As my business has been growing, one question that I haven’t been able to figure out is what kind of support to get.

A few weeks back I took a Creative Business Retreat At The Beach.? The purpose of the retreat was to step back from everything, get a better view of where I’m at and where I’d like to be, to explore what it would mean to grow my business truer, deeper and sparklier (as opposed to just growing it “bigger”).

Part of the amazing-ness of a retreat is that it invokes intention and magic and intuition and SOLUTIONS as it shows you everything from this different perspective.

As you know, my retreat did not go as planned.

And it was in the unplanned chaos and working my way through it that I learned something really important about support and what kind/flavour/style of support really works for me.

It’s the kind of support I get from my mechanic.

He sees my car regularly.? He knows my car, he knows me.? When things go wrong he knows exactly what to do.? He already has all the info.

When I called him from the beach, stranded, with no keys, I didn’t have to go crawling around the car looking for the serial number or whatever it is they need to have new keys coded.

And I don’t have to worry about something going wrong with the car and not knowing what to do about it.? I’ve got someone who knows what to do about it.? He’s there when I need him.

I love knowing that.

It’s definitely the kind/flavour/style of support really works for me.

I filed that away under “Good To Know, But I’m Not Sure What That Means For My Business, Just Yet”.

And then last week I broke my website trying to move it to its lovely new home.

I emailed my friend Wendy Cholbi and was so glad she was willing to add this to her schedule and get on it right away.

Going from complete despair of having broken my website and not knowing how to fix it, or if fixing it was possible, to putting the whole thing into Wendy’s capable hands was such an incredible relief.

And then Wendy suggested her Website Tune-up program so she could tune-up a few things that she saw could use help, and then let her handle the ongoing maintenance and updating of my websites.

Bing!

And this felt like exactly the kind/flavour/style of support that I learned works for me and that I would like to have in my business.

(So, thank you, me-from-then, for losing my keys at the Creative Business Retreat At The Beach which led me to clarity about what kind of support I want.)

So, Wendy now handles the maintenance for both of my websites.

Which is relief and delight and support and right-fit and Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

There are so many options out there.

Tech support, virtual assistants, marketing advisers, business coaches, etc, etc, etc, etc.

They all provide valuable services.

It’s really hard to know what is the right solution for you.? As far as I am concerned, the only way to go is to explore support itself, get a grasp on how support feels for you, what kind of support you want and how you want it.

Once you’re clear on how it’s going to feel to have it, you’ll be able to recognize that right-fit support when it shows up.

I was a little nervous about doing a year-end-review-type-thing because 2011 was so magic I worried my head would explode if I brought all of these memories together at once.

But here I am.? With head intact.

January:

I had just come back from an amazing week by the sea in La Jolla, California. Feeling refreshed and refueled and filled up and READY.

I had just quit my part time job to do magic, creativity and love full time.

January 3, 2011 was the day I would have gone back to work after the holidays but instead that was the day I blew my previous record for most money earned in a day by announcing a sale on Creative Dream Coaching.

Nice way to start a new year!

Lesson Learned: Listen to your Creative Dream Fairy. Especially when she says “Now is the time, yes this will work. Do it!!”

My plan was to introduce the Creative Dream Incubator e-Course that month, as I had already been working on it for what felt like forever (starting several years ago with my in-person versions of the course).? But I realised early on that even with all of the preparations I’d done -it was not ready and I was not ready and I changed the date to March.

February + March:

I spent 6 weeks re-working the whole course and turning it into pure magic.? And then I welcomed the first Dreamers into the Incubator.

Manifestation. Magic. Miracles.

Lesson Learned: Honour your creative rhythm, listen to your intuition, trust your heart. Go slow when you need to go slow.? It’s ok to change the dates.

I was starting to feel more comfortable in my new role as a full time creative entrepreneur and realised that I needed some new tools to do this new job properly.

First new tool: iPhone.? Shortly after I discovered and fell in love with Instagram.

April + May:

Creative Collaboration.

Participated in the Wish Studio’s WishBIG e-Camp and Jamie Ridler’s Sparkles (bring your creativity to life in 5 minutes a day!).

And I opened up the Creative Dream Incubator again.

My favourite tree, the Japanese plum tree in my back yard, bloomed.

One day I went for a fairy walk in this fairy park.

On the way home, my Creative Dream Fairy tapped me on the shoulder and suggested I take a different route.

We drove past a construction site that caught my eye as my Creative Dream Fairy whispered “There it is. The Ultimate Creative Magic Headquarters.” but I was all “Dude! I already have a Creative Magic Headquarters that I love! And this is bound to be too expensive! And I can’t MOVE, not NOW!?”

June + July:

June was my biggest month income wise. Also the month I spent the least time “working” and the most time exploring my inner worlds.

Lesson Learned: Those 2 things are more directly related than I thought they could be.

I also made a promise to myself to go to the beach as often as possible over the summer.

Lesson Learned: Rejuvenation really is just as important as everything else.? Without it, I can’t do my best work.? The parts of me that say I have to “earn” R+R are just plain wrong.

And I created my Creative Genius Planning Sessions.

Creativity. Vision. Magic.

These have turned into my weekly dose of Creative Dream Jet Fuel.

I met with the developer of the Ultimate Creative Magic Headquarters. Sure enough, it was everything I wished my house was. A big open 2 story loft with 18′ ceilings, huge windows, heated polished concrete floors, a little park outside with a tiny bridge that leads to my door. I couldn’t have come up with a more perfect design myself.

I discussed selling my house with my Real Estate Agent and sure enough, my house could sell for more than the asking price on the condo.

Lesson Learned: You are more ready for the BIG dream than you know you are.

I ran my Creative Journal Magic e-Course in June and it was super popular, super magic and super fun.

I stopped selling my old Meditation Kits and started selling the new Magic Potions (follow the link for a free sample).

I created a new kit called Dream Spark which was in the 21 Secrets Workshop at the Dirty Footprints Studio (and will be available as a kit in the Creative Magic Academy in January).

Somewhere in there I also re-designed the Create a Map That Leads to your Dream Creativity Kit.

It was already an amazing tool for bringing dreams to life but I made it about 14X more awesome.? I added a second workbook and?a series of 14 audio sessions, including guided meditations to activate your Creative Spirit, and help you attune to the subtle signals and synchronicities that the universe is serving up, to help your Dream come true (53.2 minutes in total, with lots of breather space in between for working on your map).

And I kept it the same price!? Magic!

Lesson Learned: I can accomplish so much more than I knew!

One of the funny things about being self employed is that I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my hair.

In July I started to really experiment.

August:

This is where ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE

I had a lot of meetings with the developer of the Ultimate Creative Magic Headquarters and finally in August we nailed down an agreement. Each time I spoke to him he had a different projected completion date.? My intuition said to sell my house right away.

And I discovered my house was not really market-ready. You know all those little things you just learn to live with?? They become very visible when you put your house on the market!

I hired a legion of helpers and my mom came over every day for a week and we whipped the house into shape. The house sold in under 2 weeks for a little over the asking price.

And in the process I got rid of 1/2 of my things.? At the time it was kind of arduous to go through everything and haul so much stuff away but at this point I AM SO GRATEFUL TO ME FROM THEN FOR DOING ALL OF THAT.

Freedom. Flow. Simplicity.

And I created the Creative Magic Academy,? a whole new website for my creative courses, including private online space for classes, and a new affiliate program.

And I ran a session of the Rainbow~licious Creative Healing Circle (because, hello! I needed it! August was one busy month!)
Meanwhile, my amazing hollyhocks bloomed.

September:

I said goodbye to my dear sparkly house on Sept 1.

And I moved into a tent.

Yes, a tent. In my parent’s back yard.

And I loved it. And I slept better than I’ve ever slept.

I did yoga under the stars before bed. I breathed fresh air all night long. I had a front row seat for thunderstorms while staying cozy warm with my giant pile of duvets and pillows.

Lesson Learned: Once again, listen to intuition no matter how crazy it sounds!

And, from my tent in my parent’s back yard, I ran a very special one-time-only session of the Creative Dream Incubator – the Creative Business Incubator.

It wasn’t just a course – it was a cross between a course and group coaching with me answering all questions in depth depth depth on video every week. We explored possibility and magic and being true to yourself while building a profitable business.

It was magic.

Lesson Learned: I love small, advanced, specialized courses and want to explore more ways of doing this kind of thing.

October + November:

I took my Creative Journal Magic e-Course and turned it into a kit. I did this for 2 reasons:

1. This is good good good awesomely good stuff! I wanted to make it more accessible for people don’t have to wait for the next course to start.
2. This is all the basic stuff. As I learned in September, I want my classes to be more advanced and specialized. Turning this class into a kit, it can be a prerequisite so I can focus on creating the advanced specialized classes.

Which is what I did next: Give Your Inner Critic a New Job

Advanced Specialized Creative Magics.

That classroom is still open and miracles are still happening and I am in love with it.

[Actually: I am in love with it pretty much sums up this year.]

At the end of October and beginning of November I was in Portland, Oregon for a life changing retreat/course with Havi Brooks.

I got back from Portland and spent a day working with Alexandra Franzen, brilliant wordsmith, to clarify my focus and re-write my website. Which is about a lot more than re-writing my website, of course.

It was about taking all of the things I have learned and transformed this year and pouring it into how I present myself and my work.

Lessons Learned: There are Brilliant People out there who can help. Let them. Take courses. Hire coaches and helper-people. It makes a big difference.

December:

By late fall, I’d earned the money I wanted to earn this year with my business. So I was kind of free to try new things.

Like Free! Tele! Classes!

I was also free to just spend some quality time with me and work on ways of integrating everything I’d just learned in Portland.? That retreat with Havi really changed things for me.

I am certified and accredited in several different modalities of healing, transformation and manifestation.? I have attended a LOT of courses, workshops and retreats. And I have never seen anything that is anything like what Havi did.

It’s like it took everything I knew and put it into a snowglobe. In the snowglobe, everything I knew turned into glitter. Turn it upside down and shake it good. Put it back down and look! There is a tiny magic village in there that didn’t exist before.

That tiny magic village is made up of what I already knew. And it contains everything I do.

But it’s also totally different.? And totally new!

As I keep saying to my friends “This is the best thing I’ve ever learned!”? And it’s not because of what it is, it’s because of what it is inspiring me to do and how it is inspiring me to live, and to be.

Exciting Changes Ahead.

In December I opened registration for the January session of the Creative Dream Incubator (I only plan to run this once in 2012).

And I started creating a whole new structure for how I do my work. I’m taking a lot of Alexandra’s brilliant ideas and weaving them into the 2012 Creative Magic Academy Calendar.

THINGS I WANT TO DO DIFFERENTLY IN 2012:

Early in 2011 I was doing some online advertising. I haven’t done it in some time and don’t plan to do any advertising in 2012. I don’t want to focus on finding new people. I want to focus on making more magic.

Over the course of the year I kept experimenting with my Creativity 101 e-course. I plan to stop doing that. I love Creativity 101 and I love all of the emails I get about how much it has helped people. I want that material to stay free and available, and it is, right here. And I want to focus my creative energy on the more advanced magic stuff in my paid courses.

As part of that shift in Creativity 101, I brought my email list and blog subscriptions together. This is step 1. Step 2 starts in January with a shift in my blog.

I’ll still share my own stories and experiences but I’ll also have much more of a structure, with monthly themes and more teaching posts that go with our monthly tele-classes. This makes the blog a much bigger part of the Creative Magic Academy. That also plays into my desire to do more advanced magic stuff in my courses. If you’re reading the blog you’re getting the basics and when you sign for a class you’re ready for Big Magic.

I’m fooling around with my schedule and really listening to what I learned in June of this year when I made way more money by spending way more time working in my internal world, than in the external world. I’m building tools and creating practices that help with this, and at the same time putting together an Advanced Creative Dreaming/Creative Super Hero/Creative Badass course where I share these tools.

THINGS I WANT TO DO THE SAME IN 2012:

I love how many kits/courses I created this year. I’d be very happy to be as productive in 2012.

I love the relationships I’ve developed with my inner critics, inner fears and various sad scared selves. In 2011 I gave these relationships much more attention and love than I ever have before. I want to continue my creative practices that allows me to engage with all parts of me with love and gentleness and permission and space.

I love the way I have become comfortable sharing honestly and openly where I’m at. More openness and real true stories!

I love the way I made big, life-changing decisions based on: 1. intuitive guidance and 2. bringing myself into greater alignment and integrity with what I know to be important (creativity, magic, freedom, healing, transformation and possibility). Even when these decisions don’t seem “practical” (like selling my duplex and giving up my rental income) they are so right (practical is nowhere on my list of things that are important).

Early on my in 2011 I created a map leading to the income I wanted. I played with this map for a few months and eventually painted over everything with blue waves representing flow. I wrote on the waves “New Financial Plan = Trust”. I want to continue to place my trust in trust.

Working outside on beautiful days. Yes! More!

Creative Journaling is Magic. The more I do it the magic-er it gets.? So lots more Magic Creative Journaling for me in 2012.

This year has been one heck of an amazing ride.

Thanks so much for being here with me.

I promise – next? year is going to be even better.

Your dream is just the right size.

Everyone secretly worries that their dream is too wacky, too bold, too ambitious, too expensive, too [insert fear-triggered, self-created obstacle here].

I?ve been studying & teaching the art of wish-fulfillment for fifteen years, and I?ve got the BEST news:

Everyone is wrong!

Unless your dream involves a pet unicorn, the ability to breathe underwater, or a new planet of your very own (and a moon to go with it), it IS possible.

And the best time to start making it REAL is right now.