February - is all about the commitment


I am excited for this month's theme because it is kick up the bum time for me.
February is time to get on.
January was a lot in my head of what shall I do?
Where am I going..what do I want..who am I?
Blah, diddy blah, blah.
February is more about - let's go girl!
Now if you feel like you still don't have answers from January's investigation do not panic.
The exercise below is still for you.
I thought I had a good sense of what I was going to do this year, but my commitment exercise showed me how mis-guided I was and forced me to sit down and get honest and real.
Oh No! Not honest and real Caz..I'm not on the internet for honest and real.
I want escape and purdy.
I know, I know...but what if I could get you both?
See...now I have your attention.

Ok, so before I go into my spiel I should start out by saying that some of you are of course way ahead of the game.
Yes, yes, put your hands down we know who you are (ummm hubby)!
So if you are ready, concrete plan and concrete commitment then your month is easy.
Go to My Noisy Boys Facebook page and print out / fill out the commitment report I have posted there and away you go.
You got this!
Keep it somewhere easy for you to find and refer to if you feel you need a reminder of your plan of action.

Ok commitment phobe folks like me.
Walk this way.
I am going to take you through my process to show you how important this task is for us!
My first commitment sheet was this!


Isn’t that a grown up, business savy kind of commitment to make!
DO you know what happened as soon as I saw these words on paper?
I felt a mixture of sick, deflated and stressed.
Instead of burning that inner flame brighter – it dampened and snuffed it out.
It wasn't just that my years plan did not inspire me – it actually made me feel ill.
I have time constraints in my life right now.
Adding 2 MORE shows to my year as well as demanding time in the week just wouldn't fit with my current situation
and would just add too much stress to my family.
How could I have got this so wrong?
Wasn't this what I had been working towards for the last 4 years?
Wasn't this just the next step?
Apparently not for me.


Me feeling so ugly with what I thought "should" be the way for my year put me back a bit.
I went down the rabbit hole of, then why am I doing this?
Obviously I shouldn't be spending valuable time and money on this venture if I'm not ready to pursue it.
Spiral, spiral I went.
But then I chanced a chat with a friend and as she was talking about her own pursuit of goals she said something that completely resonated with me.
She said:

"I strongly believe that there is a place for me and what I have to offer, I just don't know how that looks yet."

Yes! This creative journey I have taken myself has never been about business.
It has been about my own sanity.
Connections with people since I started this journey though has been an amazing off shoot from this and is part of my fuel.
My pictures & words help me to understand the foggy things & sometimes they help other people too.
There is a place for this and there is a place for me - I strongly believe that too.
So after this tea and cake revelation I went back to my pukey commitment sheet, printed a fresh sheet out and wrote this:



These make me smile.
These give me friendly, realistic direction.
These keep me on track.


Making a commitment to ourselves is very important for the sustainability of our project for the year.
It is easy to start passion projects, but then come the days where you run into a problem or a life interruption or a crisis of esteem. Then working on the project can become a task or a problem in itself. You might be in a foul mood, a tired mood - you might be hangry and you won't be as passionate about turning up. This is just a natural part of project completion and we can discuss that later in the year, BUT if you are already starting with a commitment that isn't a real reflection of you and what you really love then you are setting yourself up for a fall before you have even started. Learn from my mistakes, please. You can print off as many copies of your commitment sheet as you need. You have a whole month to take those ideas out of your head and commit them to the world - then just check in and make sure they make you feel your coziest version of yourself - as then you know you're onto something truly exciting!

Best of Luck with it all
CX