Spring Training, Shall We?

The first day of spring has always felt like the true start of the new year for me. This is not to say that I’ve never felt socially obligated to partake in the false sense of hope January 1st brings—reflecting on all the goals I set the year prior but didn’t accomplish, identifying things I apparently don’t dislike about myself enough to actually change. But all peer-pressured participation aside, it has never truly felt aligned with me. Not compared to how I feel on the first day of spring.

When the weather starts to warm, the trees bloom, and the sun shines so brightly that I’m convinced I’m hallucinating when I think I see it waving at me, saying:

“Congratulations, Bitch! You made it. You survived.”

Bold greeting (and assumption, I might add) from someone I haven’t seen or heard from in literally six months—but okay.

All things considered, I do believe a proper catch-up is well overdue. So, let’s begin.

The areas of my life we will be covering are as follows:

• Personal Development

• Business Development

• What’s Next
  
  

Personal Development

I spent majority of the winter rotting. Mostly reflecting on the loss of relationships, both platonic and romantic. Unfortunately, the newness of any city quickly starts to fade the moment you open your mouth and introduce yourself to people. Maybe the secret to happiness is keeping your mouth shut and never meeting people at all.

No, I don’t actually believe that.

What I do believe is that it’s always better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all—no matter how much it hurts to endure at the time.

Something I’ve come to learn about myself is that I’m not great at maintaining large groups of friends. I often find them complicated and distracting. I’ve always wanted to be the kind of person who’s friends with everyone and have this incredible social life, but alas—at the ripe age of 30, I’m finally coming to the peaceful conclusion that I’m just not that person.

And that is okay.

I know that I’m stubborn, selfish, impatient, prickly, and very set in my ways. This is not to say that I completely lack all of the qualities of a good friend—it’s just that most of my natural traits don’t make me an ideal candidate for the masses.

And that is okay too.

Because it means I have more time and love to give to the people who truly take the time to understand me and love me unconditionally. And for those people, I am eternally grateful.

What I’ve come to learn is…

A lot of the qualities that make me feel messy, complicated, and lost in my personal life are the same qualities that bring me purpose, clarity, and fulfillment in my work.

Which brings us to our next category...

Business Development

And I already know what you guys are thinking:

“Anna, there is more to life than work.”

And to that, I say—you’re right. There is so much more to life than work. But we all have bills that we are quite literally forced to pay, and the work we do to pay those bills consumes a huge portion of the uncertain amount of time we have on this earth. So between you and me, I think it’s okay to enjoy the work I do as much as I do.

Cool Aunt Cleaners turns two years old in July. I’m still at the point where I feel incredibly happy and relieved when I can process payroll, pay my rent, and have money left over for groceries. But the goal of hitting seven figures remains the same.

That number has felt daunting, so instead, I’m refocusing my target on a more immediate milestone: consistently hitting $20K per month.

What’s Next

What’s next for me is mastering the art of focus and discipline. Getting really good at doing the boring things over and over—both personally and professionally.

Personally, that means sticking to my routine: drinking water, working out, eating clean.
Professionally, it means doubling down on sales, streamlining operations, and expanding my team.

I’m the queen of self-sabotage—allowing myself to get distracted day-to-day just to delay my own progress. Because quite frankly, I’m scared. Scared that I’m not ready, not good enough, or that it’s all in my head and I’ll never actually get there.

But a big realization I had this winter is that I’m tired of living the same life, year after year. Not living up to my full potential has been weighing on me.

I think the average person looking at my life from the outside would think I’ve accomplished a lot. But that’s the thing about other people’s opinions of you. They really are none of your business—because you are the only person who truly knows what you’re capable of.

You set the goal.
You keep the score.

So, all of this is just to say: I’m locking in this spring and summer, in hopes of finding myself in a significantly better place next fall, next winter, and eventually, for the rest of my life.

Because why would I keep living the same year over and over when there is so much more to do, see, and experience?

Change is scary. But the idea of wasting even an ounce more of potential? That’s even scarier—and quite frankly, unacceptable.

Welcome to Spring Training!

We’ve been expecting you. Buckle up — we’ve got work to do.

xx,

-The Cool Rich Aunt