Letting it all out...what 2020 taught me about life, business and people
What a rollercoaster this year has been, especially for small business owners. Well done for getting this far!
I wanted today, firstly, to say a giant T H A N K Y O U to all of you. When restrictions first hit for my location, back in March, I genuinely felt - for the first time in five years - that I might lose my business.
It's been a year of highs:
· being able to spend more time with my children
· having my husband at home and being able to chat loads over tea
· launching my podcast (50,000 downloads and counting - thank you!!)
· launching my first book Passion. Purpose. Profit.
· feeling incredible supported and encouraged by friends and loved ones
· seeing the Good Business Group grow and support small biz owners
and lows:
· gut wrenching bushfires
· the lack of change for Indigenous people in Australia
· the horrors of racism that came to the fore globally
· Trump
· the stress of life during 6-7 months of Melbourne lockdown
· not having either of my parents to talk to about any of this
· 15 months of not sleeping before we hired this miracle worker
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If I was to look back though, the biggest thing 2020 has presented for me is learning. Learning what I want to stand for, learning what's most important in life, learning what I want my business to be, learning how to teach a child (when I'm not a teacher!), learning how to really be there for my clients, learning (again) what an amazing husband I have and learning who I want to surround myself with in 2021 and beyond. It's been one giant year of learning.
I've had conversations with friends this year that made me laugh and cry in equal measure. I've gained friends and lost friends and realised that people won't always be happy for you when they perceive you're "doing well". I've learned that there will be people, strangers at first, who you will deeply connect with and who remind you of all that's good and possible in the world. I've also been reminded that those lifelong friends, who have the courage to stay in the arena and work through challenges with you, are to be savoured. To my friends reading this now, thank you so much for being there for me.
I've met some of the most spectacular business owners through my work this year, people who have been able to move through incredibly challenging circumstances and who have been able to make next-level breakthroughs in their thinking and actions. I've seen clients cry with joy and sorrow, and come back session after session, to keep doing the important work. Thank you for trusting me and bringing me along on your journey. I have seen so much kindness and wisdom being shared between small biz strangers in my Good Business Group on FB and I have been so inspired by those who have shared their own challenges and wins.
What has this year taught you most? What will you leave behind from 2020 and what will you carry with you into the new year?
Each year, on December 31, I like to take 10-20 minutes and record my answers to these questions in a notebook. In previous years I have shared this template for helping you do the same.
It's been a year, that's for sure. In addition to incredible friends, brilliant clients and amazing loved ones, music has been a huge help for me personally — allowing me to "shake it off" or sit in contemplation when I need to. My musical taste is varied, from George Clinton through to Mahalia Jackson, Pink through to Iron & Wine, Nick Drake through to K-OS.
As I sat down to write this email, one lyric kept playing in my mind: "We're not broken, just bent and we can learn to love again".
This year has bent us into so many weird and, at times, wonderful shapes. Stretched us and forced us to see new views, bigger horizons and the impact we can have in our own homes, neighbourhoods and global communities.
I wish you all the best as this year comes to its close and we move forward into a new one.
Thank you for all of your support for my own business, my book, my podcast and me as a human. I appreciate it more than you could imagine.