Looking Back at 2023 and now forward to 2024

Now that we have seen the close of 2023, and after some reflection, I wonder what it is I hope for most of us in the coming year.

With life divided between work, my marriage, home, our puppies (who of course are not puppies!), our children, and our grandchildren, it can be hard to know where to place my priorities or some days, what to do first.

When it comes to the business, I feel confident with the measures taken and decisions made this past year to trim costs and streamline aspects of the business. Now my focus is on trying to visualize this coming year and perhaps the next five by establishing goals for sales, which include new potential clients and areas of sales to focus on.

While consumer confidence seems to be building, in the home building industry, which is where our business is focused, possibly as a result of the increasing inventory of homes available for sale and perhaps the lowering of interest rates, I believe the greatest “driver” may be a shared, genuine desire for things to improve in general. I hope so, as that would help all of us! A shared vision for the future helps or can help to concentrate energy on a preferred outcome, which might include an improvement in the economy, gas prices, grocery prices, housing, and retail goods.

However, on a personal level, I am focused on the following for myself:

Exercise

I have signed up for a Pilates class and want to focus on toning and strengthening my muscles as well as increasing other physical exercise, like walking.

Nutrition

I plan to eat a healthier diet complete with vitamins, fruits, and vegetables. To assist with that, I am taking a more proactive stance by planning meals and snacks for the week. In some ways, it is difficult for me to be too “exacting” because of my schedule and its tendency to be a bit erratic based on changing deadlines and such. So, I have left a little room for “re-setting”.

As an example, if I planned pork chops for dinner, and I am stuck in traffic and will not arrive home in time to cook dinner, then I can have pork chops tomorrow and might make a quick salad or frozen pizza. If I won’t be able to cook the pork chops the next day, I can cook them that night and then have the option to eat them for lunch or dinner the following day. It might also help to have a friend or “buddy” who lives nearby that you can interact with on food and schedule changes. If the pork chops are not now going to work at all for me, might they be useful to my friend this week, and she or he might be able to do. the same for you on another occasion.

There are honestly so many ways to make this work and interact with your personal community, it just takes a little time and creativity.

Laugh

Laughing releases much-needed endorphins and can change the status of your mood almost immediately. I have a couple of favorite comedians, such as: Norm MacDonald, Leanne Morgan and Sebastian Maniscalco. Also, I have an “app” or two that can give me laughs “on demand” and if the comedian selected doesn’t give me a needed laugh, I can always choose another. The app I most use is called “Drybar” and each of the comedians listed have videos. Lianne Morgan also has a Netflix special that is very funny and timely. Graham Norton has a British Talk Show that is very entertaining, so I would also encourage you to check that out as well. You cannot laugh too much!

Visuals

If you have never done a visualization board, they can be enormously helpful. The “Lovet Agency” has. many tools to assist you with this or you can do it the “old fashioned” way by just taking a pile of magazines, cutting out pictures and words and sayings, and then pasting them into a fun and beautiful reminder of your goals and vision for yourself onto a poster board that can easily be gotten from your local art store or Target. I have done this several times in the past and it always has amazed me the times I have looked up to see it from my desk, which is usually where I hang it so that it can easily be seen by me throughout the day, and have thought to myself, “Wow” everything on that board has been achieved or come to pass.

I will continue to talk about this and the progress I am making and maybe you could share the progress you are making or thoughts you have about starting the year and setting goals. I would love to hear them!

Best,

Kimberly