Living On Purpose with Tanya Dalton

Living On Purpose with Tanya Dalton

How often do you take a pause and reflect on how you’re really doing and question how you feel? If you’re like me, probably not often enough. Tanya Dalton, best-selling author, speaker and productivity expert shares her thoughts on this very thing and gives a sneak peek to her new book! Here’s living on purpose with Tanya Dalton. 

Several years ago, Tanya started a small business she just did on the side. She wasn’t taking it too seriously, because she just wanted something to keep herself busy while her husband traveled for weeks at a time for work. 

However, one day when Tanya was talking to her husband while he was away on a business trip, she was catching him up on some things with their kids. All of a sudden her husband got really quiet. She asked if he was OK. And he said, “I’m missing everything.” He hated traveling for work and having to be away from his family for so long. 

On that same night, Tanya made a promise to herself that she would turn her side business into one that would absorb her husband’s income and become so successful that her husband could quit if he wanted and then come work alongside her in her business. 

She accomplished that ambition within 12 months. 

How did she do it? With consistent discipline and using these 5 tips for living on purpose. 

5 Tips for Living on Purpose with Tanya Dalton

Tip #1: Find your passions.

After Tanya built her business from the ground up, she knew it wasn’t her true passion. She appreciated all the blessings that came from it, but it wasn’t the impact she wanted to make and it wasn’t her passion. 

She and her husband decided to pivot and start a brand new business, inkWELL Press Productivity Co., based on her passions. What are you passionate about? Answering this for yourself will help you either start or pivot your business into one that is flourishing because it’s what you absolutely love to do. 

Tip #2: Redefine what productivity looks like. 

This is one of Tanya’s main goals in her business today. She said, “Productivity is not about doing more, it’s about doing what’s most important.” 

When you are a business owner, you feel like you have to wear so many different hats every single day. One of the ways Tanya grew her business into a multi-million dollar company was wearing 1-2 hats per day. One day she focused on content creation, another day on social media, another day on outreach, etc. 

When you do it this way you are actually diving so much deeper into your business rather than feeling scatterbrained and wondering what head way you actually made in the day. (This approach is recommended if you can’t afford hiring a team, which is likely if you are still just starting out.)

One of the BEST ways to have productivity is to create systems or automations. When Tanya divided up her days by wearing different hats, she automatically knew what work she would be doing that day. She had a plan, so there was no time wasted on trying to decide on what work to do first. 

Tip #3: Strengthen your family and those around you.

If you’re not a business owner or entrepreneur, these tips are still so applicable to you. Think about your family or those you see often. As the mother in the home, you have a role to create a peaceful and happy environment for your family. This will look differently for everyone. But, it’s all accomplished in the same way: building your family members up by teaching them skills and helping them see how they are a valued member of the family. 

When Tanya’s kids were young, she created a system where every Tuesday was laundry day. She would tell her kids, “It’s laundry day!” and they would come down the hall, dragging their laundry baskets behind them. They learned to sort their clothes, load them in the washer, and as they got older, they were doing their laundry all on their own. She didn’t even have to remind them because it had become an automated system! 

Tanya has noticed as she’s taught her kids this routine and other household chores, it’s helped with her kids’ confidence and in feeling capable and valued. Teaching your family members skills in being self-reliant is such an incredible tool which not only helps you, but everyone in your family how to live on purpose. 

Tip #4: Envision your future. 

Think about what your future looks like 20 years from now. 10 years from now. 3-5 years from now. What work can you do today that will help your vision come true? Goals and plans change all the time. It’s NORMAL. If you no longer see yourself wanting that goal, there’s no reason to feel ashamed or confused about it. Stay on track about what you want without feeling unnecessary guilt. 

When thinking about your future, remember, it isn’t about changing who you are, it’s about rising up to the best version of you. 

Make sure your everyday work is not things that just keep you busy–your everyday work should be impactful. Wouldn’t one of the best feelings be to lie in your bed at the end of the day and just think, “Wow, that was an incredible day. I am amazing!” Let’s have more of those days, please. 

Tip #5: Make IMPACT goals. 

IMPACT goals is an acronym Tanya created to work in place of SMART goals. She used SMART goals for the longest time, but always felt like she was adding notes to it or switching things up a bit. She invented IMPACT goals and feels like this is a much better way to form goals and plans to reach them. 

I – Inspirational 

M – Measurable 

P – Purpose-driven 

A – Adaptable 

C – Challenging

T – Time

Tip to make your goals inspirational: Focus on what you do want, not on what you don’t want. For example, instead of saying, “I will quit smoking.” say “I am a non-smoker.” Do you notice the difference? The second statement is so much more inspiring! 

You can listen to the full podcast episode here for more tips and thoughts from Tanya and her amazing new book.

I hope you found some value in this post on living on purpose with Tanya Dalton. I am SO excited about her book, “On Purpose” and I know I will be annotating it like crazy! She has so many good things to say and all of us could learn so much from her. To learn more about Tanya, you can visit her website or follow her on Instagram @tanya.i.dalton. And, you can follow me @cakebycourtney for fun cake recipes and more! (Did you see my amazing new Biscoff Bundt Cake recipe yet?)