Last weekend I sat down with my journal to do some end of year reflecting… and the first thing I wrote was
“wtf happened this year”.
I needed to unpack everything that unfolded for me- business wise. Because- although on a personal front- life was phenomenal this year. Business felt hard.
The wrong kind of hard. The kind of hard where
I felt disconnected from myself and lost my spark a little bit if I´m being honest.
Thankfully, I realized something was off mid October and started course correcting. And now just 2 months later as I´m writing this- I feel my spark back in a BIG way. Like it literally feels like day 1 of my business again.
… which, I realize is a bit of a spoiler. But I think it´s nice to know that there is happy ending. I promise- it’s still worth the read.
Because in this post I am going to share with you everything that I learned from my journaling sesh. Which essentially are the four most expensive and difficult lessons I’ve had in business so far.
And even though going through these lessons felt, at times, like being a first year at Hogwarts trying to navigate the moving staircases while running late to class.
Frustrating, disorienting and occasionally panic inducing.
I can honestly say…. I am SO grateful for the experiences. Because, I am not the same person I was at the start of 2024. I am infinitely stronger in my self leadership.I am significantly more convicted in my mission and my message.
And I cannot wait to see what I create as a result.
Let’s dive in.
Lesson #1: No one has the exact blueprint for my business’ success- except me.
I started out 2024 with the desire to scale my business beyond $100k
And for some reason- I got the idea in my head that I needed a biz guru to tell me exactly what to do. I was looking for someone with a formula that I could copy and paste to see results.
I wasn’t afraid of working hard to achieve the results… as long as someone could tell me exactly what to do. I wanted someone else to give me the answers, instead of becoming the kind of person who continues to forge her own path.
So I invested in a coaching program (an $18,000 coaching program to be exact) that was supposed to show me exactly how to scale my business using a high ticket group coaching program and an evergreen marketing funnel. If those words sounds like jibberish- no worries.
The point is- I joined a coaching program- for what I would consider the WRONG reasons. Without realizing that at the time obviously.
I joined a coaching program because I wanted someone else to tell me what to do. And what that boils down to is… I gave away my power. Whenever you are looking for someone else to tell you the answers- you are diminishing your own source of power.
Which is the EXACT opposite of what coaching is supposed to be! What I value most about coaching is having someone who can help me remember how powerful and magnificent I am- so I can find my OWN answers.
But after months of trying to follow someone else’s plug and play, I realized the hard truth.
No one else knows my exact path forward. I can’t just outsource my vision and direction to some stranger on the internet. Even if they truly are an expert in marketing and online business. They aren´t an expert in MY business or MY purpose.
I have to use my own intuition to guide me.
And Idk if you are catching the irony here- but this is exactly what I tell my clients all the time. … funny how the lessons we teach are also the ones we must continue learning ourselves.
Lesson #2: The path forward feels infinitely more complicated when you aren’t “ready” for success.
Real success is SO simple. Overcomplicating the process usually is an indicator that fear, unworthiness and misalignment are at play.
This year I made my sales process SO complicated.
I thought I needed a FB Ad to a webinar to two discovery calls then following up with a 48 page PDF that I meticulously crafted in Canva outlining the details of the program.
I was making people jump through hoops to become a client. And I was spending (aka wasting) SO much time setting up this entire sales funnel and process.
It wasn’t until I started using chat GPT as my sales coach- to try and figure out WHY wasn´t anyone signing up- that he pointed out all the friction points in my sales process.
I wondered- what’s going on here? Do I not want people to join the program?
And that’s when I realized… no. No, I actually don´t want people to join.
The program is wrong. The offer is wrong. I was sabotaging my sales calls- because I didn’t want to keep running the program.
Shoot.
Once I gave myself permission to STOP running the program, and transition the current group clients into 1-1, I started to feel SO much more aligned with my offers.
To the point where, I’ve created the easiest sales process in the world.
Clients inquire about my programs. I send them a Google Doc with the information. They sign up and pay me. End of story.
Real success gets to be SO simple. So if things feel complicated, check in to see where fear and misalignment are trying to sabotage.
Lesson #3. Trying to control and predict outcomes creates pressure that sucks the magic and miracles out of the business.
This may sound dramatic- but it is EXACTLY what I experienced this year.
At the start of the year- not only did I want to scale the business- but I wanted to create a business with predictable, recurring income.
I kept telling my entrepreneur friends “I want to know the inputs that lead to the outputs”. Essentially meaning- I want to know exactly what work I need to put in, in order to continue getting sales.
And it does make sense to some degree.
In business it is very strategic to know which of your efforts are actually generating income- and which things are a waste of time.
But instead of simply getting curious about which actions were creating the results in my business.
I hyperfixated on the ROI of every single action.
I was overthinking and over analyzing every move I made. Will this podcast episode show someone why they need to hire me, or will it be a waste of time. Will this email generate a sale- or am I not saying the right things? Should I focusing my efforts more on FB or IG?
I became so afraid of ¨wasting time¨ that I was paralyzed by indecision (maybe that´s something you have experienced in your career change efforts).
I felt defeated when I couldn’t crack the code. And I had some of my lowest cash months- in years.
When I asked my intuition what was going on…. the response was “you said you wanted measurements not miracles”
Which… to be fair is exactly what I was asking for. I just didn´t realize the consequence of that ask.
This year made me realize…. if I had to choose- I’d rather have a business built on magic and miracles- than built on spreadsheets and metrics.
But the good news is I don´t have to choose one or the other. It doesn´t have to be all or nothing.
I can use metrics and data to as one piece of the puzzle that informs my decisions. I can choose a few metrics that matter to me and let go of the rest. And I can maintain a healthy, playful curiosity to the numbers instead of letting myself feel frustrated and defeated when things aren´t going my way.
And most of all I can remember what game I am playing in the first place.
I am not playing the game of- beat myself up while trying to build a business that looks impressive on paper.
I´m playing the game of- have the time of my life building the business of my dreams.
Lesson #4. Focus more on creating the business that you want TODAY, not on building a business that’s going to be “sustainable long term”.
So- this year I also fell into the delayed gratification trap.
One too many times I heard myself saying things like
“Once I get my business to a place where it’s more sustainable- I can enjoy my travels more”
“Once I get my funnel up and running I’ll have more free time”
I was so focused on creating a someday, maybe in the future, business.
That I lost sight of the RIGHT NOW.
And yes- having a long term vision is super important. But- it’s also important to stay connected to WHY you started your business in the first place.
I started my business so I could enjoy my life NOW. Not hold my breath until some arbitrary milestone in the future.
I started my business to coach my clients (I seriously get so lit up by coaching) Not to spend 2hrs a week coaching- and the rest working on marketing funnels.
Going forward, I will continue to think about and plan for the long term vision for my business. But I want to spend more of my time and energy focusing on what’s unfolding for the business right now.
And I´m not sure if you recognized this pattern yet or not…. but the reason I had to learn allll of these lessons- is because I STOPPED trusting my intuition and I was DISCONNECTED from my power.
It´s really that simple.
The bigger lesson behind all of this- is that I HAVE to stay connected to my intuition. I have to trust myself that I know the way. I have to lead myself through any fear and self doubt. This is EXACTLY the lessons that I share with my clients over and over again- and I am learning it now on a deeper level.
In the future when I invest in mentorship or coaching- it will be to have someone external who continuously reminds me of my own power and inner wisdom. Not because I´m looking for someone else to tell me the answers.
So my love… even though this year wasn’t the most straightforward “knock it out of the park” kind of year. And even though- it’s not at all what I wanted.
It’s exactly what I needed- and I am truly so grateful
I’m grateful for my ability to reflect and grow from every setback. I’m grateful for the person I am becoming as I navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship.
Every obstacle is shaping me into the exact leader that I need to be- to live out my purpose. Every challenge is inviting me to rise up to a new level of personal power.
It’s like Marcus Aurelius said.
“The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”
And with all of the impediments I experienced in 2024… I’m so excited to see what “the way” looks like for me in 2025.
