A new season often leads to reflection, and I have found it to be a great time to take stock, analyze, and set new goals. It is an important exercise to take time to look back at what you have accomplished, think about possible adjustments, and refocus on the final months of the year.

How best to do this? Perhaps reflect on your wins for the year so far. What are you proud of? How have you grown? What has made you excited and given you energy? On the flip side, what is dragging you down? What do you want to turn away from? What new ideas have been lingering? Are there new directions that you have been thinking about pursuing? Is this the right time to make a change?  As the weather cools and the fall begins, take some time to reassess, be honest with yourself, and take clear steps to move forward with renewed clarity.

Through the highs and lows of work and business, there are times when it is difficult to hold on to optimism. However, belief in what you are doing is critical to success. If you are not optimistic or have hope/faith/whatever word you want to use, the mountain to accomplish your goals is treacherously steep. Belief is what gets you through obstacles and challenges. It is the essential underpinning for all that you are doing. When belief fades, the end is often near. 

So how do you hold on to optimism in times of difficulty? One has to practice and train to be resilient; to have habits in place to counteract those feelings of doubt, to have an outlet to vent, release, and process insecurity and negativity, and then return to a belief system that is positive and purposeful. We all have moments of doubt, but the key is to let these be moments be brief and then become realigned with your belief and purpose.

There are always so many things to do in the life of an entrepreneur. An essential way to stay afloat and to feel in control is to prioritize. Thinking through strategy, intention, emotion, and purpose can all help you prioritize tasks. Trying to do everything at once, often leads to exhaustion, frustration, avoidance. Assessing what is most important in the moment and what follows, can help one to breathe through the stress of having a mountain to climb. Breaking things into smaller tasks helps with feeling productive and purposeful.

Often, what is on the horizon feels unmanageable, but when you take the time to take in the larger plan and prioritize work strategically, you feel energized to proceed. Being strategic saves a great deal of time and energy in the long run. Whether it is blocking out time each week to think about the week to come or planning monthly or quarterly, make sure to talk through strategy and priorities with a trusted advisor or partner. Often, speaking out loud helps clarity to form. 

Society makes us think that there is some ethereal "perfect balance" of life/work, parenting/career, etc. These ideas make us feel like we are never doing life correctly. I have found that the way to incorporate the concept of balance is to think about personal choice.  What balance works best for you at this moment in time.  When do you feel the most content or satisfied? When do you feel like you are best meeting the needs of your family and work?  I once heard someone say that you can't be great at everything. You can be great at 1 thing and good at lots of things. This quote has stayed with me and helped me see my life in a different way.

Life is always in flux with energy given to different things at different moments and life stages.  Giving yourself the freedom to also be in flux with what receives your attention is important. A binary choice is not necessary, but finding the rhythm that works best for you is the key. This can take introspection and planning. Feeling in control of your life and life choices is what gives us calm and focus, and this feeling of empowerment is the balance that keeps us upright and steady amidst the many things that demand our attention.

Honesty plays such an important role in the decisions we make. Are we being honest with what we truly want?  Am I being honest with myself about what direction I want to take? What I am sure/unsure about? Where I need more understanding before I move forward? When we are truly honest with ourselves, we can make a plan that will be successful. By being honest and getting below the surface, we come to the truth or crux of the matter.  

​Often, roadblocks and pitfalls come when we are not clear/truthful.  We may make decisions that we "think" we should make but don't intrinsically believe in. We set ourselves up to stumble. When we are clear and truthful with ourselves and our team/family/etc, the path opens up for success. Listening to our inner voice and having the courage to be honest and truthful with ourselves is an important element to our satisfaction and success in both our work and life in general.

As an entrepreneur, the day is full of decisions.  Some minor and some fundamental.  There are many decisions that take time to percolate, to decide what "feels" right. Sometimes outlining each scenario, figuring out its trajectory, and sitting with how an outcome may feel, is the best way to make a conclusion. Sometimes seeking advice and guidance is most helpful. Other times, spontaneous instinctual reactions work best.

This month represents a big shift for me as I am selling Myself Belts.  I sat with this thought for a few years, reflected on what the last 20 years have meant to me and my life and what I wanted for the future.  I thought through different scenarios, sat with options, and now feel so ready and excited for what is to come.  I have had many people act as listeners and sounding boards for me. In the end, after taking all of this feedback and advice (both internal and external) and synthesizing it, I have come to an ideal outcome. Entrepreneurship takes as village and it also requires quiet and reflection because after building a business, it is only the entrepreneur who knows what the right direction is. Clarity is key.  Clarity of focus, clarity about emotion, and clarity about motivations. There isn't a right answer, only what is right for you.  For me, I am excited to focus more on Entrepreneurial Insight, LLC, supporting other people on their professional journeys.

As we begin 2022, I have been thinking about my mantra for the year.  I have come to appreciate the importance of "And". I can feel disappointment about the isolation that Covid has caused AND I can be thankful for togetherness with my family.  I can be anxious about the year to come AND I can be excited about the fresh, unwritten months ahead.  I can love running my business AND I can start to think about what is my next professional adventure.  I appreciate thinking about feelings in this nuanced way, because it is how we feel emotions, thoughts, and often decisions.  More than one thing can be true at once and if we lean in to the nuances and tease out the layers we become more self-aware and also more open as we are embrace the entirety of our experience.  
For me, 2022 will be the year of AND.. noting the layers to my  emotional and physical experience and appreciating the complexity of all that is to come.  Happy New Year!

We are having a lovely shift in weather today and it has made me pensive about how the weather can influence us- both in mood and work. The change of season provides a natural time for reflection and assessment.  What should this season/quarter bring?  What are my goals? How can I accomplish them?  Do I need outside support? What have I been doing well? Where do I need to stretch/improve?

​Asking ourselves questions like these gives us the opportunity to grow.  Whether it is in our business, socially, or other areas of our personal lives, reflecting leads to growth.  Sometimes questions are easy to answer and others require a deeper, more honest, and often more difficult analysis. But, whatever the outcome, the clarity that is gained can be instrumental to success and growth.

"Grace" has been a thread throughout the past year for me.  I have heard this word spoken about, written about, and discussed in conversation.  Giving people grace for decisions in uncertain times, giving ourselves grace  during the pandemic, whether it be about work, parenting, eating, exercising, tv-watching, the list goes on and on.  

​I have thought about this word a great deal- this forgiving, kind, thoughtful word.  As we come out of this pandemic year, having grace for ourselves as we look in the rear view mirror is so healthy and clarifying. We got through something extremely difficult and foreign. Me made it to the other side, into this new ever-changing world, and we need to enter it with grace.  We all have regrets and missed opportunities but we also have excitement, endless possibility, and renewed gratitude.  I hope that "grace" is a word that I hold onto moving forward, a positive thread that continues past 2021.

Spring is symbolic of so much in a typical year, but in 2021 it feels like it indicates more.  It is an awakening, a rebirth, and feels more hopeful than usual.  Or at least those are the elements that I am holding onto! For me this year, spring brings more energy, enthusiasm, and focused purpose than usual. We are definitely emerging from something life altering, and I think all of us are feeling like we want to engage with what is next with strength, focus, and enthusiasm. The sunshine and warmer weather helps invigorate us and make us feel like anything is possible.  I am holding tight to that feeling and energy! 

This was definitely a memorable year.  I hesitate to use the overused "unprecedented", but the uncertainty of the year affected everyone differently and that is what I have been reflecting on.  Some had a burst of creative energy, some pivoted businesses for the pandemic moment, some focused on family and survival, some focused on the pause and rested or learned new skills, some put more energy into business than they ever have before.  For some, 2020 was the year that they made a huge change in their life, either professionally or personally.  Everyone had a different reaction to how to get through 2020 in one piece.   

​As I reflect on my year, I have come to realize that I focused on my family and on maintaining the health of my businesses.  I didn't create anew, but I held on strategically to what I had and strategized for the year to come.  I focused on my family and our health, mental health, and well-being.  I gave myself a break, not a literal break from life, but a break from the hustle and hamster wheel of life.  The slower pace allowed for me to recharge, focus on my mothering and make sure that my kids were succeeding on their paths. I helped my businesses weather the 2020 storm, but I didn't push for growth.  I have always been a person that gives myself room; room to simply be, room to not regret or be hard on myself, room to understand that we can't always excel in all areas all the time.  We have to focus on what is most important in the moment, and in 2020, that was different for everyone, and that is okay.

I just read a quote that said "inhale the future, exhale the past" and it resonated with me. Looking forward with optimism and positivity is essential to success and emotional well being.  As we exhale the past, we don't have to forget it, but rather we learn from it and take the lessons and growth that it gave us and use it for what is to come.

Positivity is definitely a mindset. Sometimes it can leave us for a time period and we have to do the work to get it back, but having a positive mindset provides the foundation to build with intention. Remaining positive and hopeful even during these trying pandemic times is essential to professional success and resiliency.

The pandemic has certainly altered the lens that we all look through into the world around us. For me, the summer was a time that I got through the days, focused on family, my business, tried to take deep breaths and deal with day to day issues.  Now that school in some form has begun and the fall is taking shape, I am ready to look through my new lens and focus.  Looking through my lens means gaining clarity both looking outwards and inwards.  What do I want to focus on?  What is the best route to get there? How is the landscape different? What are short terms goals and longer term goals?  Our lens most certainly has changed, but that doesn't mean that the road ahead isn't there. We just need to adjust our focus and move forward.

There are many times in business and life when the unexpected happens.  You can plan and strategize the year to come, but sometimes life throws you an unanticipated curveball (or pandemic!).  These moments teach us that we can only control so much.  I often talk about "controlling what you can control" because so much of business is out of our hands.  You can sell your product to a vendor, but you don't know how your vendor will display it, you can pitch a magazine but you don't know what their focus is for that month.  You can only control what you can control.

In this spring season that no one planned for, the idea of control has been on my mind a lot.  It is hard to plan when you don't know what the future holds.  I have been using this time to sit back, be patient, and try to stay calm.  I need to control what I can control- my relationships with customers, my relationship with my community and family, and my plan for my employees.  I can offer support and encouragement to friends and fellow entrepreneurs, I can clean my office (!), I can do my part to try to keep this virus from spreading, and I can try to stay positive.  We can only control what we can control.  Hopefully on the flip side of this unexpected world event, the community, connectivity and positivity that we have all created will lead to new business opportunity and growth. How we choose to wait it out is something we can control.

We all start the new year looking forward.  We think about our plans for the year- goals, resolutions, what we want to accomplish.  Having goals is great, but they need to be backed up by a clear focus and foundation.  Having clarity on why certain goals are important, about a clear strategy to accomplish them, and the small steps that will lead you to the larger goal is critical to success.  Without a clear and thoughtful vision the roadmap can get hard to follow.

So as you are thinking big about 2020, make sure that you are also thinking about the smaller decisions and stepping stones to get you there.  Take the time to think through the whys, possible pitfalls, necessary partners, and do the work to tease out the clear and focused path to get you successfully to your end goal.

It's so important to remember to enjoy the ride of life and work.  Savor new relationships, celebrate the wins, cherish the hard moments that lead to breakthroughs.  All of it is part of a journey, a long ride, that we have to remember to be grateful for so that we can endure the highs and lows.  

Disappointments lead to new decisions and opportunities so we have to learn to enjoy those too.  Being an entrepreneur is challenging but we all chose this ride because we had an idea of something that we wanted to accomplish, so remember to enjoy it!