The holiday season is officially over. Gosh, how I enjoyed this break! It’s so cold outside, I just love being holed up in my cozy attic and giving my creativity free reign in my bullet journal, vision boards and dreaming about all the things I want to do in 2018 and beyond.

Have you been doing any dreaming and planning for the year ahead?

I’m a firm believer in conscious planning for the future because most of my major accomplishments have started as notes in my journal. As far as I’m concerned, creativity is king in visioning. Its a key step to setting my intentions and goals, especially for my business.

Here’s the process that has helped me add a touch of magic to my planning.

Steps for Setting Intentions and Goals

My first step is always looking at what I intend to get done this year. For example, in 2018 I see three major projects on my horizon:

Update our Kids Yoga Teacher Training
(RCYS – Registered Children’s Yoga School)
Grow Ambassador Yoga Train-the-Trainer
(200 Hour RYS – Registered Yoga School)
Mentor New Trainers for both my Yoga Training Schools

Right now my top priority is the first one, the update.

yoga teacher vision board business planning — Letting Ideas Flow on a Vision Board I created one night just doodling and writing what I want for the year ahead. Now it’s taped on my wall to remind me of what I want.

Write Down What You Know for Sure

Some of my intentions are foggy and unclear but there are always a few things I know for sure. I recommend acknowledging the things you know for sure, because this action can help the other elements come into focus.

In the case of my RCYS update, I know a few things for sure, things I’ve learned since starting the RCYS in 2012. So I randomly listed all the things I’d like to change, add, reorganize, delete, and research in my journal. I just let it come out in any order, I will organize it later.

I capture my initial ideas a couple ways:

Journals: I’m currently using a bullet journal but any journal will do,
Trello is an online tool to organize tasks and ideas. I have Trello on my computer. On my phone I use the Trello App to capture my ideas. Trello is free, and here is my affiliate link if you want to check it out.

bullet journal for yoga teacher to track habits — Here’s a page from my bullet journal that I use to track personal habits I know for sure I want to encourage in my life.

Put Everything on the Table and Design Your Destiny

I also recommend you put everything on the table to examine and make sure it is something you still choose to pursue.

Have you ever done this when you clean out your handbag? Just empty everything on the table and then decide what you really want to put back in again.

In the case of visioning the RCYS update, I even put whether to stay with Yoga Alliance on the table. This decision wasn’t hard because I feel the Yoga Alliance Standards have made my training more thorough, complete, and professional.

Affirming my connection with Yoga Alliance led to this vision board, a playful way to review the Standards for a RCYS for the update. I like to get the most out of life by enjoying my work and vision boards do it for me.

Registered Childrens yoga school standards and educational categories of learning for Yoga Alliance Certification — It’s important to me that our RCYS is in integrity with the YA standards, educational categories, and provides proper contact hours and non-contact hours allowed in each training.

Give Your Creativity Free Reign

The next part is the hardest part for me because I’m tempted to jump into planning mode. Yet visioning requires lots and lots of time for new ideas. This is time to let your imagination run wild and to slow down, to meditate, be still, get creative, and listen.

Continue using your journal, post it notes for ideas, tidy, clear out the old and create space for the new.

Try to resist the urge to do final planning, you still need a creative incubation period.

Organize Your Plan into a Vision

For my update it took a couple months for a new direction to came into focus. It took a month longer than I thought it would take.

I just hit this phase last week, but the creative space allowed me to get really clear on what I want for the update. These ideas sprung from the synergy of all the other steps and activities. If I started planning earlier it would have felt like work, and the result would be quite different than the ideas I have now.

I know I am ready to start my final update because I feel really happy and excited about the new ideas.

Your Vision is a Priceless Treasure

Visioning for your future is a priceless treasure, without your own vision you are borrowing from other people’s treasure, living a vision someone else created.

The New Year coincides with a slowdown in my business so it is a great time for me to work on my vision. Visioning is best done all year long, even though it is hard to find the time, its something you don’t want to ignore.

If this New Year gives you the feeling to look at your vision for your life, or your yoga classes, or family planning, or other business, consider that there is no better time to start then right now. The process can take weeks, months, and sometimes years to get excited about.

However setting your own vision is one of the most important things you can do to love and care for yourself.

It can also be wildly creative and what better way to live then letting your creativity reign free for a while.

Happy New Year and New Planning to you!

Aruna

Young Yoga Masters

Upcoming Kids Yoga Teacher Training Courses and Dates in Toronto at this link — Our next Kids Yoga Teacher Training starts soon!

Kids Yoga Teacher Training is the main product at the Toronto Yoga Show Booth

Finding Opportunities for Collaboration

The reality of entrepreneurship for yoga teachers is often more complicated than one may assume, and it is easy to feel discouraged when you look around at others who make it look easy. It is difficult to get your footing, and supplementing your income can be a good way to get started. This motivation, combined with a positive and open attitude can allow you to focus on what you love without worrying as much about the financial restrictions.

For Young Yoga Masters, broadening a network of fellow yogis has been essential for success. Conference participation is an excellent example of this. Registering as an exhibitor can be pricey, costing up to $2,500 for a booth. Rather than immediately viewing this as a setback or hefty investment, consider the options available. Registering for these conferences with other like-minded business people is an option that will cut costs while still giving you exposure.

As Aruna, founder of Young Yoga Masters describes, “For the upcoming Yoga Show in Toronto (FREE Show Pass here), I originally got in by sharing a booth with a group of Kundalini Yoga Teachers. Then I met Janet and we split costs and founded A Children’s Yoga Network to have a presence for both our businesses. This year we’ve grown to six people and a bigger booth. Collaboration makes the event financially accessible for more people and the bigger booth helps us stand out more.”

Seeing the Benefits of Strategic Partnerships

It is easy to perceive similar businesses as competition, but people often overlook the potential benefits. Promoting alongside other businesses is not counter-intuitive because customers are not necessarily deciding between the two. This is a lesson Aruna learned early on.

In another example of strategic partnerships, I was running yoga classes at a local studio that were doing well. When another instructor began running a deep relaxation class the same night, I encouraged my students to try it out because I wanted to create a buzz around my teaching night. After a few months I noticed how the success of the new class led to my own success. I noticed registrations increase in my class too. It’s kind of like how it works when you see a restaurant district, all the restaurants clump together to create a destination and it helps everyone. Collaboration is usually more effective than engaging in competition. – Aruna Kathy Humphrys

teachers are demonstrating the breathing ball at the kids yoga booth at the Toronto Yoga Show

This picture is from our booth at the Yoga Show 2014

In Aruna’s case, strategic partnerships have also led to supplementary income. While the main goal of doing conferences is promoting Kids Yoga Teacher Certification, it has also served as an opportunity to sell products and resources which she doesn’t have time to sell online.

Though Aruna gives a word of warning: collaboration doesn’t mean you have to give away your hard work and knowledge for free. Honour the time and effort it takes you to build your client list, find good suppliers, and the trial and error it takes to figure out which shows are worth participating in. Collaboration does not mean you are an open book, you still value your work.

Positivity in the business world is an invaluable asset. While the world may feed competitive try looking for opportunity rather than setbacks. It is not only beneficial, but necessary. Reaching out to like-minded individuals and creating a community in which people support each other may just be your next step.

Had an experience similar to Aruna’s? Or had the opposite experience? Leave a comment below!

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