As you can tell by the title, I view my first year of business as a failure. My failures may not be exactly what you think.
Yes, 2020, I started a business with a broken ankle, picked travel focus, and then a pandemic. It can be easy to think that things weren't on my side. However, I know there were things that I fell short.
Owning and managing a business means everything falls on you. If you don't do the work, then things aren't done. I was lax about my deadlines. At the start, everything was exciting and fun!
End of January, I feel like I hit the ground running. There were a few blogs I had saved and ready to go live for a few weeks. Within that time, I was trying to figure out where to find my footing. I landed on traveling! Which I loved because of the exploring and sharing aspect.
The outdoor and blogging community is connected by sharing experiences and connecting with like-minded people. When I went rock climbing, I experienced this for the first time. I've had friends I hiked with, and my family has been adventurous my whole life.
Going entirely on my own was not new to me. Before climbing, I participated in volleyball leagues. I had no friends going with me. Volleyball was trickier to build relationships with people beyond the weekly game.
Rock climbing and the outdoor community is like no other community. I made friends with people who embraced me into this whole new world. I loved it! It gave me a new perspective on the outdoors and activity.
When this clicked, the process began. I am a SLOW processor. All of 2020 involved me peeling back this idea and how the future would look. What content I would put out. As exciting as it was, I was facing the reality of a lockdown and state parks being closed.
This period was short-lived. A plan began to go in motion for the content I wanted to share. Plans without action fail.
By this time, life began to return to somewhat a normal balancing. Researching and going to places to write and still write about it proved to be a more significant challenge than I realized. Then I also started giving myself excuses for why things weren't done.
Worst, I didn't hold myself accountable for getting things done. When you're working in an office environment, you're held responsible by your boss. From working in a corporate world for 8 years, so many habits or ways of thinking were ingrained in me without me realizing it.
The biggest mistake I made was only making big business goals. Goals without a plan or ways to take action is an easy way to fail.
This year I made practical business goals with a plan. My goals were matched with actionable items and deadlines.
Matching a deadline and goal together came from watching Cathrine Manning's 2021 Goals video. She went through how she's set goals over the years. Even now, she's gotten better at it.
Another source for practical goal setting came from Maza Travel Ebook. She shared how she broke down a significant term goal with little steps. She got it from The 4-Hour Work Week. She mentions dream lining and how you achieve a goal by setting practical steps to get there.
I actually just picked this book up over the weekend! Shout out to awesome people who got me Barnes and Noble gift cards for my birthday. I'm excited to dive into this book and see how it'll help me accomplish more in 2021.
I finished 2020, not in the position I thought I would be. However, I've walked away with a community I didn't have at the beginning of the year. I gained knowledge about blogging and how much work is involved.
I discovered how others do enjoy my voice, also that I have knowledge that is worth sharing. Doubt held me back from thinking this. I am grateful for my family, challenging me to think about what I write about. There is still so much for me to learn. Also, to ask for help.
Not having an editor. My family has been the most prominent people to call me out, especially since my sister is so willing and has offered. My goal and hope is this year to ask for help and utilize my sister's editing skills.
I did land a freelancing client. This was a significant boost to my spirits. At this point, I had given up on getting any freelancing work.
I look forward to seeing how this grows in the future.
Here's to 2021, year 2 of business. If you get my weekly newsletter, you would see the phrase I'm focusing on this year is DO THE WORK!
Here's to doing the work!
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