I'm a big believer in eating meals with your family, but I'll admit, it's not easy. It takes creativity and patience, along with a bit of trial-and-error, but it IS possible! 

Today I'm sharing my meal planning process. This works for me and maybe it'll help you too.

This is exactly what it sounds like. I created a list of our favorite meals and put them into a table format. My full list is about 2 pages long. Click here to print a blank template.

In the picture above, you can see that I've listed meals on the left. At the top, I've listed the months.

Every time we eat a meal, I put a check in the box for that month. ​Note - I don't mark the meal until we've actually eaten it. After all, some weeks life gets busy and the plan changes!

And yes, if you look closely, you'll see some of my meals are super-easy. No judgement allowed! Family meals are important to me, but I never said it had to be fancy! 

This is where the Master Menu List really comes in handy!

Every Saturday or Sunday, I make a meal plan for the week. I simply grab that list and choose meals that we HAVEN'T eaten recently. 

If you're like me, you can get into a rut and make the same thing over and over. That's fine of course, but this system helps rotate meals and I like that.

Planning Tip: I found it helpful to have a rough schedule of when I'll cook and when we'll eat leftovers. After all, some teaching days are so busy that I can't cook big meals. On those days, we'll eat leftovers, I'll use the crockpot, or it'll be something super simple, like pizza bagels.

Here's my current meal plan:

• Sunday: Simple dinner 
• Monday: Cook bigger meal
• Tuesday: Leftovers
• Wednesday: Simple
• Thursday: Cook bigger meal
• Friday: Leftovers
• Saturday: Wild card. Just depends on the week.

Honestly, I'm not an adventurous cook. Life's been busy and it hasn't been a top priority.

But THIS year, things are different. I have a Master List of recipes that I plan to try and guess what? I've already tried several of them in the past couple weeks! It's all about spoiling my son before he heads off to college. Discovering new meals is one way I'm doing that.

​Over the next few months, I'll share my favorites with you. Some of them have been huge hits with Kevin and Matthew!

Overnight Oats Recipe
Grab your favorite mug (I love this one!) and mix the following:

• 1/4 cup Steel Oats (1/2 cup if you're using regular oatmeal)
• 1-2 tablespoons Sweetened Coconut
• 1-2 tablespoons Slivered Almonds
• 1 tablespoon Mini-Chocolate Chips (optional)
• Your sweetener of choice. I use 1 packet of Stevia in the Raw.
• 1/4 cup Milk (I prefer a granola-like texture, so I use a little less than 1/4 cup. You could add more if you like. If you're using regular oats, you'll need 1/2 cup milk.)
• Fresh Blueberries are great to add in just before you eat.

NOTE: Steel oats are very hard and this mixture needs to sit for at least 8 hours to be soft enough to eat. The best part is that they'll maintain the chewy texture for a couple days in the fridge, so go ahead and make a couple mugs for the week. You'll be glad you did!

If you liked this post, you might enjoy:
This Year I'm Saying YES to My Family
Teach Piano AND Have Dinner With Your Family? YES!
Quick and Tasty Meatballs
Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup

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Of course, all of this hinges on my ability to say NO and truthfully, that's not easy for me. I'm a "yes" girl at heart. I want everyone to be happy.

But setting boundaries is important. I've written before about the necessity of learning to say NO and this "yes" girl is definitely getting better! Mostly because I'm getting a lot of practice!

The school year hasn't even started and I've said NO to:
​

• 11 new students
• 3 speaking engagements
• 1 meeting (On Matthew's birthday!)

Yikes! Just looking at that list stresses me out! But you know what's crazy? Normally, I would have said "yes" to everything without even blinking. 

I would have reworked my schedule to make everyone happy and then I would have been completely overwhelmed. 

Not this year! My priorities are set.

These are the "yes" decisions I've made:

• YES to my family. (They get me first!)
• YES to my son. (The days are long, but the years are short.)
• YES to my current piano students. (Since I've limited my number, I know I'll have the energy to give them 100%.)
• YES to Upbeat projects. (I love helping piano teachers. This year I'll do a little less, only to ramp back up when I'm an empty nester!)

One of the best parts of this decision is that I feel a huge weight off my shoulders. Since I'm not overwhelmed with commitments this year, my focus will be better. And I'm excited about that!

• There will be time to prep for piano students.
• Time to cook my favorite meals. (Read more here.)
• Time for movie nights.
• Time for Upbeat work. 

​There will be TIME. Because I'm MAKING time - for the things that matter most.

I'd love to hear how you're making time for the important stuff!

Here's a basic formula to help you have some backbone! I'll follow it up with a couple examples.

1. Say something nice.
2. Give your answer.
3. Give any options if applicable.
4. Say thank you.
5. Finish with an encouraging comment.

Note what I DIDN'T include: an explanation. You DON'T need to give an explanation for your answer. You certainly can give one, but you don't have too. 
​
How does this play out in real life? I asked my Upbeat partner, Sara Campbell, to weigh in with a couple examples. She does a fantastic job of putting on her "business hat" when necessary!

Upbeat Planning Academy is only held ONCE a year and we're about to start! 

It runs July 2nd - August 10th. (Between June 26th and June 28th, you can get it for less than half the regular price! Yay!)

Upbeat Planning Academy is a LIVE Coaching Class filled with practical solutions to help you ditch the stress and overwhelm of running your own business and learn to revitalize your studio instead.

Here's what you'll learn in the Academy (It's different from all the business info you're used to hearing!)

• Learn how to ahead of the 2018-2019 school year (It'll feel SO good when August rolls around!)
• Discover how to make necessary changes to your studio policies (We'll help you find your backbone!)
• Learn ways to organize and make the most of your resources (It's easier than you think!)
• Get ideas to make your studio shine (This matters more than you realize.)
• Learn how to better balance work life and family life (Because keeping your priorities in life really matters!)

No more putting off things that need to be done. We're going to give you step-by-step help to get your studio (and family life!) set up for your best year ever!

Space is limited in the academy, so click here and register now! 

Going after goals isn't easy, but hey - you can definitely increase your odds of getting there faster. Yay! ✅ Start practicing these simple steps and you'll bust out your goals in no time! 

​Let's get right to it!

Gasp! But what about goal setting?! Can't I think about that?

Stay with me - I'm not saying to ignore results. In fact, I always START there during the planning stage. BUT... once the planning is done, it's time to shift gears and think about RESULTS.

Real success comes when you get laser-focused on the actual PROCESS of reaching your goals. 

Here's where it gets exciting! Let's take a real-life example that all of us are familiar with: Going to the dentist.

No one wants cavities. Or a root canal. Just the thought is painful! Yikes! 😩 No, we all want to leave the dentist office with good news at every checkup.

BUT...it's not something that we think about on a daily basis.

We don't think "You know, I really should brush my teeth tonight so I don't have a cavity in September." No way! We just do the daily habit of brushing our teeth, trusting that we'll get a good outcome at our next dentist appointment.

That's how it should be with ALL goals!

Stay committed to focusing on the PROCESS and eventually you'll get the results you want. 😃

Let's run through a few scenarios related to teaching piano:

Example 1 - You need more students.

The fastest way to see real results is to focus on the PROCESS daily. What does that look like? You could:

• Create a flyer
• Advertise on Facebook
• Contact school music teachers
• Give current students a referral credit
• Consider teaching online lessons in another area

You get the idea!

Now focus on one step every day and you'll be registering new students before you know it! 👊 Click here to get the planner pages to help with this!

Example 2 - You need more money, but don't you want to teach more hours.
​
Instead of stressing out over a lack of money, focus on the PROCESS. You could:

• Raise your rates
• Add a lab time
• Transition to group lessons (adding just one class of group lessons would up your income)
• Add one group of preschoolers
• Create a product to sell

Now all you have to do is choose something to focus on every day, or every week. You might need to break your goals into even smaller steps, but keep plugging away and trust that the process will get you to your end goal. 

Okay! Let's keep going! But first, ​I've got a worksheet just for you​ to help you map out YOUR ideal steps to reach those goals.

What? You don't want me to dream anymore?!

Well...it's good to dream. Just don't stay there! 😃

Here's the truth: When it comes to goal-setting, one thing that people miss is writing down their goals and reviewing them daily.

Oh, we all know we're SUPPOSED to do that. But few people ever do.

Real success comes when you actually WRITE DOWN your goals. (Don't roll your eyes at me. 🙄This really works!) Put your goals down on paper.

Here's a great exercise I want you to try. You'll see in no time how it helps you push past "dreaming" and gets you seriously focused on what you REALLY want.

1. Grab a notebook and write the date at the top of the first page.
2. Write down several goals you'd like to achieve.
3. The next day, do the same thing - WITHOUT looking at the previous page.
4. Keep doing this for one month.
5. THEN at the end of the month, look back and take note of what goals keep showing up. THOSE are the things you need to go after. 

Truth bomb! The second day I tried this, I literally couldn't remember what goals I wrote on Day 1. 😳 Embarrassing yes, but I'm keeping it real.

That's when I realized there was POWER in writing down your goals. It gives you the opportunity to process what you REALLY want. And REMEMBER what you wrote down. ✅ Cause some of us need that! ​🙄

If you're after serious results, don't skip this step!

Oh I know this sounds crazy! But hear me out! Many times in life we WANT to do things, but we don't FEEL like doing them.

Serious results come when you focus on what you WANT, not what you FEEL like doing.

Feelings come and go. Often, they'll lead us AWAY from our goals. Let's go over a couple examples and you'll see what I mean!

Example - You want to get in better shape.

I'll be the first to admit that some days I complain - I don't want to work out!

But WAIT! That's not really true. I WANT to work out. I just don't FEEL like it. There's a big difference! Don't trust your feelings when it comes to going after goals!

Here's another example - You want to rewrite your studio policies.
​
Most of us won't cheer "Yippee!" at the thought of working on this project. Nope. More than likely, you won't ever FEEL like working on it. But you know you WANT to get it done. 

This is when you have to be a grown-up, ignore your feelings, and do SOMETHING. It'll bring serious results in no time! 
​

Here's a question that often comes up in Online Lesson Academy: Do you charge less for online lessons? (Not make-up lessons, but students who are 100% online students.)

It always makes me smile because my online students actually pay MORE than my in-person students. Gasp! MORE? Yes - they really do!

I'll give you the nitty gritty details on that in a minute....but first....

Many teachers feel a little.....guilty about online lessons and want to charge less. I'll be honest, I don't get it. 

Here are the facts:

• Your qualifications haven't changed.
• Lessons are the same length of time.
• You're teaching the same material.
• You're providing a convenience for the family, since there's no travel to your studio.
• You have to be more organized. (You can't simply flip through your student's book to look at past assignments.)

There's no reason to charge less, so don't sell yourself short. Keep the same rate.

Unless....

Online lessons allow you to teach students who live absolutely anywhere. You have a lot more freedom when it comes to pricing.

When we lived in the Dallas area, my rates were higher. After we moved to a smaller city, I needed to lower my price, but I kept my Dallas students at the same rate. Even though they transitioned to online lessons. 

If you want to build your studio (and your income!) you can do the same thing by adding online students who live outside of your area.

It's a great solution for teachers who live in small towns. You're able to teach students who live anywhere in the world - and yes, you can charge a higher rate.

​When my family decided to move, I was faced with a big decision: try online lessons or lose my entire studio.

Believe it or not, I let my fears get the best of me - and I told all my families to find a new teacher. Yep! I really did!

But then, as our move date got closer, reality hit. I didn't want to lose my students. We'd invested SO much time together. Fortunately, I decided to get brave and go for it!

Thank goodness I did!! YOU CAN DO THIS TOO!

​Do you want to add this option to your studio, but find yourself hesitating? You're not alone!

Lots of teachers are worried about technology. Or lack confidence with all the equipment. Or they're afraid  they won't know how to troubleshoot. That's the very reason Sara Campbell and I created Teaching Online Lessons. (Click here to access our Valentine's Day Sale!)

Once you register, you'll be invited to join our Facebook Mastermind group. We're there for you with any questions you might have.

You'll be up and going in no time!

Have you ever gotten an idea and launched right into it, without stopping to think it through? This happened to me just a couple weeks ago. 

Because my son will be a senior in high school this fall, one of my goals is to lighten my teaching schedule. I really want enjoy this last year with him before he heads off to college!

It occurred to me that hosting group lessons once a month in lieu of private lessons would be the perfect low-stress solution. Idea planted. Done! 

But then I talked with my Upbeat partner, Sara Campbell. The first thing out of her mouth was "Will planning that every month actually be more stressful for you?"

Hmmmm...I hadn't considered that. I was only thinking about "teaching" time. 

And then I realized....I hadn't really looked at this from every angle. What I really needed was to STOP everything and do some serious thinking.

Here's the point: When we take time to really think over new ventures BEFORE we dive in, we increase the odds of success. 

Are you considering a new venture that involves preschoolers? I hope these questions will help you figure out if it's the right move for you!

It sounds like an obvious question, but the truth is most people have age preferences. For example: teenagers. Some people LOVE teaching teens - and other teachers will avoid them at all costs!  

Take the time to think about what ages YOU like to teach.

​Yes, adding preschoolers might be great for your bottom line, but if you don't like this age group, you'll never find the success you're looking for.

Adding preschoolers will help YOU in several ways:

• You'll make more money.
• You'll be able to work "off hours."
• You'll have students ready to move right into "regular" piano lessons.
• These students will have a solid foundation. (That YOU gave them - not another teacher.)
• You'll get a reputation for teaching the young ones.

But this option would also benefit your students. Take the time to think about this option from the perspective of your families. How will it help them? What will they gain from preschool lessons?

One thing's for sure - you'll be helping youngsters develop a love of music early in life. That's invaluable!  

Starting any new venture is exciting! But there's always a learning curve. Do you have time to research everything?

You'll need to think about:

• Class type
• Method options
• Goals Setting
• How to deal with behavior issues
• Age appropriate activities
• And a lot more!

If reading that list got you excited, then teaching preschoolers is probably a good move for you!

I'll be honest - when I started teaching preschoolers, I didn't give this question enough consideration. I simply launched into what I was already doing - private lessons.

But there are several options to mull over: private, group, or partner lessons. Each choice has pros and cons. Write those down. Play around with them in your head. 

I encourage you to think about what type of lesson YOU would enjoy the most. If YOU'RE happy and having fun, your preschoolers will too!

The GOOD news - There are LOTS of methods to choose from.

The BAD news - There are LOTS of methods to choose from. 

Seriously though, take the time to do your research and find a method that fits your personality. Ideally, I suggest that you find a couple methods you would feel comfortable teaching.

​The truth is that all kids are different. You might find that certain students would benefit from a different method. I know that often happens in my studio with older students. Preschoolers are no different. (See this post for more.)

If you decide that preschoolers are right for you, make sure you check out Playing with Preschoolers.

It's on sale for Valentine's Day! 

Sara and I interviewed 7 teachers who are having great success with this age group. You'll learn:

• How to deal with common problems
• How to organize lessons
• How to set goals for youngsters
• What curriculum to use
• Ideas for private, group, and partner lessons
• And a lot more!

Do you have any preschool questions? If so, let me know!