6 things I learned about life and 5 things I learned about business in 2018.

In my notes section of my iPhone, I keep a list of all the lessons I’m trying to integrate and practice in my life and business.

As we head into the new year, I wanted to share the most impactful ones for me over the last 12 months.

I’ve picked these things up a variety of ways: from my executive coach, from events or podcasts I’ve attended, lines I’ve read in a book, and sometimes just great ideas I’ve picked up from a random YouTube video.

Why would I share this with you? Well, my aim is that perhaps one of the things that has resonated with me will do the same for you! Perhaps one nugget of gold will inch you forward that little bit more in 2019 when it comes to being better at life and/or business.

~ LIFE ~

1. The Power Of 4 - My Wisdom Circle

I only have 4 really close friends, not including my family and partner. These are people I text with a few times a week and see at least once a month in person one on one for a real deep catch up. As I’m getting older, I have found it SO much more fulfilling to go deep with a few rather than broad with a bunch. Put me in a group of people and I’ll be hiding in the corner on my phone as I hate surface conversation, but get me 1:1 and I’ll go deep. Deep, I believe, is where it is at in 2019. Less Instagram followers and more deep friendships with just a few people that truly matter to you.

2. Expectations Are Resentments In Waiting

Being in a relationship over the last 12 months has meant that I’ve needed to up my game when it comes to communicating what I need from a partner. Specifically, I’m talking about communicating my expectations. While the conversations haven’t always been easy, they have allowed us to build such a close bond and a safe space where we can be honest with each other regularly...even if it may hurt a little. Share more of how you feel and what you want more frequently. It has been such a game changer for me in my relationship.

3. The Grass Is Greener On The Side You Water

It’s so easy to look out on social media to see all these amazing lives people are leading. The truth is that we are only seeing a moment from someone’s 24 hours. This year I decided to make a list of the things that are really important to me - health, relationships, business growth and education, and I’ve put my energy there. In short...I’ve watered that grass! The outcome - better results in the areas I focused on, less time on social media, and more time spent working on the things that bring me joy!

4. Was Today A Good Day To Die

Earlier this year I read an awesome article in Fast Company or Inc or Forbes. I can’t remember really - but it was something like that. It was about asking yourself this odd question before you go to bed. I don’t write it down, but I just ask this question and my aim is to obviously have more yes’s than no’s in a week. Sometimes I achieve it, sometimes I don’t. What it has done is make me a lot more intentional about how I plan my days. It has really made me aware of the things that I love, that fill me up and made me equally aware of those things that deplete me...which I need to avoid.

5. Judgement Is Crucial

2018 was the year I accepted that I’m extremely judgmental of myself and others, and that’s ok! I needed to shift my focus: not from judgement but practicing acceptance and understanding of myself and others. The bonus that came from focusing on this is I became more inquisitive, more curious, and that got me to a place of compassion for myself and others. This was a huge win.

6. Accept You Will Be Disappointed And You Will Disappoint 

I was speaking at the Dance Teacher Summit here in NYC and I was talking with one of the studio owners who told me she had been married for 35 years. I asked her what advice she would give someone looking to be in a relationships for 35 years and she said “Accept You Will Be Disappointed And You Will Disappoint.” It immediately made me relax and since that day that phrase has taken a lot of pressure off my shoulders when it comes to showing up as the best partner I can be. I haven’t lessened the importance of being my best, but I’m so much kinder to myself and my partner when I’m disappointed or I disappoint.

~ BUSINESS ~

1. Set Up A Financial Dashboard

There is nothing better than seeing a segmented P&L statement each month that has your income streams and expenses broken down. 2018 was the year I drilled down even further with our Bookkeeper to create reports that made decisions easy. We have 5 income streams in our business, and each month they assign every single expense to the income stream that particular expense supported. We even break down the amount of time each team member spends on each of the income streams so the right percentage of their wage goes into the right stream. I know to the cent how profitable each of these income streams are which means I can make very clear decisions on moving the business forward. By the way, we use TimeIQ for tracking team time if you’re interested.

2. Be Great At Being Bored 

I have about 35 business ideas sitting in Evernote at the moment. If you’re anything like me, you come up with an idea a minute. That’s great, but it doesn’t mean you need to act on it. 2018 was the year I was focused on being great at being bored in my business. Let me explain. I didn’t launch anything new in 2018 (aside from a live event which is happening in 2019, so that doesn’t count). What I did was focus on innovating in the boredom. How could I make what we currently offer even more value packed for our customers without me breaking it just because I’m bored? A great example is our podcast. It’s been going over 4 years now every week and to be honest, I was so bored of doing it. I could have just stopped doing the podcast, which is what most people do, yet instead I got some of our amazing members and successful studio owners that I know to co-host a podcast series for the last 8 or so months. They loved it! They delivered so much value to our audience! Also, I got a break and some time to be creatively thinking about our podcast strategy for 2019. The lesson here is...don’t just burn something down because you are bored! There are always ways to work it out without taking value away from your customers.

3. Be Obsessed With Your Calendar

Every 90 days I track 14 days of what I do with my time. It’s been powerful for many reasons: where my time goes, what I dislike doing, what I love doing, what can I delegate, what team member do I need to hire next, what of my actions are getting us the best results in the business…the list goes on. After my 14 days, I spend a week working out a plan for what I’m going to do with all this data. Since I started to doing this exercise I have given myself so much more whitespace time in my calendar just to think (best book of 2018 on this - The Road Less Stupid by Keith Cunningham). This exercise in itself has made me much more productive, efficient and effective with my time. Give it a go!

4. Frictionless Living 

I really love removing friction in my life and business. I’m always looking for how I can make better use of my time. A few things I have done this year to make the most of my time:

1. Apartment cleaner once a week. 

2. Exercise bike at home and use the Peloton app (saves me time walking to and from SoulCycle - about 40 minutes a day). 

3. UberEats for food. Gives me variety yet I don’t need to move from my apartment. 

4. SodaStream - Life changing since giving up coffee, diet pepsi and alcohol. 

5. Monthly Tuesday Call Day - Once a month on a Tuesday is my call day. We have these dates all mapped out for 2019. These are the only days I will have calls with anyone outside my team. Occasionally, I will do calls outside of these times but it’s rare. This means I get the rest of the week to focus on our growth, customer experience and team. 

6. Buy everything from Amazon - It’s easy and quick. I also buy in bulk. If you came to my apartment you would see about 5 of everything that is a staple - shampoo, conditioner, bodywash, deodorant, paper towels, hand soap, etc. 

7. Outfits - I have 6 pairs of the same activewear shorts from H&M and 6 of the same T-Shirts that I wear at home daily. I also have 1 dress jacket, 3 dress shirts and 2 pairs of the same jeans. I never think waste time thinking “what will I wear today?” I have better things to think about.

All of these things have given quality time back to me so I can work on the business. Noticed I said quality time. By not having to worry about the above, I have energy to focus on what really matters!

5. Get Operations Help 

4 months ago I realized that our business had nearly grown another 95% across the last 12 months. No wonder I was feeling like I was deep into the operations of the company and spending less time on being creative. I wasn’t just feeling it, I was doing it (thanks time tracker). I was straddling the CEO and COO role and it was hurting the business and my brain...and my energy. I went on a hunt for 3 months to find an Operations Director. I spent a huge amount of time creating our hiring funnel and doing three rounds of interviews plus two hour lunches with the final candidates. It was a fascinating process finding my right arm of the business and I’m so excited to have this person starting with us next week. I knew that without this person we wouldn’t be able to achieve the goals I have for the company.

I hope this has given you something to think about and hopefully implement as you welcome in 2019.

I’m wishing you all the very best!

Clint