Hello 2017, now what shall we do with you?

Every time one year rolls over to the next I silently high-five myself for another year in business.  I’m now into year 10 of what I hope will be a business that continues to inspire me to get up and get on with it for at least another 10 (by which time my youngest will be 23 years old bless her) years.  I generally mark the collecting of another notch on the business age belt with a mixture of relief and reflection rather than a big party because for me by business is perhaps the most personal part of my life – where I’m most vulnerable and raw. It’s the part of my life that I expect to win at, have always expected to succeed in (unlike marriage, general happiness, parenting, education, personal nutrition and work-life-balance which, by the way, aren’t going too badly either 🙂 ).  For me that comes back to my childhood where teacher after teacher applauded my work ethic, told me ‘I could achieve anything’, gave me great grades and generally made me feel like the world was my oyster.  And indeed it has been but that doesn’t mean it’s been easy – that bit was sort of missed, nobody warned me – I don’t hold a grudge but neither do I want that repeated for others…..

 

So running a business is STILL not easy hey?  Big frigging deal!

I don’t need to remind myself that, I live that, but I do like to scatter that message through the pages of this blog because you, my reader often look to me, your teacher for guidance and support, possibly feeling that your life will be so much easier once you have got where I’ve got.  I want you to look after yourselves, pace yourselves the best you can, believe in yourself through the darkness and most importantly of all JUST KEEP ON WITH IT BUT (and this is a big BUT)  do be honest with yourself.  The main reason why this business has been so tough for me is because while I’ve largely dismissed the negativity of others I’ve still had to deal with plenty of stuff I’ve created for myself or for the thoughts and opinions that others threw at me and I put into my backpack.  Being honest, being self-analytical, wishing to grow, facing the darkness, willing yourself to get to the bottom of this is, I think key.

I had forgotten that people laughed down my idea of becoming a consultant when I first announced it, people who I really wanted to be able to look up.  That had something to do with my age, something more to do with the fact that I was still a recent immigrant and a further ‘thing’ that these people really hadn’t seen what I was capable of.  I largely ignored them hence why they became forgotten, I had too many of my own issues to work through anyway.

So where does that leave me in 2017?

Well for the first time in a long time I feel clearer in my head about my business direction, about what I want to do next and how I am going to achieve it.

I’ve got a plan A and a plan B this year.  Plan A is dependent on others so while that is critically important to me and my long-term goals I’ve learned not to put my emotional and financial future hopes into someone else’s basket – even if that basket is a shared one.

Plan B involves working hard, staying focused and saving for the long-service leave that I will fund myself!   My eldest daughter is off on exchange to Finland for the whole year as of next week so I plan to take the rest of the family to visit her, to also see Lapland (and meet the REAL Santa), experience the Northern Lights and spend Christmas 2017 with my mother in Scotland.  Plan B doesn’t sound all that bad now does it?

As far as the blog goes I’m wanting to ramp that back up again as 2016 was a little more hit-and-miss than it has been before on account of me being to head-down-bum-up in formulating work.  While that is great it is the writing that keeps me looking forward, thinking of new ways to solve problems and generally growing and challenging myself and my mind. We can’t afford to let that slip!

So that’s me folks, I’m back at work proper on Monday 9th January this year and will be kicking off the new year with new client meetings,  posting samples (that are a bit late thanks to my brain closing down for Christmas) and a few new stories on the blog.

Here’s to a successful 2017 for each and every one of you and if any of you do have topics you wish to have delved into on this blog then I’d love to hear from you!

Thanks for your continued support!

 

Amanda x