How I’m “owning it” for the first quarter of 2015
Remember when we talked about an alternative to a New Year’s resolution, back at the beginning of January? I chose “own it” as my word / phrase for the year, so I’m checking in on that to look back at how I’ve been “owning it” for the first quarter of 2015.
This is what “owning it” has meant to me so far this year:
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I increased my freelancing rates with some long-term clients.
I hadn’t increased my rates in years, so it was definitely time to do it!
I’ve been doing plenty of professional development and I’ve been taking on a variety of different projects over the past year especially, so my skills have grown—and that means my worth has grown with it. All of my regular, long-term clients were happy to provide me with an increase in fees, which was a good reminder that we need to own our own worth and value.
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I put my foot down when a new client tried to take advantage of my services.
When I first began freelancing, I was extremely accommodating for small budgets and fast turnaround times. While I’m still aware that people have budgets to stick to and that sometimes they need a project completed NOW, I no longer have any patience for clients who aren’t respectful.
It’s funny: one client might say almost the exact same thing as another client, but the tone, word choice, and the amount of respect might be completely different! With my background in rhetoric, I find that incredibly interesting. But that’s besides the point.
While I am willing to go the distance for clients who are respectful and who I have a strong relationship with, I’m owning it this year by not letting myself be taken advantage of by disrespectful people. The client in question and I have each gone our separate ways, and I’m sure we’re both better off for the experience.
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I didn’t feel like a failure when the #GetOutAndGo campaign didn’t go exactly as I’d planned.
It’s challenging, when you make a commitment to something, and then realize that it’s just not going to work out. Rather than chalk it up to a failure and feel badly about it, instead I owned it by identifying what was preventing me from continuing the #GetOutAndGo campaign—and thinking of ways I could adapt it and still get in some level of activity.
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I changed the story to help reduce the severity of my nightmares.
This was exciting! Mr. Science has been telling me for months that I need to change the ending of my nightmares, but I’ve been putting it off because, frankly, I like to think about my nightmares as little as possible after I have them. They’re frightening! But a few weeks ago, it was getting ridiculous: I was waking up every hour of the night to a new nightmare.
So I began thinking just a little bit about how the general themes of my recent nightmares could be changed, and interestingly enough, although the nightmares haven’t decreased too much from the norm, what has changed is the effect they have on me throughout the day after having them. I’ll be looking more into imagery rehearsal therapy to see what further changes I can make—but for now, I’m pretty pleased that I’m starting to take control of what happens when I’m asleep and owning my nightmares.
I have just ‘let go’ of the little things and focused on what I AM doing right and what makes me happy 🙂
So good!
My phrase was “Grow Up.” So I quit my job and became self-employed. I also didn’t shave for a month. At this point I think it’s a point for both camps.
I approve 😀
Good for you Stick to it. I just found out tonight I was part of a bad business deal Someone is using my recipes in their cookbook and I’m not getting the appropriate credit. Stick to your guns. As far as the nightmares, you might consider some EMDR for this. I hate nightmares I have them too, but not as frequently as you.
Oh no! That’s awful 🙁 GOOD LUCK in managing that!
What a great start to the New Year… and new you! Kudos to you for putting your foot down and realizing your worth! No one should ever make you feel less than YOU KNOW YOU ARE! Keep on keeping on because it sounds like you’re about to OWN 2015 all together!
Thanks Krysta!!
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