Behind the Scenes: My 2017 Business Resolutions

As much as I want to be one of the cool kids who is totally against resolutions, the truth is that this time of year always gets me in a reflective mood. And reflection inevitably leads to planning and goal setting!

 

Maybe it’s something about the slower pace of the days between Christmas and New Year’s. Maybe it’s just that the excitement of everyone else’s resolutions rubs off on me! Whatever it is about the season, I might as well give in and take advantage of the resolution-setting mood, right?

 

So, here are my 5 business resolutions for the new year. Maybe you can work them into your list too!

 

Drop “just” and “should” from my vocabulary

It took me a bit of coaching and talking to other creative entrepreneurs to really see this one. I’ve been saying things like, “I just have 500 Instagram followers,” and “My website should be perfect by now.” A lot.

 

“Just” keeps me from appreciating the people who support me, celebrating my wins, and thinking strategically. “Should” keeps me stressed out, kills my motivation, and traps me in comparison loops. Time to let both these words go!

 

Give myself more credit

This year has been full of learning, pivoting, and trying different things to see what works. I may not be where I thought I would be at the beginning of the year. But I have made progress! And just like I tell my clients, all progress is good progress.

 

I finally settled on my ideal client, designed my website twice, blogged almost every week, spoke at 3 events, grew my Instagram following, connected with dozens of inspiring creatives, and got to work with some amazing clients! I’ve done a ton of work and accomplished a lot. I deserve to give myself some credit!

 

Extend the same grace I give others to myself

No one is as hard on me as I am on myself. It’s funny how afraid I’ve been of looking foolish or inexperienced or making people angry. I’ve put things out there honestly hoping no one would notice. I haven’t started a Facebook page because I’m afraid of looking silly with “just” a few likes.

 

But you know what? I never think such negative things about anyone else! If I find a page with 40 likes, I get excited to be one of the first on board. If I read some branding advice that doesn’t resonate, I move on. I don’t expect everyone around me to be perfect, so I need to stop expecting perfection from myself.

 

Do more of what works, fearlessly

I spend a huge chunk of the year pouring all my energy into slow technical step-by-step blog posts. They each took forever to write and I got bored with them really quickly. Plus, no one was really picking them up or giving me really excited feedback. But I kept at it because it was the plan I’d committed to.

 

This year, I want to give myself permission to change my path as soon as I see that it’s not working. I want to focus on the things that do work, like quicker funner posts, connecting with people face-to-face, and sharing the vulnerable stuff. And I want to feel no shame, no guilt, and no fear about doing so.

 

Keep the balance and make it even better

The thing I really feel I did best in this year was keeping a good balance between work and life. It was always my intention to give my kiddo top priority and I really feel like I have. We had an amazing summer full of little trips and picnics and friends.

 

I want to keep doing that and make it even better. I want to be more intentional about kiddo’s screen time, which means planning my work a little better. And I want to add my ridiculously patient husband to the top of my priorities list. Because, really, he should be right up there with Ellie.

 

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I’m, not gonna lie. I’m a little nervous about putting this post out there. It’s probably my most real, authentic, vulnerable post yet and that feels a little scary. But there’s no reason to hold these resolutions off until January 1, right? So in the spirit of everything above, let’s do this!

 

I’m curious. What are your business resolutions? Let me know in the comments!