Dreams vs Goals

Entering our SIXTH year of The Efficiency Project and reflecting back on the last five years, it feels unreal! Its hard to believe that this little side hustle my sister and I dreamt up has turned into a full blown business with hundreds of amazing supportive clients, three employees, a brand new Mercedes Sprinter van and a growing social media following.

I think back on the goals I have set for myself along the way. When we came up with the idea of this project in January of 2018, it was originally the brain child of my sister Casey and I, to fulfill our desire to work together and collaborate on projects. I now run The Efficiency Project solo however Casey and I still brainstorm on projects daily and she often brings in my team to help with her interior design clients. Dream one, check!

My next goal was to quit my day job. Ugh, this seemed like a daunting, scary, unobtainable dream. I had been running an in-home daycare for several years whiles my kids were little, but my kids were getting big and I wasn’t happy doing childcare anymore. As a former preschool teacher, the daycare was my comfort zone, it was a security blanket and I was scared to let go of the financial stability. I set little goals along the way to continue to grow The Efficiency Project while I hired help to maintain the daycare. Step by step I made this goal a reality and in June on 2019 I closed the daycare….for good!

My goal for 2020 was simple, I just wanted to keep a steady flow of work coming in. I had hopes of conquering the world but you know…covid. I was disappointed in the lack of progress during this time and also scared I wasn’t going to be able to continue. I chose to stick with it but had to be gentle with myself and remember that just getting through a rough patch IS an accomplishment. This is a reminder I often repeat to my clients, goals are great to have but it’s also ok to just survive and we shouldn’t punish ourselves when things don’t work out as we hoped. I adjusted my expectations and this experience has only helped me be more flexible and understanding of my clients situations.

In 2021 I knew I wanted to take The Efficiency Project to the next level and create a TEAM. It turns out when you absolutely LOVE what you do, you can attract amazing, like minded people. Building a team was maybe the easiest goal to crush. My first hires were long time Mom-Friends April and Siulen, we raised our babies together and then they helped me bring my business to a whole new level. These two amazing ladies are still my core team of Lead Organizers and we have a growing list of on-all Assistant Organizers.

2022 and 2023 I started to dream bigger. I had these ideas stirring of wanting to have satellite offices in other areas, travel for fun projects, creating an online course etc. But what I really needed was a VAN! I was so busy working the business I never really tackled any of the tasks necessary to complete any of these goals. We kept booking bigger and better jobs and as I grew my skills of talking clients into getting rid of shit, it was really difficult to haul all the stuff away in my Suburban. I started saving, did my van research and finally the Universe made the decision for me… my suburban completely broke down and wasn’t worth restoring. Sometimes goals are funny that way, when you are not sure what to prioritize something happens and points you in the right direction. Long story short, I am currently the proud owner of “Pebbles” our brand new team member, a Mercedes Sprinter van…we love her.

Towards the end of 2023 I began to get more serious about those bigger dreams I had floating around in my head. I started working with a business coach and once again set little obtainable tasks I could complete to help get me to my bigger goals. Here’s the thing, goals really do start out as dreams. They’re these little ideas that keep popping up, nagging thoughts and they continually come up in conversation “I hope to do that someday.” Many of us get hit by the shoulda-coulda-wouldas, myself included. For me the timing was right, the will power was there and I FINALLY finished my first online course The Efficiency Dress Code!

My best advice is to breaking big chores into smaller bite size pieces to make the larger tasks easier to digest. Efficiency in all areas of you like only benefit and support those BIG GOALS and we are happy to help you achieve yours.

With so much love and thanks for your support,

Alia and The Efficiency Project Team