Ever find yourself scribbling down New Year's resolutions, only to leave them behind like last year's forgotten leftovers? We've been there, and that's why this episode is all about forging a new path with the cue of a single guiding word. Join us as we dive into the transformative practice of setting intentions with a "word of the year." Forget the pressure of resolutions—this is about embracing adaptability and growth.
Let this episode inspire you to embrace the 'less is more' philosophy, starting with a January office declutter challenge to set yourself up for a year of clarity and productivity. And remember, we're just a click away on Instagram, ready to connect over subscription box creativity and storytelling—let's make 2024 a year of meaningful connections.
✨Vision board episode
🛍️ Julie's products on Amazon are Swedish dishcloths, an eco-friendly alternative to sponges & paper towels.
Get all the details and your ticket at SubSummit.com, THE conference for sub box businesses. We'll see you in Dallas this June!
Ever find yourself scribbling down New Year's resolutions, only to leave them behind like last year's forgotten leftovers? We've been there, and that's why this episode is all about forging a new path with the cue of a single guiding word. Join us as we dive into the transformative practice of setting intentions with a "word of the year." Forget the pressure of resolutions—this is about embracing adaptability and growth.
Let this episode inspire you to embrace the 'less is more' philosophy, starting with a January office declutter challenge to set yourself up for a year of clarity and productivity. And remember, we're just a click away on Instagram, ready to connect over subscription box creativity and storytelling—let's make 2024 a year of meaningful connections.
✨Vision board episode
🛍️ Julie's products on Amazon are Swedish dishcloths, an eco-friendly alternative to sponges & paper towels.
Get all the details and your ticket at SubSummit.com, THE conference for sub box businesses. We'll see you in Dallas this June!
So you want to launch a subscription box and don't know where to start? Girl, you are in the right place.
Speaker 2:I'm Julie Ball and I'm Renee Gonzalez, your host here at Subscription Box.
Speaker 1:Basics a podcast for new and aspiring subscription box entrepreneurs wanting to avoid overwhelm.
Speaker 2:So grab a coffee, some pen and paper and let's have some fun. Welcome to the Subscription Box Basics podcast. This is Renee, your marketing coach, and I am here this week with Julie, your head coach, and Happy New Year. It is officially the first day of 2024 when you are listening to this, if you are listening live. So we are so excited to move into a new year with you, and today our episode will be short and sweet. We're just talking about our word of the year for 2024.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I used to do the whole New Year's resolution thing and I'd make a top 10. These are 10 things I want to accomplish. And then I just found that, like usual, so many things change throughout the year and I would look back at that top 10 and I'm like man one, it's not what I want anymore. Or two things change, so that didn't happen or didn't feel right A few years ago. I know you and I switched to this whole word of the year thing. I don't know really where it came from, but I love it. It just gives you something to focus on throughout the year. That's a moving target. These words are meant to be rooted in helping you make all your decisions. But again, it's a moving target, so it doesn't feel so restricted.
Speaker 2:Oh, absolutely. And I, as when some of our listeners may know, I love vision boards. I still vision boards every year. I do vision boards for seasons, both in my life and if I feel I have a goal. I like having something visual to look at and I feel like the word of the year is that, but in a single word, it's a visual cue, it's a mental cue that kind of keeps you on track with what your goals are. And when me and Julie say word of the year, it's definitely something that can be. It's still as interchangeable, it's something that in this moment, it's what we feel we want to step into the new year with, but we're not married to it. We can switch throughout the year, but we both have a word of the year in mind and we thought it might be helpful for everyone listening to share it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and before I share mine, renee, you're going to be so proud of me I signed up for a like in real life vision board workshop at our local yoga studio and I did one when we first moved here, gosh back in like 2016. So it would have been in 2017, in the new year, and I just remember we sit in the circle, they put all the craft supplies in the middle and they give you a big board and they walked us through it and I felt like I just needed that this year, something where I'm in community with other people and we're doing these together, and I remember this was really cool at the end of this workshop that I went to in 2017. The leader of the workshop said I encourage you, if you are ready to share it, share your vision with the rest of the group, because the more people that know what you want in your life, the more likely it's going to happen. Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 2:I love it, and that's exactly what I was going to say. I've helped post them. I've done them both online and in person. Our family does them together now and it really is. It's so helpful to have someone to help keep you accountable and really know your goals, and that's even if it's posting it online, so you can have someone to help be like hey, how's that goal going, or how's your vision going for the year, and really keep you accountable and just check in with you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, not only accountability, but also like they may be a stepping stone in that journey. So when you decide on your word of the year, or if you make a vision board, don't be afraid to share it with people, share it with our community, share it with us in the DMs, share it with people who are close to you. And if you've not done a vision board workshop before, renee, I know you recorded one as a podcast episode a couple years back, so I'll make sure that we link that in the show notes If someone's listening and they're like, yeah, that sounds awesome, I want to do that. Yeah, absolutely OK, without further ado, let's get to our words of the year. Usually, renee gets a voxer message from me in September or October.
Speaker 1:I'm like I know what my word of the year is for next year. I'm so on top of it, I feel it, I know what it is. But, man, you guys, this one took me a while to think about, reflect on and really figure out what my word of the year for 2024 was going to be, and I've decided on diversify. I know it's not like a super sexy word or anything, but as I was thinking about it, I've run a subscription box and I do coaching for that. But if you look back at my experience, there's such a host of other things that I've done in my life and that I've enjoyed and or have been profitable from a business perspective. And so, just quick example, I've written a book. I obviously am a podcaster. I have a lot of experience in marketing and sponsorships and service based product based. So I have this background and I was like I right now focus most of my time on subscription box coaching and I love it, but there's so much more to me than that. So my idea with diversify is I've been dabbling in a couple other business models and I'll probably share more about it in 2024 over the podcast. But, for example, I started selling a couple products on Amazon. Amazon is a new to me platform. I've used it as a consumer for gosh decades, but as a seller, as a product based business owner, it's new to me, so it's super exciting. I'm learning that. I'll be happy to share details about that on another episode.
Speaker 1:And as far as other streams of revenue and diversification, my husband is working. He is now a general contractor here in North Carolina and he is renovating houses. So real estate and rentals is going to be well, it is already, but I'm going to do some more focus on it and really lean in and learn more about the business model. So that's the business side of diversification. Now I can also apply this very sexy term to my personal life too. So it is more about like getting out into the community, making more friends, getting more involved in volunteer opportunities.
Speaker 1:So I want to really lean into the word diversify in all different areas. So that's the long story short with my word of the year, and what I plan to do is put that word in the middle of my vision board when I go to that workshop. And then I'm going to have quadrants on the vision board, so it's going to be like maybe the top left will be business, maybe the top right will be personal and then maybe I'll have spiritual or financial. I'm going to break it into kind of sections so I can look at each area of my life and see how this word applies and what I want out of it and what actions I might take because of it. Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:And, before I forget, you'll have to share your link to some of the things you already have live on Amazon. Yeah, and there's notes too, so everyone can check them out. Yeah, and I love that. And I think it's funny because when I share my word, too, it goes along the same track of your word. But I love your word because it shows it's okay to pivot, it's okay to try something new, it's okay to have your hand in multiple things, and, as a business owner, it's a good strategy to have a lot of streams of revenue going, so I think it's a smart business move as well. But it's also something important to look at in our personal lives and be like how can I branch out and evolve as a person too? I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I feel like since I've been an entrepreneur in 2011. This has been such a focus for me that I forgot about some of the hobbies. Now there's some that I still do Like in the summertime. I still paddleboard a lot. I love that, but I haven't gone camping like tent camping in a couple of years. I haven't picked up my guitar in a couple of years, and so some of this stuff is just going to be like revisiting some of the things that made me.
Speaker 1:I am going to use my Christmas money gifts for a season pass to an amphitheater, that I'm going to go to a lot of shows, so I'm going to have a summer of music, because that has always defined me in the past and over the past couple of years. Granted, covid kind of put a stop to a lot of that stuff. But I want to get back into the habit of filling all those buckets. I guess that's what I need to look at it like. Diversification of my life means I'm going to identify all these buckets that I want to pour into and if one is empty, then by paying attention to it, I'm going to notice that it's empty.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I can't remember where I originally heard it from, but have you seen the level 10 chart off to see? I'll see if I can find it and I can share it so we can share it with everyone else too, now that I'm talking about it? But it's like level 10 and then it's in a circle and it has exactly, like you're saying, personal health and it goes around and you rate it and you fill in the little bubbles from one to 10 and you rank where you're at. And then you look back on it and you're like, ok, how can I get closer to level 10 on all of these avenues in my life? And that's like a virtual or that's like what you're doing, but you're trying to do it for your whole life and really put it out there and make that your goal. So you're a level 10 life. I'll have to find out more information about it, but yeah, I love that.
Speaker 1:Thanks for sharing that. I would definitely love to look at that. I love having that sounds like a great planner page.
Speaker 2:That is to get planner and start packing things, and that's exactly, I think, when I used to bullet journal for a couple of years, and I think that's where I originally found it, but it's called level 10. I'll find out some more information, but yeah, you're creating the level 10 life in 2024.
Speaker 1:Yes, I love it All. Right enough about me. What is your word for 2024? Also, not very sexy.
Speaker 2:I dabbled with a couple words, but one I think that is the best at everything I'm trying to achieve. The word is streamlined. I am going to streamline my life in 2024, both personally and professionally as a business owner, and I thought of a couple words. How I came across the word streamlined and the not so sexy word that I will to put on my vision board is I really am looking to simplify my life in both personal and professional ways, but really stemming from or getting more organized. In years past, I've always been a like go and then pile this year, go and pile this year, and I really want everything to have its home.
Speaker 2:I feel like as my girls get older in 2024, when they're currently right now in fifth and eighth grade, so they'll be transitioning off a middle schooler and a high schooler, which is nuts to me and I feel like as they grow, I'm trying to teach them life's lessons into really simplifying their life and getting organized, and we already do some things, like we write in our gratitude journals, which I talked about in the wish list episode of episodes back, but really setting good examples for them. I feel like over the past year, two years as they grow older has really helped me become a better person too, because I'm like, oh, I'm telling them to do it, I should be taking my own advice too. So I feel like if I streamline and really simplify my life as a human, for business and personal that it's just going to make everything we do in our life so much easier. And it really came from. We do get to camp a lot.
Speaker 2:We're very fortunate, we have a trailer. We even if it's like an overnight or two nights, we'll go on little trips and when we are in our trailer we are so happy and life is so simple and so easy and we have just enough plates for us and not a million pots and pans Like we have one of everything that we need and it's all we need. So I'm trying to reflect that in our life and in my office and really have a less as more quality over or what is it? Quality over quantity is where I'm going for 2024.
Speaker 1:Oh man, I'm gonna have to borrow some of that because I feel like maybe you women that are listening may feel this deep in your souls, but I feel like I'm the only one in my house that knows where everything is. If my husband's looking for something, or if McKenna's looking for something, they come to me. I don't know if it's that I'm really good at finding things or if I just put things where they belong and I know where they make sense to you.
Speaker 1:Yes, they make sense to me, yeah, and so I'm able to find things, and so I would love some streamlining in my household. Now that you bring it up too, I love that idea, and with business it really can be easy, because there's so many ways to automate your business, whether that's automated emails or automated Even when you're paying your credit card. For example, you can set the setting so that it automatically pays the minimum due, so you never get a late fee. Why wouldn't you set it up? You can still pay more, or you could still pay additional times, but the fact is that you can automate certain things in your business. You can do that kind of stuff in your personal life too.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. And I'm back to the business side of it just having a routine and it's something that I preach and I try to practice but I really want to get better at having specific days where I do specific tasks and really even specific days where I schedule appointments is a big goal for this year. Because I feel like I'm always like, oh, whatever works for you, and before with the doctors I'm like, oh, what a silly question. But now I'm like if I just do appointments on Wednesdays, then I know Wednesday's my day where I run errands and I do appointments, and it doesn't have make me shift things around for appointments because it's only on Wednesdays or whatever it is. But I think really assigning a task or a day to every single aspect as much as possible in my life and knowing that it's not going to happen I'm human and I'm learning, but I'm really going to make an effort this year to make things as simple as me.
Speaker 2:What is it? Steve Jobs wore the same thing every day. Like I'm going to capsule wardrobe, I don't know if I'll be in black every day, although I'm starting off strong today I'm wearing black. But I think a real less is more in making things like taking away the extra think work because I'm an overthinker big time. So if there's less to think about, I think I'll be more productive in the year.
Speaker 1:Well, how about this? Why don't we make sure that we both take some time in January, and you guys are welcome to join us if you want to pick a day where you declutter your office? I started doing that and, renee, I already showed you a little bit of my office recently and if you're watching the video, you'll see that it's a different backdrop because I'm in the middle of reorganizing my office. But maybe you pick one day in January to declutter your office, get rid of all the papers you don't need anymore, minimize the office supplies. I know gasp, minimize your office supplies. I actually did that and I found that I had a lot of office supplies that I don't use. They were just taking up space and I kept the ones that I really liked. Yeah, so I'm going to finish doing that for my office.
Speaker 1:Renee, you do it in January, you hold, I'll hold you accountable and then, if anyone's listening and they want to be held accountable as well, dm us and we'll check in with you to see have you done this yet, and then you can do the same thing in other rooms too. I don't know about you, renee, but sometimes I'll just get the bug in me, like where I'm, like I got to do this room right now. I've got to clean up the clutter in this room, because clutter in a room adds so much. What do I mental load to me? It just it makes me not productive. It makes me chaotic in my brain. Does that make sense?
Speaker 2:Oh, a million percent, I'm the same way. And even the lack of focus, even if it wasn't something you told yourself you're going to do. Even if you're not, it's not weighing heavy on you. Oh, I need to clean the kitchen. If the kitchen's a mess, I can't focus because my brain's a mess too. Yeah, I think that's. A lot of the times. How we work is things just start to pile up when the load, the, when our load of responsibilities are piling up too, and then, if your room isn't clean or your office isn't clean, I'm literally in a corner of my office and, yeah, I challenge accepted. I feel like it makes it so much harder to have your brain clear because every it's also all with responsibilities and to-dos that are unchecked. Yes, my brain's accepted.
Speaker 1:Nice when I think of Streamline, too, your word. There's so many little things you could do, and I'll just give you an example of something that I recently did, because I was wrapping presents and my daughter's really good at taking the scissors from our junk drawer and then not putting them back, so she'll put them in a room. I'll find them in random places. So I bought scissors and tape specifically for wrapping and I put them in a very specific box and they are with the wrapping paper, and so next time I go to wrap a Christmas present or whatever, I will have what I need. It's Streamlined, the tape is there and the scissors are there. I know that's a really super simple example of something you can do to Streamline, but I feel like that word could be really transformational for you and for anyone if they want to use that word, because there's so many things you can Streamline in your life. Oh, and it doesn't have to be big Like.
Speaker 2:It can be little things like that, yeah, and that's an example of it doesn't have to be taking something away too. It couldn't be like getting less scissors, it was getting one more pair of scissors. I feel like that's it, yes, and that's why I feel like simplify. I would like oh, I don't just want to simplify Like I. There's. That's a perfect example of sometimes it is adding more to your life. But just to make your life easier, eliminate a step. And I and one more little story.
Speaker 2:But growing up in our family, I had I was the oldest of three, or there was three of us so I had two other sisters and we would always fight about a brush, like a hairbrush. You know, like we only had one hairbrush. And now I have two daughters and I'm like why didn't we just buy more brushes? Why? So now, like we have a million brushes in our house but everyone has their own brush, we're never fighting about a brush now, but I'm like, gosh, why didn't we just buy more brushes? Why didn't you and my sisters all find about the same brush? So yes, sometimes adding more help makes your life easier.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love it. Okay, so my word is diversify and your word is streamline. So if you're listening and you already know your word, tell it to us. We would love to hear it. We'd love to support you. Dm us on Instagram. Or if you are throwing around some ideas, we'd love to throw around some ideas with you. That's the kind of stuff we love to do that talk and shop. You can meet us right in the Instagram DMs. So we hope that you had a fabulous holiday season and that you are starting the new year off right. The last couple episodes we've veered off the path in telling you a little bit more about us, a little bit personal sharing, things like this, but we will be back to our regularly scheduled programming with lots of subscription box stories, hacks, training, all the good things in the upcoming weeks. Thank you always for listening. You would love if you would rate and review the podcast. It helps us reach more people.
Speaker 2:And I guess that's it for the new year, renee, yes, and enjoy your new year and we'll see you soon in the next couple of episodes. Bye guys, bye, bye.