ALL about the Goal-Getter Guide!

If you follow along on Instagram, then you know that I talk about having a positive mindset, setting goals, and chasing your dream on the daily! I can't help it. I LOVE seeing you gals WIN in every area of your life! I believe that YOU were created for incredible things and I am determined to help women discover their unique talents and worth and turn that into a beautiful life well-lived. 

One of the biggest areas I see women struggle is when it comes to diligence and consistency in completing goals. It's very easy to have dreams for your life, but turning those dreams into actual goals takes courage, hard work, and a whole lot of consistency! This is where The Goal-Getter Guide comes in. 

The Goal-Getter Guide will help you take your dreams and turn them into reality! This guide shares my personal goal-setting plan, productivity guide, and monthly and weekly planning system! I talk about EVERYTHING from developing a positive mindset, how to set goals, and the steps you need to take to make those goals come to fruition!

I am SO excited for you to all get your hands on this guide!! The guide is officially available starting September 4th!!! Grab your guide HERE !!

XO,
Lo

Five Things You Need to Know Before Starting Your Own Business

I get a lot of questions about running your own business, starting a side-hustle, or being an entrepreneur. I absolutely LOVE having my own business and I truly can’t imagine ever not being self-employed. I think that there are a lot of misconceived notions about starting a business though, and so I wanted to address them in this post! Running your own business is not for the faint of heart and I think that many people start a business with the wrong expectations and that is why statistically most start-up businesses fail within their first year!

If you are thinking of starting ANY type of business, this post is for you! From running my own business, helping hundreds of other launch their own businesses, and studying top business leaders all over the world, I have found that these are some of the key expectations you must know and set yourself up for before starting a business!

1. You won’t feel ready to start:

I have never talked to someone who was 100% confident and ready before they started their business. Thats because starting a business is a risk no matter what type of business it is! It is very normal to feel hesitant and nervous before launching a business because you never truly know how it’s going to do until you launch it!

My biggest advice on launching your own business is to go with your gut. If you have a gut instinct that’s saying to go for it, then do it! Most people will never launch their own business (even if they want to) because of fear. DON’T let that be you! With great risk comes great reward and so don’t sit around waiting until you feel “ready” to start. Just go for it!

2. You will fail:

You will fail. ALOT. You’ll probably fail everyday in the beginning! I can’t even tell you how many times I have failed in certain areas of my business. We are humans, and especially if you are a first-time business owner, there is a huge learning curve involved! Don’t expect yourself to be a perfect right from the start and don’t let your failure hinder your efforts. As soon as fear creeps in, the game is over. Fear is a business owner’s worst nightmare, but thankfully, you get to choose that you think. If you are feeling doubt or fear creep in, it’s YOUR job to extinguish it!

When you fail, instead of doubting and letting fear steal your dreams, give yourself some grace and problem solve for the next time a conflict arises! I like the term “Fail Forward”. This means that every time you make a mistake or fail in some area of your business, let it propel you forward rather than backwards! If you look at failure as just a normal part of the process, you will have a much healthier perspective on running your own business and you will be able to learn quicker when you make mistakes!

3. If you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will:

This one is so so important. I have seen numerous businesses fail because the business owner doesn’t have adequate belief in themselves. Believing in yourself, your vision, and your goals is crucial to the success you will attain. I have seen people with amazing talent fail because they did not believe that they could truly be successful.

If you are not a naturally confident person, that doesn’t meant that you can’t succeed in your business! It just means that you need to focus on belief-building activities so that your belief in yourself will continue to grow over time. Because I know that belief is so important in the success of my business, I have developed habits that constantly build my belief in myself and my vision. when my belief is lacking, I dive into personal development. I love to read personal development books, listen to business podcasts, and journal out all my dreams and goals. These habits I have created help me to believe in myself even amidst trials and seasons of doubt.

It is YOUR job to believe in yourself. If you don’t believe in yourself, how can you expect anyone else to believe in you and your vision behind your business? It is your unwavering belief and confidence in what your business offers that will continue to grow and sustain it.

4. If quitting is an option, you will quit:

When starting anything, you need to have full confidence in yourself that you are going to succeed, no matter what it takes. Some of the most successful companies took over 10 years to see any positive profit. Any company or business takes a lot of time to grow and build if you want to have a sustainable business for years and years to come. I’m going to be straight up and say that if you give yourself the option to quit, you will quit. Many times when we start something we will think “well if it’s not working out I can always quit.” Let me tell you, if that is your mindset, there will come a time when the going gets tough and you will quit.

In business there are seasons of highs and lows, profits and losses, plenty and scarcity. Thats just part of having a business! If you give yourself permission to quit when it gets tough, I promise there will come a time when it gets tough and you will quit.

If you truly want to succeed in your business, quitting cannot be an option!

5. You must be a self-starter and self-motivator:

Being your own boss means that you have to continually motivate yourself to continue to work towards your goals in order to grow your business. Any entrepreneur will tell you that there are seasons when you don’t “feel” as motivated to work hard in growing your business. If you can’t push past those emotions and put in consistent effort despite your feelings, you will find yourself in a downward spiral.

As a business owner, it is your job to keep yourself motivated and keep trying new ways to grow your business! If you are a natural entrepreneur, this will come really easy for you. If you are not, this will be tough but it is not impossible to learn! If you are a business owner or want to be a business owner, know that it is up to you to propel your business forward. No one is going to work as hard as you in your business and so you must lead the charge!

I hope that these insights help to give you a healthy perspective on what it takes to start your own business! Starting your own business may be one of the most challenging things you ever do but it also may be the most rewarding! There is nothing like seeing your business grow after consistent effort, facing challenges head on, and overcoming doubt and fear. It is truly incredible to see people who have enough focus and determination to see their dreams come into fruition. I want that to be YOU!

Please reach out or let me know if you have any other questions about starting your own business! I love talking about these types of topics and so I hope you learned something valuable and I would to chat further about your personal dreams in launching your own business!

xo,
Lauren

5 ways to get out of a personal or professional funk

If you are anything like me, its hard to stay motivated ALL of the time. Lets face it, we are human and sometimes we may find ourselves in a funk or a rut that is hard to shake. Because I work from home, it's super easy to get into seasons where I don't feel as motivated or the passion for my career is hard to find. There are definitely times when I don't FEEL like working or going after my dreams. There are also times when I get down on myself for personal issues. We aren't perfect and things will come up! Life happens. We all have those days where it seems like everything is going wrong and we aren't happy with where we are at.

I want you to know something...

If you are in a lull season or even just having a tough week, let me tell you a secret, YOU WILL BE OKAY. We all get into a rut sometimes and its very normal to have a rough day every once in awhile. It's important though that whenever you are facing a personal or professional rut, that you work to grow yourself so you don't stay in that rut forever!!

*I feel like it is important to say that being in a personal funk or professional rut is different than suffering from anxiety or depression-if you feel like you are facing something more than occasional mood swings, you should seek professional help. If you want to read about my journey through debilitating anxiety, you can read that here.* 

When I am in a funk, there are a few things I do that help get me back on track! 

1. Process how you are feeling:

Oftentimes when I am feeling down and out, its really because I am feeling overwhelmed. Sometimes there can be so many ideas, to-do's, or projects swimming around in my mind that it can be hard to feel grounded. The very first thing I do when I am in a funk is journal out all of my feelings! I write out EXACTLY how I feel and I do my best to try to figure out WHY I'm feeling that way. I've found that oftentimes, the things we perceive as insurmountable in our heads are actually pretty trivial when you put them down on paper. I like to do a "brain dump" and literally list out every single possible thing that I need to do or accomplish. This helps me to clear my mind and refocus on the present.

2. Give yourself a mental vacation & do something creative:

After a good brain dump, give yourself a mental vacation! Remove yourself from your normal day-too-day and do something to give yourself a reset. For example, if you work from home, go on a spontaneous adventure to somewhere outside of your norm for an hour! If you work full-time, ditch the gym after work and go on a hike or bike ride. If you are a student, step on the brakes with studying and instead spend an hour painting or doing something creative. 

When you can remove yourself from your normal day-to-day routine, you allow your brain to reset and process. Oftentimes when I do something to intentionally go on a mental vacation, I come back feeling so refreshed and rejuvenated that I WANT to start working towards my goals again. 

3. Tune into personal development:

If you are still not feeling inspired after step two, it's time to dive into personal development! There's nothing that fires me up like a personal development book or an inspiring podcast! I will link my all-time favorite personal development books down below but some of my favorite podcasts to listen to are: The Goal Diggers Podcast, Rise Podcast, or Second Life Podcast! There's few things I love more than going on a long walk and listening to a podcast! 

4. Write out possible solutions to the problem you are facing:

After completing steps 1-3, you should be feeling pretty good! Now is the time to problem solve any potential triggers or issues that could be causing your stress or "funk". Is there a toxic relationship in your life? Are you always finding yourself overwhelmed because you don't know how to manage your time? Is there a personal insecurity that is keeping you from the next level? Asking yourself these types of questions and then creating an action plan to find a solution is one of the best ways that you can move on from the rut you are in and begin chasing your dreams again! 

5. Set daily small & achievable goals to get you back on track:

At this point, you should be feeling pretty good about yourself! You have reflected, rested, re-gained clarity, & problem solved! Now is the time to put your reflections to ACTION! What is one thing that you can do TODAY to make your life better? Maybe it will be to call an old friend to reconcile a broken relationship. Maybe it's choosing healthier eating habits. Maybe it's completing specific tasks that is going to move the needle in your business. Whatever small goals you have, create new habits to help you achieve those goals to improve your life and just DO them! It doesn't have to be anything drastic or life-changing but I'm a believer that developing small habits each and every day have the power to create massive change in your life. 

I really hope that these tips help you problem solve and gain clarity so that you can truly live the life & calling you were meant to! I believe that we are ALL called to do great things with our lives and so don't let a funk get in the way of you being your BEST self!!

All my love,

Lo

My Favorite Personal Development books: 

How Setting Goals Will Change Your Life

Many of you may know this but I lead a team of over 200 skincare consultations for a living. It is the best job I could have ever picked for myself and I am honored to be able to grow such an amazing team of micro-entrepreneurs! One of the biggest topics we talk about as a team is setting GOALS and so I thought I would share my philosophy on goal-setting here and how it can truly change your life. 

Let’s start with at the beginning. 

A goal is a dream or wish you PLAN to attain. Notice my verbiage there. A goal is not something you WISH to attain, it’s something you PLAN for. A goal is something that takes planning and preparation. I think a lot of times we get our aspirations and our goals mixed up. For example, stating that you would like to run a marathon is an aspiration; actually training for that marathon, is a goal. 

I think a lot of people think that they have goals, but they really just have aspirations. Dreaming and aspiring to do great things really is awesome… until those things never happen because you lack preparation and planning. Through owning a business and building a lifestyle brand, I have learned the power of goal-setting. There truly is so much power in writing out your goals and working hard to achieve them! 

I explain goals to my team in this way: If you don’t have goals, you are like a fish swimming in a fish bowl. You may swim round and round and round but you will never really get anywhere. When you have goals for yourself/business/family/ etc. you are like a fish in the ocean. You have SO much more opportunity ahead of you because you have a road map. 

Setting goals for your life can be simple, they don’t have to be extreme. Simply setting a goal to drink more water is a great place to start… And then actually come up with a game plan on how you are going to drink more water. ;)

Below I have my fool-proof goal-setting strategy. If you set these parameters around your goals, I truly believe you are setting yourself up for future success! 

MY GOAL-SETTING STRATEGY

This is my system on how I effectively set goals: 

1.    Write out what you would like to achieve, get better at, accomplish, or excel at in life

2.    Write out what you are already doing to achieve your goal

3.    Write out what you could be doing BETTER to achieve, accomplish, or excel at your goal

4.    Plan out specific times in your calendar that you will be working towards achieving your goal

5.    Lastly, give yourself a time limit on how long it should take for you to achieve your goal 

When you set goals this way, you are planning for success. You aren’t leaving your goals up to chance or luck, you are MAKING THEM HAPPEN with your action! This is how goals can be truly life-changing!

Obviously, things don’t always go as planned and so if you don’t reach out goal at your allotted time, don’t beat yourself up about it! The most important thing is that you are working towards what you want to achieve in life. If your goals are worth it enough to you, you will do what it takes to achieve them! Remember, effective goal planning is only the first step. After you make your goals, it’s time to turn your plans into ACTION! 

It’s time to RUN after your dreams! I truly believe that you can create massive change in your life by setting goals & working hard to achieve them! 

Comment on this post and share one of your goals with the community! Let’s all help motivate each other to effectively plan and reach our goals!!

Your friend,

 

Lauren

How to live a life of FREEDOM

As Independence Day is approaching, I've been thinking about Freedom in all different areas of life. Here in the United States, we live in one of the most free and opportunity rich countries in the entire world. The world is our oyster and opportunities are available for anyone who wishes to work hard for them. That being said, I think there are many things that still hold us captive and keep us from living out our purpose. Here are a few things that may be holding you back, they hold me back too! If we can master these areas in our lives, we will be able to live lives of more clarity, purpose, and direction which will FREE us up to do what we are made to do! 

1. TRUST YOUR GUT

I think that many times, we KNOW the right decision we need to make, but outside influences keep us from doing what we know is best. Have you ever been caught between what you feel you truly want to do and what you think you should do? Sometimes, it's important to clean our house because we should do it, but thats not what I'm talking about here. I'm talking about when we know in our hearts that we have to take a leap of faith, build a business, start a blog, apply for a new job, etc. but we don't because its risky and we feel like we should stay in our comfortable, stable life and not rock the boat. I'm speaking from my heart when I say that true freedom comes when you are spending your days doing something that makes your soul light on fire. No stability or predicability in the world will be able to out-weigh that type of creative freedom and passion! 

2. LET GO

We all have something we need help letting go of. Maybe its a negative influence or an unhealthy relationship. It could also be the fear of what others may think of you. Maybe you need to let go of your ego, which is keeping you in a prideful position and unable to experience any type of personal growth. Many people need to let go of insecurities and expectations which create a permanent negative mindset for themselves. For me, letting go of friendships and negative relationships is something that has been the hardest for me. Letting go doesn't mean you're giving up, it means you are starting over. Letting go of something means that you are creating space for something new. 

3. PEOPLE PLEASING MAKES YOU A SLAVE TO PEOPLE

It sounds pretty obvious, but you will never be able to experience more freedom in your life when you are living your life to please others. I HATE disappointing people or letting anyone down. I also HATE having to say "no" to anything. #REALTALKWITHLO: My first year living in Hawaii was hard for me to follow my dreams with this blog because I was so worried about making new friends and pleasing others. I would drop everything I was doing to go hangout with a friend, and I let all my personal goals & aspirations lay to the way-side. I had to choose to make myself & my goals a priority and fit outside influences in my life around that. Of course I still put my close family and friends pretty much before anything, but having the mindset that my dreams MATTER, has changed everything for me. 

4. DON'T LIMIT YOURSELF

I'm speaking to myself here because this is something I am personally working on. When you limit yourself, consciously or unconsciously, you put a cap on your success. I am constantly fighting with feeling undeserving of success. I don't know why I feel this way but I have always felt that I am not deserving of true success and happiness. It's a horribly negative mindset and LIE that I have been believing that I am working on letting go of. YOU ARE WORTHY FOLLOWING YOUR DREAMS AND BEING SUCCESSFUL!!!! Don't limit the amount of impact you can have on the world. Keep doing your thing and keep making your goals bigger and bigger! True freedom comes when you truly believe that you can achieve ANYTHING! 

5. CONTINUE TO GROW

I love this quote, "If you aren't growing, your dying." This is SO TRUE. If you feel stagnant in your career, relationships, or in any area, it's probably because you aren't intentionally focussing on personal development. Personal development has been SO HUGE in my personal success and ambitions and it truly is the missing link for so many people who want to take their lives to the next level but they aren't sure how. We have SO much knowledge at our fingertips, we should be hungry for growth in all areas! 

I hope these tips help you stay focussed on your goals, re-priotize what's important, and help you live a life of FREEDOM in all areas! I would love to know which tip spoke out to you most! 

and here are some of my all-time favorite personal development books...

I hope you all have an amazing 4th of July!!! 

xo,

Lo