Happy new year! 🎉 I hope that you have all had an amazing Holiday break and that your 2023 has started off great. This time of year always brings lots of hope, motivation and reflection, right? 2022 was a hard year for me; I struggled with balancing my work- and private life and felt overwhelmed. For this week’s post, I wanted to share my biggest learnings of 2022, and my outlook for 2023. By sharing these insights, hopefully you will get a real look into what growing a freelance business is like (and do better than me!).
The power of delegating
2022 was my second year in business, and I experienced some growing pains. While trying to scale, I was attempting to do as much as possible myself, and not learning how to delegate. This led to feeling really overwhelmed and like I didn’t have enough hours in the day to get things done- not good! I think this is quite common among freelancers, so it’s important to be conscious of what you take on. If it becomes too much, outsourcing tasks is a must! This is something I am still learning, and will continue working on in 2023. I now have two part-time employees helping me, and I have to empower them and give them responsibilities. That’s what being a manager is all about! If you are growing your business, take inventory of the tasks on your plate and see if there is anything that can be done by someone else. Maybe it’s time for you to outsource these tasks as well?
Work/life balance is not just a buzzword
There is so much focus on work/life balance and for good reason! It’s not healthy to become so focused on working that you forget about yourself, I learned that the hard way this year. While there were a number of reasons for this shift, I now know that prioritizing friends and hobbies is just as important as work. In 2023, I have to be better about setting boundaries to ensure that I have a life outside of work. When you have your own business it should be fun and there should be time for YOU as well, otherwise it is just like any other job. If you feel yourself slipping into these bad habits on your growth journey as well, let this be your reminder to turn off your laptop and go meet a friend for a coffee 😉
We are all on our own journey
With social media, it’s become so easy to compare ourselves with the lives that others appear to be living, maybe you’re quilty of this too? It’s so easy to think that everyone else has everything figured out, when maybe they are struggling as well behind-the-scenes. In 2022, I learned that even the people who I look to as an inspiration or mentor struggle, and that’s ok. Life is a journey and it’s ok to have ups and downs sometimes and there is so much to learn from talking with others. For 2023, I know I need to remember that social media is not real life, and that everyone is on their own path. There is no need to compare myself with everyone else, because their journey is different to mine. Instead of thinking that I am less than, I want to practice complimenting them for their success and asking for advice. I hope this reminder helps you as well.
I hope that by sharing these lessons you might learn from my mistakes. This post was a bit more private than I normally share, but I think it’s important to be transparent and normalize struggling. What were your biggest learnings of 2022? And what are you hoping to accomplish in 2023? I am sure you can do anything you set your mind to and that you will have all the success in the new year 😍
Want to make all of your big goals achievable in 2023? I have put together a free on-demand workshop to help you focus in on your goals to ensure you keep up your motivation in the new year. Let’s make 2023 the best one yet!
