Ready for some goodies? I’ve been stalling writing this post because I wanted to make sure I included all the value I want to share. Yet today I was inspired by one of my top influencers {check out John Meese’s annual review} and knew it was time to share.

Even-numbered years have been great for Justin and I. We met in ’02, married in ’04, welcomed three babies in ’06, ’08, and ’10. In 2012 I signed contracts with an agent and sold my first book. But 2014 broke our cycle. In 2015 we were left to pick up the pieces (literally) as we adjusted to a new home, new city, and new jobs after a decade in vocational ministry.

While we waited for over a year for Justin to be placed in the military tech school, God let us simmer, heal, and charge ahead with some dreams that were laying dormant. If you’re on the cusp of writing a book, in transition after a disappointing job loss, or in the beginning stages of entrepreneurship, I welcome you with open arms.

You can access my favorite business resources here, but without further ado, allow me to share the top influencers, programs, books, mistakes, and wins from this year, and an AMAZING gift for you.

Top Influencers

I don’t want to leave anyone off this list, but I wanted to keep it at a manageable level. I have followed so many people and taken so many webinars and learned so many things, but these are the people that stayed in my inbox after I got laser-focused. Choosing to learn from a select few is better than the noise from a bunch of people.

1. Bryan Harris – Get 10,000 Subscribers, owner of VideoFruit.com
   Bryan is at the top of my list because I’ve been sharing his program with anyone who will listen. He gives incredible webinars and I grew my list by almost 100 people just by the info he shared in his free training. I can’t wait to join his 10k Subscribers program, and honestly, if I hadn’t joined the New Kajabi literally a couple of days earlier, I’d be in his program right now.
2. Dave Shrein – Online Marketing and Communications
   I am blessed to have become friends with Dave, as well as work together on a couple of projects. He’s  genuine and eager to share his knowledge. Pretty much any time I have a conversation with him,
   I end up with a page full of notes. Definitely connect with him on Twitter, and check him out on Periscope and his DacTalks. He loves helping entrepreneurs get unstuck. He’s a must follow.
3. Tamsen Horton – Entrepreneur with a law degree!
   Tamsen’s take on planning out an entire year was brilliant {I’ve talked about it here, here, and here.} Her Trademark class is on point and she is my go-to for legal business how-to! Catch her crazy helpful info on Periscope and weekly Blab shows!
4. John Meese – Turning Complex into Simple, Get Noticed Theme course
   I’m a big fan of the Get Noticed Theme for WordPress by Michael Hyatt and John created a course on how to maximize the theme. I have several of my clients using the GNT and I can’t wait for this course to reopen.
5. Paul Sohn – Empowering Leaders, Equipping Servants 
   Paul is amazing!! He is an award-winning blogger, speaker, and author of Quarter Life Calling: How to Find Your Sweet Spot in your Twenties. I was blessed to do a two-hour Meyer’s Briggs personality course with him and it was eye-opening. I really feel comfortable with the parts of my personality that are “God-given” and the parts that occurred as a result of society, my upbringing, and my choices. I came to terms with where my natural weaknesses are and am able to identify my triggers and adapt. Paul is AWESOME and definitely someone you want to subscribe to.
6. Hilary Rushford – Instagram, Honor Society
   LOVED her Instagram webinar and one day I want to join her Honor Society. She reminds me a bit of Zooey Deschanel, with her spunkiness. I utilized her tips and upped my IG game. I’m now loving my Instagram and have become more intentional on how I use it.
7. Vincent Ng – 31 Days to a Better Pinterest Page
   Over the holidays I stumbled upon this gem of a site. I’ve only made it through steps 1-10 but my Pinterest page is rockin’ now. He’s got a ton of great content. Trust me on this.

Top Influencers Heading into 2016

1. Jeff Walker
   I can’t wait to start his Product Launch Formula, which is listed in top programs category. Several influencers use his formula and I’m really excited to focusing and learning from him.
2. Brendon Burchard
   I joined his Oprah course “Your Next Bold Move” and was able to spend four hours on New Year’s Day in his live online training. It was super great and he’s definitely someone I’m keeping in my inbox. Click Here to Get the Notes from Brendon’s 4-Day Live Training.
3. Lisa Bevere
   She spoke at our church this past weekend and it was incredible. My favorite line from her message: “The enemy knows who you are long before you do, so the attacks on your life might have more to do with who you will be than who you were in the past.” She’s my new role model
4. Barbara Corcoran
   I love learning from Barbara, best known for her appearances on Shark Tank. Her Twitter and Instagram feeds are full of great advice. She’s a spitfire and I love her drive.
5. Sally Hogshead
   Sally  is the go-to for branding and communications. She’s a Hall of Fame speaker and NYT bestselling author. Part of my Bachelor’s program is in Behavioral Social Science, so her info is like candy to me. 
   

Past Top Influencers (2012-2014)

1. Michael Hyatt, Platform University
2. Seth Godin, Go Make Something Happen
3. Amy Porterfield, Profit Lab and Webinars that Convert
4. Michelle Medlock Adams, bestselling author and ghostwriter
5. Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism
6. Grant Baldwin, Booked and Paid to Speak

Top Programs

Never stop learning. I consider webinars to be a key part of my business and I schedule them into my calendar so I don’t forget to sit down and learn. Here’s my faves:

1. New Kajabi
   

   “Run your entire digital empire with the ultimate set of online business tools.”
   

   I am eternally grateful that I got in on the beta release of the New Kajabi. I was about to invest almost $400 to finish piecemeal-ing my membership system together. In fact, when I joined, I was able to cancel two systems that ended up costing exactly what the New Kajabi cost. When you break the annual cost into the monthly cost, it was a serious no-brainer. Now everything is streamlined and in one beautiful place.

   They’re letting each of us beta members allow 3 people to join the New Kajabi before they release it to the public. Offer #1: Code W27Z6D. Offer #2: Code TR2Y2Y. Offer #3: Code AALFKE

2. Product Launch Formula 
   I cannot wait to start this program. I’ve been on Jeff Walker’s email list for a long time and this process is used by several of the people I look up to in business.
3. Get 10,000 Subscribers
   Bryan Harris’ webinars are DON’T MISS. He’s super generous with his time and information. From his webinar alone, I finally turned the key in my email marketing ignition. I cannot wait for this course to open again in May 2016.
4. Webinars that Convert
   There are several ways to host webinars, but this is a great course take you step-by-step through the process. If you like Amy Porterfield‘s process, you’ll enjoy this course.
5. Booked & Paid to Speak
   Grant Baldwin inspired me with his membership site. It’s chock full of all the information he needed to grow his speaking platform to over $1 million in income. If you want to be a public speaker, this is the course, hands down.

Top Books

If you want to read more books in 2016 than ever  before, join BetJett’s Book Club. You set a goal for the month and we’ll feature new authors and top picks. It was super hard to pick only three in each category, so I’ll be creating another post with some amazing books for writing, business, branding, and life.

Nonfiction

1. Essentialism, by Greg McKeown
2. A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future by Daniel H. Pink
3. On Writing, by Stephen King

Fiction

1. Anything by Jeffery Archer (Kane and Abel, Sons of Fortune, Only Time Will Tell – free as of this posting)
2. Anything by J.A. Jance (Ali Reynold’s series)
3. Stephen James’ The Bowers Files (couldn’t stop put them down)

Top of my list for 2016:

1. How the World Sees You: Discover your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination, by Sally Hogshead
2. The Motivation Manifesto, by Brendon Burchard
3. Bittersweet: Thoughts on Change, Grace, and Learning the Hard Way by Shauna Niequist

Mistakes

What would the world be without making mistakes? I think growing pains are inevitable and only remain a mistake if you don’t learn from them. Some of mine include:

1. Not making sleep and rest a priority.
   Sleep is crucial. Naps are healthy. Did you know that the only time your brain can clean itself out is when you sleep? It actually “takes out the trash” but ONLY in sleep mode. Check out Jeff Iliff’s TedTalk “One More Reason to Get a Good Night’s Sleep.“
2. Focusing on too many voices.
   We live in a society where everyone has an opinion and now has the ability to share it. Myself included. Get on people’s email lists. Learn from them. You’ll figure out who you connect with and who you trust. Unsubscribe from the rest. I promise that staying on a list of someone you don’t want to hear from isn’t good for anyone.
3. Caring about the opinions of people who don’t matter.
   Sometimes I find myself bouncing my decisions off of “What would so-and-so think?” Honestly, I don’t care what so-and-so thinks. They aren’t part of my world and have no influence over my life. I’m working on letting it go. Let it gooooooooo.
4. Not spending enough time with my kids.
   The battle of most parents – not spending enough time with the kids. I’ll never get this time back, so I’m incorporating more quality and intentional time with them. I think a lot of parents battle guilt over their time. I’m working on a balance where if I’m in a season of high work activity, I’m able to steal time to read them story in the afternoon, or snuggle on the couch. Even working on my laptop while they play video games instead of being shut in my office has improved.
5. Not exercising.
   I am a stress eater and these last two years have provided me with enough stress that I should have to be rolled out of my house like the Willy Wonka blueberry girl. This is changing.
6. Not keeping track of a budget closely enough.
   UGH. Bleh. Getting out of debt is our main goal this year, so staying on top of the finances and telling our money where to go has to be a priority. This year it has been more challenging than ever.

When Justin left the church, we walked away from an affordable home and a budget that left us with discretionary funds.We weren’t able to leave when we wanted to. In fact, it’s taken 15 months for us to get to the military school my husband needs in order to start his career. In that time, I pushed my freelancing business into overdrive which birthed the Serious Writer program and the upcoming Build Your Brand series.

Justin worked several jobs {Chick-Fil-A, BrightHouse, delivering pizzas} as we struggled with higher bills than before {car died the month we moved, higher rent, higher insurance, less money}.

BUT we serve a faithful God, and for the first time I can remember, I had to swallow pride as stories that I’d heard from others were happening to us: an old medical bill was overpaid and they sent us our refund. Connections made through Periscope turned into job opportunities. Close friends would randomly send checks that were pride-breakingly hard to cash. Our parents stepped in when the dates of bills didn’t match the dates of income payments.We made it ten months before we had a late payment. God is good.

It’s still a struggle, but this year we set foundations in my business and who we are as a family. That brings me to the wins.

Wins

This is the personal section, but I’ve experienced a lot of growth this year. I’d like to share the praises.

1. Justin loves his unit and they’ve kept him on temporary tech orders until he starts school.
2. The Serious Writer program is out of BETA and the Build Your Brand series is launching this month.
3. The My Moments Quarterly Planner was born after I debuted the planner I created for my own use. A sister-product, the Serious Writer’s Companion was also launched, and I look forward to the success of both! You can see inside the My Moments Planner here, just remember it was a live Periscope!
4. Hired my first team member! She’s amazing and is launching her own craft business. If you love stickers and planners, check her out.
5. Two writing conferences have asked me to come teach and I’m honored and thrilled.
6. Justin and I have always been amazingly close. To say he’s my best friend is an understatement. This year has pulled us together in a way I never knew was possible.
7. I homeschooled my boys this year. It may never happen again, but I’ve built an incredible relationship with each one of them that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.
8. The friendships I’ve made, most of whom I’ve never met in person, have become the most dear to my life. Live-streaming came at the most perfect time and I see it as God’s little gift to me.
9. We’ve learned to eat through our pantry and make meals out of nothing. This has been an incredible lesson to me, since I used to think nothing of ordering pizzas when I didn’t feel like cooking.
10. The value of giving value has been instilled in me this year from watching the above mentioned influencers, as well as the special people whom I hold most dear. I never want to lose that.

Your Gift

I’m thrilled to offer you a free gift, which is actually Sally Hogshead’s free gift: to share the Fascination personality assessment with 100 people. It measures who you are and how the world sees you, which is critical for knowing how to use your God-given gifts to your advantage. The assessment is about $20, but use code JOY-BethanyJett to get it for free. **update 2/25/16: Code is good until March 1, 2016!

Sally’s philosophy is

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