Episode 505: 5 Wins to Celebrate So You Can Be Happy NOW (Mindset & Self-Care)

EBT505 – 5 Wins

Intro  00:01

Hey food bloggers. Thank you so much for joining me in this mindset and self-care focused episode here on Eat Blog Talk. One of the reasons I started a blog talk was to hold a space to talk about the importance of mindset and self-care. Being an entrepreneur can be a lot. If we are not taking care of ourselves, then getting actionable information about SEO Pinterest or whatever else is all moot. I will meet you back here every Wednesday to discuss various mindset and self-care topics. So you have the energy and space to tackle the rest.

Sponsor (Terrence Roche)  00:36

Are you overwhelmed by the amount of unfinished posts in your computer? You sometimes wish you just had more available time? My name is Terrence Roche and I am one half of the Plant Power Couple, food blog I run with my partner, Brittany. I’m also a former English teacher who spent 20 years helping young writers find their voice. I currently offer freelance content writing and copywriting services for other bloggers. I can ghost write recipe posts, informative content, About me pages, LinkedIn bios and more. If you have any old posts or outlines sitting in your backlog, I can help get those up on your site by writing SEO keyword rich posts for you freeing up your precious time for other personal or business endeavors. Feel free to reach out to me with any questions or to request writing samples and my rate sheet you can contact me at terrence@plantpower couple.com That’s T-E-R-R-E-N-C-E@plant powercouple.com.

Megan Porta  01:27

Hello again, food bloggers I am back with another mindset and self-care focused episode for you here on Eat Blog Talk. Thanks for joining me. Today, in this episode, we are going to talk about five wins to celebrate so you can be happy now. This is the first listener requested topic that I’m addressing. Somebody posted this on Instagram and asked me to cover it. It’s a topic I love because celebrating your wins is so so important. So I’m excited to dig into this. I feel like most of us humans are wandering around this earth. And we are mostly living in the past, or in the future. Living in the past is probably a topic for another episode. But today we’re going to talk about how we tend to live in the future a lot and think about where we have to go. Even when we have achieved something that we’ve been striving for it, we still are looking to that next thing and we don’t sit and appreciate how far we’ve come or where we are now. In a sense, looking ahead to the future is good when we are dreaming and planning and goal-setting. That’s great because it keeps us in touch with why we want the things that we want, and helps us to get really specific about those things that we are wanting in our future. But it can be really detrimental if we’re not careful because we lose sight of the progress we’ve made and the wins that we’ve accomplished. And we don’t acknowledge those enough, I believe. So just a few questions for you to think about as I’m talking here. How often do you stop to appreciate where you are now? Do you do that regularly or intentionally? How often do you think back over the past six to 12 months or more? And really appreciate how far you’ve come? How often do you relish in the progress you’ve made in what you’ve created and what you’ve transformed your business into? How often do you think about the mindset gains that you’ve made and the growth that you’ve experienced in the last year or more? This episode is your reminder to just stop, pause and take a moment to relish and to celebrate because you have accomplished incredible things. I know this about you. Because this applies to every set of ears listening right now. This aligns so perfectly with one of my favorite books of all time The Gap in the Game by Dan Sullivan. If you have not read it, please promise that you will go get a copy or go to audible and start listening because this book changed my life. It changed my business but it also changed the way that I show up in everyday life. And it’s 100% on point with our topic today. Also come back to this episode every so often. So you’re kind of forced to stop and sit down and appreciate and celebrate all the things you have accomplished. Do this at least once a month, if not more, it might feel like a really hard habit to get into and that’s fine, but figure out a consistent timeline where you can sit down and do this and build it into your calendar. So that might be once a month to start. Then you can maybe go to a week or maybe you’re feeling ambitious and just want to do this every morning for five minutes to start your day. 

Megan Porta  04:54

Once you stop and acknowledge and appreciate your wins, I recommend that you do something to celebrate them. This is a really important piece of this because it sends a message out to the universe that you are grateful for all of the wins, you’re acknowledging, and that celebrating them is important to you. Celebrating those wins is like giving a nod to them telling them, Yes, I see you. Thank you, and I want more of that. Plus, anytime you can relish the present moment I think holds a lot of power too. When it comes to celebrating your wins, you can do this with a quiet moment, just take a moment sitting at your desk, or sitting in your living room or backyard or wherever. And just quietly acknowledge it. You can celebrate with a splurge of Starbucks coffee, or a cup of coffee from your favorite coffee shop. You can celebrate with a lunch out with a friend or a family member, or even a lunch by yourself. Sometimes I just want a lunch by myself or a movie by myself. You can celebrate with dinner out with a partner or spouse. Or by buying yourself something maybe it’s a new coat or shoes or a book that you’ve been wanting. It really doesn’t matter how you celebrate, just celebrate somehow. Now let’s talk through 5 wins to celebrate so you can be happy now. 

Megan Porta  06:21

Number one is blog statistics. I love this one. Because numbers don’t lie statistics don’t lie, I keep a running tally of my monthly pageviews. And when a new month begins, I update the previous month’s numbers. And I use this opportunity to look back over the years, month by month to see how far my blog has come in pageviews. Shout out RankIQ because previous to using RankIQ, my pageviews definitely were not growing. There are definitely dips, when I look at the numbers that are months when it wasn’t up, up, up up. But over time progress is 100% made. Usually things go in the right direction, they trend in a good way. And this is really encouraging for us to see when it’s on paper. When we get in the weeds of blogging, when we’re in the thick of it, creating content and doing the things that we do day to day, we can forget that we’re actually moving in the right direction. Things can feel stagnant when we’re working hard and maybe getting discouraged or depleted. So looking at stats can be really encouraging. Tracking blog pageviews is great. But other things to consider tracking are maybe your breakdown of traffic from each platform. You can track followers on Instagram or Facebook, you can track YouTube subscribers, email subscribers, there are so many different things that you can track based on what your goals are really, that should provide you with good data to look at. 

Megan Porta  06:21

Number two projects that you’ve finished or made progress on when you think back over the past year. So I encourage you to write down all of the projects that you have started. As well as everything that you finished things to think through are how much blog content you’ve produced. Ebooks, email newsletters, or email welcome sequences, cookbooks, print outs, freebie freebies downloads, anything that is tied to your blog, as far as digital content, a new Pinterest or Facebook strategy that you’ve implemented. Taking on video, maybe you’ve started to improve your photography skills. Or maybe it’s a keyword research strategy that you’ve set into motion, TikTok videos, Instagram reels, outsourcing as a good one, or landing brand work or at least starting to pitch brands. Anything you think of that falls into the category of a project, write it down. It doesn’t matter if the project hasn’t been finished. As long as you took action on starting it. That’s all that matters. Even if it was just a little bit of action, it all matters and needs to be acknowledged and celebrated because you took action. And you are further along on these projects then you were a year ago. 

Megan Porta  09:12

Number three physical and mindset progress that you’ve made. This one is a little bit more arbitrary, because stats or numbers aren’t involved. But this one is still really important. I think the easiest way to go about this is just thinking back to where you were a year ago, both with your physical and your mental wellness and health. And just write those details out. Were you feeling unhealthy at that time? Were you eating well? How was your mindset? Were you focused on exercise and self-care? Think through all of those things and get as many details out as you can. Now you can write out the details about where you are currently. Then you can kind of compare the lists and note any improvements that you’ve made. Even if you don’t feel like things have drastically changed you year over a year with your mindset or your physical health, there will always be things that you can pull out that signify progress. 

Megan Porta  10:07

Here’s one example that I can think of. For myself, one year ago, I was expending a ton of energy. In my business, I was always tired and rundown and I just felt like my wheels were constantly spinning. I think this was a way for me to justify my increased revenue from the previous year, I felt like I had to work harder in order to earn the money that I was making if that makes sense. I didn’t realize this was happening until maybe last summer. And since then, I’ve been working to rewrite that story. So now, I am working much less than I was a year ago, I’m earning more money. But most importantly, I feel worthy of this situation. That is mindset progress worth celebrating. And I definitely acknowledge that often. So look for stories like that, that you’ve been able to rewrite about yourself over time. 

Megan Porta  11:07

For physical progress, don’t limit yourself to thinking in numbers. So maybe you haven’t lost weight, or numbers on the scale. But perhaps you’re walking more outside or you are prioritizing your morning yoga, or whatever it is acknowledge that number four goals and dreams that have come to life. If you are one of those people who writes down your goals in your dreams regularly, or maybe you do it at the beginning of every year, this one will be really easy, because you will already have something that you can look back on. So pull out your goals from a year ago and just see what has transpired. This used to be one of my favorite things to do in those years when I didn’t keep such a close eye on my goals from day to day. And now I’m really good at looking at them every day or almost every day just to make sure I’m on track and to add new things and to see what I’ve accomplished. But in previous years, I would look at it really just every couple of months. And when I would open my document, I would be floored by how much had actually come true. And this was a really refreshing way to see what had transpired since I set my goals and to celebrate the wins. If you do not keep track of your goals in this way, that is totally fine to just sit down with a pen and paper or your computer and think back to a year ago and start writing down all of the things that you remember wanting to accomplish, then get as much out on paper as you can. Now ask yourself, did they happen? Did you get that new car? Or take that vacation you were dreaming of? Did you decrease your hours worked each week or invest in that course you had been wanting to take? Did you start prioritizing your family dinners or breakfasts most nights of the week like you wanted? Did you start a morning routine finally, or start taking walks in the afternoon? Did you put yourself out there and apply to speak at an event or maybe you just attend an event? Did you get your garage cleaned out or get new appliances? Once you start writing, I bet you’ll find that more goals and dreams have been accomplished in a year than you even knew. 

Megan Porta  13:20

Number five money gains. I mentioned earlier that I keep track of my monthly blog pageviews. I also keep track of my monthly revenue. When I look at the gains in this area over time, it honestly blows my mind. And I think you’ll find the same thing. Week to week and month to month things can seem really stagnant and honestly kind of hard in this realm of money. from a broader perspective, wow, I can really see how much progress has been made in just a few years. Definitely write out your monthly revenue for the past few years. So you can see how that builds over time. But also consider debt that’s been paid off. And maybe you could track your credit card bills and see how that is hopefully decreased over time. Or just note anything specific that you’ve paid off. In the past few years, Dan and I have paid off a few really big things. And it’s felt really significant. When we paid off our RV last year, I think it was I put the statement that read $0 do on the bulletin board in our kitchen, just so I can remind myself of it every day. Also think about how much money you’ve been able to set aside for things you’re saving for. You could log savings amounts if saving is your thing. You could also log revenue streams and see how that number grows over time too. So if you maybe had two revenue streams a year ago, and now you have four, that’s something to celebrate for sure. Or you could track your blog RPMs if that’s something that is important to you and is trending in an upward direction. You could log the money that’s growing inside your 401 k or a retirement account, or stocks or Bitcoin, likely, there’s something in the realm of money that has appreciated over the past year. So that will make you feel good, whatever it is, log it and appreciate it and then celebrate it.

Megan Porta  15:17

To summarize, let’s talk through those five wins, you can celebrate that will bring you contentment now in this moment, number one is blog stats, two projects that you’ve either finished or at least made progress on. Number three, physical or mindset progress, you’ve made. Four, goals and dreams and have come to life and five money gains. Now put a regular date on your calendar to sit down with yourself and celebrate wins. Just allow yourself to sit and appreciate and then go do something to celebrate whether it’s something big or something really small. I had a blogging couple in my mastermind a few years ago. And they shared something they did regularly. And I’ve kept this in my mind. They would sit together each week and celebrate all the wins from the previous week. And it really did hold so much power for them in each mastermind call that I host. So that’s every single week. We start every call with wins and celebrating each other for the wins that each person has accomplished. Getting into the habit of celebrating our progress is going to make us happier people. It breaks us free from always striving, striving, which holds that energy of I’m not quite there yet. But you are there. Remind yourself that you have accomplished great things. And in so many different areas. Allow yourself to acknowledge and celebrate these wins. That’s it for today. Thank you so much for listening and food bloggers. I appreciate you. I will see you back here next week. 

Outro  16:53

Thank you so much for listening to this mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk. If you are a food blogger providing a service for other food bloggers, and you want to spread the word about the value that you offer. I would love to offer you a free way to do just this. Send me a 60 second audio clip to be featured in a mindset and self-care episode here on Eat Blog Talk in 2024. Go to eatblogtalk.com/audioclip to learn more.