Sugar Finds Inspiration In Her “Small Wins” With These Peppermint & Peanut Butter Pupcakes

Every night, I make out a list of goals I want to accomplish the next day.

I’ve been doing this for years.  Before I put head to pillow and paws to rest, mapping out my goals is my priority.    It has managed to keep me focused, organized and efficient the moment I wake up to start my pup day. 

When you’re balancing life as a pup business owner and a loving pup to your human, your time is precious.  Plus, I’m a pretty Type A pup personality.  So, I definitely don’t want to waste the precious time I do have trying to figure out what I should be working on during the day.

However, my goal list wasn’t easy at first.  I really had to work hard to build it into my routine.  Sometimes I would be dog tired at the end of my day, so I wouldn’t do it.  And, there were other times when I would forget.  But, on those nights when I did remember, I always felt my pup day ran a lot smoother.

I would feel so accomplished once I completed the last thing on my list.  There’s nothing more satisfying than getting everything on your pup goals list done.  What’s even more satisfying?  Completing everything with time to spare.  So, you have a little time before your human gets home to kick your paws up and relax.

When I first started, however, I’d get so annoyed at myself if I didn’t get everything on my list completed.

Not because I felt pressure to get everything done, but because I knew those tasks were going to carry over to the next day.  This essentially meant a longer pup day and a longer list of things to do.

My little pup brain would start spinning with thoughts.  “Why didn’t you start earlier?”  “Maybe if you’d have done this project first?”  “You didn’t need to take that break.”  While some pups may have an easier time letting things go, I’d chastise myself unnecessarily for not getting the things done I should’ve.

Until one day it hit me.  You’re being absolutely ridiculous.  How can I explain to pups the importance of self-care and being kind to themselves, if I don’t practice the same thing?  Also, getting everything done on a list shouldn’t make me feel any less accomplished than if I didn’t.

I even noticed that chastising myself began to spill over into how I felt about my pup business.  I started to feel, unfortunately, insecure about all that I had accomplished.  In the words of Marie Forleo…

So, I decided to take a different approach to my pup daily to do list.  Instead of listing 20 little tasks, I’d map out 3 or 4 strategic goals.  A list of 3 or 4 tasks is a lot easier to manage than 20.  So, the list didn’t look so intimidating.  Within those strategic goals, I also learned to prioritize.  So, I’d complete the most important ones first.

I learned to be more realistic with my list.  As a pup business owner, I can be a little ambitious with what I want to accomplish during my day versus what is actually possible.  So, as I mapped out my goals every night, I thought a little harder about what was feasible.  I also started to strategize what projects and tasks I could delegate to another pup.

Most importantly, I learned to be kind to myself if I couldn’t complete my entire list.  Sometimes things happen, and it isn’t possible.  I learned to focus more on what I did accomplish during the day.  It made it much easier and pleasant to map out my strategy for the next morning.

These Peppermint Pupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Frosting are dedicated to being kind to ourselves as we work towards our goals and focusing on all that we’ve accomplished.

And of course, we believe that every pupcake has a love story.  So, while your favorite pup is PUPPY LOVIN’ on these pupcakes, we’d love to hear from you.

Focusing on the small wins always helps me stay kind to myself as I work towards my goal.  What’s one strategy you use to be kind to yourself as you work towards your goal?

Please share your pupcake story in the box below.