Leslie Auman

Certified OBM®️

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January 9, 2018

5 Mindset Shifts for 2018

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I don’t think I’m in the minority when I say that 2017 was a pretty challenging year for me, both in my personal life and in my business life. During late fall/early winter in 2016, I was happily planning ahead for 2017 – with the help of Amber McCue’s Planathon event – and setting goals for the year (for my business – I’ve never been too big on New Year’s resolutions and things like that). Into the first…oh, I don’t know, at least quarter of the year, this kind of optimism about how the year would go – my first full year working from home full-time – persisted. But then, around May or June, things started to go a bit downhill.

For the remainder of the year, I continued to worry, pinch pennies, and struggle. Now, don’t get me wrong – there were some truly awesome and exciting things that happened in 2017, like creating and launching (twice!) my Teacher-Seller Virtual Assistant School and then reorganizing it into a self-paced online course, surpassing my income goal for the year (which happens to be the most I’ve ever earned in a year from any job or combination of jobs), having my best month ever in my Teachers Pay Teachers store in November – and besting that again in December, celebrating with my best friend at her bachelorette weekend and then standing as a bridesmaid and watching her get married, traveling to Europe for a 2-week vacation, and learning that one of my best friends from college is pregnant with her first sweet little baby. So, you know, there were some really bright spots last year that certainly cannot – and will not – be ignored.

Nevertheless, I learned some tough lessons last year. I wasn’t very smart with my money in the first half of the year, and it led to a lot of stress and strain in the second half of the year. I have an autoimmune thyroid disease called Hahimoto’s thyroiditis, and I battled with some kind of low-level depression and hormonal imbalance issues, I think due to making too many changes to my medication in 2017 (some of which was out of my control, when the pharmacy I used to use failed to tell me that they were completely out of stock on my medication in all dosages and were back-ordered on it and didn’t know when they’d be getting more in…thanks!). Although my business grossed more last year than I’ve ever earned in a calendar year at any job, what I actually paid myself, according to my profit and loss report, was significantly less. Therefore, as we step into the early days of 2018, I think it’s time for a few mindset shifts.

NOTE: Some of the links below are Amazon Affiliate links for your convenience, and I may receive compensation if you click through and purchase one of the products. **

#1) Mindset Shifts: Money

I have suuuuuuuuch a terrible money mindset. Denise Duffield-Thomas of Lucky Bitch would be appalled, if she knew me. But, as I’ve already mentioned, I made some unwise spending choices – both with business and personal finances – in the first half of the year, which led to some major penny-pinching for about 3-4 months after we returned from our Europe trip in late August. (Thankfully, we’d been planning and saving for that trip since November of 2016, so I was prepared for that.) Now, what am I going to do about it? How can I change my money mindset?

  1. Analyze all of the apps and tools I have monthly or annual subscriptions to and decide if it’s really working for my business. In some cases, it’s a tool like You Need a Budget* (YNAB), where it’s not actually making my business any money, but it IS helping me budget properly so I can stop being such a hot mess financially. In other cases, it’s tools like Tailwind*, where I’m expecting to see a return on my investment in it because of the content I’m sharing using its platform. I won’t name any names, but there are at least a couple of apps/tools I’ve been using that aren’t giving me an ROI or that aren’t actually helping my business, so when it comes time to renew those subscriptions in 2018…I won’t be doing that.
  2. Budget, budget, budget! I started using YNAB* for my personal bank accounts first, and then I realized I could use it for my business, too, so I created a second account for my business bank accounts. I’ve never been great at budgeting, but I’ve put in some time to figure it out, and I think I’m finally on a good path. I’ve got my budget dashboard customized for things like monthly software subscriptions, annual software subscriptions, savings (for estimated taxes and, right now, for attending the Teachers Pay Teachers Conference this July), occasional business expenses (like my accountant and office supplies), immediate obligations (like paying myself and health insurance), charitable donations, marketing and advertising, Teachers Pay Teachers (for when I need to buy clip art and things like that for product creation), and then a miscellaneous “other” category that rarely gets used. I think this will be invaluable moving forward, because I’ll finally know what I need to save money for…and will actually save it appropriately!
  3. I plan to increase my retirement contributions in 2018. After I left teaching, I rolled over my two state teacher retirement accounts into a Traditional IRA with an investment company. Then, my boyfriend came across Betterment*, which was doing really well for him, and I decided to roll over my Traditional IRA from that other company to Betterment. I’ve never been that great about contributing to retirement, but I did finally start making a small monthly contribution. At the end of December 2017, I set it to double starting on January 1st. I hope to continue to increase my contributions over time as my business grows (or as my income grows, I should say).
  4. Lastly, but most importantly, I need to change my mindset around money. I think that will be a really big help – and I think that’s why I was doing so well in the first half of 2017, because my money mindset was better. Then, all of the sudden, I started to see some bumps in the road and some obstacles to try to overcome, and that good money mindset vanished. I’d like to get back into reading DDT’s blog posts, and she’s published a book, as well, so I’m going to see if I can get that from my public library. I also want to reread some of the business books I already own, like Carrie Green’s She Means Business** and Cara Alwill Leyba’s Girl Code**. Those books always have a way of getting me fired up and improving my money mindset, so I need to return to that headspace. Instead of seeing myself as living from “paycheck to paycheck” (I don’t really get paychecks, since I’m self-employed, but you know what I mean), I need to stay focused on the bigger picture. I’ve had some success with manifestation/the law of attraction in the past, so I might try to get back into that again, too!

#2) Mindset Shifts: Workspace

My boyfriend and I bought our home in February of 2016, and I’m lucky enough that it has a big home office, right at the front of the house, with a big window. We debated a bit about who would actually get to use the home office – me or him – because at the time, I was still sort of working on my old real food blog, and I wanted to make sure I had a good window for photography and thought maybe the bigger of the two spare bedrooms would be better. In the end, I claimed the office, and my boyfriend got the larger of the two spare bedrooms to use as his game room. Soon, I bought some furniture: a tall bookshelf and an armoire, because the room doesn’t have a closet. Eventually, I also bought a standing desk that operates on a motor and an ergonomic stool for those times when I feel like lowering the desk and sitting.

But, this office, like most of the rest of the house, has tan-colored walls and a slightly lighter tan-colored ceiling. The blinds and light fixture are also brown. Our home was basically an investment property owned by a trust fund before we bought it, and it was, to our knowledge, always rented out and never lived in by the people who actually owned it. This explains why everything is brown. It’s a pretty home, and it was built in 2006, so it’s not that old, but…every room looks the same. After doing a lot of talk and no work, I did finally paint our guest bedroom back in the early summer of 2017, before we had guests staying in it three separate times in a span of two months. However, it was a lot of work because the walls are very textured, and the ceiling is textured, too. I would love to paint my office entirely white – walls and ceiling – and make it bright and airy, but this room is bigger and has a taller ceiling than our guest bedroom, and I’m…not feeling up to it.

While I debate with myself about whether I want to paint my office (or really, whether I want to paint it myself or whether I want to look into hiring an interior painting company), I do think there are other things I can do to make the workspace more Leslie-friendly, more inspiring, and simply more fun to be in for 8-9 hours every day. I have some paintings that need to be framed and hung up. I also have a nice “corkboard” type of frame that I use as 50% happiness board and 50% vision board, and I would love to hang that up right above my desk so that it’s smack in front of my face all day. I wouldn’t mind getting rid of the two mismatched filing cabinets I have in here and replacing them with one larger, nicer filing cabinet. It needs cleaned up, too – I’ve got lots of stuff just sitting out on top of my old desk chair and on top of the filing cabinets, when really I need to find a home for those things and put them away properly. I’m also considering buying a fun coffee mug to use as my pen/highlighter holder, since my standing desk doesn’t have drawers – I’m just using a boring white mug we already had right now (maybe something fun like this or this…you know, for future reference for myself, or if you’re looking for one, too). While I was reading a BuzzFeed article, I came across this sassy “crown catchall,” which I might just have to make an excuse to buy and add to my top-of-desk storage options, too…you know, for sticky note pads and things like that. 😉

Generally speaking, I think sprucing up my office a bit and hanging up some décor will really help with the vibe in this space, and I think it will make it more enjoyable for me to actually work in here, since I usually spend all day by myself working away, while my boyfriend is at work (although I do have our dog and cat for company!). These little things will probably help quite a bit with changing my mood and mindset while I’m working.

#3) Mindset Shifts: Health

Bet you didn’t expect to see this on the list, since it’s not immediately related to my business. However…it is. I mentioned having Hashimoto’s thyroiditis above, and I experienced a lot of struggles with it in 2017, as I said. I’ve been going to see my doctor about every 2.5-3 months while we work on finding the right medication and then the right dosage of that medication to get my Hashimoto’s back under control. I also learned, during this last appointment that I had with her in mid-December, that I have an issue with Reverse T3, another thyroid hormone. My boyfriend has this same problem, and my Free T3 to Reverse T3 ratio is abnormally low. This is certainly another contributing factor to the struggles I’ve been dealing with since summertime. Therefore, it is, of course, on my mind to get these things back in optimal zones so that I feel better overall. However, it requires a mindset shift about my health: Rather than being frustrated that it’s all so out of whack and sad that I don’t feel good about myself, I need to shift to giving myself grace, allowing myself time for self-care, and nourishing and exercising my body in ways that feel good.

So, that leads me to the next mindset shift for my health: I’ve gotten back into doing my friend Allison’s 5 x 10 in 20 workouts. Back in the fall, I jumped on board to be part of the group that beta tested these workouts for her, which lasted six weeks. Then, during that time, I won a giveaway from her, where I won another free month of the workouts. After that, though, I was in serious penny-pinching, money-conserving mode, so I didn’t actually pay to get these beyond that (sorry, Allison!). She ran a deal on Cyber Monday, though, and I decided to sign up again, because my health is worth it, and I need to exercise (I’d cancelled my gym membership in the fall of 2017 because lifting doesn’t seem to agree with my body the way I desperately wish it would, and I could work out at home for free). If you’re curious what “5 x 10 in 20” stands for: five exercises in the workout, 10 reps of each exercise, and complete as many cycles of those five exercises at 10 reps in 20 minutes as you’re able. When your timer goes off at 20 minutes, you stop, no matter what. Plus, Allison’s designed all of these exercises so that they can be done anywhere – most of them are bodyweight moves, but some of them require “equipment” you definitely have at home, like a chair and a broom. In addition, she provides modifications if you have knee/hip/whatever issues and pregnancy modifications, and she always links to very short videos she’s made demonstrating each exercise so you know how to do it. They always kick my butt and make me break a good sweat! She emails three of these workouts every week – but I’ve been saving the emails in a folder in my inbox, so now I can cycle back through and do old workouts, too. I’m aiming to do six 5 x 10 in 20 workouts each week. 🙂

Lastly, my boyfriend got me a Fitbit Charge 2** for Christmas. This has been REALLY helpful in reminding me to get steps in every day. I’ve got notifications set to remind me to get at least 250 steps every hour. If I haven’t, then at 10 minutes to the hour, it vibrates and reminds me to go walk around the house. I can also track my sleep, which has been interesting (and I don’t often reach my goal of sleeping 8+ hours a night – womp womp). I have my daily step goal set at 6,500 steps, but I started out at 5,000. However, I often far surpassed that 5,000 steps in the first week I had the Fitbit, so I increased it. Basically, it just generally helps me track my activity every day to make sure I’m getting enough movement, enough activity, enough exercise…and I find it to be motivating to actually do those things. Oh, it also monitors my heart rate, helps me track how much water I’ve drank, and offers a few other features, including a 2-minute “relaxing” exercise, which I think is a breathing activity to help you de-stress and calm down (but I haven’t used that yet).

4) Mindset Shifts: Mindset

It’s so meta, right? Talking about mindset when you’re talking about…mindset shifts. 😉 In all seriousness, though, this is a big mindset shift I need to make in 2018. This is why I want to reread my business books (and find new ones to read), why I’m writing this post at all! Between my health issues and my personal financial crisis in the second half of 2017, I realized at the end of the year that I’d really just been going through the motions for a few months, at least as far as my virtual assistant business was concerned. I wasn’t doing anything to try to improve my business, to improve my practices, to grow my business. On the other hand, I spent the entire last quarter of 2017 improving my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and that paid off big time with achieving a new highest month ever and then besting that again the very next month. So, that was great and all, but otherwise, I was kind of stalled.

I think what I need is just to refresh myself. I downloaded this analysis planner to help me better track the growth of the TpT side of my business. I need to reread those business books (I’ve got two fiction novels checked out from the library right now, but once I’m done with those, I’m on it). I need to revisit my “ideas” journal and start getting some juices flowing again. It was this kind of optimism and positivity I had about my business in the first half of 2017 that totally fizzled in the second half of the year when my health got out of whack, when I was busy with traveling and then guests visiting us here, and when my personal financial crisis hit. I let all of those things distract me, but I can’t afford – literally – to let those distractions take over again. And then, I need to ask people to help keep me accountable to this mindset change. Thankfully, I started a mastermind group with three other wonderful TpT sellers in the fall, so they’ll be great at helping me with that. I’ve also got a couple other people I can rely on for accountability. This leads me to my last point…

5) Mindset Shifts: Obliger-ness

I recently read Gretchen Rubin’s new book, The Four Tendencies**. It’s a book about personality profiles, but darn it if it isn’t the most accurate one I’ve ever read. Gretchen really nailed it, and after taking her quiz, I’ve learned that I’m an Obliger (but I do seem to have some Questioner tendencies wiggling around below that). Obligers not only make up the biggest personality sector, according to Gretchen, but they also have the most written about them in her book. You see, Obligers tend to put everyone else above themselves – or, as she puts it, they tend to meet outer expectations spectacularly, but they struggle to meet inner expectations. This is why accountability is so important for me and for other Obligers: When other people give us expectations (e.g. a client gives me a project to complete), we can usually put our heads down, do the work, and get it done. But when we try to set expectations for ourselves, we often fail if we don’t have a system of accountability set up – someone to check in with and keep us on track. I now understand why sometimes, I can be really self-disciplined and other times, I can’t.

However, there’s one thing to keep in mind with Obligers: what Gretchen calls “Obliger-rebellion.” When there are outer expectations placed on Obligers that become too much, or that are viewed as unfair, or whatever the case may be, Obligers can and will eventually rebel against those outer expectations, often without addressing the issue with the other person or people involved. Gretchen explained that this can happen in small, quiet ways (like doing something you know annoys someone else) or in big, dramatic ways (like suddenly quitting your job or ending your marriage).

And this is why I want to embrace my Obliger-ness and really come to understand it. I want to be held accountable to changing my mindset and working through all of these things I’ve listed above, but I also want to avoid Obliger-rebellion. Now that I know what it is, I realize I’ve hit it many times – when I’ve been working myself too hard and end up totally vegging out in the evenings for days in a row, refusing to do any household chores or errands, for one example. Another example: when I quit teaching. Now that I know that such a concept as “Obliger-rebellion” exists, I realize that that’s what happened to my teaching career. Having this new knowledge and understanding now, I want to take care of myself, hold myself accountable in gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle) ways to help me be successful and to avoid this burnout.

Phew! I know that was a lot, and if you’ve read all of this, thank you. I hope that it’s inspired you to look inward and consider what mindset shifts you can make – not just this year, but any time you feel it’s necessary (that’s the Questioner coming out in me – I don’t set much stock by set start dates for things like this – I just do them whenever I feel the need!). To help you do this, I’ve created a free resource that you can work through – either complete it right on your computer and save it or print it out and write on it (and maybe hang it up in front of your workspace?). Just click on the image below!

Rectangular image button incentivizing readers to click it to download a free worksheet about self-reflection for mindset shifts

So, with that being said, I’d love to hear from you in the comments about what you’re changing about your mindset and your perspective!

Happy 2018,

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* Leslie Auman is a participant in referral or affiliate programs for these subscription services, tools, and/or apps.

** Leslie Auman is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon properties including, but not limited to, amazon.com, endless.com, myhabit.com, smallparts.com, or amazonwireless.com.

This post was most recently updated in March 2019.

By: Leslie Auman Hirgelt · Filed Under: Life, Running a Business · Tagged: business, business finances, business owner, entrepreneur, grow your business, growing business, running a business, small business owner, solopreneur

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I'm Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I'm here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I'm glad you're here!

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© Leslie Auman, LLC 2016-Present. Photography by PAW Prints by Patti Wojtowecz. All photographs taken at Picnik Austin.
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I’m Leslie, a former middle school teacher turned Certified OBM®. I’m here to help kick-ass womxn entrepreneurs scale their businesses with behind-the-scenes management and support. I’m glad you’re here!

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New book suggestions for teachers looking to add d New book suggestions for teachers looking to add diversity to their middle school and high school classroom libraries! 📚
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I read them originally in Kindle version, borrowed from my local public library, but I liked them so much that I decided to buy them for myself as an early birthday gift (my birthday is in about a week 😝). There's a third book, A Crown So Cursed, due out in mid-April! 📅
I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE! I did my civic duty! 🗳️🇺🇲 PLEASE VOTE!
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I requested an absentee ballot because COVID is still very much a threat, and I'm an immunocompromised person. I researched candidates, issues, and the school bond issue on this ballot and made my selections. ☑️ Despite 45's fear-mongering about mail-in voting, I trust this election system that's been around for over 150 years. 📬 I'll be tracking my ballot on the Ohio Secretary of State website, and in the meantime, I'm going to make some donations to important campaigns! ✊🏻💵
Here's what I'm currently reading: The Nightingale Here's what I'm currently reading: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. What are you reading right now? 📚
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World War 2 fiction is one of my favorite genres. Some of my most favorite books are in this genre. 💜 It's taken me a bit to feel like I'm really getting into the plot, but last night I finally felt like it was getting really good. I'm roughly halfway through! If you've read this, what did you think? But no spoilers, please! 🙏🏻
It allllllllmost passed me by, but today is my fif It allllllllmost passed me by, but today is my fifth business anniversary! 🥳💖 Or business birthday, whichever. 😂
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Exactly five years ago today, I "launched" my business as a virtual assistant and signed my very first client, completely unexpectedly. I had no idea what I was doing, really -- and sometimes I still feel that way. 🙃
. . . . .
These past five years have taught me a LOT. I've tried and failed and tried and failed. I've felt really successful, and I've felt pretty unsuccessful. I've lived "paycheck to paycheck." I've been watching the newest season of @queereye with Husband, and the episode with Rahanna, the entrepreneurial dog groomer, made me feel so seen and comforted as Bobby and Tan talked to Rahanna about how hard the first few years of business are. Because they are. No one is an overnight success. I'm officially five years in, and I'm only just now starting to feel like I'm finally on a path to my business being profitable. 
. . . . .
I'm so, SO excited and thankful to celebrate (LOL by working) today knowing I signed my first OBM-level client a few days ago! 🥳 I've also had the opportunity and pleasure of having discovery calls with a couple of other womxn business owners about my OBM services. How fitting that I'm starting off this new chapter of my business with the very recent success of "launching" myself as an OBM! 🙌🏻
. . . . .
Cheers to you if you're still grinding on the roller coaster of entrepreneurship. I'm starting to see that it does all eventually pay off, and it does eventually get easier. 🙏🏻
It's finally here: OBM certification week! Back in It's finally here: OBM certification week! Back in March, I enrolled in the Certified OBM training program, created by @tinaforsyth8 and taught by @sarahnoked. After three months in the training program -- working through all of the modules and watching all of the session videos, attending the biweekly live calls or watching the recordings if I had to miss, watching/reading any supplemental materials that would help for this week, learning from sample projects, and talking with my accountability partner... We're here, at certification week. I'm nervous, but I'm ready to give it my best effort! 💪🏻👊🏻 Good luck to my fellow examinees, also on the path to becoming certified Online Business Managers! 🤗 #CertifiedOBM #OnlineBusinessManager
Yesterday, I shared about the Following Directions Yesterday, I shared about the Following Directions Test for middle school grades that's included in the #Fireworks2020 dollar💲deal event...so today I'll share about the People BINGO resource! 🤩
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This is an editable activity that makes for a fun and engaging icebreaker activity on the first day of school -- or on the first day of a new semester with a new class of students. You can customize the BINGO board to have details that best fit your population of students and what you know about them, but there's also a ready-to-print PDF version! ✅
. . . . .
In light of the mandates, I do still think this is an activity best used in the classroom -- I have yet to think of an effective way to adapt it digitally, aside from doing it together as a whole group and asking students to introduce themselves and sharing something on the BINGO board that applies to them. But if you do have to go back in the classroom, I recommend having your students stay 6+ feet apart as recommended, introduce themselves to each other, and exchange a detail on the board that applies to them. They can write their classmates' names in the squares themselves, rather than trading papers to have each other sign.
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This resource is normally $3 marked down to just $1 today, so be sure to go to the link in my bio to grab it at such a great discount! Happy 4th of July! 🎆🎇❤️🤍💙
It's the first day of the $1 deal sale!!! 🥳 Thi It's the first day of the $1 deal sale!!! 🥳 This Following Directions Test for middle school (grades 6-8) is one of the resources I've marked to down JUST $1 for today and tomorrow! It's normally a value of $3.75. 🙌🏻 Head to my bio to find the link! #Fireworks2020
. . . . .
I created this resource in my first year of teaching (several years ago now!) based on my memory of a similar kind of test given to our class in 4th grade. Back then, the test was part of my teacher's classroom management system, but I created my version to be used at the beginning of the year (or beginning of the semester...or during test prep!).
. . . . .
This resource included two "trick" versions of the test, where there are silly instructions given in numbers 1-10, but the REAL instructions are at the very bottom of the page, for eagle-eyed students. 😉 There's also a legitimate version of it, no tricks. 🤗 And just this week I added a digital version of all three tests, so each one now has a fillable PDF version, and the instructions have been updated to suit a distance learning environment! 🖥️
⚠️ We have work to do! ⚠️ To my fellow whi ⚠️ We have work to do! ⚠️ To my fellow white people (and to non-Black POC), please give these white people a follow and start learning from them. Yes, we can and should learn from the Black community (and I will also make a post with Black people we can and should support), but the onus of educating us should not rest solely on their shoulders. We need to educate ourselves and each other, because they've been fighting this fight for a very, very long time, and they deserve a respite, at the very minimum. ❤️
. . . . .
@melissau 
@xoamandafrances 
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@thechampagnediet 
@jazzythings 
@mikeydteach 
@melyssa_griffin 
@drazs_class 
@jameswedmore

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