My birthday’s coming up next week and I’m already getting geared up for another new year. I like to think of my birthday as my new year’s day because it has more meaning for me than an arbitrary date on a calendar that someone else created.

I also like to think that I haven’t wasted the past year by not accomplishing everything I set out to, but I would be lying to myself if I actually believed that thought. (How’s that for honesty, eh?)

I was looking over my list of goals for this calendar year and realized that I have a lot of work left to do if I’m going to achieve everything I said I wanted to this year. I’m pretty sure that if I buckle down and focus, I will be able to get it all done. So I’m making a public statement of commitment here to really get focused on growing my business and taking care of some pretty serious loose ends that need cutting off before I can move on.

One of the things I’ve been telling myself I would do for year is read a bunch of the self help classics and blog about my thoughts as I was reading them. After all, as a personal development blogger I really should have some basic knowledge of what the masters have written. But alas, I have procrastinated on that too. Until today.

Last night I was checking out the profiles of some new twitter followers (yes, I really do visit your profile when I follow you back!) and came across a really cool article by Gregg Davison in which he talks about how so many self-improvement fanatics read voraciously and never really do anything with what they read. In All The Books You Read Wont Help A Bit! Gregg also says that “reading 1-2 books a week is counter-productive in most cases.” This really struck a chord with me because I read about 10-15 books a week when you add in all the self-help books, business books, and fiction that I read every day. And that doesn’t include magazine articles, online articles, or blog posts It’s no wonder I live in a perpetual state of information overload!

So I’ve decided to take action on the steps that Gregg suggests in his article and start reading the classics I’ve been procrastinating on. Slowly. One at a time. And blogging my thoughts about them as I read them so that the information really sinks in. I started this morning with Think and Grow Rich and read the Preface and the first chapter. I’m almost ashamed to say I’ve never taken the time to read it until now, but after reading the first few pages, it occurs to me that I probably wasn’t ready for it before now.

The message I got from reading this morning certainly fits with where I’m at in my business as well … working at defining a solid, focused purpose and direction for where I want to take things over the next year. I’m still processing my thoughts on it all, so will write more on that later. As I mentioned in my Monday update, I have some new ideas I want to put into action, and I really want to do it right this time.

And that’s all she wrote for this morning :) The PLR.me mastermind call is this afternoon and I need to go and get some lunch into me before I get on the phone for that.

If you feel so inclined, leave me a comment and let me know your thoughts on Think and Grow Rich, or on Gregg’s article. I’d love to talk more about this with you!

Have an incredible, productive day :)

I’m in to the second week of my Wonder Woman Challenge, and I’m noticing a definite shift in energy. Last week I was really tired, and it seemed like it was crisis after crisis to deal with. I have to say I’m really proud of myself, that even though I didn’t really get a lot of work accomplished until the end of the week, I didn’t stress out and drive my blood pressure sky high. I just dealt with everything as it happened, took a lot of deep breaths and moved on.

The other thing I’ve noticed is that my creative energy is really skyrocketing up in leaps and bounds. I’ve been really out of sorts where my business is concerned and not sure where I want to go with it. Over the past week, however, I’ve had a few new ideas for things that I’m pretty sure I can make a success out of and I’m really excited to start putting those plans into action.

I know I’ve said it before, but it really is amazing what a shift in your mindset can do for your energy and productivity. I’m far from the most productive person on the planet, but I know that by making myself a priority this past week and a half, I’ve seen my productivity really start to improve and I have no doubt that the rest of this year is going to be much more successful for me than the first half has been.

So I’m a few days into the Wonder Woman Challenge, Take 2, and I’m noticing that by taking just a few minutes to do something every day that makes sure I’m paying attention to my self, other areas of my life are already feeling the difference.

Of particular note in the last few days I’ve lost two pounds, am sleeping better, and have been way more productive in terms of getting business tasks completed. I even got my internet marketing blog fixed up over the weekend, and that’s something I’ve been putting off for months!

It really is amazing how far-reaching the effects of even a small shift in mindset can be.