Weekly-ish notes on navigating big change

11 best books of 2014

my 11 favorite books of 2014For the past two years I've been sharing my monthly reading lists and holding an informal “book club” in the comments each month. I absolutely love the suggestions you make, and I've found many new authors thanks to your ideas!

Each month I say a bit about the books and might mention if I really liked it, but if you were looking for books I wholeheartedly recommend, it's not so easy to find the best. (This is on purpose, as I can't tell how much I want to recommend a book until I've pondered it for a while after reading it.) So today I'd like to narrow down the 72 books I read in 2014 into my very favorites. These are the books I would wholeheartedly recommend that you pick up and read this year! I've split them into most-favorite (you should read them no matter who you are!), starting a craft business (especially useful if you're just getting started or want a refresher), and fiction, because we all need more fiction!
(Note: most of these books were published long before 2014, but I read them in 2014.)

My most-favorite

  1. 10 years in the Tub: a Decade of Soaking in Great Books, by Nick Hornby. I picked this up randomly from the Reading section of my library (geek alert!) and I am so happy with it. It’s a collection of Hornby’s “What I’m Reading” articles (you know I love that!) for the Believer magazine, which he wrote for 10 years. The articles are funny, memorable, and perfectly express what it is I love about reading. (Warning: It caused me to add over a dozen books to my To Read list. Beware!)
  2. Make it Mighty Ugly by my pal Kim Werker. I’m actually still reading this book, because I'm doing all the exercises in it. I've discovered quite a bit about myself and feel myself becoming braver in my creative endeavours.
  3. The Power of Habit, by Charles Duhigg – This was so great! I find myself applying this to my own life and my work with clients all the time. If you want to get stuff done or lead a life you love, you need to develop habits that make things happen. This book teaches you how.
  4. If You Can Talk, You Can Write, Joes Saltzman. The title says it all…and I'd add: If you have a business, you can (and do!) write!  I used the prompts to keep up with my 1,000 words a day and found myself quoting it to the writing-scared. Pick it up if you think you “can't” write.
  5. Show Your Work, by Austin Kleon. I wanted to post almost every page of this book and say: Yes! Yes! If you don’t know how to start sharing your work or using social media, read Austin’s book. It’s more on the inspirational, just-get-going side than my book, but has the same message: Share your work and keep sharing it.

Starting a Craft Business

6. The Eventual Millionaire: How Anyone Can Be an Entrepreneur and Successfully Grow Their Startup, by Jamie Tardy – Despite the title, this book is less about being a millionaire and more about starting a business and growing, based on how millionaires have done it. I tend to avoid “get rich” books, and this book is far from it. Jamie has a great podcast with interesting interviews, and she’s taken all she’s learned and turned it into a great getting-started guide. I recommend this to anyone who doesn't know where to start.

7. $100 Start-up by Chris Guillebeau. As I hoped, this is going to the top of my to-recommend list for those where-to-start questions. This is for you if you’re not sure how to get started and if you are seriously excited to start a business. Even though I’m 8 years past “start-up”, I still learned stuff – I used the Launch Checklist while opening Pay Yourself (and had my biggest class launch ever!).

Want my all-time favorite small business books? I've collected all 28 of them in the Bibliography of this class. You only get it when you buy the bundle.

Fiction

I find reading fiction to be as important as any non-fiction, business-y, or educational reading I do. It improves my ear (and hopefully, pen) for great turns of phrase, interesting language usage, and metaphor. Plus, it's fun. And we need fun.

8.  Ready Player One, by Earnest Cline. SO GOOD. I devoured it.

9. Hotel New Hampshire, by John Irving. I went through an Irving spell several years ago and I don’t know how I missed this one. A great novel, recommended by Kim.

10. The Magician’s Land, by Lev Grossman. This is the last book in the three-book series, so you definitely need to start with the first!

11. The Odyssey, by Homer – I’m sure I read parts of this in High School, but as part of my Great Books Project I wanted to read the whole thing. I was completely shocked by how gripping and … modern it all felt, especially if you read any sci-fi. I wholeheartedly love it, recommend it, and can’t believe it took me so long.

My favorite reading this year was inspired by my desire to read all those books I missed and developed into my Great Books Project. I shared the seeds of this idea back in July and then I really started reading in earnest in October.

 

What were your favorite books of 2014? What are you adding to your list?

 

 

Disclaimer-y Disclaimer!  Or course I’m biased when my friends write a book, but I don’t mention things I don’t like. Also, I'm an Amazon affiliate and I get a tiny percent when you buy a book through my links. Read the usual disclaimer here.

86 Things I Loved in 2014

New year. New pound of coffee. #taralovesmornings
It's Friday, and on Fridays I usually post about the adventures of that week…but this week I wanna do something different. When I read Austin Kleon's list, I was immediately inspired to start my own list, as part of my year-end review. I've been adding to it for over a week, and since having 75 things to list is what I'm most grateful for this week, I wanted to share it!

(This is no particular order, I just started listing as things came to me.)

86 things I loved in 2014

  1. Working with the CreativeLIVE team. It inspired me to think about teamwork in a whole new light and opened up a world of what's possible. Also, they made my experience magical.
  2. The entire CreativeLIVE class experience  – the students (online and in person), the work of putting together my best material, the teaching-in-front-of-thousands feeling…and the confidence it built. The experience was not one of my “goals” for the year (it came up organically and I stayed open to it), but I totally needed this.
  3. Jess. She makes my entire life better with her feedback, editing, and smarts.
  4. Meeting and falling into immediate friendship with Misty.
  5. And our knitting video podcast together, which started in a moment of “sure, let's do this!” It's fantastic to have something on my schedule that's just for fun and just about fun. And the community is fantastic. 
  6. An afternoon with Jill and Amy and Veronique.
  7. Watching TV snuggled with Jay and the pup: Arrow, Sons of Anarchy (OMG!), Game of Thrones.
  8. Having the remote to myself when Jay works late: The Good Wife, Scandal and Gilmore Girls (!!)
  9. Movies in the sofa cinema.
  10. Crafting with mom. Watching her shop grow.
  11. The “podcasting revolution”  (I've been listening to podcasts since 2005…so, it's not really new to me) and especially Startup and Serial and Elise Gets Crafty.
  12. Leading the Starship. The friends I've made, the growth I've been witness to, the celebrations of their awesomeness + fearlessness.
  13. Headspace. For the first time ever, I have a morning routine, and it's all about Headspace.
  14. Starting Explore Your Enthusiasm podcast in under a week, just because I wanted to. The listeners. The pictures in #exploreyourenthusiasm.
  15. Pad Thai.
  16. Actually, the entire Isa Does It book. I made more meals from this book than any other resource.
  17. Alpaca farmers! The Fiber as Business Conference was an amazing experience and the fallout has been fantastically unexpected.
  18. Wooster, OH and the road trip we took to get there. Mission Savvy is all-vegan, in the middle of West Virginia (kind of a shock!); a (small) vegan menu at TJ’s in Wooster, OH; a great breakfast at Spoon Market in downtown Wooster.
  19. Shout outs in the funnest places: International Camelid Quarterly, Yarn Market News, Stamgington's blog, Introvertology, lists of great podcasts, an author's blog, the Rock + Purl podcast, Curvy Yoga, Morning Coffee with Lisa Clarke,  50 inspiring women on OhMyHandmade!
  20. San Diego + Oceanside.
  21. TNNA and a dinner with a crowded table of yarnie smarties. These are my people.
  22. Reading. A lot. As much as I wanted.
  23. The AMAZING dress Karen made me. No piece of clothing has ever made me happier.
  24. Running through the Redwoods and the entire PacNW road trip with my college roomie.
  25. Training to run a 10k – it was cold, it was hot, and it was really empowering.
  26. Hugging Diane.
  27. Starting a crazy new project with Shannon, just because we're excited.
  28. Realizing that all the best things I did this year was just because it sparked my enthusiasm and sounded like fun! 
  29. In season strawberries on everything.
  30. Last minute Christmas knitting next to the sparkly tree.
  31. “Don’t downsize your joy.” by Alex Franzen
  32. My Great Books Project and especially the surprise of The Odyssey.
  33. Beau. Always Beau. He makes everything better.
  34. Lift Off: dreaming it up, creating it, and watching it change perspectives.
  35. New apps! Cruelty Cutter, Pocket, and Blendoku.
  36. Evernote. (It's where I started this post)
  37. My Chromebook – it's light, fast, and it's SO easy to travel with.
  38. Chocolate Chocolate Chip cookies. Blueberry bars. Apple Crisp. Cinnamon rolls.
  39. Pesto, on everything.
  40.  My new website design! And working with Jessika and having the best experience. I especially love the little smiling planet!
  41. Plucky Knitter yarn. It makes me happy and the community is fun. (In case you're wondering, Hotsy Totsy IS my pink.)
  42. Spinning again.
  43. Finding a shampoo I love and this color-saving conditioner.
  44. Settlers of Catan
  45. Flowering trees!
  46. Reading and learning from the generous sharing of Income Reports – Abby's, Pinch of Yum's and Mei's.
  47. New business tools! Especially CoSchedule, IFTT and Buffer.
  48. Doctor Who was everywhere. Slippers. Earrings. My fave mug.
  49. Rainbow-y sampler-y quilts, like this one by Ana Maria Horner and the Tula City Sampler and especially this one
  50. The discussion about being a professional, especially Kim's take on it.
  51. The beautiful vulnerability and braveness and helpfulness of those who blog about their anxiety and depression.
  52. Wednesday morning farmer's markets.
  53. Getting really clear and systematic about my social media strategy.
  54. My Color Affection. I've worn it more than anything else I own.
  55. Interviewing my students and clients and sharing their honesty. 
  56. Capsule Wardrobe! Totally changed my relationship (which was pretty hateful) with my closet.
  57. Stitch Fix! I get one every 3-4 months and I never feel like I “should” be shopping. (I avoid it like the plague, but still need to have some nice things to teach in, ya know?)
  58. Hearing from so many introverts after each “For Introverts” podcast episode. We're not alone (even though we like to be)!
  59. Sarah Von's Yes and Yes. I just want to print out all of her advice and give it to every woman I talk to.
  60. Having 2 classes accepting into Craftcation!
  61. Diane'st fantastic t-shirt quilting class. It finally got our long-saved t-shirts out of storage and into an actual quilt!
  62. Writing things I'm really proud of, like this and this.
  63. Coffee! (Here’s what I drink at a coffeeshop, or at home)
  64. CraftSouth. I'm just glad it exists and I can't wait to visit!
  65. Finally figuring out how to “be myself”.
  66. Vermont.
  67. How to ask useful questions. I've sent this to everyone. If you’re going to email me, please read this first.
  68. Teaching traditional artists and crafters in partnership with Handmade In America, all over North Carolina.
  69. Honesty about having an online business: Making money is easy. Being profitable takes skill. Marissa nails it. (Not sure if you’re going to be profitable? Do the math!)
  70. Saying No and helping my people say no more. Hearing their fantastic no-saying stories, that led to more profit, more time, and more happiness!
  71. Peonies!
  72. Turning 32.
  73. GlutenFreeGirl’s tale of adoption cracked open my heart and made me unendingly grateful for the internet
  74. Hanging art and photos up.
  75. Elise’s great advice on small biz shipping is the MOST repinned thing on my Pinterest. And for good reason!
  76. Connecting with you all in new ways: Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook
  77. “The way to have a clean kitchen is to clean it everyday.” – Stacey, giving the secret to business success
  78. Celebrating 10 years of marriage to my best friend.
  79. Quilts!  Especially this St. Louis 16 patch, Quilt Improv and everything at Red Pepper Quilts + Stitched in Color.  Quilting Happiness is my fave quilting book. (here’s why I loved it).
  80. The Customer Path. This year I seriously explored this concept and saw crazy results in my client's businesses because of it.
  81. I love that Sarah is totally honest about why she writes what she writes on her mega-popular blog.
  82. Bristol Rhythm and Roots festival (especially St Paul and the Broken Bones.)
  83. Spotify and my Happy Sparkly playlist.
  84. Ocean sunsets.
  85. Cat fabrics! Especially Lizzy House’s Catnap and Aneela Hooey’s Hello Petal.
  86. This simple fact: You can have the business you want. Everything in my year and every client I worked with reaffirmed this

 

Welcome in the New Year {Podcast}

Welcome in the New Year

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Do you take the time to welcome in the New Year (and review last year)? Over the years of leading Chart Your Stars inside the Starship, I've noticed that this is one of the most impactful, inspiring-towards-action steps a business explorer can do. The process of getting clear about your Big Picture, how you want to feel, and everything in between is clarifying and can continue to provide a light in the confusing times over the coming year.

In this episode I share ideas for how you can plan your year and how to use it as the year progresses.

Links I mention

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

 

What I’m Reading: January 2015

I follow my enthusiasm by reading…a lot. And once a month, I share (some of) the books I read last month and the books I intend to read this month. You can join the informal book club by sharing your own list in the comments and find all the posts here.
What I'm reading

What I read

  • Time Warped, by Claudia Hammond
  • Show Your Work, by Austin Kleon. I wanted to post almost every page of this book and say: Yes! Yes! If you don't know how to start sharing your work or using social media, read Austin's book. It's less specific than my book, but has the same message, in such an inspirational package.
  • Not My Father's Son, by Alan Cummings. Not a “my fab celebrity life” memoir at all, but a close, compassionate look at his two family stories: the results of his abusive father & the uncovering of the mystery of his mother's father. It's sweet and authentic and brave.
  • Yes, Please, by Amy Poehler. Funny and sweet, Amy gives some good life advice that you probably already know.
  • The Color Purple, by Alice Walker. Part of my Good Reads Project – what took me so long?

What I’m reading

The Great Books Project

After months of waffling, the Great Books Project is underway. I’m tracking it via GoodReads (my entire list is here) and holding discussions on the Facebook page, with conversations about our lists, our progress, and regular quotes from the books I love. I’ll be sharing a little update here each month, and you’re welcome to join in on your own project, either in the comments, or over on the FB page (the joy of FB is that we can all reply to each other).

This month I got a bit further in the Aeneid (I'm taking it slow, a “book” or two a month) and plowed through The Color Purple in a few days while travelling. Why in the world had it taken me so long to read this book? It's a beautiful reflection on self-definition and finding your voice as a woman and creative. This book reminded me WHY I'm doing this project – to find beautiful gems I've missed.

 

What are you reading?

 

 

The Adventures

Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the news  on Fridays – you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

Warning: The Starship closes today.

The view

Mom is wearing my Christmas gift to her while she finishes her gift to me! #handmadeChristmas #handmadeholidays
New slippers! Yay! Hope your day is full of warmth and geekery. #taralovesChristmas #merrychristmas
New year. New pound of coffee. #taralovesmornings
Our Christmas cookie tray (hand painted by @bluebirdlegacy 9 years ago!), aka breakfast, filled with #vegan cookies. #taralovesChristmas #taralovesmornings
And my #handmadeChristmas gift for mom: Honey Cowl & Hurry Up Spring arm warmers out of @madelinetosh Blue Nile (pashmina & vintage).
You know I HAD to buy this fabric! Love it! (Btw, the Starship closes in 5 days. Link in profile) #StarshipBiz

I am so grateful for…

  • Lovely, peaceful visits with family.
  • The excitement and promise of a New Year.
  • Warm handknits.
  • Christmas cookies.
  • The first group of Lift Offers!

The Finds:

I’m reading:

I’m eating: 

  • Bean dip (the easiest thing when you come home from three straight weekends of family travel.)
  • Spicy marinara and tempeh meatballs from Isa Does It. (I make it once and then freeze the leftover meatballs, uncooked, so that it's super easy to make again and again.)
  • This banana bread.

In case you missed it: 

What adventures have you had?

Goodbye 2014

Reviewing 2014

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

We're doing things a little differently this week. Instead of a discussion about a small business concern, I will walk you through reviewing the last year, and learning the lessons of your business. Have a pen, paper and timer handy as you listen!

Important: Lift Off closes today!

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

 

 

Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

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What lessons have you learned this year? In today's episode I'm sharing a previously exclusive list of the lessons learned inside the Starship, in 2013. If you'd like this year's lessons, sign up here.

We'll discuss: 

  • The power of action
  • How to forget (or at least distract yourself) from failure
  • The key to making your goals 95% likely to be reached.

Remember: Lift Off closes in just one week. 

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

 

 

The Adventures

Every day is an adventure. I share the view, the gratitude and the news  on Fridays – you’re invited to join in. You can find all my adventures here, or follow along via email here.

The view

Vermont, you sure are pretty.And the best part: Chocolate chocolate chips cookies (link to all recipes tomorrow on the blog.)
upload
The tree is up! #yayChristmas #doctorwho
Stella loves the Christmas lights. #taralovesChristmas #catsofinstagram

First out of the oven: ginger molasses from @isachandra's #vegan cookies book. #taralovesChristmas

I am so grateful for…

  • The opportunity to spend time with my extended family
  • Hugs. Hugs. Hugs.
  • Staring at the Christmas tree
  • Watching White Christmas on the big screen!
  • Christmas knitting brought me back my knitting mojo!

The Finds:

I’m thinking about:

I’m eating: 

In case you missed it: 

What adventures have you had?

How to reach your money goal

How to reach your money goal

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

When I'm working with Captains on setting their goals, I often get asked, “How can I make a plan for reaching a money goal? Isn't it outside of my control?” Today I'm going to share with you what I tell them.

  • How to set a realistic sales goal
  • How to make your goal inevitable
  • How to avoid the common pitfalls

If you'd like to set a goal and reach it in 2015, join the Starship for accountability, encouragement and the information you need to make your dream a reality.

 

How to listen

Find all the podcast episodes here.

 

 

Make 2015 Awesome.

Make 2015 Awesome

I am getting super excited about the end of the year. I love using the next few weeks as an opportunity to hit pause on everything for a minute (remember, you have permission to take time off) and look at what happened in this last year, and what I want to happen in 2015. Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing the biggest lessons of 2014 via email, so (in the last blog post of the year!) I want to talk about how to make 2015 awesome – how to be sure that next year at this time, you're going to feel great about what unfolded.

 

The key to having your best year (every year) is to keep your focus on what you really want.

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As I'm always reminding you, you can build your business to be whatever you want – you get to define your own success.
But that's not where it ends. After you define success for yourself, you have to boil it down to what that will look like – the specifics of it – and start taking action to actually getting it. Action that is directly going to impact your goal.

As you're planning your New Year, keep these things in mind:

Review the last year first.

List what worked and what didn't. Celebrate your successes and ask yourself: What actions made that happen? Let go of what didn't work. (In Chart Your Stars, which you'll get in both Lift Off + the Starship, the most popular activity we do is releasing the regrets of last year- forgiving yourself and choosing to move on is powerful.) Enumerate the lessons you've learned (I'm sharing my lessons next week, via email). Make a list of what lessons you want to bring with you into the New Year.

Be specific.

Everyone wants more sales or more money or “growth.” What does that look like in your specific business? This is where you're going to take what you learned while reviewing your year, and build on it. If you made 50 sales last year and you want to grow – how many sales do you want to make this year? If you want to write a book, how you will you do it (self-publish? book proposal to traditional publisher? something else)?

Find your reason.

Why do you want this? For things you truly want, you can usually answer this question swiftly, with multiple answers. Knowing your why will keep you motivated, even when things get hard. It will inspire in you another way of fulfilling that deeper desire, when a goal doesn't work out. For example, you want to make more money because you want your business to be profitable, because you want it to….pay some bills? Allow you to go to a movie? Contribute to your dream house? How else could you get that?

Pick a focus.

If you listed 500 things you wanted to do in 2015 – that's fine! But in order to make progress on any of them, you're going to need to pick one or two to really focus on in the next three months. You can start anywhere – I always tell explorers to pick the thing they are most enthusiastic about, no matter how crazy it might seem. After you choose a destination for your next quarter, you'll break it down into individual steps, so that you can take an action every day to get closer to your goal. (We do this step by step in the Map Making Guide – which is free in Lift Off and the Starship).

You may find, as you go through this process, that what you thought you wanted actually…isn't. Maybe you'll come up with an easier or more obvious way of reaching your definition of success. Maybe you'll realize that you don't have any reasons, and you're only doing this because you think you “should.” No matter what the results are, be encouraged and keep going until you have some goals and ideas you are truly enthusiastic about!

If you'd like to do all of the above in a guided workshop, surrounded by a community of encouragers – beam aboard the Starship! It is now open to new members!

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