off our debt of $30,000 a number of times, the best post is this one. I talk about our budgeting methods and how we were able to pay down that debt.

One thing I’ve been learning recently is how messed up my mindset has been with money. From “I’ll worry about it later” to “there isn’t enough to go around” to “I don’t deserve more money.” It’s crazy how much our mindset impacts our lives. So I am purposing to reshape my thoughts.

What about you? Are you working on paying down a debt? Do you have a bad mindset about money?

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365daysofmarriage

Simplicity in Marriage, Christianity, Travel, Business, Life

Category Archives: Life

Day 3200 – Sneak Peek Of Our Weekend – Goat Yoga!

Day 3199 – Why Are You Putting Off Your Dreams? – repost

Day 3198 – Listen To Your Past Self – repost – With Updates

Day 3197 – New Method To Manage My Millions Of To Dos – Productivity Tips

Day 3196 – Debt Free Since 2013!