Chaos to clarity

The holidays are a great time.

A time to reflect, reconnect and appreciate where we are in our lives.

This year has gone by at an alarming pace.

I’ve experienced growth in my business, a break up, moved home and put in work to develop myself.

It’s my belief that change creates opportunities. Here are a few events and lessons from my year, which I think may be useful to you.

1. Business growth

You may know that my mini-agency serves to help influencers grow their sales online.

Prior to this year, I helped my clients redesign their websites and advertised their offers to a wider audience.

I worked on a project or retainer basis.

I spent a lot of time creating custom proposals and custom offers for each client who asked for my help.

So I decided to standardize my offers and change the pricing strategy.

I decided to target brands who needed a better e-commerce solution, more reach and increased sales.

As a Shopify partner, I knew Shopify is the best solution to achieve two of these outcomes.

I also asked for a base fee and percentage of advertising sales revenue.

Basically, if I made sales from our ad campaigns I got paid as well.

This has proven to be a great strategy which I will continue to offer my clients in 2024.

2. Life Partners and Business

In 2022 I met the love of my life. A beautiful ambitious girl with a heart of gold.

Or so I thought.

I asked her to be with me, move in together and join the business as a partner.

In the beginning, things were great.

She worked to bring leads into the business and I would sell and fulfill on the services mentioned above.

I noticed a shift in the market earlier this year. Leads were not as eager to hire marketing help.

Clients who were struggling to make sales, cancelled. Revenue dropped. Income was limited.

The business was unable to sustain our lifestyle. I had to make a very hard decision. I asked my partner to find a job and continue working leads for the business part time.

Unfortunately, this pressure caused a rift in our personal relationship too. I sought couples therapy to resolve our differences and gain clarity on our needs.

Turns out, our needs were not aligned.

After much deliberation and anxiety, I made another hard decision to end the relationship.

It felt like I went back to zero.

My confidence was shot.

I moved to a new home in a quieter cheaper part of the city.

Away from the chaos and hustle of central Bangkok, Thailand.

I didn’t know at the time, but these changes were exactly what I needed.

I continued therapy, read books and listened to podcasts I was able to find answers.

I found space in my mind to think through red flags I’d ignored and identify my mistakes.

I found answers for how I ended up alone again.

I found further clarity in the type of partner I want in my life. I’ve also been lucky enough to convert a huge business opportunity with one of my all time personal development heroes.

More on that soon.

These experiences forced me to grow. Because I worked on myself.

3. The Future

The challenges this year have forced me to evaluate my choices, boundaries and goals. Not just for 2024, but also for the next 5 years.

Key Takeaways

Decisions are most powerful when we act on them.

Strength is developed when we stretch our current abilities.

My therapist reminded me that “Confidence comes from doing challenging things each and every day.”

I hope you found my musings useful and inspiring. I’d like to encourage you to use this time of year to really reflect and journal on your year.

Evaluate if your health, finances and relationships are where you’d like them to be.

Think through what makes you happy, joyful sad and frustrated.

Decide to do more of what makes you happy.

Limit or stop doing things that don’t.

Happy holidays.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can develop influence and monetize your audience in 2024, book a free call with me here.