The holidays have flown by yet again, and the past two months seem like a blur. I have big plans for 2009, so where do I start? Goal setting. It's like New Year's resolutions for your business and personal life with a deadline that you must stay accountable for.

So where do I want to be this time next year? Personally, I would like to have more debt paid down, get back to the gym and lose about 15 pounds, and save enough to have my hubby in a new car by June. Not too hard, right? So let's throw in the business goals. I'd like to end 2009 with $50,000 in services and $7,000 in retail sales. That would give me an increase of about 10%-15% from 2008, which, now that I am more familiar with the area and the clientele, is not unrealistic. So I need to break those numbers down by the months and the weeks, figure out when vacation time will be, and set up my roadmap. Then all of the other numbers, like how many new clients I need to retain and how many cards to hand out weekly, will fall into place. To some this may sound like a lot of brain strain, but once you learn how to use the systems to set these goals, it is easy.

My other professional goal is to complete the educator in training program with Young Nails. They have a need in the area for great education. YN provides it; I just need to bring myself up to another level with my nail services. I am great at doing my own nails, and those with model-like nail beds, but am still perplexed when I am finishing some challenging nails or misplaced product. I have only really felt comfortable with acrylic and gel products for about three years of my six-year career. I still feel like I learn something new every week. No matter what, I will learn a ton about perfecting my art working with Total Nail Solutions, our official YN distributor for North Carolina.

And thanks to Heather and Inspiring Champions, I have the tools I need to set all of the goals into motion. Now I need to sit down at the calendar with my calculator and get to work!

—Adrienne, nail tech