A Look Ahead: My 2023 Goals

We started 2022 with a little one just crawling and ended 2022 with a toddler walking, talking, and a mouth full of teeth. Our little girl is growing up so fast and it’s been a joy to watch her discover so many new things this year. She loves reading books, eating omelets, dancing, climbing stairs, and hugging Sadie. She constantly wants to “sit in lap”, is attached to mama’s hip, and is as happy as can be. 

What a year! 

Related: A look back: 2022 in Review

A friend of mine says this often and it’s so true, having a little one at home truly does open my eyes to how much can happen in a year. So as I go into 2023, I’m reminded to dream big and imagine the possibilities. 

In some ways, I look back on the past couple of years and feel like we’ve lived small. I haven’t executed on grand visions of month long road trips, creating new products, or hitting the big M (millions) in sales. We haven’t taken many trips and many days we don’t venture far past our own mailbox. Maybe it’s life in the midst of newborn to toddlerhood, or bouncing back from a global pandemic that exacerbated my homebody tendencies, or our move back to Tennessee that just has me somewhat settled lately. 

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved the slower pace. Lately, however, I’ve felt that bubbling for adventure return. What I’m envisioning for 2023 is a return to dreaming, imagining new possibilities and having more adventures. Whether those adventures mean trying a new gymnastics class with Madelyn, trying new restaurants here in Knoxville, a return to weekly/bi-weekly date nights or a big road trip through New England this fall. It doesn’t have to be grand, just playful, lighthearted, fun and new. 

My Hope for 2023: Word of the Year

Each year I spend time working through my Annual Planning using my guided goal-setting program, My Blueprint Year. It is one of my favorite parts of the year. To reflect back on the year that was and plan for the year ahead. 

One thing I do each year is set an intention for the year. This year I went back and forth on a “word” or theme for the year and finally felt like I had landed on it… 

Thrive: to flourish. To grow or develop in a healthy way, especially as the result of a particularly favorable environment.

Thriving. That is a Shanna I can picture. Being mentally and physically strong, enjoying time with my family, working at a steady but not rushed pace, reading books, enjoying decorating our home, having fun at work, celebrating the big days and the little things, and making cherished memories. 

Growing in a healthy way in a favorable environment. 

My Goals for 2023

My goals this year feel very focused and after two years of what feels like “pregnancy brain”, I am so grateful for the clarity. I can picture each of these goals, what it means to live them, what it means to achieve them, the feeling I want from each outcome. 

For that I feel energized and really excited for what 2023 has in store! 

Personal

1) More of what makes me feel like me. 

Being a mom is my absolute favorite thing. I love hanging with my little sidekick but boy that transition from just us for twelve years to us three threw me for a tilt-a-whirl. While I have loved being a mom more than I could have imagined, I’ve had a hard time figuring out my new normal. Where is Shanna in all this? Getting to know “me” has a mama… has been a challenge. And every toddler mom said “amen”. This year I want to thrive as a human being, I need to prioritize more of the things that make me feel like me—reading, working out, sleep! 

2) That “phew, we’re home” feeling.

I am longing to feel settled in our home space. Coming from a massive renovation project at our Minnesota house to a spec home in Tennessee, I’m longing to make our space feel like a home, our home. I want that feeling when you walk through the door, like “phew, I’m so glad to be home”. Our house doesn’t give us that yet. I’ve been reading Feels like home by Lauren Liess and she puts into words so well what I’m longing for here. It’s easy to feel or sound ungrateful, I’m so grateful for our home. But our space affects us, so I want our space to affect us well. 

3) Down Time! 

I want more puzzles in my life, game nights with friends, and having the neighbors over for dinner. I know that down time is a sign of work and life in harmony. When I’m taking on too much at work and setting unrealistic goals or deadlines, my evenings are the first to go. I’m not willing to sacrifice my time with Madelyn during the day so I sacrifice my sleep (and well-being) at night. My goal for this year is more ordinary time, time for family evenings, date nights because I know this is a huge indicator of whether or not I’m accomplishing my other goals. 

Professional

4) Optimize! Optimize! Optimize! 

One of my big goals in 2022 was to show up consistently with original content. I am so proud that we have consistently published a new podcast episode since Consider the Wildflowers launched last August. I’ve also shown up weekly for my newsletter subscribers and averaged 1 blog per week in 2022. Now it’s time to put all that hard work to work by optimizing our marketing strategies: namely, SEO and pinterest. 

5) Update Blueprint at Home

Blueprint at Home is my personal finance program for entrepreneurs. It’s the exact system we use to manage our household finances and it works! I love it. Students love it. I want to give this program the love it deserves this year! We recorded this program in 2018 and after five years I’m excited to give it a glow up with new expanded curriculum, more spreadsheets and more helpful personal finance information. (All students will receive the updated curriculum so no need to wait if you want to get in now!) 

6) Website Overhaul!

After taking a year off in 2020, we relaunched the website not knowing exactly how it would look now that Kyle was officially part of the company. Over the past couple of years we have gotten so much more clarity on the direction of the company and how we can serve others. I want the website to clearly communicate what we do and who it’s for. I’m beyond excited to give the website an overhaul this year! 

Financial

7) The Black Op!

We are currently completely tearing our marketing and sales strategy down to the studs and rebuilding it! I am so excited to get back in touch with our audience needs and hopefully show up in a way to serve entrepreneurs even better. This one is under wraps but believe me, I’ll report back once it’s up and running! Make sure to get on our newsletter for real-time updates on what we’re doing! 

8) Cash Flow Positive

If you’ve been following along for a while, you’ll know that I had to swallow my pride after our last launch didn’t go as planned and get serious about our cash flow. Things got tight-both personally and in the business. This year I’m not looking to repeat those miscalculations. Instead, we are taking a hard look at our personal and business budgets and working to get back some breathing room in our finances without having to knock it out of the park sales-wise this year (although we are still swinging for the fences!) 

9) Consistently Saving $$ for our Future!

For many years of our marriage we were focused on paying off debt. Once we achieved that goal, we didn’t transition to more long term savings goals. While I’m really proud of how we’ve managed our money, looking back I do wish we had started a regular saving regimen earlier (even $50/month adds up!). So this year, I’m committed to putting a consistent amount towards long terms savings goals each and every month (automate it!!) 

If you’re looking for a way to go into your year with intention, stay focused on what truly matters, and a guided journal to help track progress: Check out My Blueprint Year! 

Here’s to leaning into what matters most this year, and letting go of the rest! 

To 2023! 

xo

Shanna

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