Over the past few years, my friend Nicole and I have written out a list of three or so themes that we wanted the coming year to represent and that were lofty enough that the final results were still often out of our hands. This approach has worked well for me because it allows me to dream ridiculously big, work hard towards any goals that those themes may encompass and then let go and be flexible with the final outcome.
This year, however, I am focusing on one theme, at the suggestion of another friend. My personal theme and mantra for 2009 is You Are What You Eat. My goal is to have every major decision (and some of the smaller ones) in both my personal and professional life revolve around the truth of that statement.
Not only will keeping this in mind help my literal diet and therefore improve my physical health, I also plan to apply it to my emotional and spiritual health as well. For example, if I am already having a down day, I'll try to purposefully avoid music that may feed into and expand on that mentality with depressing lyrics.
I'll also make it a point to surround myself more with people who have a healthy outlook on the future of the wedding industry. I am very pragmatic about the current economic state, and I do not hold to the philosophies that just having positive thoughts and putting that feel good energy into the world will make everything better. I think healthy skepticism and having a trusted person play devil's advocate is an important part of making calculated business decisions and risk-taking. That said, I do not buy into this spreading hysteria among wedding professionals that the sky is falling. I really believe that the wedding industry is only at the beginning of its tipping point of some very incredible things to come (recession or not) and I want to work with and be surrounded by people who are not going to put a ceiling on my professional goals with their consistent negativity or pessimistic outlook.
While I do not foresee being legalistic about any of it (ice cream will still be on the menu), I do believe moderation will be key.
So, if you are what you eat, what do you plan on "eating" in 2009?
Welcome to 
4 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more! There is a lot of wisdom in this post. As a fitness educator, personal trainer, and instructor of more than 20 years, I can attest to the fact that we tend to segment and separate the various aspects of our life. For ex., we might work on the physical aspect, but ignore the emotional and spiritual. If one isn't functioning properly, there is an imbalance.
As for the wedding industry, I grew up with it, as my mother was a caterer, my father a minister. I have owned my own wedding and event design business since 2000. I, like you, don't believe the sky is falling. Brides will have what they want! If we are excited about their wedding and all the possibilities of design and decor,it's contagious to them. They will find a way to have what they want.
I enjoy your tweets on Twitter.
Warmly,
Pam
Wonderful post. The decisions we make and the company we keep are so important. Reminds me of this post by Seth Godin... http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2004/05/on_thinking_big.html
What a wonderfully clear and inspiring post Liene. I think "You Are What You Eat" has just become my 2009 theme also! I'm in Australia and we are just beginning to develop a wedding planning industry here. The current economic state is likely to put the brakes on that, but it certainly won't stop it. It will be those with passion, positive attitude and a flexible plan that will see this as an opportunity, not an end.
I'll be holding onto my full time corporate event planner job longer than I'd hoped to, that's for sure. But I'll also be working hard to make the most of the fact that many entrants into the wedding planning industry will just disappear or give up, while I'll be finding ways to meet the needs of potential clients now and into the future.
Fiona - Wedding Helper
Wedding Boot Camp - www.weddingbootcamp.com.au
to a literal end, i've started my "you are what you clean up in december" so that i don't feel "pressured" in the new year.
with the current economic climate it is truly easy to binge on negativity, so after elections were over all the news channels were ditched. it is a detoxifying method and i look forward to a propaganda free new year.
Post a Comment