Episode 105, celebrates the final episode of 2023, and I want to share with you that my year did not go according to plan.

I know it might not feel like a shocker to you, that not everyone’s life goes exactly as planned, but I find it just isn’t talked about a lot in the entrepreneur and small business world.

It's been a year of growth, redefining success, and finding joy in the unexpected. Join me as I reflect on the past year and share the valuable lessons I've learned to support you on your journey.

While it's not always easy to be vulnerable and transparent, like I am in this episode, sharing our real experiences can inspire and connect us on a deeper level, and I’m here for that!

Inside today’s episode of the Brandmerry Podcast, we’ll dive into:

How my plans shifted in Q2, how I reframed my belief around my goals, and how it impacted the rest of my year.
My area where I grew the most (hint: it’s outside of business, but plays such a vital role).
How previous content I had created supported me in rediscovering what time management and scheduling looked like for me.

**I’ve included the main points below, but since this is a vulnerable episode listening gives you the full experience, and I highly recommend it.

For the full content, and all the insider tips, listen to Episode 105 now.

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Reevaluating Priorities and Redefining Success

In past years, my focus was on growth and always pushing for more. This year was no different. I had full intentions of growing my business revenue this year again.

But this year, I made a conscious decision, heading into the year, to prioritize my physical, emotional, and mental health.

Throughout the year, I embarked on a personal growth journey, working on my hormone health, physical well-being, emotional and mental health, and redefining my relationship with food and alcohol.

These changes took a lot of energy and attention, impacting how I showed up in my business. I quickly realized that personal growth sometimes requires shifting priorities and embracing a sustaining year in business.

This shift meant reevaluating my goals and realizing that sustaining and maintaining a healthy balance was more important to me than growing the revenue.

It was the first time I changed my intention and looked at success from a different perspective after the year had already started.

Navigating New Schedules and Boundaries:

As I prioritized my personal journey, I found that my schedule had to adapt accordingly.

Taking over homeschooling my son was a significant shift and required relearning how to balance work and family life. I had been so disconnected from the “juggle” over the past three years since my husband was home full time, homeschooled our son, and managed most responsibilities around the house.

With this shift, which wasn’t expected, I had to almost relearn all my old strategies around time management. I had to tune back into how I structured my days back in 2016 and 2017 when I was first growing my business.

For the first time ever, I looked at time management as a game. I decided that we could experiment with different routines and schedules, having no attachment to one rhythm working over the other, until we found one that worked for us.

So, the next time you’re feeling pulled in a million different directions, try to make it an experiment or a game to find your routine!

Discovering New Hobbies and Influencer Culture:

Amidst the changes, I rediscovered the importance of hobbies and passions outside of work and family. Gardening, cooking, crafting, and reading became outlets that brought me joy and helped me reconnect with nature.

As someone who has been really focused on her business, I realized that while I love my work, it’s hard to have a hobby around something that you run like a business.

Tapping into these hobbies and simplifying how I consume content and make purchase decisions, also led me to reflect on influencer culture and consumerism, prompting me to reflect on how I show up as an influencer and prioritize sustainability and authenticity.

This is something that I’ll be pulling into the new year, and reflecting this shift in my own marketing as a business owner and brand.

Adapting and Embracing Unexpected Opportunities:

This year taught me the value of being adaptable and embracing unexpected opportunities. Although things didn't go as planned, I was able to pivot, make aligned decisions, and celebrate what I accomplished.

Reframing setbacks as blessings in disguise allowed me to find new paths and refocus my priorities and I’m feeling so grateful for these lessons as they will be impacting my plans and decisions in the future.

So, if you’re feeling like you didn’t accomplish what you wanted to this year, I hope you can find the silver lining in the lesson.

And, as you plan for the new year I highly recommend that you embrace checking in with yourself every 90 days to make sure that your decisions feel aligned, and you’re still on an authentic path.

These checkins helped me so much this year to reframe, make adjustments and keep going.

Tune in now on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube Podcasts to hear the full episode and all the tips.

P.S. Looking for a more adaptable way to plan for the new year? I’ll walk you through my 6-step process inside of Brand New Plan, which pulls on seven years of experience planning as an entrepreneur. Learn more at brandmerry.com/newplan

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