I thought I would share my recent interview that appeared last week on the Yes and Yes Blog. The Yes and Yes Blog is produced by Sarah Von Bargen. I met Sarah when she was a speaker at the PHLbloggers Blog Connect Conference in Philadelphia in May 2018.
Sarah has been blogging since 2008. She says, “Yes and Yes grew out of my desire to read a very specific type of blog that – at the time – didn’t exist. I liked lifestyle blogs (who doesn’t?) but I wanted something with a tiny bit more depth. Interesting interviews in addition to the recipes posts; thought-provoking personal essays and ‘what to wear for a weekend away’ posts.”
Sarah writes the “Yes and Yes” blog.
Today, 12,000+ daily readers view her blog and she has been featured in places like Lifehacker, Problogger, Glamour, and Forbes.com among others. She also created an ecourse about money + happiness and another one about changing our habits. Plus she created an app, three calendars, and signed with a literary agent!
Sharing My Life Story
Sarah interviewed me about my reinvention after losing my spouse, selling my house and emptying out my nest. My interview is entitled, “True Story: I Reinvented Myself at 50” and includes answers to Qs about my life pre-50 and post-50 and the different changes I”ve made during the last 10 years.
I was pleased to be interviewed for the “Yes and Yes” blog.
Defining Your Success
Sarah was the keynote speaker at the PHLBloggers Blog Connect Conference. Her talk about “Defining Your Success” was inspiring. She said that “if you can’t define success, you won’t know when you get there.” She encouraged attendees to “create your own definition of success” rather than comparing your life to others. She said that success is not necessarily about how many social media followers you have or how much money you have in the bank.
Sarah provided examples of how she crafts her own success as an entrepreneur including:
♥ her flexible work schedule (when she starts and ends her day, when she takes breaks, when she blocks out days she doesn’t want to work)
♥ her workload (how many clients she takes on, how much she wants to accomplish)
♥ the impact she is making with her clients or in the industry (from clients’ positive feedback or buzz about her blog)
♥ her financial life (asking herself “how will I feel when I look at my bank account, pay my taxes, or even can I hire someone?”)
♥ her personal life (asking herself “do I have friends not in the industry, how often do I see my friends, do my partner and I have date night?”)
Creating Good Habits
Sarah demonstrated how creating good monthly and daily habits can help set you up for success. “Habits are about process not progress,” said Sarah. “Good habits put you on auto-pilot.” One of her habits is creating a daily “To Do List” with only five things and the list must include one fun thing, one easy thing, and three legit things. I especially liked her habit of “I will not look at my iPhone before I get out of bed.” (Okay folks, how many of you do this? I’m guilty.) Another habit that appealed to me is “Success is getting eight hours of sleep.”
Finally, Sarah said that the metrics for individual success can change over time. “Sometimes you get so busy that you don’t take time to really consider if you want the version of success that you have set.” Note that Sarah offers a free online habit workshop. You can find it at yesandyes.org/habitworkshop.
What is your version of success? What good habits have you created during your life after 50? Any thoughts to share? Leave a comment.
Judi
I do look at my cell phone before I get out of bed. Why is that so bad? I’m ready to stop, but I need help with a good reason.
Donna, I think when you look at your cell phone before you get out of bed it can dampen the day if you get a stressful email. Also, starting your day glued to tech is not a mindful practice. Plus, I tend to go to my social media and other apps when I should be getting out of bed and perhaps exercising.
Thanks for the reply. I’m going to stop.