The first thing I tell clients is to put their plan on paper. Writing something down does not guarantee execution, but I think that ideas look a lot different when written (scrawled if your penmanship is anything like mine!) in ink. And it’s so much easier to hold yourself accountable to your ideas, your goals and your dreams if you can see them regularly. Inspiration/vision boards have never worked for me – I seem to get desensitized to them after a few months and then just ignore them altogether. So this year I’m trying something new and writing myself an email with my plans and my goals and then setting it up so it is e-mailed to me on the first Monday of every month. Hopefully, these monthly reminders will help me to hold myself accountable… I’ll let you know how this goes!
With that, I thought my first post of 2014 should start with a reminder of what The American Edit is all about. The mission, or in my case, the angle, that is the foundation of this site. I think thus far, I’ve managed to align to these principles. But I know I can do better, so in 2014, I will:
- Be more consistent.
- Write more. I’ve always been more of a consumer than a creator, which explains my obsession with finding amazing brands and products. The writing, photography and graphic-making that go hand-in-hand with blogging do not come easily to me… but the Why and the How are just as important as the What… so I am working on this!
- Find even more awesome brands and products… and check back with our favorite designers and brands throughout the year to see what they are up to.
- Update the A-list. As much as this site is a blog, it is also a way for you to easily find American-made brands. I purposely started with a small A-list – my very favorite brands and makers, but I have been working on updating this directory and you will see many additions in the coming weeks.
I’d love to know what you think I’m missing and should be adding to TAE… comments are always read and appreciated or you can let me know via twitter, facebook, or email!
Happy New Year! xR
awesome goals, and love the email idea. and i think you’re doing pretty well with the “creating” part, although i know what you mean. i struggle with that myself, but am enjoying (slowly) finding my visual and written voice.
here’s to 2014!