Reflecting on 2023

Our business runs in seasons and the seasons of business and life are constantly intertwining with each other. And sometimes life is more likely and business is less of a priority. And we need to flip flop kind of along that in whatever way actually works for us as individuals. So, for 2023, that looks a lot to me like slowing down my schedule, I blocked a lot of my calendar off I, I would say that I worked approximately 20 to 30 hours a week, at the most. With very few exceptions for the entire year, which has been a nice cadence, it's given me space to do some other things.

This is the Entrepreneur School Podcast where we believe you can run a thriving business and still make your family a priority. This show is all about supporting you the emerging or early stage Entrepreneur on your journey from solopreneur. To CEO while wearing all of the other hats in your life. My name is Kelly Sinclair and I'm a brand and marketing strategist who started a business with two kids under 3am, a corporate PR girl turned entrepreneur after I learned the hard way that life is too short to waste doing things that burn you out. On this show, you'll hear inspiring stories from other business owners on their journey, and learn strategies to help you grow a profitable business while making it all fit into the life that you want. Welcome to Entrepreneur School.

Welcome to one of the final episodes of Entrepreneur School for 2023. I can hardly believe that this year is almost over. I feel like most people say that all the time at the end of the year, it just it flew by. And so I think it's really important that we spend some time reflecting on the previous year so that we don't skip over all the amazing things that we've done. And the lessons that we've learned. And it's something that I've been doing for myself for a number of years now is kind of doing a little bit of a review and reflection and planning session before the year actually ends. And all the real craziness of the Christmas holiday comes into play, which is like next week, holy moly. And this week has just been insanity to be honest with you, between already having like 100 extra things on the calendar for holiday celebrations and kids concerts and extra sports activities and, and gift exchanges and neighborhood parties and family gatherings and all the things we also had to buy a new car, which was a total glitch in the matrix of having to put that in, during this really busy time of year. But you know, we've got that happening. Instead, I'm really excited to have a new vehicle coming soon. So watch my Instagram, I may share pictures.

Anyway. So I wanted to do today is have a little bit of like a behind the scenes episode, more of like the journal entry from on my part of what's been going on here, and what are some of like, the biggest lessons and takeaways from 2023, as well as a few things that I'm really excited about for the next year coming up. And I encourage you as well to think about doing a process like this for yourself at least spending a little bit of time looking at your last year before you forget, you know, like I remember I used to go, I get the week off, I've pretty much taken the week off between Christmas and New Year's for, I don't know, a decade or more now. And that whole going back to work in January, you can't remember how to operate your computer, let alone what you just actually accomplished for the last year. So taking some time to just think even if you can carve out an hour or two hours to do that, before you forget it, it'll be really beneficial for you. So I'm going to jump in now with my top lessons from 2023. And I would say that you probably won't guess what any of these things are that I'm about to share with you. I was a little bit surprised myself because as I was going through the process, I just sort of did that, you know, intuitive writing where you just whatever comes out comes out. And this is what has emerged for me so far. And I haven't even done like a full reflection or spend a whole lot of time on it. But I wanted to share sort of the top things that are top of mind right now.

And the first one as far as the lesson from 2023 as well as something that I'm really proud of is just a focus on personal growth. For me, it was all about recognizing my need to give myself space and all So Grace, for grief. And as a lot of you probably know, or if you're new here, you may not, I lost my mom to breast cancer in 2017. And while it seems like that was a long time ago, it really was a long time ago, like almost seven years, which is crazy. In it, it's not something that actually goes away, right, you don't actually really get over it. And grief comes up and shows up and takes over at a lot of the time very inopportune time. So I have learned to manage it and accept it and lean into it and allow it a lot better this year. Because I had to, I got to a point where I actually took an entire month off. I called it my month of speech on strike. But it was really led by the fact that I was really heavily grieving during my mom's anniversary month. And normally, I would just try and kind of push through that and be like, Nope, it's not, it's not one of the days I allow myself to be sad. But they needed to allow it more and explore the feelings more and get support. So I've definitely done a lot of therapy and counseling over the last year. And really just, it's opened me up to understanding more what I need and being able to recognize things a little sooner, so that I'm not feeling like, resentful of my own emotions, because we're human beings. And we have emotions. And we have to see what happens when when they show up, they're showing up for a reason. And we need to listen. Because sometimes when we keep pushing them down and pushing them down, they just they bubble up to a point where then you are no longer able to work for an entire month of the year, which was what happened to me. So that was definitely one of the big lessons in personal growth for me.

And another one in the same category is that things don't have to be the same all the time, I think that we try to like create this environment for ourselves. We're like, Okay, we finally got it working. And this is good, and this is good. And whatever is flowing, and then all of a sudden, it's like, well, why isn't it working anymore? And why don't I feel good about this anymore? Or whatever it is that is causing you to question like the sameness that you've created. And for me, one of those things is literally just my own schedule and the way that I work and I found myself really craving I'm super extroverted. And I've been really craving a change of scenery, more interaction with people. Even though I do love working in my basement, most of the time. I love the commute, it's really easy. But at the same times, I noticed that if I had go a couple of days, or especially an entire week without leaving my house, other than to take my kids to their sporting activities, I feel like trapped in then I get angry, and then I get resentful or other negative emotions start to show up. So I'm really going to be intentionally working to ensure that I have more variety in what my days actually look like, because it's starting to feel a little monotonous now after six, six plus years of doing this myself, so that is another takeaway that I am leaving 2023 with as well. I wanted to talk about endurance. And because as a business owner, you know that you're pushing you push yourself harder than you ever would for a job with somebody else. Because you're so invested in it emotionally, personally, your passion lies there, you really want it to do well. You have these big goals and you're just like, when's that gonna happen? And the reality is, running a business is a marathon like you need long term endurance. And what I've realized now after six years, like climbing mountains, and then having these dips in all of the staff and honestly 2023 has been quite a dip down like not not an upward projection year for just let's just keep it at that as far as the summary goes. But I realized that you have to like build in your breaks and build in your, your replenishing like, just like, if you were to I'm not a marathon runner, but marathon runners and Ironman runners, they they go at a slower pace. They do a lot of stretching training, like proper nourishment, and all of that as part of making sure that they're going to get to the finish line. And so what does that look like for you? As part of You're going to continue to run your business. And that might mean making big changes sometimes, right? Like, we don't have to be always doing the same thing. Our business runs in seasons, and the seasons of business and life are constantly intertwining with each other. And sometimes life is more likely and business is less of a priority. And we need to flip flop kind of along that in whatever way actually works for as individuals. So for 2023, that looks a lot to me, like slowing down my schedule, I blocked a lot of my calendar off I, I would say that I worked approximately 20 to 30 hours a week, at the most, with very few exceptions for the entire year, which has been a nice cadence, it's given me space to do some other things like I took up paddleboarding this year. And I got out into the mountains and I rode my bike a little bit more, and I got to have some of those other experiences that I really want and need for myself for my own mental health and all of that. So think about the your endurance, when it comes to your business and what you need in order to continue to push forward in a way that actually feels doable. And not leaning into feeling like you have to, you want to quit or leave it right.

And so the last lesson that I want to share from 2023, before I move into the exciting things that I want to share about what's coming up next year is that had I have a hard time even saying this, I am not actually in control. And you are also not actually in control. And for me, this is super hard. One of the one of my personality traits as an Enneagram. Eight is that my core value is being in control. And my core fear is not being in control. And the reality of life is no matter how much planning and strategizing and structuring and guidance I attempt, forcing things does not help. I have created programs and offers and put myself out there constantly as far as the business side goes, and not seeing the results that I would have expected from this. Because I'm the one doing all the decision making. I'm not responding and letting things guide me, like I have now started to notice. And as part of what I'm going to share for my 2024 updates, that is huge awareness. And to be able to release this and it's a constant work in progress, for me for sure, is kind of like notice noticing that like a garden, right? If your business is a garden in life as a garden, no matter how many seeds you plant, and no matter how much water you give them, you cannot make flowers bloom in the winter. And so sometimes it is winter. And it is not a time for blooming. And it is not a time for things to come into fruition. And we are all on our different pace, we are all on our own schedules. And they're not necessarily what we want them to be, which is really hard to accept. So I'm continuing on my journey of pursuing the ambition that I have to set goals to do what I want to do to create what I want to create with my business. But also to feel more peace and presence simultaneously in the process. This has been a topic of conversation on the podcast quite a lot with guests and such, because it's a challenging dichotomy to navigate. And it always will be but I think the first step is always awareness of that this exists and that we're working towards it and coming back to it and being just a little bit more you know, graceful with yourself in the process. So oh, I'm gonna have like a knot in my throat from saying, I am not in control. Maybe that's when my affirmation needs to be on a daily basis to remind me that that's the truth. It really is.

So let's go into what I'm most excited about for next year. And it's really interesting because this first one truly has come as a result of finally, like being more responsive and listening to what, what people are asking me for and starting to notice what I'm actually truly good at. And it's oddly surprising to me that it's going back to my roots and doing more PR. So I have a degree in Public Relations. My entire career has been in PR. However, a lot of it has been corporate. And that's where I've been like No, it's not That's not what I want to do. But I do still do the core aspect I have PR as part of my daily personal business growth, and also the way that I've supported clients for the entirety of my entire business. But I'm just noticing this now. So what is PR, I actually looked up an article on Forbes. And it was talking about PR for entrepreneurs specifically. And what it said was, it enables entrepreneurs to recognize and present their value, know how and benefits to the public, which is necessary for sustainable business development. So, yes, it is all about showcasing what you're good at, and what do you want to be known for. And that's really why brand and PR are so interconnected. And it's also about relationships. So the relationships with the people that can help you get in front of the right people that can help talk you up, get you into the right circles, get you in front of the right audiences, and also relationships for you and with your potential clients and the people that you do support as clients. So creating relationships is obviously a core piece called Public Relations for a reason. But all of those pieces really come together. So anything that I have done and love doing is all about helping the business owner see their own greatness, position that as something unique and why it's different from others in your field, and then create that messaging and the strategy for you to actually elevate that and put yourself out there and get into the right places, so that you can ultimately achieve your goals.

So part of my PR, newness, new PR offerings moving into 2024 is I have already built a new media product that is a digital product, low ticket that's going to be available in the new year, all around media strategy, and pitching and what media wants and how you can add this particular strategy into your own visibility plan for the new year. And I'm also offering some media strategy support on a one on one basis. So I'm working with a client right now on this. And it's really awesome, because I get to extract all of her expertise and beliefs and opinions and really figure out the key messages and themes that help her to be a thought leader in her industry. And that she can go out and share through media in order to grow her own brand and reach more clients. So I'm really excited about that. And also, it's just so synergistic, that at the same time I have been talking to and working with a local PR firm. And I'm going to be partnering with them moving into the next year to help support their growth, as well as their clients with PR strategy and support. So kind of more of this, getting my hands back in the game, hands on work with clients. And is also checks off my need to have a change of scenery and like go and drive and be in an office with people a couple of times a week. So I'm actually really excited about that I was just there a couple of times this week, and the energy is making me just so so pumped. So I just need that I know for myself, because I know it's going to also spill out into everything else that I'm doing.

Okay, item number two on what I'm excited about for 2020 for continuing this podcast, because we are celebrating one year very soon in January. And I have loved every minute of it. We just to recap on our format, we provide episodes related to business strategy, entrepreneur life success, inspiring stories, and really how to manage business and parenting at the same time, because that's the whole the whole thing. So I would love to know a little bit more. If you have ideas, suggestions, requests, odd content that you want to hear more of or recommendations for guests for the show, please send us a DM on Instagram and let us know. And I would love to include more of that. More listener request episodes because I can sit here and come up with ideas all day. But is it what you want to hear? I don't know. I mean, I think it is because you are listening much. At the same time, I would love to really, really serve you better by by hearing more of what you want. So as part of doing the podcast I am also continuing on my speaking career which I have. I've loved public speaking ever since I was nine years old and started four h and realize that when I was doing a speech, everyone in the room had to listen to me. So this platform serves me in that way and I also love doing speaking In other groups and speaking in and training for other communities, so you will see a lot more of that, for me, I'm prioritizing, making that happen and making sure that I'm getting in real in real life opportunities, like in person events, as well as more digital opportunities and digital events and podcasts that I'll be on as well.

Okay, and my last thing that I'm looking forward to, and I'm excited about for 2024 is actually soft. So following my intuition more, and this is, really, when I know that I'm being successful, I feel tapped into what I need. And I'm hearing my, my soul or whatever it is that speaking to me, say where I need to go next. And following that feels better, it feels more flow, it creates that harmony between the personal and the work side, and it allows me to like move forward a lot more confidently and with a lot more ease. So knowing that I am going to lean into that more, I can't even really predict what type of changes may be happening over here, how it's going to shift for my business, for the podcast for whatever is next for me. But I just feel excited to give space and allow for that part of me to strengthen and to really take over and guide for how to move forward into the next year.

So I hope that you can take some time to do a little exercise for yourself, asking yourself what are some of the biggest learnings from last year and what are some of the things you're most excited for moving forward and just see what comes up for you and have a little moment to reflect on that and give yourself some space. Because when we are constantly in the grind of the doing and the implementation and trying to get the next launch ready or just trying to like keep up with the client work that we've already secured or whatever it is for you. You need some CEO time. So block some time to do this and make it a regular part of your routine to have CEO time, weekly, at least monthly to look at these kinds of things. Because these are the things that will keep you in check. If I didn't realize that I was not in control. Then for the longest time, I hadn't realized that I would just keep pushing forward and continue to be frustrated and not notice that I am frustrated or feeling any of these things that I don't want to feel. So give yourself space for that. And I wish you the very best, most relaxing and joyful and enjoyable, whatever that looks like to you holiday season.

And I will see you back here again. For a recap episode. What we're gonna do for our next episode is actually an encore of some of the top episodes from the year. So in the in the spirit of, you know, doing the the list and the top, the top recaps of 2023 that'll be happening on every media outlet. We're going to cover the top episodes of 2023 and Entrepreneur School. And then I will see you in the new year. Take care.

You did it you just listen to another episode of the Entrepreneur School Podcast. It's like you just went to business school while you folded your laundry, prep dinner or picked up your kids at school. Thank you so much for being here. I want to personally celebrate your commitment to growing your business. You can imagine I'm throwing confetti for you right now. If you enjoyed today's episode, please leave us a review. Make sure you're subscribed and let us know you're listening by screenshotting this episode and tagging us on Instagram, head to entrepreneurschool.ca for tons of tools and resources to help you grow your business while keeping your family a priority. You can subscribe to our email list and join our community. And until next time, go out there and do the thing.