This Year’s Inspiration

It’s that time of year again to reflect and look back on what you’ve achieved for the year, as well as to look forward and make new goals to keep on track for the year ahead. This is the third year I’ve taken inspiration from Chris Brogan who recommends the use of 3 words to keep you on track for the year. This process has worked pretty well for me so far, so I’m continuing it this year.

This idea of these 3 words is to provide a mantra that you can refer to throughout the year. It acts as a grounding point whenever you feel adrift.

MANTRA: A statement or slogan repeated frequently.

The Goal

Pick 3 words. These 3 words need to symbolise your biggest hopes or goals for the coming year.

My 2017

Reflecting on 2017 I’m pretty happy with the way my business grew. I think I did particularly well with Productivity and Family, but I can still do better with Consistency. I’m still struggling with that issue of making time for my own marketing, however, since it’s not a priority, realistically that’s probably not going to change. I might keep it as a 3.1 for this year. Read in full my 3 words for 2017.

My 3 Words for 2018

Passion

I’ve been following some fabulous marketers podcasts who resonate with that part of me that has always struggled with ‘best practices’. A simple example from when I used to sell email marketing software, is that most people would say to me, “so the best day to send emails is Tuesdays isn’t it?”. I would reply, “Yes, I’ve heard that too, but if everyone is sending their emails on Tuesdays then yours is going to get lost in the masses. I would recommend trying another time and seeing what statistics you achieve.” This type of thinking is still true for me today. I’d rather understand what we’re trying to achieve and then design a strategy that meets the budget, rather than follow a set of best practices. It feels like you’re using a crutch rather than really knowing what you’re doing.

In this spirit, I’ve decided to start my own side project just for fun. I will set no targets, and have no expectations but just to create something that I want to have out in the world and see what happens. This is a place where I can run some experiments without any cost to a client, and allows me to breathe a little bit of passion into my work, just for me.

Outsourcing

I’ve reached capacity with my client load and this is a problem, only because I’d like to continue to grow. I’ve thought deeply about putting a staff member on, but honestly I don’t think I’m ready due to my children still being quite young. However, I do have to find help to continue to grow, so I need to look to others to partner with. I’m going to do this on tiptoes. Outsourcing can only work when both businesses benefit, and honestly it’s difficult to find partners out there who can work with generosity. That said, I’m putting my faith out there that there’s a perfect interim solution out there until I’m ready to staff up. This may end up being a staff growth by the end of the year. This is the type of goal that can rapidly change, but at least I know I have a road map to making sure I get help instead of doing everything myself.

Timezones

I’ve learned that time is not just time. There are times when you are much more effective than others. Due to other commitments I don’t always maximise these, but this year I endeavour to make these much more efficient. I don’t have them mapped out yet and they may take some massaging. It may mean moving my sleep times have earlier starts so I can do a bit of work before everyone gets up. This has worked well for me. It may also mean doing some gym workouts during my traditional work times. My flattest times are mid-morning. That’s when I should do workouts. My upbeat times (aka most productive working times) are early morning and lunchtime to early evening. So I’m going to restructure my life with these timezones in the forefront of my mind.

Summary

I’m pumped that I got around to setting these plans out once again this year. I’m so excited about 2018. My second child moves into prep and my youngest starts a new daycare. I’m feeling full of energy and chock-full of creative spirit. I’m starting the year with fantastic clients that I love working with, and I hope these relationships continue to grow. Thanks to everyone for giving me a wonderful 2017. It was a big 40th year for me personally and it happened to also be a really successful working year.  It will be a tough one to better, but I’m up for it! How about you?

Happy New Year everyone!