A Merry Christmas to all our clients, friends and team. We wish all of you and your families the best. Thank you for being a blessing to us and the work we do here at Purpose Publishing. You make all the difference in our business and our lives. So, we take this moment to thank you and appreciate you for your work, trust, care, patience and support. We look forward to a Healthy, Wealthy and Wise 2019.
With the New Year, we are making changes (for the better) to serve you and your publishing needs. So, make a few notes as we transition into 2019! First, we’d like to recognize the recent promotion and additions to the Purpose Publishing team.

God Bless you all,

MG

PURPOSE PUBLISHING TEAM EXPANSION
Zerryn A. Gines, has been promoted to National Administrator. Zerryn will report directly to CEO, Michelle Gines, and will assume the role of managing the process for onboarding clients to completion of their book projects.

LaToya Humes, has joined the team as our Customer Experience Administrator reporting to Zerryn Gines. LaToya will assume the role of managing our customer service and administrative staff/services. 

Justin Greene has joined our team working as our Customer Experience Assistant reporting to LaToya Humes. Justin started with us this summer as an intern and has stayed on after returning to school and has been a great addition to our team. 

NEW OFFICE HOURS / PHONE / CONTACT INFO
Purpose Publishing will be open Monday-Friday from 9am-4pm.

Administrative offices will be closed on Saturdays/Sundays.

Office line: 816-866-7742 is available 24/7

Email: Contactus@purposepublishing.com is available 24/7

All requests sent via email will be returned within 24-48 hours or the next business day if contacted on Saturday/Sunday.

TEXT MESSAGE SERVICE ‘NO LONGER AVAILABLE’
Beginning January 1, 2019 all business will be conducted via email and via phone call. All inquiries, requests or orders must be sent via email or by phone to the 816-866-7742. ‘Text message’ services will be no longer available. All texts will receive an auto responder message with the email and phone number for your convenience and reminder.

Over these last three weeks, I’ve been decluttering our home; top to bottom. I’m thinking of a minimalist approach to a simpler life and time in the year ahead. I have had many recently ask me about this process that I do every year in December ready for what the coming year will bring. So, I wanted to take this opportunity to help others maybe realize their own decluttering goals as well. Here’s a little insight about clearing clutter. I have gained an understanding with these few key principles that can help anyone clear their clutter and embrace clarity.

The 9 Easy Peasy Decluttering Principles:

1. Stop the Flow of Stuff Coming In. Decluttering is a waste of time if you simply replace the old stuff with new. You’ll need to begin by slowing the flow of things entering your home. Determine today to buy less. Trust me, you won’t regret it. The freedom from desire to acquire is a beautiful thing.

2. Declutter at Least One Item a Day. Decluttering does not have to be a mad frenzy that disrupts your entire household. Over the years, my home has become quite minimalist by simply choosing one item a day to declutter. This gradual process began to change the way I think about stuff. Eventually, it became a way of life rather than just a crash diet of stuff.

3. Declutter the Easy Stuff First. There is no need to make things difficult by trying to declutter the hardest things first. Most likely, it will simply deter you from the task altogether. Instead, start with the easy stuff and then as you strengthen your will to reduce, the harder decisions will become easier.

4. Put a Disposal Plan in Place. Before you begin, investigate selling, recycling, donating and give away options for the items you choose to declutter. The more prepared you are for the task, the simpler it will be… and the more likely you will be to follow through. Ebay, Freecycle, and our local thrift store became my favorite disposal options. However there are endless others to explore.

5. Decide to Not Keep Things out of Guilt or Obligation. Your home should only contain the things you love or use. Don’t let incorrect thinking or other people dictate what you should keep or give away. Remember, if the items are yours, it is your choice to decide what to do with them.

6. Do Not Be Afraid to Let Go. The urge to hold on to items you think you might need someday can be eliminated simply by being realistic about what need really is. Many items in our homes may be useful, but they are not particularly necessary to our happiness, well-being, or the functionality of our homes. Seek to understand the difference.

7. Gifts do not have to be Material. There are so many ways to honor loved ones without giving gifts that end up as clutter. Encourage people to follow this concept when buying gifts for you. Some alternative gifts are gifts of experience or adventure, a gift of time spent together, even cash gifts are appropriate in some instances. I have two clutter-free gift guides at my blog if you are looking for ideas.

8. Do Not Declutter Things that are not Yours without the Owner’s Permission. Everyone should have a choice about their own belongings, even small children. Honor them by allowing them to choose. You can encourage hoarding tendencies in others by ripping things away from them before they are ready to let go. My husband appreciates this!

9. Do Not Waste Your Life on Clutter. Every item you own takes time out of your life: time to manage it, clean it, repair it, and maintain it; time to choose between objects of a similar category; time spent shopping for it… and that doesn’t even mention the time spent earning the money to pay for it in the first space. Decide to sacrifice less of your precious life on the pursuit and ownership of stuff.
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I love taking the time to go through old things, see what I should keep and what I should toss out. It’s an easy way to gain a sense of accomplishment and renewal at the same time. I’ve found that white space in my life is good because I get so busy. But I’ve come to value the ‘less is more’ adage especially when it relates to my creativity and clarity. When I’m clear, creativity flows immensely. So, declutter and get clear.
Enjoy this post? Then, send me an email. Do you declutter at specific times of the year? How does it make you feel? Tell me.

To Your Success & ‘Clutter Free’ spaces,
MG

Soon there will be no shortage of ideas and articles about goal setting and getting the most out of the upcoming year. While certainly helpful, those of us in business marketing ourselves and our talent, when we are our brand, we need a different set of ideas.
 
When your business is personal, and you’re putting yourself on the line day after day, being an entrepreneur is as much a course in personal development as anything else. Personal growth on steroids I might add! So it only makes sense then the tactics one needs to set out to accomplish big things in a New Year need to be different. It’s an internal development approach as well as a practical outside one.
 
Below are the seven keys I know of to accomplish great things in the New Year whether your book, your business or your life!
 
1. What Will Be Your Theme For 2019?
Choose an over-arching theme for your year. It’s not a goal. It’s a theme aligned with your natural growth and your place in life at this time. You listen and sense your theme more than create it. By listening for your theme to emerge you are working in flow with what makes sense for you and not against it by pushing towards a goal you set. I find this to be the foundation for the year ahead.
 
2. Set Big Dreams, Create Small Wins
Often, we’re capable of more than we imagine or even give ourselves credit. At the same time, we set short-term goals that are unrealistic. This sets us up for failure. Success DOES breed success. And to keep you going, you need successes and accomplishments for fuel. So create some goals you KNOW you’ll accomplish on a regular basis — monthly, weekly, even daily. Feel successful. At the same time, set your long term goals beyond your wildest dreams. Without any limiting thoughts. And be ready — you just might get it.
 
3. Be Clear On Your Direction
Being busy authors and entrepreneurs, we often chase a lot of squirrels! Creatively speaking that can be a good thing. It opens up more creativity, more possibilities, and maybe more fun! It can also create a diverse business model with multiple streams of income. But it must all point somewhere. To a direction. To your purpose and what you want to stand for in this world. So you can consider many possibilities but you must be clear on your direction to organize your efforts and keep you on track.
  
4. Make Room
You can’t expect what you want in life to come in if you don’t make space for it. Make space by good use of time management. Eliminate, automate and delegate everything you can. Strive to have time on your hands and the time will be filled with more meaningful things. Make space in your life for creativity, growth and self-care. This will increase your capacity to give more of yourself. You have to be ready and make space for success and abundance to arrive.
 
5. Big To Small Goals
Start with big goals and trickle down to small goals. Begin with the lofty goals for the year. Then divide the year by season and then by month. Finally, decide which specific tasks need to be done on a weekly and daily basis to accomplish that month’s goals. I suggest, unless it’s absolutely time critical, that you focus more on the monthly and weekly goals rather than daily. It provides more flexibility and less criticism of tasks not completed. By approaching your goals from big to small, you are taking small steps, every week, towards your big dreams.
 
6. Posture Yourself to Receive
Everyone always thinks they are more than prepared to receive abundance and success. If that’s the case, then why do so many people fall apart when good fortune lands in their lap? It’s because they haven’t prepared to receive. They haven’t considered the sense of responsibility and fear that come with “having it all.” Ever notice how often something goes wrong just when it seemed everything was going right? Or parts of your life are going incredibly well but not other parts? All because you’ve reached the limits of your comfort zone of receiving. So prepare for these emotions. Starting now, savor the good moments. Train the “what if” thoughts to stay away. And be very self-aware of any self-sabotage keeping you in your “enough” comfort zone instead of fully receiving beyond your imagination.
 
7. Own Your Awesomeness
Without a doubt, this is the most important thing you can do to have the life and business of your dreams. Own who you are — your awesomeness. This is not just feel-good advice. In business, this is practical and essential to skyrocketing your success. When you are your brand, and you’re marketing yourself, the more you own who you are, the tighter your branding will be. With a clearer message, more of the right clients show up and the more success you will see. It’s almost as simple as that. Owning who you are requires bravery, authenticity, and transparency. But it’s so very worth it! You are awesome. Own it!
 
To Your Success in the Year to Come,
MG