The number one AI question to ask…Plus 8 more takeaways from my speakers conference in Costa Rica last week
If you’re on time, you’re already late…
I don’t know about you, but I’m sprinting to the 2024 finish line. I have less than 2 weeks to:
- Send my publisher a proofread copy of my book that’s launching next spring, including some small but impactful final tweaks I’d like to make.
- Finish editing two client manuscripts (are you sweating yet?).
- Do ALL the Christmas shopping (pretty sure at this point, there is not a single person on earth who wants to swap places with me 😂).
- AND set myself up for a monumental new year in 2025, which includes setting intentions for new revenue targets and personal and professional goals.
My point being, if you’re planning to level up in January, it means setting yourself up for success RIGHT NOW. And that means:
- Wrapping up projects and deadlines to create space for wonderful new things to appear in the new year.
- Setting clear intentions for the months ahead, and blocking these into your calendar to help you follow through.
If you think you can step into January and that it will somehow be different, better, or your best, but you haven’t done a darn thing to make it happen, you’re already late. Before you know it, it will be January 6, February 6, March 6, and nothing will have changed.
You’ll be the same person. And your calendar will look like more of the same.
So take charge and lead it. Wrap up those lingering projects. Block in your new goals and intentions for the new year. Be the kind of person NOW that it’s going to take to make your dreams happen in 2025. Don’t wait until January to figure it out. It starts right now.
Cat xo
120 hours
Any goal seems monumental before you get started. But what I shared in my talk for the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers (CAPS) conference last week will make any dream possible.
Take writing a book for example: In my experience, it takes the average author 120 hours to write a book. That’s 3 x 40-hour work weeks. Or 1 hour a day, 5 times a week, over 6 months. Or 12 days, in the case of my client Matt Rogers.
Writing a book takes 120 hours but how much time that 120 hours spans is totally up to you—it could be over 12 days, or 6 months, or longer. So what will YOUR path forward be?
Regardless of the goal you might have, ask yourself—or Chat GPT—what the time investment will be, and figure out how you can work that into your calendar to make it happen. Then block it into your calendar to follow through.
PS: If you’re looking for someone who can help you figure out the best path to publishing for YOU to get the results you’re looking for from your book, I’ve opened up my calendar today and tomorrow to meet with the first people to sign up and help them choose the best publishing path for their book. Click here to grab your spot.
Top 8 Conference Takeaways
I couldn’t possibly fit all the amazing insights I gleaned and things I learned at the CAPS conference these past few days. But here are some of my favourite takeaways:
-“I’ll be damned if I’m gonna rip people off by giving them what they paid for” (Jeff Civillico on why you should charge more, not less, and over deliver for your services).
-Anything you do repeatedly, scale and systemitize (thanks for this too, Jeff!).
-Ask, What would my AI solution be? (mindset shift from the brilliant Peri Shawn 🤩).
-Give yourself permission (from my dear friend Pamela Robinson, love you!).
-Get yourself a powerful positioning statement (🙌 Azadeh Yaraghi).
-Video video video (everything—from everyone 😂).
-Hard to put this into words so I’ll just say that Brandi Heather’s talk was a masterclass in tour de force public speaking. Everything you need to know about being a moving, inspiring, engaging and impactful speaker can be witnessed in her presentation. Find out about the next one you can attend. (And Brandi, please teach me!)
-Last but not least, I really loved Joze Piranian’s take on inclusion, which he says is not about everyone walking around on eggshells all the time, but rather “Inclusion is the pool we all get thrown into.” I’m probably butchering it, so look for his Ted talk "The Inclusion Pool Paradox."
What’s a takeaway you’re excited to implement? I’d love to hear it!
PS: To sign up for Cat's Again, Only More Like You newsletter, and for updates on her book, click here.