I debated on whether or not I should do a 'Year in Review' post this year. For like, a minute. Of COURSE I wanted to do a year in review post! It's been an amazing year and I have a lot to be grateful for as well as share the things that didn't go as planned and what I'll be doing differently in 2015. I've also decided there are two words that I will be my 'words of the year'. I thought about picking just one word but then realized that I wanted to focus on two words and they really go hand in hand.  This will all make more sense when I get to what's coming in 2015 in a bit. Let's start with looking back on 2014 One of my intentions for 2014 was to travel for business. And travel I did! I started the year off with my first live mastermind event in San Diego with my EMPIRE mastermind at the end of January (I'm a member). This event shifted SO many things for me - as well as some things that didn't shift the way I had hoped they would. I wrote a post & recorded a previous podcast episode about this trip because I went to my mastermind event and then piggy backed that with tickets to Traffic & Conversion Summit - which was just too much for me after a few intense days and I ended up heading home early. Shifts for me: Paid traffic is essential Making offers has to be done consistently Spending time with people who are where you want to be is crucial to your success Stepping outside of your comfort zone won't kill you (atv racing with the boys?) Things that didn't change the way I had hoped: It took me until this past summer to really get clear on what I was doing and where I wanted to take it I had a few personal "a-ha" moments on that trip that I thought would have stuck but didn't... and I'm still working on that (I talk about this in more depth in the episode) My comfort level with promoting myself (again, more details in the episode) The next few months had some ups and downs as well as another business trip to Arizona for Infusioncon with @DeannaFenton. I had decided to make the switch to Infusionsoft after my trip to San Diego (again, my second time with Infusionsoft and have since moved on to my MOST FAVORITE email marketing & sales company EVER... hatchbuck, but more on that later too). The trip with Deanna was great and we both left excited about what Infusionsoft could do for our businesses. Unfortunately all it did was cost me more money and aggravation and we've both moved on to #hatchbuckhappiness (yes, I'm totally going to coin that term and make it a legitamate hashtag). Maui in May This was one of those trips that I debated on whether or not I should go, but then decided to just bite the bullet and go (I don't know if you do this or not, but I have a tendency - or use to - to waffle back and forth  and then am always grateful I went). The waffling was for a bunch of different reasons - but if this trip taught me ANYTHING it was that when in doubt- suck it up and make it happen. Period. This was my second #EMPIRE mastermind event of the year (we do 3 each year) and it was another game changer. I had a ball zip-lining (it wasn't the heights that did me in, it was one of my landings), an amazing evening at a Luau with everyone and two intense days of brain work and big picture thinking. Oh. And I got upgraded to first class on the way over!  BOOM! (that was validation enough for me that I was supposed to be on that trip). I recorded one of my first 'in front of the camera' videos with my friend Trey Lewellen - and had a BALL! I wanted to do more of those but just never quite got around to it (more on that later too). That will definitely be changing in 2015... in a big way. Summer Summer seems like a bit of a blur- not sure why (maybe because my kids are out of school? ) I participated in the 'ice bucket challenge' (brrr..) and hosted a wonderful 70th bday celebration for my Dad.  As I'm thinking about last summer and the fact that it ...