Step Outside Your Comfort Zone!
January can be an extremely hectic and busy month for Bookkeepers working on client year end clean up, W2’s and 1099’s. Those New Year's resolutions quickly fade into the background of life as you are trying to put all the fires out and before you know it Spring has arrived. I am going to encourage you to take a few minutes today to think about yourself and schedule on your calendar a conference or retreat to attend in 2020.
When you run a remote business, it is very easy to get stuck in a rut of not leaving your house. You must admit Pajama days are the BEST!!! However, occasionally, you need to push yourself to get out of your comfort zone and see a change of scenery. What better way to do that then to attend one of the many accounting events that are available to you each year.
The choice is yours, pick from QuickBooks Connect, the Bookkeeping Buds Retreat, Thriveal, Scaling New Heights or attend them all. My business would never be where it is now if it wasn’t for the things that I learned and the people that I met attending these types of events. Sometimes they even come with additional surprises, iImagine getting to meet your favorite band, Train at an Accounting event, specifically QuickBooks Connect. Thank you, Intuit. That would never have happened had I stayed at home
These are the reasons I attend conferences regularly:
- Education
- In person learning from experts in their field is priceless.
- You can learn QuickBooks specifics, to how to run your business, and so much more.
- Vendors
- Find new products to make your business and your client’s business more efficient.
- See live demos and get questions answered in real time to see if the product is worth learning more about after you get back home.
- Build a connection so if you have questions or problems later you have an actual person to contact.
- Free swag, some vendors have AMAZING giveaways. TSheets has the softest shirts ever.
- Networking
- Having 2 or 3 days to talk with and share ideas with your peers will change your life.
- You will find that everyone is very open to answering questions and discussing solutions to problems you are facing because most likely they have them too.
- Some of these friendships will last a lifetime. Since many of us work alone it is the perfect way to build a community of support in real life.
- Travel
- See parts of the world that maybe you have not been before. What a perfect excuse to stay a few extra days and experience something new.
- Inspiration
- I guarantee you will leave the event exhausted but also inspired with new ideas and new energy.
- Getting out of your regular routine allows your brain to be more creative.
If you are a little timid to attend one of the large conferences, check out the Bookkeeping Buds Boutique retreat. It is very welcoming, and you will build connections with people that attend the larger conferences. Then it is a little less overwhelming to attend them especially when you know you will be able to spend time with your friends while you are there. Which event will you be attending? Make self improvement your priority for 2020.