The world is offering you something right now. Receive it.

Take one dose of Left-Brain Chill Pill as needed to quiet your judging mind.

Write a letter to yourself from the future.

Date it one year from now and start it with “Dear me, What an exciting year I’ve had…” Then list off in as much detail as you can all the amazing things that you’ve accomplished and how you got there. Allow yourself to be as creative and lavish as you wish! Tuck your letter away in a safe place and don’t look at it again until next year.

You could also write a letter to yourself using this nifty site FutureMe.org and set the letter to be e-mailed to you on a specific date.

Take one dose of Right-Brain Booster as needed to enhance your creative intuition.

Here are some fabulous business-building resources for your creative, entrepreneurial endeavors:

Practice Building Conference: My colleague Casey Truffo is bringing together over 20 practice building mentors (including me!) at her Practice Building Conference to help you get re-energized and re-inspired. If you loved my video summit earlier this year, you’ll enjoy these video interviews and live chat with experts to help you get more clients in your therapy or coaching business. I’ll be live this coming Tuesday, September 20th at 3pm PT. Hope to “see” you there!

The Coaching Blueprint:For all of you right-brain coaches out there, Kate Swoboda has put together an e-program called The Coaching Blueprint for new and emerging coaches who want to build for a successful and fulfilling practice. I’m one of the featured coaches and you can see a snippet of my video interview below.

TeachNow:Profitable, effective, soulful, rewarding. For anyone called to teach – no matter your experience level – there are certain benchmarks you need to reach in sharing your passions with others. TeachNow is a 5-week interactive course hosted by seasoned teachers Jennifer Louden and Michele Lisenbury Christensen that offers the practical nuts and bolts and the combined wisdom of more than 36 master teachers to hone your craft. It’s been called “transformational” by raving alumni who embrace teaching as both spiritual work and service as a way to make a living. Registration opens this Monday, September 19th and they’re releasing some free content on Sunday the 18th, so check it out!

Please note these are affiliate links for people whose products and services I endorse.

While I was browsing at my local bookstore, this super fun and colorful book Rip the Page Adventures in Creative Writing by Karen Benke caught my eye. While it’s written for kids, I enjoy the playful prompts and approach. And here’s an inspiring post about Why You Must Write by Rachelle Mee-Chapman who says “writing is a way of becoming.”

Speaking of writing, how’s this for writing for a cause… the fabulous and innovative Michael Bungay Stainer partnered with Seth Godin and a whole slew of other amazing visionaries to write a book that will end malaria. I’ve already got my copy and am incredibly inspired by what I’ve read so far. Find out more at EndMalariaDay.com.

If you ever feel afraid of what others would think if they only knew the “real” you? Or that you you must constantly prove your worth by doing, giving and having more? Overwhelmed by the stress, pressure and demands of keeping up appearances? Well at the Healing Superwoman Syndrome Virtual Retreat you can relax and recharge as you nourish your heart, mind and soul. You’ll connect with your inner wisdom, divine guidance and inspiring women across the globe. I’ll be speaking at the event this Tuesday, September 13th at 1pm PT.

This new three-part course The Art and Business of Surface Pattern Design featuring Rachael Taylor hosted by Do What You Love looks fun and informative for anyone who has ever dreamed about having their designs and patterns on stationery, fabric, and products.

It’s back to school time and even though I haven’t been in an official classroom in many years, I consider myself a life-long learner. One of my top core values is learning and personal growth. I find that many of the creative souls and entrepreneurs I work with value learning as well. Investing in your own personal and professional development helps you stay creatively stimulated, hone your craft, and enhance your business.

In a sea of information it can feel overwhelming to know what subject or what resource to dive into. Sometimes us life-long learners trick ourselves in thinking we need to go for that next certification, Masters, or PhD to truly know our stuff when all we really need to do is be creative and develop our own personal curriculum.

Mix and match resources that work for you and design your own learning plan. Here are some ideas on how to do that:

Make a list of the topics you want to learn more about. What are you curious about? What do you need to know more about to grow your business - marketing, finances, social media, hiring a team, or maybe product development? And hey, what would simply tickle your creative fancy?

Be clear on your desired outcome. Do you want to be an expert? Are you just broadening your horizons? Do you need to learn a specific skill to do better on the job or to grow your business?

Take into account how you learn. Are you an experiential learner? Do you do better with visuals or audio? Do you prefer an intensive program where you can stack everything back to back and get it done quickly or do you like to have things spread out so you have time to absorb? Would you prefer to learn solo at your own pace or together in a community? Is there a particular teacher who you resonate with?

Decide on how much you’re willing to invest. Focusing on your education means dedicating some level of time and money. Would you rather find free content online that you skim through 30 minutes each day? Or are you so super serious about building this skill that you’re willing to put down several thousand dollars for an intensive program?

Develop a timeline. Most likely you won’t be able to tackle all of the topics at once, so prioritize which ones would serve you best now. What are you 3-month, 6-month, 1-year, and 5-year personal curriculum plans?

Research options, identify your top choices, and take action. Based on your desired outcome, learning style, investment level, and timeline look into the different ways you could brush up on the topic(s). Maybe reading a book from the library will do. Or you can take an e-course, attend a seminar, or register for a teacher training or certification program, or hire a coach or mentor. Pick one or two resources and take action – sign-up, show up, do the work.

Find a study buddy. When my husband is learning a new programming language, he does video chat sessions with another coder and they program and problem-solve together. Carving out the time and having accountability with another person can accelerate your comprehension.

Apply what you’re learning. Don’t feel like you need to take every single class on the subject before you can actually do the work. Start using your newfound knowledge and skills now. In fact, you’ll most likely get better with practice, so practice away.

Name: Cynthia & Norm Frenette  
Company Name:  Green Couch Designs
Website: www.greencouchdesigns.com
Blog: www.cynthiaf.ca
Twitter: @cynthaif

Note from Jenn: I spotted Cynthia's super cute values cards on Twitter awhile back and just knew we had to feature her and her creative business. This husband and wife team over at Green Couch Designs is up to some really fun stuff and they certainly have a knack for bringing ideas to life. Thanks for sharing your process with us and these fantastic shots of your Right-Brain Business Plan®

What is your business and what makes your business unique?

We are Green Couch Designs, a husband and wife, full-service web and graphic design, and illustration studio. We're located in Mission, BC, Canada, where we work from our home office and love having the freedom to do so!
What makes us unique is our approach to our work, we truly love what we do and it shows! We're a small studio so can offer our clients much more attention and care than larger agencies have time for. We specialize in unique design and in-house construction for websites and blogs, stylish illustration, and creative graphic design for print, web and everything in between. We have many years of experience in all avenues of design and offer a large skillset, years of experience and know-how to get projects done fast, affordably, on time and on budget.

How has the Right-Brain Business Plan® helped you? What is different for you and your business after approaching planning in a creative, visual way?

The Right Brain Business Plan has helped us scope out how we want to grow and figure out what steps to take to help us get the word out about us and our work. It's also helped us discover new avenues and ideas that we'd like explore as new parts of our business potentially including stock website and blog templates, ready-made customizable illustrations, and even branching off into fabric design, quilting, and more traditional art! Writing down and visualizing what we really want to go for really helps give us courage to just jump in and get it accomplished.

What goals (big or small) on your business plan have you already accomplished or have made progress on?

We've made progress on revamping our website- tick!- and working on spreading the news that we are experts at what we do, and do it with great service, affordably and no-attitude!  We've also been working on more marketing ideas, I've been in the industry for 20 years this year- wow!- so watch for a 20/20 deal (20% off a first project with us) coming soon for a limited time for all new clients who hire us to work with them in September-October.

How do you use your creative intuition in your work?

Our business is all about ideas and bringing them to life. As designers, we really have to read into what our clients are telling us and what their businesses are all about, and determine what will work best for them. We often hear, "You read my mind!" or "You came up with exactly what I wanted before I even knew it!" and we consider that a wonderful compliment to our work!

Is there anything you’d like to share about your Right-Brain Business Plan® in terms of what it’s made out of or how you made it?

I'm still working on elements of it, I *just* finished our Passion and Purpose Proclamation, a quilt stating "Something Wonderful this way comes"  and this whole saying just tied in to what I believe  our company is all about and what we try to do. Something positive and fun, something to look forward to, something exciting to give and to get. Fresh and modern, bright, happy and cool. So I put it into my “Vision” for our company and this came out!

What’s your big vision for your business?

Our big vision is still evolving but ultimately to keep doing what we love, eventually building a dream home and attached studio we can work from, travel for inspiration, and gain recognition for our work.

 What advice do you have for other creative entrepreneurs?

Just stick with it, if you can dream it, do it! If it works then awesome! If not, then at least you tried and learned from it. It can be hard sometimes but it's worth it!

Is there anything else you'd like to share?

Big thanks to Jennifer for this book, it's wonderful and so helpful in working out your business ideas! And thank you so much for shining the spotlight on us!

Creative Resources

Click here for more information about Cynthia & Norm Frenette.

Want to create your own Right-Brain Business Plan®? The Right-Brain Business Plan® Kit includes supplies to make your own accordion book style visual business plan.

For more support with developing your RBBP, check out the Right-Brain Business Plan® Home Study program.