"For while we have our eyes to the future, history has its eyes on us." 👀 ~Amanda Gorman
Shout out to Latienda Williams, Chastity Cooper, and Laurie Harmon for buying me coffees this past week! ☕️
Latienda's mission is to help us with our goals and productivity. Her Instagram features goal frameworks, tools, and planner templates.
Chastity teaches folks about wine in a non-intimidating way. You'll learn how to enjoy wine to the fullest. Sign me up, please. 🍷
Laurie encourages us to live the lives we dream about. She writes about homemaking, homesteading, and parenting while struggling.
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Pearls. Chuck Taylors. History was made this week and no longer will there be a day where we have never had a black woman VP. 🙌🏾That gives me so much joy and hope for the future of our country.
And Amanda Gorman...wow, just wow. 🤩 Here's the full text of her incredible poem. So many chills. So much respect, admiration. So many tears. All the #blackgirlmagic.
Overall, I truly feel like a weight is slowly being lifted and that feels good.
This week while dealing with 4 days of eye twitching 😒, I've been continuing a review of 2020 and thinking about lessons and learnings I can carry forward into this new year. Loved these questions posed by Kendra Adachi in her Lazy Genius newsletter.
I decided to take a crack at answering them myself:
Question #1: What will you remember the most about 2020?
Fear Experiment 💃🏾: While we haven't had our performance yet (due to COVID), that 9ish weeks of dance rehearsals was a highlight of my year. And a reminder that it's good to do things just for me.
Broken ankle 🤕: I can't really think of 2020 without remembering my ankle injury. Surgery. Physical therapy and dealing with limited mobility was really hard and oh so humbling. It was a good reminder to take better care of my body and my health. And to prioritize rest.
#jesspicks! 👩🏽💻: So many awesome things happened with #jesspicks last year. I met my subscriber goal of 500, and we are in the 800s now! I published my 200th issue and was able to share some lessons learned about that.
Doing the Chuck E. Cheese dance with my nephew 🍕: Didn't even know that was a thing. But seriously any time I can spend with him, I forget all of my problems and see life through the eyes of a four-year-old.
Question 2: What was the biggest surprise?
YOU!! This community almost tripled in the past year. So many replies. So much sharing. So many "keep going Jess" vibes, and that has been really awesome. I am so grateful to you. 💖
Question 3: What has changed?
I feel like I have changed. The pandemic and the injury really helped remind me of what's important. And while A LOT was going on last year, I also feel like I accomplished so much because that focus was there.
I work with two amazing teams that allow me to bring my whole weird, quirky self to work, and that is incredible. My work to help more people start side hustles and design lives they love feels really important. And people have shown me that it's needed. So it feels good to do good work and make an impact.
Strangely enough, my love of structure and my morning productivity has been thrown out of the window. 🤪 Working from home while caregiving has really forced me to adapt and work in pockets of quiet, which means sometimes working in the afternoons and evenings. And I'm starting to feel more comfortable in the chaos. Not all the way there, though. Baby steps. It's how we roll. 😉
I'm excited about carrying these changes into the future and continuing to improve.
How about you? What will you remember most about 2020? What has changed? Or surprised you?
On to the picks!
P.S. I could use your help... if you had a free 30-minute coaching/strategy session with me, what’s the #1 thing you’d want to walk away with? Hit reply and let me know. I am trialing something in the next week that may be a fit for you.
Note: This email may contain affiliate links. If you click through my link and make a purchase that means I may receive "thank you money" at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products that I use and love.
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There's a million newsletters about stocks and VC. Stefan's newsletter is about the options that don't get talked about as much.
Each week, Stefan dives into a different alternative asset. Past issues include investing in cars, farmland, and billboards.
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#loves 😍
🤗 Need a virtual hug? It's the nicest place on the Internet.
📚 Reading: Productivity Boosted. This free ebook on AppSumo seems pretty cool. Excited to check it out this weekend. It highlights 10 different productivity frameworks (including time blocking, bullet journaling, and getting things done) so you can see which strategy works best for you.
📺 Watching: The Wilds. OMG, this show was, um, wild? 9 girls on a trip to Hawaii end up stranded on an island. Dun dun dun. Drama ensues. If you are thinking LOST, I would say yes along with some female empowerment thrown in. Can't wait for season 2! I'm Martha according to this. How about you?
#reads
7 tips for starting a successful side hustle — www.fastcompany.com
Building a side hustle is not easy but it can be so rewarding and is an amazing exercise in personal development.
"There’s a reason it’s called a side hustle: you need to work hard to make it a success. "
Judith Meyer highlights some great tips for getting started:
Tell your employer (transparency is the way to go here)
Establish a routine and set goals (make the business part of your larger routine)
Create boundaries (make sure the business isn't taking up all your free time)
Set up processes and automate (technology and systems are your friends)
Ask for feedback (experiment, ask questions, learn and keep growing)
Think long-term (what is your why, think about the long game here)
Rest (sleep and self-care are so important here so you don't risk burnout)
The First Question to Ask Yourself When You Sit Down to Work — forge.medium.com
Laura Vanderkam invites us to ask ourselves this question each morning:
“How would I plan my workday if I knew the power was going out at 10:30?”
It really helps you think about your task list and prioritize what's most important so you can do that first.
#icymi
😍 Last issue’s top pick was: The Ultimate Guide & List of Newsletter Directories.
🎧 Chatted about creating a curated newsletter with Tara McMullin (this interview is awesome if I say so myself!)
📝 Wrote about my Lessons Learned from 200 Issues of #jesspicks to Medium. Would love a 👏🏾 if you find it helpful.
#classifieds 🗞
Lucky Dog and 7 other women biz owners teamed up for an incredible IG giveaway with products and gift cards valued at over $220. Enter here by Monday, Jan 25.
A chat with a mentor can change a life. Start your mentoring biz with Coffee Chats --the no-code way to launch a mentoring site. Chat with the founder for free.
Have something you'd like to promote to #jesspicks 800+ readers? You can buy an ad or sponsorship here.
#lifevibes
#supporters ☕️
Thank you Colie, Chastity, Laurie, Latienda, Collette, Anne, Kristen, Liz, Katherine, Monale, Betsy, Melissa, Lindsay, Jennifer, Kayla, Madison, Rae, Stephanie, Christine R., Christine M., Frances, Hannah, Chris, Brandy, Mea, Kristian, Maria, Avery, Adam, Monale, Barbara, Shenee, Desiree, Lisa, Kandice, L'Oreal, and LaVerne for being #jesspicks supporters!! ❤️
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