2020 Reflections: What Worked & What Didn't

Looking back on 2020 with pure gratitude for what worked AND what didn't—in my firm, mostly:

What worked in 2020:

✔️showing up consistently & being me (more on this later in this blog)

✔️planning out my weeks ahead of time—so I was better prepared and more realistic with what I could accomplish

✔️delegating more & letting go of control and perfectionism—a pre-req for delegation and also moving forward in general

✔️outsourcing taxes and other things I don't love or aren't my zone of genius

What didn't work:

❌ taking on clients that negotiated my fee—a clear indication that what I do is not valuable to them—this is now a deal breaker

❌ taking on clients in a new industry & different software—this threw us off our rhythm and added more complexity to an already difficult client, but masked the difficult client, making us think it was just a system/process issue)

❌ not setting clear boundaries with a couple of clients—good clients don't NEED to have clear boundaries set because they have their own personal boundaries

So in true behind the scenes fashion, I’m going to take you more in depth on a few of these things that I think will help set you up for success as you start your business or move into a new year with your business as well. I'll break each one down in its own blog, starting today with...

Showing up consistently & being me.

Consistency means showing up on my platform of choice, Instagram, almost daily, and sending emails weekly in a perfect world. But we all know that our world is anything but perfect, so hitting one of those is a win in my book. I don’t freak out if I miss a day of posting, but I do try to at least provide some sort of value or inspiration as often as possible. Yes, the algorithms favor you on social if you show up every day on stories and in your feed, but just know that a few days missing isn't going to ruin your efforts.

Being me—not someone else, not the person I wish I was, but me—even if it’s a future version of me (I’ll get into that in a sec). 

Being YOU is something I preach to my students all the time, and it will always hold true. I’ll continue to preach this one forever. Be yourself on social, to your clients, and everywhere in between.

You’re likely here reading this blog because something about me or my style resonates with you. That’s because I’m just being me. I share what I’m comfortable with, and I share when I’m inspired. I don’t try to force it but some things do take some getting used to and getting out of my comfort zone.  This is showing up as future me—the person I’m working on becoming, and will never feel like I’ve figured it all out. However, it’s always still me.

This is showing up as future me—the person I’m working on becoming, and will never feel like I’ve figured it all out. 

Let me dive a little deeper. 

These days when I set goals for myself, they’re usually pretty big. And scary. And I know that the person I am and the things I’m doing now, will not necessarily get me those results. One of my mentors, James Wedmore says “what got you here, won’t get you there.” So this is what I’m talking about. Yes, I got myself here, but I had to get way out of my comfort zone for a few things and really ask the question… who do I have to be to get what I want?

What new habits do I need to adopt?

What new skills do I need to acquire to be able to achieve those goals? 

I know they are possible, because I see other people reaching them.

What do I need to do differently to get there? 

And it usually ends up being something like… well, I need to be able to speak on camera so I can reach as many people as I want to reach. 

Or I need to be able to let go of something being done MY WAY for the sake of it just getting done and across the finish line. 

I need to be a more clear communicator so I can have tough conversations. 

And a couple of things that have been instrumental in getting me out of my comfort zone are

1. Surrounding myself with people who are doing what I want to be doing
2. Hiring a coach & investing in the resources to help me acquire those skills

reaching goals has a lot more to do with becoming a different & better version of yourself, than it actually has to do with learning more tactical skills

I hope this is making sense to you, and you’re starting to see that reaching goals has a lot more to do with becoming a different & better version of yourself, than it actually has to do with learning more tactical skills. And BOY do I wish I had learned these concepts when I worked in corporate. Because I honestly believe I would have had a completely different experience as a manager, leader, and also a team member. So even if you’re still in corporate and not quite to the point of where you can leave, maybe you can apply some of this where you currently are, to create a different experience for yourself and your team too. 

This is where I’m going to leave you for today—this is going to be another little mini series doing a deep dive into the various aspects of what worked in 2020.  If you are ready to Elevate your growth click HERE to fill out an application for 1:1 mentoring.

What worked for you in 2020? What didn't?