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1) There will always be something that happens that we have no control over.
We came into 2022 thinking, okay, we’re coming out of Covid now and business will get back to normal. Everything will be the way it was before. Nope! Covid is still badly affecting China and other Eastern countries, and in the West, we’ve plunged into war and recession.
There will always be something happening in the world outside of our businesses that we don’t have any control over, and we can’t put things on hold because of them. When the war in Ukraine began, many people felt icky about promoting their businesses, but we can’t stay in business unless we’re promoting our businesses!
Despite world events, we have to settle into the role of being an entrepreneur, be steady, and continue putting ourselves out there no matter what is going on. Of course, we must be sensitive to what’s going on, but keep going, no matter what.
2) Rely on your pillars of stability.
When there’s a lot of chaos and instability around us, it’s vital to keep coming back to our pillars of stability. I have a daily routine that includes meditation, exercise, journaling and tapping, and even when madness is all around me, I try to stick to my routine as much as possible, because it gives me a sense of security.
Despite everything going on in the world this year, I’ve remained reasonably even, stable, and able to tune out of all the madness because of the routines in my life.
I also gain great strength from you and all the other stylists in my global community. Showing up with my weekly emails and lives in the Facebook group is another part of my routine that brings stability, and I hope, in turn, my presence provides you with the same sense of stability and reassurance. Supporting you all gives me a real sense of purpose and is my reason to continue showing up.
3) Set goals and plan, even if you haven’t reached your goals in the past.
I know, I know! A lot of people resist this one, and I did too, for a long time. You don’t want to set goals because when you have in the past and not met them you feel huge disappointment. I get it.
However, I still believe that you should set goals because to do so is like setting a target. Don’t get so attached to them, but rather have them as a guide for your life and business. Set a financial goal, a business goal, and some personal life goals too. I’ll talk more about these next week.
I set goals for myself throughout the year. I don’t always achieve them in the timeframe I set, but when I look back five years I realise, oh my God, I’ve now reached all the goals I had back then!
4) Pivot when something isn’t working for you.
I’ve spoken about pivoting before because many of us had to do it when Covid hit. We had to get online or deal with the end of our businesses because we could no longer work face-to-face.
I’ve pivoted several times this year, and you’ve probably had to when you think about it. I don’t necessarily mean starting a completely new business, just making decisive changes if things aren’t working.
I closed my membership this year. It wasn’t working for me, and my personality type and the time commitment didn’t fit well with my family life. I developed a real resistance around the membership, and I didn’t want to feel that way, so it had to go.
You’ll likely find that you do things like that at times too, and I want to reassure you that the decision process will be painful. Just as I did, you’ll second guess yourself and wonder whether you’re doing the right thing. I had amazing people who I loved in my membership, and despite knowing it had to go, it was so hard to let it go.
Six months on, I know it was the right decision. It opened up other areas for me to work on. It opened up space in my mind and allowed me to make my next little pivot, which was to start introducing energy work into my programs, which has been life-changing for my clients. Now they nail their business strategy AND sort their mindset. It’s a killer combo!
5) Recognise the importance of self-care.
I’ve really come to appreciate this in 2022. There’s been so much chaos going on around us, on the news, on social media, and everywhere we look. My goal for the year was to make more time for pleasure and to give myself more downtime every day. It was one of the driving factors behind my decision to close the membership, so I could have more space in my life to be with my children.
I’ll be honest with you though I was terrified of taking my foot off the gas. I’m so used to working all the time that I was afraid my business would start to fail.
It’s actually been the opposite. The more downtime I take, the more energy I have to turn up for my community, my clients, my family, AND myself.
So, what does downtime look like for me?
I don’t really watch the news. Enough of it filters through to me on social media. I’m very careful about what I read. I don’t read newspapers but prefer reading books that make me feel good. I think being careful with the information we consume is so important because it has a massive effect on how we feel.
I take time away from social media, because the feeds are overwhelming at times. We also subconsciously compare ourselves to others we see posting there. Our brains tell us we’re not stylish or glossy enough, that we’re not smart enough and that we don’t present ourselves well enough. All that going on in your head depresses your energy, so it’s vital to take time out.
I cannot emphasise how important it is to take care of yourself by making it a daily priority.
6) Show up, even when no one else does.
Where there’s lots of chaos and change in the world, many people disappear. They hide away and don’t show up for their community. Of course, there are times when we have to take care of ourselves and others when we’re just not feeling it, but generally, you need to be consistent for your community.
How can you turn up consistently?
You have to find what’s congruent with who you are. It’s not about doing something you don’t want to do. Reels, for instance, are SO not me. I don’t do dancing around and pointing at thought bubbles! I’ve tried them and I’ve dabbled on TikTok, but I know I’ll never show up consistently like that. It makes me feel so uncomfortable I want to run away and hide!
However, I CAN turn up every Friday in my Facebook group and I CAN drop into your inbox every Monday because I enjoy it, and it makes me feel good! It feels like something I can continue indefinitely.
You must find your thing and be relentless about turning up, even in the run-up to Christmas when it feels like there aren’t as many people watching. But you know what? I often get clients tell me they binge-watched all my videos from months ago before coming to work with me! Other stylists say they catch up on my lives on a Friday night while sipping their G&T.
While there may not be eyes on you at the moment, keep on showing up, and people will find your content when the time is right. They won’t find you at all if you don’t turn up!
So, there you have it! my six biggest lessons from another year in business! What have you learned this year?