Goal Setting Going into the New Year

Image by Brian Wilkins via Flickr

A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. –Walt Disney

It's that time of year - the time for looking ahead to the New Year, setting personal and professional goals and putting plans in place to make them happen.  I've been working on personal goals for weeks now, letting ideas float around in the ether to see which ones stick and which ones don't.  I've got some great ideas for our home, which means my husband's resolutions are pretty much taken care of.  (Haha!)


I challenged my daughter and the VP for Marketing and Product Development to think about what goals she has for her line this year.  We're very determined to create a wholesale market for her Sun On The Go sets, which will mean a day trip to Atlantic Beach and another day trip (or half-day trip) to Kinston.  When setting our goals, we want to make sure we're setting SMART goals.  Her goal:  "Put this set into a children's boutique and into a small local chain of stores."  Is this a SMART goal?  This is how we figured it out.


Specific - Is this goal specific enough?  In this case, not exactly, because we didn't put a time frame to it.  So we went back and tacked on, "...in time for the Summer tourist season."  That means meeting with buyers in January and February.


Measurable - How are we going to measure our progress?  This one is pretty easy - by how many orders we receive and the quantities of those orders.


Attainable - Is this goal attainable as stated?  Yes, we can make this happen if we get out there and talk to buyers.


Realistic - How realistic is this goal?  Given our production set-up and the staff on hand, we can make this happen.  We'll actually have a few months to get the manufacturing done.


Timeable - Can we reach this goal in the timetable we have?  Of course, though this step of the process is the hardest, because the clock puts limits and schedules on us, but that's OK.  If we didn't have the calendar pages turning on meeting this goal, then we would not be motivated to crack the whip on ourselves to get her fantastic sets on store shelves.


Now, as Walt Disney himself said, "The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing."

What goals do you have going into 2012?  How do you plan to meet them?

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Thanksgiving Weekend Coupon Codes

Image via Wikipedia

Here they are...  The Thanksgiving weekend coupon codes for the Sara's Soaps 'n Such online shop.  Coupons are good all weekend, plus shipping is free all weekend, Friday-Monday.

Take 10% off any purchase - coupon code BlackFriday11

Take 25% off any purchase of $50 or more - coupon code SmBizSaturday11

Take 30% off any purchase of $75 or more - coupon code CyberMonday11

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

What a great day!  It's still pretty early, but I woke up feeling grateful for the many wonderful people in my life. I woke up excited about seeing my family today, and I thought about how lucky I am to be 38 and to still have a set of grandparents alive.  I thought of how lucky my girls are - my older one especially - to have gotten to know three of their grandparents and how she'll have those awesome memories to treasure.

Then, I thought with a bit of sadness who won't be there today, namely my grandparents on my Mom's side.  My grandma's been dead for several years now, but I can still remember that first Thanksgiving without her - the sadness and the laughter.  This will be our second Thanksgiving without my maternal grandpa, and that spot at the table is still a bit fresh, and it's still a bit weird seeing my uncle sitting in that place.

I'm thankful for my wonderful customers, too.  We've been together in business for nine years now, and I couldn't have the success I do without each and every one of you.  Thank you so much!  May your Thanksgiving be filled with the love of family and friends and may you take the time to remember all the many blessings in your life.

Much love,
Sara

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Helping Ourselves

Image by Tim Green aka atoach via Flickr"God helps those who help themselves."  Not really.  I will recant that if someone can point me to the verse in the Bible that says that, but I know it's not there.  So where did this popular saying come from?  Thanks to my Facebook and Twitter friend Shila Laing, it comes from a fable, which you can read here, but I've also included it below.

Aesop for Children (1919)

HERCULES AND THE WAGONER

A Farmer was driving his wagon along a miry country road after a heavy rain. The horses could hardly drag the load through the deep mud, and at last came to a standstill when one of the wheels sank to the hub in a rut.

The farmer climbed down from his seat and stood beside the wagon looking at it but without making the least effort to get it out of the rut. All he did was to curse his bad luck and call loudly on Hercules to come to his aid. Then, it is said, Hercules really did appear, saying:

"Put your shoulder to the wheel, man, and urge on your horses. Do you think you can move the wagon by simply looking at it and whining about it? Hercules will not help unless you make some effort to help yourself."

And when the farmer put his shoulder to the wheel and urged on the horses, the wagon moved very readily, and soon the Farmer was riding along in great content and with a good lesson learned.

Self help is the best help.

Heaven helps those who help themselves.

Last weekend, I decided that I'd been working so hard and I needed help.  I was coming to the end of my endurance, the end of my ability to take care of everything on my own.  So...  I took matters into my own hands and "helped myself."  I hired my first employee to help take some tasks off of my hands.  

I don't have a picture of her, yet, but I'd like to introduce you to Nicole, my new personal assistant.  Nicole will begin by helping write soap and correspond with customers.  She's already enthusiastically asked about working shows with me, and as she grows into her position and responsibilities, I'm confident that she'll be able to take on more duties with that same enthusiasm and go-get-'em! attitude.

Have you been in a position to hire some help?  How did that work out for you?

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Glam on the Run

The call came yesterday from my dearest online friend.  Although we'd been friends for over 6 years and live just 4 hours or so apart, our friendship had been restricted to emails, chats, text messages and phone calls.  He told me he had a business day trip to make to a city near us and could we meet for lunch.  With less than 24 hours' notice, I had to arrange for child care, figure out where we could meet for lunch and get as glammed as possible (being just friends doesn't make me less of a "girl").

First step...  Figure out the outfit.  Although it's late October, I'm still not ready to give up my sandals, so whatever I wore had to work with open-toe shoes.  My first outfit was going to be a white t-shirt and my favorite brown and white zebra-print skirt with my oh-so-sexy (and surprisingly comfortable) espadrilles.  However, I couldn't find the skirt and didn't want to take the time to tear our bedroom up looking for it, so I went for outfit #2 - hot pink long-sleeved t-shirt, black and hot pink skirt and black strappy heels.

Step two has to be the toes and feet - starting from the bottom here.  I last gave myself a pedicure ten days ago using some of my favorite colors from Sally's Beauty Supply.  These enamels are a bit more expensive, but my polish jobs last forever!  This pedicure started with China Glaze Base Coat, followed by two coats of Ultra Pro nail enamel in Hawaiian Flower, then a layer of OPI white shatter and all that topped off with China Glaze Top Coat.  My tootsies still look freshly pedicured and nice.

But then I looked at the bottoms of my feet, and they looked anything BUT sandal-ready!  Normally I'd soak my feet in a bubbling foot spa with some tea tree and lavender oil, then apply a moisturizer and wear white cotton socks to warm it and allow it to work in over the course of several hours.  There simply wasn't time for the foot soak, and I completely forgot about moisturizing with socks.  Oh, dear!  I happened to have a jar of body scrub in the bathroom that I'd made for my husband.  Whew!  Saved!  A thorough scrub in my shower got all the dead skin off, and I gave them a quick rub with Rub Me Right... There (in Patchouli).  I stood on a towel while I put my makeup on to help the massage oil's delectable goodness soak into my feet (and to keep me from slipping, falling and busting my butt on the linoleum).

This third step I normally wouldn't do, but my friend Ginger posted a recipe on her FB page this week about  DIY homemade lip scrub, and for the past week or so, I've been wanting to whip some up.  My lips get sooo dry and scaly during the harsh Winter months, so I thought this would be the perfect treatment for them.  But, alas!  Here I was, wanting to scrub my lips and not having any lip scrub made up (and, I mean, seriously, it'd have taken all of five minutes to make).  Time for a quick exfoliation.  After I finished brushing my teeth, I used my toothbrush to gently scrub my lips and the surrounding skin.  Oh my gosh, that peppermint toothpaste made them tingle and flushed them a nice, natural pink!  I gave them a swipe of Vaseline and put my makeup on.

The rest of getting ready was nothing out of the ordinary - hair, makeup and outfit.  When it came time to moisturize my legs, I grabbed the tube of Moisture to Go I keep in my purse (currently in Verbena scent).  I was scrubbed, scented and moisturized, and every bit of me was first-meet-with-a-friend ready.

Of course, my friend never really saw my legs, and I seriously doubt he paid any attention to my feet (though he did peek at my pedi).  The scrubbed smooth lips felt good and made my lip gloss (decided to go with their natural pink from the scrub) last so much longer than usual.  This lip gloss was one I'd made, just playing around, with ginger and cinnamon essential oils.  It goes on hot and tingly, making my lips flushed and slightly swollen.  None of this primping was for my friend; every bit of it was for me and enabled me to approach this meeting with style and confidence.  This evening, though, I'm definitely going to throw together some lip scrub, and I think I'll give it some tingle with some peppermint essential oil.  This will be just right for Winter!

What quick beauty and primping tips do you have for those last minute glam needs?  Share them here.