Intro - Hello everyone thank you for coming to my workshop, over the moon to be with you today!
here is an introduction to me, my name is Natalie Byrne, im an illustrator, an author & a creative coach.
I’ve worked with some amazing clients, from the body shop, nike, the bcc, and facebook.
Today we are going to have a little creative check in, something I’ve been doing in my business for a while, and i’m going to share my stagey and systems for creating a clear direction and to finish this year with a bang
Notes before we get started
You will need a pen and paper for this workshop, or somewhere to take notes. & two different colours!
This pdf of this presentation will be available in tomorrow newsletter, so if you head to nataliebyrne.uk, and sign up you’ll have it for yourself, to check back on! so if you can’t do the excursuses right now, or need to dash out half way through, i got you. I think i’ve listened to daisies workshops when drying my hair before, so if your doing that I’ve got ya. Plus sometimes some of these questions and exercises we will go through today, may need some extra time. & that’s okay, I just want to give you the resources and you can take however long you want.
My next workshop is called how to social media without losing your soul, you can sign up to the link now in my bio (@nataliebyrne)
So let’s get started!
So often i would make this long list of goals at new years, then completely forget them, and then at the end of the year beat myself up, thinking why have I gone so far off track?
After feeling really sporadic, chaotic, and getting myself into a panic time and time again, i would have these huge moments of… WHAT AM I DOING AGAIN?
Checking in, having a life audit, or a reflection, is something I’ve been doing in my creative business regularly for a while now. And I can directly attribute it to my success. Checking in, is where I realign with myself with my goals, cut out what isn’t working and make a specific, simple smart plan, that I can see clearly.
It’s both a personal, business and creative check in, because seeing everything down in one place is just easier and better to manage.
Why
Why did you come to this workshop today? Why are you here? Add it in the chat?
I always like to start with understanding my why because it helps my brain feel motivated and energised so lets go!
Why do we need to reflect and check in with ourselves?
To get to where we want to go, is a different place to where we are now. To make that map, we first need to understand where we are. & a map that as a specific, personable, and that best fit ourselves and our uniqueness, is the best road to success.
‘ensuring we create self-reflective environments can lead to the creativity, energy and motivation that we need for that success. The more people know themselves and others, the more their businesses can achieve.’
Forbes
My why is, I have seasonal depression so I make sure to go into every winter with clear and specific direction. I just had the best summer and I’m feeling like I need a bit of a reminder of what I’m doing
And Christmas is my business time on my shop, so it’s good to start preparing for the chaos now.
I have so many ideas that I
PART 1 - REFLECT
LOOKING BACK
we don’t learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience - John Dewey
what are the highlights of the year so far
if you want to go more in depth you could do this for each month
3 highlights of the year so far
something thing I’ve learnt this year is….
what things make you happy
i wanna start….
i will continue…
i will stop….
my biggest challenge is…
This things doesn’t make me happy
every negative experience hold the seed of transformation - alan cohen
the wheel of life pie chart
this is where you need your two different colours
draw a circle into 8 parts, add each segment this label
physical wellbeing
mental wellbeing
home
career
finances
relationships
recreation
personal growth
score each segment with how you feel from 1-10
1 being low, 10 being the highest
then in a different colour, score them each with how you want to feel
PART 1 - REFRESH
Lets have a refresh on your goals,
what are your goals again? ( feel free to add them in the chat, so we can all cheer each other on!)
One technique I’ve learnt from reading business books, is making sure my goals are SMART
S - specific
get real with numbers, and the nitty gritty
M - Measurable
how are you going to track your goal?
A - Achievable
Work towards a goal that is challenging but possible
R - relevant
Does this goal align with who you want to be? does it make sense?
T - Time based
give yourself a deadline
lets take my goal for wanting to wake up earlier
if it’s smart it is
specific - instead of wake up earlier it’s — i want to wake up at 6.00am, monday’s - fridays
measurable - I’m going to keep track of this goal using this app that tracks my sleep
Achievable - i wanted to say 5am, but being honest i won’t do it! 6 is still a stretch but achieavle
Relevant - yes it is, because i know im more creative in the mornings, it’s beautifully quiet, and i love them.
Time based - my deadline will be my next holiday, where I will not be waking up early.
Go through all your goals and make sure they are smart
Part 3 - The power of simplicity
“simplicity boils down to two steps, identify the essential and climate the rest” Leo Babauta
A huge ethos in my business and creativity, is asking myself, how can I make this easier for me. Toxic productivity and workaholism is something I’m recovering from. And a huge part of my recovery, was letting go.
When we let go, we make more room. And keeping everything simple, is how I managed to avoid being burnt out, and enjoy my life.
Simplicity is powerful, so let’s take everything that’s swirling around in our brains and make it easier for ourselves.
what can be taken away
what can you eliminate or change to feel better about your goals?
Brainstorm
what are the top priorities for the next 3 months
What is one thing you can do immediately to make each of things closer
Number them in importance
What’s your domino goal?
What’s one simple thing you can do that will make all these 3 goals easier for you?
What is your domino goal?
Do you have somthing or a goal, that is a domino effect. Somthing that makes everything easier, something that has a nick on effect that if you do that one thing, everything else is easier to tackle and achieve. For me it’s waking up early, when I wake up early, I make healthier food options, I workout, I get more done and I go to bed earlier.What’s your domino?
• what are some small shifts you can commit to making right away, how can you set yourself up to succeed.
Part 4 - What’s the Plan Batman
Now we’ve getting really specific in our goals, it’s time
add any dates to your calendar, i prefer to use google calender because where i go i have it, but use whatever system works for you!
Habit tracker - I use notion, notes, you can download this habit tracker of mine, you can use a peice of paper and stick it to your wall
Part 5 - If you see it you can be it
doodle exercise (or visualisation)
close your eyes
take 3 deep breathes and imagine your dream life,
where are you,
what do you feel
get really specific
what can you smell
what can you hear
*sketch out what you see
Towards the end
im so proud of you for taking the time to do this
Final exercise
3 things I am grateful for
Thinking about being ahead, and productivity and growth, definitely makes me feel less present in the moment
So let’s end on grounding ourselves in our present day, I throughly believe grattituite in the present energizes me right now
End note
thank you so much for joining me!
don’t forget my Next workshop is how to social media without loading your soul
sign up to my newsletter to grab this pdf
QUESTION TIME