One month down, eleven more to go, the new year has officially started! I almost feel like it’s useless to count the months down because they just keep recycling anyway to no end, but one point of significance I would like to point out is that this post represents a completion of a full year of Entrepreneurial posts and the start of round two. A full year has passed since my first installment of this monthly public entrepreneurship journal and I’m very pleased that time and time again, you within my community comment on how much you enjoy these posts. So, I guess I’ll just have to keep doing them! After I wrote the outline for this post, I actually went back into my archives and reread last January’s post, and it’s so interesting to me that some of the things I was struggling with last year came back up with this installment. Namely a sense of introspection and solitary reflection. As I will go on to explain in this post, I do think this is just par for the course for me and January. It can be a challenging month for various reasons and I do hope that if any of you felt the same way, this post provides you will a sense of comfort that it isn’t just you who is struggling to get into their groove and workout a sense of uncertainty and unease. So, let’s jump into my review of the month.
What I Did
1. Put myself first: Without a doubt my focus for the month of January was me. This wasn’t the original intention of the month, but pretty early on into the New Year I realized that I was going through something mentally and emotionally that needed time to play itself out. So, I chose to be graceful with myself and loosened my expectations for what I would get done and work on this month. It definitely helped me make progress with myself, even if I wasn’t giving my full attention to my other priorities.
2. A lot of Soul Searching: Because of aforementioned struggle, I ended up doing a lot of soul searching. I spent a lot of time with myself thinking, practicing self-care and putting my attention on matters that concerned my immediate wellbeing and mental health.
3. Participated in an Online Summit: I said no to a lot this month, both to myself and others, but one thing I did say YES to was participating in an online summit called the Go For It Summit. It’s organized by one of my Empire Building Alums and although I was being very careful with what I agreed to do this month, I felt like my participation in this event was so in line with my overall goals for 2017 that I had to say yes! I gave a great video interview and the summit, which is going live in early February, is open for registration if you are interested- it’s FREE. Click here if you’d like to sign up!
What I Didn’t Do
1. Make any videos for YouTube: This was probably one of the biggest shocks for me this month. I knew I was going to take a week or two off at the start of the year because that is what I usually do, but ending the month with no videos was unplanned. It wasn’t that I didn’t try to film- I did a few times, but for one reason or another, I was displeased with the footage or in one case, the footage was corrupted. I just didn’t end up having the mental energy to force myself to create a video against the flow, so I just let it be what it was going to be.
2. Use my planner much: Back in December I was so excited to start using my planner for the New Year, but once January came, I barely touched it. In fact, I had to force myself to use it at time to outline work I needed to do. Again, this all has to do with my own personal struggle with the month, and I know I will be back in my planner soon, but with no clear direction for how I was spending my time this month, it wasn’t necessary.
3. Finish any projects: I’m not sure if I regret this or if I’ve just accepted it, but I didn’t finish any projects this month. Now, I didn’t have any that were due, but it was weird for me not to complete something in a month.
What I Learned
1. January is a tough month: I think as the years go by, I am beginning to see that January is a tough month for me, and I bet others as well. I think after the high of the holidays in Q4, once the new year hits, I fall into a lull. I’ve always said that productivity is like a wave, it ebbs and flows, and for me, Janauary is just a low energy, low productivity month. It makes sense if you think about it- the start of anything is always the hardest part, why would the start of a year be any different?
2. I don’t want to keep doing what I’ve been doing: After all the soul searching I did this month, I think the biggest thing I realized is that I don’t want to keep doing what I’ve been doing with my life and business. I think after so many years of hustling to make my business work and pushing myself, I am seeing that I’ve built a pretty self-sustaining business. Despite doing very little public facing work this month, I still ended up earning a very good passive income, and that’s the point right? I built this business so that I would make money without having to do much. This month has proven to me that I can pull the reigns on the pace I’ve been keeping and focus on projects that will continue to support the ongoing growth of my passive income streams.
3. Uncertainty is normal: As a type A personality, I struggle with accepting uncertainty. I like to know what is going on and where I stand, but this month was a sort of limbo for me. It really upset me early on in the month, but once I realized that the uncertainty was a struggle I had to face by allowing it to just be, I just accepted it. There is still a lot of uncertainty clouding my mind right now, but I can’t let it upset me because it will end up wasting more of my time.
Again, I hope you have found this post insightful and if anything in particular stood out to you, feel free to tell me about it in the comments. I’d so love to know how your month has progressed, so feel free to share some details as well!
xoxo,
I thought I was the only one who dealt with a lull after the holidays. I chose to embrace it as well this year and have spent a lot of time reading for fun. I’m glad I did because now I’m excited about working again. Hopefully taking the time off from your hard work has helped you in similar ways.
You’re not alone- we’re in this together!
I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching myself this month. I think for some January is a time of go, go, go and then others, take the time to slow down just a bit so they can be laser-focused in their pursuits for the rest of the year. Wishing you all the best in 2017, Alexis 🙂
I cannot thank you enough for this inspiring insight xx
I’ve always taken January as a time to recover from the previous year and prepare for the coming year. January is for me a time to process things, go within, and prepare for the future. February is the start of the new year for me. After finally figuring this out a few years ago the leap into January is much less stressful and I don’t have to worry about making sure things are getting done the way most people jump into January.
I really need to make a note in my planner for next January “this is your chill month- plan for nothing!”
This post really speaks to my heart. January was a slow start for me as well. I was in a funk and could not identify it’s source, but what you said makes sense. I sometimes forget to just rest in uncertainty and let life happen. Thank you so much for being transparent and sharing with us.
I’m so glad we are in unison on this one- for all my planning and productivity, sometimes I just can’t jump the hurdle.
I did have a big exhale breath moment reading this. I too have been going through this lull but it’s been a period of months since a personal loss. This has changed my goals in life after much soul searching – thank you for sharing this alexis it helps !
I’m so sorry for your loss Mandy, I do hope that time will heal you and give you the strength to move forward once you are ready.
Thanks sweets, I hope so! xx
Alexis, as a long-time follower (and lurker!) I am thrilled to see you taking more time for yourself and reorienting your life and business. It seems you’ve worked almost non-stop since the beginning, and some time away for rest and retrospection is great! I am surprised you chose to not use your planner lately, but I applaud that as well — I was swept up in the planner craze of the past two years, and my enthusiasm for it has died, but my excitement for Google Calendar has skyrocketed.
I’m in the midst of introspection as well, with wanting to start up a blog (again — tried last year, but it was awful timing) and create a self-sustaining business for myself. My job search mid-career change as a younger Millennial is just… a bad move, but a necessary one. Anyway, I wish you nothing but the best for you in this coming year and look forward to what you produce in 2017!
I was also very sad that my January is essentially empty in my planner, but what can you do? When your mind is blocking you from finding focus and the only productive thing to do is just go with the flow, I had to cut the anchor. Best of luck with your blog! xx
Honestly I think your body, most specifically your mind is shutting down forcing a break on you so you can regroup and come back stronger.
In the horse world we call it peaking, you rest them in the off season so they peak during the show season. You can’t keep those high level athletes at that intense peak year round.
You’re an entrepreneurial athlete. 😀
I really love this insight Deanna. On one hand it kills me to think I’m being forced to relax because it means that perhaps I didn’t do the best job at self care last year, but I also know the nature of productivity is the flow, and in order to peak at the right time (as you’ve suggested), I need to allow myself time to rest now. The worst feeling is just thinking that I’ve let people in my community down by not being as present as normal, but you just can’t plan for these things, can you? Or perhaps you have some insight on that from your experience?
xx
I was saddened to hear of your struggles with the start of the new year. I’m glad that you are a person who recognizes when you need time to adjust. Most people do not and end up burning out. I am new to your posts and have thoroughly enjoyed them. I am struggling right now with trying to learn how to organize myself. Your posts and you tube videos are very helpful. Good luck and thanks for the inspiration.