Leonie Dawson's Blog, page 20

Inspiration is Perishable (a free poster)

My darlings!

I fell upon this quote via Sara Soueidan’s desk and it struck me immediately. I knew I needed to make it into a wee poster to put above my desk & use as an iPad screen.

It kind of reminds me of my Wild Donkey theory. The faster you get those donkeys of inspiration ridden, the easier it is. Of course, it’s not always possible to drop everything and create… but wherever possible, do.

Stop, drop and create.

Big Love,

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post Inspiration is Perishable (a free poster) appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

June 2022: Biz & Life Review

Possums!

Yay! Welcome back to my monthly tradition where I review my life & business & share behind-the-scenes numbers as well.

I’ll cover:

life blessings & challengeswhat I’ve created in my businesshow much revenue generatedmy goals for next month.

You can read previous monthly reviews here:

2021

April & MayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovember

2022

Dec 21 & Jan 22February MarchApril MayWant to list to this as a podcast instead?

Easyyyy babes! Just click play above, or subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, PocketCast (or wherever else you listen to podcasts!)

How I went with my goals for the month

Life:

Stay sane hooray! – YAY! WE DID IT!Finish unpacking. – There’s still a few boxes left for Chris’ office, and we’re still not fully organised, but we’re 90% there.Re-install good habits. – On track

Business:

Decide on what to do next! – Decided. Ran a sale.Get back on track with my usual business habits. – Slowly happening… mostly just enjoyed having my kids home for three weeks!Keep encouraging my incubator clients. – YAY! DONE!What I got up to in life!

Well babes, June was a wildly full & social month for me. Hold tight while we go on a wee adventure!

We moved into our new home 3 days before the start of June, so our month was really spent unpacking and getting settled. We are still completely in love with our new house, and SO glad we made the move! It’s a very cosy and comfortable home, and we feel at ease here.My kids finished up their school term. My eldest performed a song at their end of term concert, I was SO HAPPY for her! Sometimes she feels performance anxiety, and she was SO confident and brave!We celebrated the end of school term by descending upon the local crepe store with 12 kids and 6 mums. It was great fun! Then me & other mums traded off kids for the rest of the day so we could attend parent-teacher conferences. Mine went to the river with friends while I talked to their teachers, then I took one of their friends home. Teacher conferences were so awesome and positive which is lovely. I’m so proud of how empathetic and hard working my wee mermaids are.We had three weeks of school holidays. We originally thought we’d be excitable and go on great adventures, then realised that the kids (and us) needed some solid home time to feel grounded in their new space. So that’s what we did, and it was a joy.We planted out a herb patch. My kids spent endless hours out on the street playing with the neighbours. We had lunch at the beach with the kids. We almost died laughing playing “Cards Against Humanity: Family Edition”.I also accidentally ended up at some kind of concert? Dance? World Earth Day? I don’t know, but there was a lot of middle aged hippies dancing barefoot in the park.I got a couple of hour long reflexology sessions to help my feet and body cope with moving aches.We got our old acreage house painted and pressure washed and cleaned and styled, ready to go on the market.I went to a full moon 5Rhythms dance, but had to leave after twenty minutes because it was too much of a sensory overload for my Autistic senses. Instead I got myself a “smoothie” from Macca’s and went to the beach and watched the moon on the waves and it was deadset magical. Also, if you’re wondering what the “smoothie” was – it was an Oreo McFlurry with caramel fudge. It was thick like a smoothie, and it also had chunky bits, and I could have eaten it with a spoon OR a straw. SO… technically, a smoothie, and I cannot be dissuaded otherwise. You’re welcome.Our dear friend Rikki came to visit. We’ve been friends for… 20 years? We met online on SARK’s Marvellous Message Board in the early 2000s, and have been online friends, penpals, real life friends, and almost related in a hilarious and bizarre way. We haven’t been able to see her during the pandemic and it was SO good to see her again.Had therapy. It was most excellent.My 12yo started her own Wreck This Journal, and it thrilled me. I remember doing it when it first came out in 2007… I followed Keri Smith’s blog back in 2004. I’m like a tween trendsetter decades before my time! Hahahah!We had Chris’ parents come over for lunch and morning tea quite a few times, including an enormous Christmas in July BBQ bonanza. It’s bloody lovely having them live just down the road now!I took the kids to the movies with their girlfriends to watch Minions. I fucking hate watching 99% of all movies, so I read most of “Free To Focus” by Michael Hyatt on the Kindle app on my phone during it.

I think that’s about it! Enormously busy, really! And that’s on top of moving!

Best BooksKimiko Does Cancer: A Graphic Memoir by Kimiko TobimatsuWe Should All Be Millionaires: A Woman’s Guide to Earning More, Building Wealth, and Gaining Economic Power by Rachel RodgersStuck with You (The STEMinist Novellas, #2) by Ali HazelwoodThe Cheat Sheet by Sarah AdamsWhat I did in my business!

June was filled with:

I got to hang out face-to-face with one of my Incubator coaching clients, the extraordinarily talented Cass Deller. I loves her!I went to dinner with a gaggle of other local business goddesses. We had the BEST TIME… my face hurt from laughing so much! I adored hanging out with Tash Corbin, Amanda Rootsey, Cass Deller, Claire Riley and Brigit Esselmont. Can’t wait for the next one! Look at me NAME DROPPING like a glamorous motherfucker. Am I…. am I posh now?I crashed got invited as a “special guest” to Tash and Claire’s Finish Fest retreat picnic. Luxury picnic? On the river? At sunset? With adorable humans? COUNT ME THE FUCK IN. I’d say it was networking at it’s finest IF I was the kind to use the word networking. But I’m not. So instead I’ll say I gently rubbed my nub upon other nubbly bumbs and it was glorrrrrrrrious.I did weekly Sales Star calls.I did our usual monthly group coaching calls for all e-course students.I did a coaching call with my small group of Incubator coaching clients.We ran a 3 day sale.

That’s a whole lot of socialising and coaching calls I don’t ordinarily do!

Blog posts I publishedMay 2022 Biz & Life Review$100 off for the next 72 hours!InterviewsBecoming Me AgainThe Intentional Creator PodcastPlanner Craft Pro summitCurrent list of software I use to run my business:Kajabi for most things in my business:selling through their shopping cartteaching my courses through their learning management systemrunning my affiliate programActiveCampaign to send all our marketing emails.Optin Monster to create all the pop-ups, reminder windows & lead magnet forms on my website.Calendly to screen interviewers and book in interviews.Xero is my accounting & financial management system.I host my WordPress websites on WPEngine.

More tools of the trade here if you find that kind of thing useful!

How much money I made

$79,825

Where that income came from:E-courses: $68,916Goal Getter planners (digital): $371Goal Getter planners (print royalties): $256Passive income business: $7,150
I set up this business 6 years ago, worked on it actively for a couple of years, and now it’s income that is 100% passive.Shares & Ethical Managed Funds: No increase.Investment property: Now converted to a family property for in-laws.Affiliate for Kajabi: $1500Calm Christmas Planner on Etsy: $24Grants: $1374
For an Export Market Development Grant.Cashback: $207
We pay for all our life & business expenses on awards credit cards that we pay off in full each month before interest is charged. And then we take the awards as cashback. Basically – we get money back for money we have spent. Free money! (As long as you pay it off religiously however!)Honey: $10 giftcard
I use the free Honey plugin to search for coupons and discounts whenever I’m buying online. It works a charm and I save money – sometimes $25+ in a single purchase. AND I also get awards for using it, that I then cash out as an Amazon giftcard. Free money!Upstreet: Currently at $17.03.
Upstreet is another free app that gives me fractional shares when I purchase with participating companies. I was getting meal delivery with Marley Spoon, so I earned $17 in Marley Spoon shares! It’s pretty fun really… especially when it’s free money!E-course income breakdown:40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course: $17,515Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income: $13,650Sales Star: $12,89640 Days To A Finished Book: $7,858Marketing Without Social Media: $3,820Work Less, Earn More: $1,090Get Organised!: $436Mini workshop: Behind The Scenes of A Multi-Millionaire’s Finances: $200

 

Expenses

Due to popular request, I’m going to include expenses for the business as well to give you an even more transparent look at profitability.

Contractors: $5,759
This is for 1 part time Customer Service Virtual Assistant and 1 part time Online Business Manager. This is probably on the higher side for pricing, but I don’t mind paying more for people who I trust and have a long term working relationship with. I want them to feel appreciated, and I want them to be able to live good lives.Affiliates: $7,200Paypal & account fees: $1,133Accounting: $3,000Software subscriptions for everything we use to run our business online (see full list further below): $2235Website hosting: $98Courses & books (for me & my staff to learn from, we are continuously learning): $1,000Minimum purchase order to qualify for my passive income business income: $150

Total expenses this month: $20,575

Profit levels!

Total profit: $59,250 (before tax)

That’s approx 75% profit EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes).

From that profit, my husband and I take salaries (that we then pay personal tax on) and pay compulsory superannuation (contributions to retirement funds).

The rest of the profit stays in the holding company, and regularly gets invested in ethical managed funds. If you want more details on how we manage and grow our income streams, Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income is the course for you!

Goals for next month

To be honest, I’m not going to set goals for July. I’m just going to trust myself and follow my flow! HOORAY!

It’s a joy to be here!

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Love,

FREE GOODIES:

Weekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post June 2022: Biz & Life Review appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

On Being Psychiatrically Diagnosed with ADHD

Dearests,

Nearly a decade ago, I realised I was Autistic. It was life-changing for me to discover in my early 30s that so much of what I had struggled with in my life wasn’t actually my fault – it was how my brain was built. I was officially diagnosed by a psychologist two years ago. It wasn’t surprising to get the official ASD diagnosis, I already knew deep in my cells that’s what the answer was. What surprised me was my diagnosing psychologist said I may also have ADHD as my working memory was low.

At the time, I didn’t understand or identify with having ADHD.

In my mind, I didn’t look like the stereotypical image of ADHD: a young boy who can’t concentrate or sit still, and usually did poorly academically. It was the same with ASD of course – I didn’t recognise myself as ASD because our cultural understanding of it is male Sheldon-like characters. It’s only once I started looking at the non-male stereotypes did I find myself represented.

Here’s what helped me recognise my ADHD-ness:Reading articles about women-centric ADHD (here’s a recent one).Discovering that a significant portion of people with ASD also have ADHD (up to 78%).Finding out that ADHD is common for entrepreneurs.I don’t use social media except for occasional video watching on Youtube & TikTok. TikTok has some excellent ADHD educational videos.Talking to my women friends with ADHD.Learning about the 7 types of ADHD (I am inattentive).

Eventually I decided I’d like to try medication for ADHD and see if it made a positive difference.

The process of getting formally diagnosed

Here in Australia, my psychological assessment wasn’t enough to be prescribed ADHD medication. I had to instead have an assessment by a psychiatrist. Here’s some details for those who are interested in the process.

I went to my usual GP, and he referred me to a telehealth psychiatrist (Dr Tanase) who had diagnosed a few of his other patients.I was able to book online.I had to book four months ahead for a diagnosis.It cost $600. I get approx $230 back on Medicare. I acknowledge the enormous privilege of me being able to access and afford formal diagnosis.Because Dr Tanase is in NSW and I’m in QLD, he’s not able to prescribe me directly. Instead, he has to send a letter of recommendation authorising my GP to prescribe the medication to me.Here’s how the process went:It lasted over 30 minutes. It probably could have gone for longer but I didn’t have any further questions, and my case was fairly cut and dry.The psychiatrist asked me a lot of questions about my family history of mental health, trauma and abuse, what medications I currently use, what ADHD symptoms most affected me, if I’d had any drug or alcohol addictions. Some of the questions were confronting. Psychiatrists are clinical practitioners, and aren’t there to provide pastoral support like a psychologist.He also guided me through a test to determine how often I experienced ADHD symptoms. That one made me laugh a lot.
“Do you talk too much in social situations?” “HAHAHAHAHA OH GOD YES.”
“Do you find it difficult to remember appointments?” “OMG YES. I have SO MANY TIMERS set.”
“Are you impulsive or distracted?” “Let me answer that by saying: it takes me 4x as long to go anywhere than it takes my husband. I get completely distracted by everything and have many fine adventures doing exactly what I didn’t intend to do! And then I arrive home three hours later and haven’t remembered anything I was supposed to.”The diagnosis:

In the space of twenty minutes, the psychiatrist said:

“Yes, it’s very clear you have ADHD. It’s not been picked up at this point because you are both highly intelligent and extremely ambitious, so you’ve been able to achieve a level of success. You’ve also constructed an intense level of systems to help you. However, it comes at a cost that is higher than for others.

You’ve been able to mask your ADHD until you had children when the mental load wiped out your executive functioning. This has affected your confidence as a mother.

Since then, you’ve experienced ongoing anxiety and bouts of depression. The anxiety and depression may actually be a symptom of ADHD, and could possibly leave completely if you are medicated for ADHD. It may not, given your strong family history of mental health disorders. However this medication could be life-changing for you.”

I cried at this point.

As he finished up, he asked:

“Do you have any questions for me?”

“Yes. Is it safe for me to drive with this medication.”

“It’s not just safer, it’s highly recommended you do use this medication to drive. A disproportionately large number of car accidents are caused by people with ADHD who are unmedicated.”

This both made me cackle and terrified me.

He also recommended that I try out ADHD coaching. He recommended The Divergent Edge. I’ll have a looksee at them and other ADHD coaches to see what would be the best personality fit for me.

We finished up.

Next steps in the process:I have to do blood tests and an ECG to confirm I am safe to use the medication (dexamphetamine). It’s usually not recommended for people with high blood pressure. I’m in luck – I’ve got low blood pressure.Afterwards, I’ll return to my GP to get prescribed.I’ll start with one tablet, and slowly increase as required. Up to 8 tablets a day if needed. Basically, we’ll be testing what gives the best effect for the least side effect.If the medication is not the right fit for me, I can go back to the psychiatrist to see if something else may work better.And of course, I’m totally open to the possibility that medication isn’t the right fit for me at all. But I do want to try it.Once we hung up:

I went and talked to my husband about it. I could sense I had some feelings building up inside me, so I decided to go for a walk. I took my phone and voicemailed my best mate to talk out what had happened. At a certain point, I began sobbing.

I sobbed for so many reasons.

The euphoria. The euphoria of finally being known. Of having a name for this twisty, glorious, painful, ridiculous, hilarious thing inside me.

The vulnerability of being so seen. How is it possible that in less than an hour, I could be noticed when I haven’t been noticed like this in almost 40 years? I felt sliced right through.

It also made me dare to hope that things might become easier for me. That life may not require the level of jury-rigged systems I have in place to not forget shit. That life doesn’t come at the enormous cost of exhaustion and sensory overwhelm that it currently does.

And lastly, the pain. The pain of how taxing parenting has been for me. How little confidence I’ve had in my parenting skills because constant consistency is my kryptonite. The constant shame of how little things like housework has always somehow felt beyond me. The pain of pushing so hard in every area of my life to somehow be competent. The exhaustion of how all of this is so.much.work.

I sobbed for kilometres until I found a park to lay down in and watch the sky. I wiped my snotty face all over my tshirt. Watched the gums dance in the wind. And then when it was enough, I wound my way back through a boardwalk in the rainforest. Watched the scrub turkey build his nest. Walked back out into the light, and found my way home.

If you asked me if I had a choice between being neurodivergent or not, I would choose neurodivergent. Over and over again. Despite the pain, the frustration, the difficulty. I’d choose it again, just as I’d choose me again.

The best parts of me are tangled up in this. My creativity, my genius, my insight, my hilariousness. I have the best fucking time with myself.

My brain works differently. It is not broken. It just needs different things to thrive. That may mean medication, it may not. But I am determined to give myself whatever I can to make life softer for me.

I’ll let you know what I discover as I go along.

Thank you, as always, for sharing this beautiful, winding path with me.

I love you,

Important Boundaries:

I’m not open to hearing about why you think medication is bad. I wish to try for myself and see if the benefits outweigh any potential negative.

I don’t need to hear how a supplement/essential oil/vitamin/energy healing/special hippy jewellery/himalayan salt prayed over by virgin monks will fix me. I love, appreciate and use complementary medicine. And I’m also very open to using allopathic medicine as well. All are tools in the healing tool belt.

I’m not open to hearing how “everyone is on the spectrum.” Saying that takes away the pain and particular struggle of neurodiverse people. (Also, I reckon that people who say it are usually undiagnosed neurodivergents!)

I’m also not interested in hearing “I don’t understand why everyone wants to be diagnosed these days.” That’s a privileged and ableist perspective to take. We require diagnosis so we can understand our bodies and minds better, and give ourselves the support we require.

Thank you for your understanding and love as always!

FREE GOODIES:

Weekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post On Being Psychiatrically Diagnosed with ADHD appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

A Creative Life Podcast

Loves,

I am SO thrilled to share another scrumptious interview with you all!

I sat down with Cass and Sam on their podcast A Creative Life for a truly amazing episode. And! Cass is in my Uplevel Incubator, so really this was just like chatting with two new besties.

Cass and Sam describe it best:

Leonie shares her journey from working in government to running her multi million dollar business. Over the years she has created 180 e-courses (!!) and continues to launch new ones all the time.

Cass is a long time fan of Leonie and is currently being coached by her and when Sam took a look at her work, we knew we had to get her on the poddie! Both of our ears pricked up when we found one of her recent courses on how to market without social media. Yours too?!

So, in January 2021 Leonie did a 21 day challenge taking a break from social media and she never went back! She saw her brain heal and her life be filled with so much joy and creativity and self confidence.

In this episode Leonie shares a bunch of ways that you can market without social media (too many to list them all here, you’ll have to give it a listen to find out!) and her signature marketing plan method on a white piece of paper.

Click HERE to listen, or you can find the episode anywhere you listen to podcasts!

Love always,

FREE GOODIES:

Newsletter with absoloodely everything I createWeekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post A Creative Life Podcast appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

What You Can Do In Times Like This (a free poster)

Dearest friends,

Fuckkkkk me my darlings. I can’t even believe we have to be talking about this, but here we are. The wheels of time have turned back half a decade with last week’s devastating overturning of Wade v. Roe in the US.

I’ve been reading, feeling, wondering what to do next. I hate the feelings of despondency that come with these shitty situations… so I always turn towards action. What can I do next? Even as an Australian, how can I support the rights of our American hotties with a uterus?

This helpful tweet by Sherrilyn Ifill (a civil rights lawyer and President of NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund) lays out some brilliant action advice for peeps living in America right now.

I wanted to amplify it along, so I made it into a poster for you.

You can download the PDF here.

This is NOT an opt-in. You don’t need to join the freebie library or my mailing list. The download link will take you directly to the PDF.

Feel free to print & share along however you wish. No attribution to me necessary – please just recognise that the words are written by Sherrilyn Ifill.

I am sending you all so much courage, community, resistance and resolution. We will make it through this enormous bullshit. We will make a world safer and more equitable for us all.

Big Love,

The post What You Can Do In Times Like This (a free poster) appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

$100 off for the next 72 hours!

TIME LEFT TO SAVE OVER HALF PRICE:

Possum blossoms,

I’ve decided to do something a wee bit wild and hold a whopping big FLASH SALE!

For the next three days you can save over HALF PRICE on each of my 3 most popular programs:Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income 40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course40 Days To Finish Your Book

Your eyes are not deceiving you, loves. For the next three days you can enrol in the above courses for the ridiculously low price of $99US each… down from $199!

If you’ve been thinking about enrolling, now is absolutely the time! I don’t run sales like this very often and once the timer hits zero the discount will disappear forevs.

I want you to get your money sorted! I want you to finish your book! I want you to create and sell your e-course!

These programs have been used by 5,000+ people already, and the reviews are raving. My courses are bloody fun while being hugely practical, powerful and useful. Let’s make some magic together!

You will get:

permanent access to the course (at least 12 months+) complimentary access to future live rounds comprehensive training from an industry leader, best-selling author & self made multi-millionaire.

… all at a bargain price!

Can’t wait to see you in there!

And just some tiny disclaimers:

Sorry, this sale can’t be used retroactively… if you’ve already bought the course before the sale, we’re not able to refund you for the extra amount.No payment plans available on these sale amounts sorry… you’re already saving over half price!If you miss out on the sales price before the deadline, we’re not able to offer it later. Don’t get distracted or forget it – if you want it, buy now!I love you no matter what!Any questions?

Just email support@leoniedawson.com. We’re here to help!

Big love & gratitude,

TIME LEFT TO SAVE HALF PRICE:

The post $100 off for the next 72 hours! appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

May 2022 Biz & Life Review

New beloved tshirt from Snag Tights

Possums!

Yay! Welcome back to my monthly tradition where I review my life & business & share behind-the-scenes numbers as well.

This one is late due to a cacophony of WTAF, which I’ll share more about below.

I’ll cover:

life blessings & challengeswhat I’ve created in my businesshow much revenue generatedmy goals for next month.

You can read previous monthly reviews here:

2021

April & MayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovember

2022

Dec 21 & Jan 22February MarchApril How I went with my goals for the month

Life:

New house renovation – DONE. I am so so so so so so glad we did it!Move in – DONE. What a dream come true!Prep new house for sale – DONE. It was a mammoth effort, but we’re just about to list!Stay sane – DONE. Thanks to my bestie, my husband & my therapist. Team work makes the dream work!Also, don’t fuck up my back – DONE. Thanks to the help of my osteopath & pilates instructor.Or my nervous system – DONE. Thanks medically prescribed CBD oil! (more about that soon)

Business:

Work with my Incubator coaching clients – DONE!Get Organised completed, launched & put to bed – DONE!Weekly newsletters. – Mostly done!What I got up to in life!

Gosh, where do I start. May was an intense and transformative month for us.

We packed up our acreage home (I made the mistake of packing everything myself like a straight up eeeedjit!)We got flooded in AGAIN. The bridge near our acreage house went under, so we went on a rescue mission to get the kids from school. I’m thrilled to be living in a place that doesn’t get flooded in. There’s been times when our school run is 4+ hours a day because we’ve had to take flooding detours. We started feeling a bit nutty.We settled on our new home near the beach, and had renovations done (new wood hybrid flooring & wallpaper removed).We moved into our new home. There’s still a lot of boxes to unpack still, but overall we’re fucking delighted!We started prepping the acreage for sale (gardeners, painters, cleaners, stylist etc).We moved my in-laws into our investment property so we could spend more time together & look after them better. (Our new home is only 4 minutes from their new home now! Instead of 2 hours!)On top of all this… while I was sitting on the front lawn of our new house waiting for the removalists truck, I got The Phonecall. You know the one. The one that makes your heart drop and world begin to spin. One of my closest family members has been diagnosed with cancer. It’s not me or my husband or kids – I’d be catatonic if this was the case. It’s still bloody heart-wrenching though. I don’t really wish to share details, as it’s not my story to tell. I just feel like I’m wandering around with an enormous, invisible load.All up, it’s a case of life being brutiful, as Glennon Doyle would say. One part brutal, the other part beautiful.New house

I just want to add here – I fucking LOVE our new house. I haven’t been in love with a house since we lived in Kuranda. I’m just thrilled to bits. We’ve only moved 30 minutes south of where we were, so we haven’t had to change schools, doctors, post boxes or anything like that. We just get to be closer to things!

And even though we moved from an acreage back into suburbia, our kids are outside playing more than ever. We live on a cul-de-sac and it’s like we’ve been transported back in time to the 1970s. There’s lots of kids on our street, and they play out there constantly! My kids have already made friends with the other kids, and they are often out there playing hopscotch or handball or riding scooters or drawing with chalk until I call them in for teatime. We’ve also met almost all our neighbours now, and they are super friendly and lovely. This street even has its own Christmas party each year! Ha! We’ve never experienced such a communal street before! WOT IN THE RETRO FUCK IS THIS! It’s such a gorgeous and unexpected blessing.

Before we left the acreage, we talked about what we’d miss the most. My husband said he would miss the birds in the backyard, and that he hoped a butcher bird that we called “Mr Clippy” would come find us. The first weekend we were here, we sat on the verandah with his parents, and a butcher bird came and sat on his mum’s chair next to her! We were all cooing “MR CLIPPY! YOU FOUND US!”

It’s such a blessing to be near the beach again, closer to friends and much less travel distance to everything!

My experiments with CBD oil

So, I wanted to share a bit more intensively about my experiment with CBD oil.

I’ve been testing medically prescribed CBD oil for few months now to treat my anxiety levels and pain from hypermobility.

I’ve only used cannabis once before (with THC), and it made me hyperactive and non-verbal. I’ve never used illegal substances outside of that, and didn’t have any desire to. I felt like my brain chemistry was wild and magical and sensitive enough without me fucking with it! Ha!

A hypermobile friend mentioned to me a year or so ago that they used CBD oil for pain levels. I sat with it for a long while, and decided I may as well try it. Because I’m very much a rule-follower, I wanted to get it medically prescribed. I did a telehealth appointment with a nurse and a GP through Montu.

I decided to start off by only trying CBD oil (without THC – the psychoactive component).

I’ll be honest – the first time I took it, I felt absolutely… N O T H I N G. I didn’t feel more relaxed, sleepy or any other mood change. I was so unimpressed I didn’t have any more for a couple of weeks when I decided since I’d paid for the bottles, I might try some consistent treatment to at least use up the bottles. And what I discovered was that with the consistent use, it had a cumulative effect which was subtle and yet life changing. Trying hard not to sound like a wanker here, so stay with me! Bahahaha!

Here’s how it makes a difference:

Most significantly, it reduces the impact of my Autism. A big day out with a lot of stimulation would usually take me at least 3 days to recover from. My head pounds, my thoughts race, my anxiety accelerates, my skin feels like it’s on fire. Now if I get a decent sleep that night, I’m fine the next day. I still need to monitor how much I schedule into my calendar of course, but the Autistic shutdowns are far less severe. It feels like I have a cushioning in my life that I didn’t have before.After the month of intensity in May with moving and big life styff, I would fully expect to be Enormously Fucked Up both physically and mentally. I’m not though – I’m tired but not fucked. That’s enormous.Breakthrough anxiety occurs much less.I am doing less emotional eating.

I’m still using my anti-depressants. At some point I may be able to reduce my dosage because my anxiety is managed. Apparently a lot of CBD patients can eventually go off them completely. I’m reticent to go completely off them however because they also serve as a preventative buffer for depressive episodes for me. Depression is a significantly occurring mental health condition in my family so I know I’m genetically predisposed. The last two episodes I had (a few months ago & a few years ago) were difficult enough that I don’t want to go anywhere near one again.

Anyways, so I’m thrilled that I’ve tried out CBD oil. I genuinely can’t imagine having to go through life raw dogging it without CBD oil! Bahahahahaha!

[image error]Collage Portraits

In May I needed something to use as stress relief during our move… so I started making collage portraits of friends using my digital illustration setup.

I’m so in love with them!

My darling friend/adopted English niece Katie Draws

My darling mate Lena. We’ve been best mates since high school!

Bilvy , my handsome adopted nephew & talented comic artist!
AUNTY BETTY IS SO PROUD OF YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS DARLING TELL MARGARET I LOVE THEM TOO

My dynamo friend Tina Tower. Please note, I am incapable of calling her Tina. It MUST be Tina Tower in full! Bahahahah!

My mate Ariel Meadow Stallings. I’ve only been reading her blogs for oh… nearly two decades now?

The woman, the myth, the legend :: DDT! We’ve been mates for over a decade now!

Who is the president of the Lizzy Goddard fan club? THIS BISH IS!

The absolute darling Tash Corbin. I used to just crush on her online but now we are REAL LIFE FRIENDS who live near each other and go to dinner and talk shit in person and stuff! 

Gosh I have hot and smart and talented friends. I’m a lucky lucky ducky!

Best BooksThe Life-Changing Magic of a Little Bit of Mess by Kerri Sackville 
I love a good “fuck cleaning!” book. Bahahahahah!Strap on a Pair: A Middle-Aged, Middle-Management, Middle-Class Moms Quest for Something More by Abby Lou Walker
Love this business memoir by my mate Abby from Vivian Lou.Century Girl: 100 Years in the Life of Doris Eaton Travis, Last Living Star of the Ziegfeld Follies by Lauren Redniss
Scrumptious scrapbook style memoir. The visuals were divine!They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
Graphic novel on George Takei’s childhood. I had no idea about that part in history where in the US, they arrested Japanese-American residents and put them in concentration camps for years!Best TVMe & my love have been continuing to treat ourselves to daytime viewings of Dead Pixels. Hot damn it is fucking FUNNY.Me, he & ze kids have been studiously watching Ryan Trahan’s Youtube series each night about crossing the US on a penny. Ryan is 10/10 adorable.What I did in my business!

May was filled with:

Finishing Get Organised courseLaunching a live round of Sales StarCoaching my small group of mentorees on their businessCreated a free monthly business plan templateBlog posts I published41 Magical & Inspiring Things I’ve Found On The Web Of Late!Your FREE Monthly Business PlanReady to master your sales and make BIG bucks?InterviewsThe Rach Active PodcastThe Planner Craft Pro SummitMaster of None with Cheryl WoodhouseMarketing Without Social Media with Viv GuyCurrent list of software I use to run my business:Kajabi for most things in my business:selling through their shopping cartteaching my courses through their learning management systemrunning my affiliate programActiveCampaign to send all our marketing emails.Optin Monster to create all the pop-ups, reminder windows & lead magnet forms on my website.Calendly to screen interviewers and book in interviews.Xero is my accounting & financial management system.I host my WordPress websites on WPEngine.

More tools of the trade here if you find that kind of thing useful!

How much money I made

$91,044

Where that income came from:E-courses: $82,657Goal Getter planners (digital): $455Goal Getter planners (print royalties): $223Passive income business: $7,039Shares & Ethical Managed Funds: No increase.Investment property: Now converted to a family property for in-laws.Affiliate for Kajabi: $670Calm Christmas Planner on Etsy: $0E-course income breakdown:Marketing Without Social Media: $3,83340 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course: $4,703Work Less, Earn More: $842Sales Star: $45,052Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income: $2,43540 Days To A Finished Book: $357Mini workshop: Behind The Scenes of A Multi-Millionaire’s Finances: $123Get Organised!: $12,266

 

Expenses

Due to popular request, I’m going to include expenses for the business as well to give you an even more transparent look at profitability.

Contractors: $5,759
This is for 1 part time Customer Service Virtual Assistant and 1 part time Online Business Manager. This is probably on the higher side for pricing, but I don’t mind paying more for people who I trust and have a long term working relationship with. I want them to feel appreciated, and I want them to be able to live good lives.Donation: $7,500
Thrilled to share we were able to give $7,500 to local Indigenous organisation SevGen to help them establish their bush tucker orchard. That donation covers about 3-4 months of our usual giving.Business tax paid: $31,830 (much larger yearly tax bill – not just our usual monthly tax)Affiliates: $7,200Paypal & account fees: $2,680Software subscriptions for everything we use to run our business online (see full list further below): $3832Website hosting: $98Courses & books (for me & my staff to learn from, we are continuously learning): $2932Minimum purchase order to qualify for my passive income business income: $150

Total expenses this month: $61,981.
Much higher than usual – half of it is to pay annual tax due. And of course the $7.5k donation, which we were stoked to do!

Profit levels!

Total profit: $59,993 (before tax)

$29,063 (after tax)

That’s approx 65% profit EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) and 31% profit earnings after tax (EAT). Not as high as usual, but totes happy to pay taxes & donate so much!

From that profit, my husband and I take salaries (that we then pay personal tax on) and pay compulsory superannuation (contributions to retirement funds).

The rest of the profit stays in the holding company, and regularly gets invested in ethical managed funds. If you want more details on how we manage and grow our income streams, Money, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income is the course for you!

Goals for next month

Life:

Stay sane hooray!Finish unpacking.Re-install good habits.

Business:

Decide on what to do next!Get back on track with my usual business habits.Keep encouraging my incubator clients.It’s a joy to be here!

Thank you for sharing this journey with me.

Love,

FREE GOODIES:

Weekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post May 2022 Biz & Life Review appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

The Intentional Creator Podcast

Loves,

Another week has begun and naturally I have another fabulous podcast interview to share! How scrummy!

Lisa Borin Miller from the Intentional Creator Podcast invited me on to have a chat about… well… everything!

The lovely Lisa explains:

In this conversation Leonie and I discuss how she makes over 1 million dollars a year, working part-time, creating what she likes and having tons of fun along the way.

Listen in to hear Leonie cover:

Why she left social media and why it was a waste of time for her businessHow to step into your creative dream business and work a day jobHow to turn your client lifecycle into decadesWhy you were born to enjoy yourselfHow to use your intellectual property to start creating streams of incomeWhy it’s essential to leave yourself time to play.

Click HERE to listen, or if you prefer click HERE to watch!

Love always,

FREE GOODIES:

Newsletter with absoloodely everything I createWeekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales StarMarketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post The Intentional Creator Podcast appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

Ready to Reclaim Your Best Self?

Possums!

Last week I gave you all the juicy goss about the FREE bonkerdoodles resource Kareen and Sophie from Reclaim Her have put together.

Here’s a refresher:

Through an online interview series “Becoming Me Again”, leading experts in relationships, intimacy, grief, business, health and wellbeing will take you on a journey over 21 days.

It was born out of our desire to ignite women to move from feeling lost, invisible and stuck to becoming the woman they know in their hearts they are. Becoming Me Again will:

help you reignite that spark deep within you gift you real, personal, practical, powerful and impactful tools to transform your lifesupport you getting your mojo back️facilitate rich, real, raw conversations with real women and more!

And yes! I am one of the fanceh speakers, thank you for asking… *hair flip*

It’s always been a goal of mine to create content that is as real and genuine as myself. Full of sexy swear words, full body guffaws and real strategies & ideas that I genuinely use myself.

The “Becoming Me Again” Interview series is all about harnessing the wisdom of inspiring, brilliant people so you can feel energised and inspired, find purpose and step back into life on your own terms.

Get ready to watch & listen, because you are about discover exactly how to feel more empowered on your journey to create a life that feels meaningful and aligned with your truth.

The summit starts June 6th and runs until June 21st, grab your FREE ticket now!

Love always,

FREE GOODIES:

Newsletter with absoloodely everything I createWeekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales Star Marketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post Ready to Reclaim Your Best Self? appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.

Ready to be a PLANNING Pro?

Possums,

Last week I told you all about the Planner Craft Pro online event, which is kicking off next week.

It just keeps getting better and better – you won’t want to miss it!

I’m so ridiculously excited for you to hear from all the ah-may-zing experts being featured and learn the best of the best planning inspiration & planner themed crafts to make or sell. It’s going to be deliciously good!

I shall be regaling you with absoloootely everything I know about making sales without social media!

You’ll also hear from some of the most amazing names in the planner community, including:

Nadalie BardoNaa Ardua FlohicJav SidAnd a whole lot moooore!

All these fabulous presentations are totally free to you for the first 24-hours… as long as you’re registered!

Click here to nab your free ticket!

You can also get your hands on the gorgeous VIP Planner Pass for a reduced price right now. With it you’ll get access to all the presentations early, lifetime access so you can go back and learn as new strategies become relevant to you and a ton of amazing bonuses from myself and the other speakers. Check it out here!

I can’t wait to see you at the summit!

Love always,

FREE GOODIES:

Newsletter with absoloodely everything I createWeekly love lettersPodcast: Leonie Dawson Refuses To Be CategorisedA library of free treasures

BOOKS:

Goal Getter workbooks for 2022 & beyond!Calm Christmas PlannerSalt: a hottttt romance novella (published under my pen name Lola Leigh)

COURSES:

Get Organised!Work Less, Earn MoreBehind The Scenes of a Multi-Millionaire’s Finances (only $7!)Sales Star Marketing Without Social MediaMoney, Manifesting & Multiple Streams of Income40 Days To A Finished Book40 Days To Create & Sell Your E-Course

The post Ready to be a PLANNING Pro? appeared first on Leonie Dawson | Goals, Marketing + Creativity For Glorious Humans.