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2011 went by extremely fast and 2012 is only 3 weeks away!
It’s time to set some goals for the upcoming year.
When I was younger I didn’t believe in New Year’s resolutions/plans/goals and so I never made any but now that I get older and run my own business I have learned the importance of planning ahead.
The major turning point which defined my current life path came in early 2011 when I finally had to admit that my long term relationship of 8 years was really over. Which sucked! Big time! But besides having to mend my broken heart, I also had to give up two of my biggest dreams:
Without my ex (who is American), I would not be able to obtain a visa and move to the U.S. (which had been a dream of mine since I was twelve years old and set foot on American soil for the very first time). I also had to face the fact that, as a woman of 36, this breakup might be the final verdict on the issue of having kids.
It was a lot to deal with and to make things worse, I was completely broke and had to live off of social welfare for a while. Yes, it was pretty much the low point of my life and most of the time, I felt like a complete failure.
But I was not willing to give up! And so I channeled all my energy into my business, worked really hard to develop CreativeWebBiz.com and started creating websites for artists and other creative entrepreneurs which eventually helped me get back on my feet financially.
My turnaround point came in May 2011, when I gave away all my belongings and started traveling around Europe as a full time digital nomad. All I took with me was a backpack and a laptop so I could work from on the road.
While touring through France, Portugal, Belgium, Holland and Spain I created the very first Creative Web Biz course:
Make A WordPress Site, a step by step video course to help people set up their very own self hosted WP site. It was free to join for a quite a long time because I wanted to make sure it was useful to people and there was a market for it. I think this is great way to test your products or services before putting a price on them and I really recommend it.
Along the way, I also met some awesome fellow bloggers and lifestyle designers who inspired me even more to live life to the fullest, never give up and follow my dreams. Many thanks to Lisa Sonora Beam, Maneesh Sethi, Mars Dorian and Corbett Barr (follow the links to some of their best posts/projects).
So in the end, I am pretty happy how 2011 went for me and my business. Within the same year I went from completely broke with nothing left but crushed dreams to becoming a full time digital nomad, bringing value to other people’s lives through my business and meeting inspiring people along the way.
I can’t wait for 2012! :-)
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What about you? What were your accomplishments (or losses) in 2011? Let me know in the comments or by email. I’d love to hear it!
Next week, in part 2 of this mini series, we will be talking about goal setting and how to get ready for a magical 2012.
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image by bellaroo2.
You are such an inspiration – i am hoping in 2013 to have the courage and be a digital nomad myself. I havent got much planned for 2012 except to study all the things that i have been wanting to learn (photography, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop) and get into a fitness routine. Life after raising my four kids on my own is still not ‘all together’ as i hoped it would be. But i keep reminding myself that i was a stay home mum, devoted/paused my life for the kids for 24yrs.. its gonna probably take more than a few years to adjust and relearn everything – of how to devote my life to me..
My art/business is the lifeline.. if i didnt have it, i don’t know what id be doing (looking for a partner i suppose..hahaha..to fill the void)
I hope that i am better & achieve more to/for myself in 2012 than i was in 2011…
The stuff you do..is like a light/twinkling star reminding me that – it is possible..that there is others like me ~
Love to you SiSTAR xxx
Thank you for the lovely comment!
I’m sure you’ve accomplished more in 2011 than you give yourself credit for. I honestly thought I really hadn’t accomplished that much until I started writing this post. Only then did it dawn on me how crazy this year really was for me and that I actually did pretty good :-)
And raising four kids by yourself is a huge achievement all by itself. I honestly don’t know if I would have the strength and power for that.
And BTW, I don’t know anyone out there who churns out such a huge amount of work every single day. Be proud of yourself!
And when you start traveling in 2013 we definitely finally have to meet up in real life somewhere!
YAMILE! You are such an inspiration to me – with your courage and adventurous spirit. This year I had a friend who said he had a book ready and I hatched a brand new ebook biz! Blue Hand Books was born 11-11-11. I did my own ebook so I figured I can do it for other Native authors, too. I am thankful to you for your website and your ideas and your inspiration… 2012 is promising to be an amazing year! Keep in touch!
Always your friend, Trace
Trace, congrats with the new ebook biz! And what a great date to make it official. I just googled it and found your site. Looks great :-)
Just one piece of advice. Get a self-hosted site as soon as possible. Hosting it on Blogger is a bit dangerous. If they decide to shut it down for one reason or another, you loose everything. I’m not even sure it’s not against their TOS to use their service for business purposes.
And I don’t say this because I’m in the business of creating websites, I just hear these stories of people who this has happened to all the time!
Oh, and secure the domain name before someone else does.
I will look into this! You rock!
Such an inspiring post, Yamille! I’m right behind you. I used to travel for years myself, and now 8 years later I am getting the itch to go again!
If you ever come to Toronto, be sure to look me up!
Kay
Hi Kay, I just checked out your site and saw you studied in Italy. I bet you had a great time, no wonder you want to travel again :-)
You go Yamile! Keep kicking ass and looking forward to hear more from you =)
Brian
Dear Yamile,
you live what I am dreaming of and am not brave enough to do. I feel stuck here. My debt is getting higher and higher, my businesses do not pay … Maybe I should accept this request for subletting my room from April and take the chance and just do it? Travel? I need a reason to start. Oh dear …
Will read more of your website now and let myself be inspired :) Thank you for your work. And have a great trip!
Sandra
Sandra,
it is definitely possible to make it work in such a short time (until April) but I’m not sure I would recommend it.
It’s how I did it when I started traveling in May last year, but I already had my business up and running and was making at least a bit of money from it.
I think it’s wiser to give yourself at least 6 months or even 12. Mark that date in your calendar and start working towards your goal.
You might like the early posts at http://SeanOgle.com and also http://AnsweringOliver.com Both have done it this way and have some great tips on how to make it happen.
Definitely let me know what you decided and what your future destinations are going to be!
I’ll see you on the road :-)