Can you believe that we are about to wrap up 2022 in just a few weeks? I know we all say this every time, but this year really has gone by so fast. I know many online business owners are taking the time to reflect on this year and set goals for 2023, myself included. Even though I’m 100% guilty of this, it seems kind of crazy to me that we wait until the new year is approaching to get hyped about new beginnings and new goals, when really every new day or new moment is an opportunity. But anyway, I wanted to share what I’m focusing on in 2023 in my business (and life in general).
Ready for it?
My #1 Focus in Business in 2023
Happiness.
Yup, you read that right. My #1 focus in my business for 2023 is going to be happiness. In the past, I’ve always set monetary goals for my business, and that’s not to say that I won’t for 2023, but I won’t let that be what drives my measure of success. I want my measure of success in my business to be how happy I am and feel in my business. I want to wake up and love what I do, who I work with, and the impact I make in my business.
Where my Business Journey Started
I’m going to give you a little back story here, but I promise it’ll all tie together. I want to say it was about 2018 or earlier that I discovered Rachel Hollis and her book, Girl Wash Your Face. I had seen images of the book circulating social media for a while and I don’t know why I kept ignoring the urge to see what the fuss was all about with this book that had a girl sitting next to a fire hydrant on the cover. I finally bit the bullet and downloaded it on Audible so I could have something to listen to and take my mind off of the fact I was driving to my soul sucking job every day.
I quickly became a fan, and shortly after discovered her documentary on Amazon Prime. This documentary sparked something in me that I felt I had lost or that had died years before. It lit a fire in my soul that I hadn’t felt in forever. This idea of being “made for more” was exactly how I felt for the longest time but I couldn’t put it into words. I remember sitting on the couch one night watching it after I had put the babies to bed and my husband came home to me, crying, on the couch while I was watching it. It felt like a reawakening. I just felt it so much to my core that there was something better out there for me, but I didn’t know what.
Then, once I was fully on the Rachel Hollis fan train I started listening to her podcasts. One day I was driving to work when I heard her advertising her upcoming Rise Business Conference she was hosting in Charleston, SC. At the time, I had zero business ideas and was still working full time as a HR manager. But man, I wanted to be at this conference SO bad and I had always wanted to attend a Rise conference since watching her documentary.
Fast forward a few weeks later and I had come up with an idea to become a virtual assistant, quit my job, and bought tickets to the Rise Business Conference. Less than a month later, my husband and I drove the 10+ hours from Delaware to South Carolina. I’m so glad the Universe led me there because it was life changing in more ways than one.
Okay, I swear I’m getting somewhere here, just keep reading!
What I Learned from the Rise Business Conference in 2019
That conference hosted some of the biggest named speakers in the personal development space. Speakers like Brandon Burchard, Ed Mylett, Marie Forleo, and Amy Porterfield just to name a view. As you can image there was SO much information given to us at that conference, but there were a few things that were said that have been ingrained in my mind ever since.
I wish I could remember who the speaker was, but I remember someone talking about business and happiness and they said, “when you’re happy and you’re doing what you love, the money will come.” In other words, rather than focus on making all of the money, focus on being happy and doing what you love and the Universe will have no choice but to reward you.
I remember thinking, “Yes! That’s it, that’s what I’m going to aim for!” Because for YEARS, literally YEARS, I was so miserable at my corporate job. I wanted out so bad but I had NO idea what I would do, how I would make money, or how I would make money from home so I could be more present for my family. I just wanted to be and feel freaking happy!
But for some reason, probably the pressures from social media and keeping up with everyone else’s big monetary wins, I have deviated from that value I believed in so much.
Why I’m Choosing Happiness
That’s why, this year, I’m choosing happiness over everything else. Like I mentioned before, I’ll still set monetary goals because I do believe we need to have something to aim at, but I won’t chase the thrill of meeting the goal at the expense of my sanity or my happiness. Throughout this year I had a lot of moments (hell, weeks and days) of doubt and being unsure about the direction of my business, but I think I’ve reached a point where I’m happy with the service that I’m offering. With my new mastermind, I’m offering my expertise in a way that serves me, my clients, and my business so that I can still have the time, freedom, and impact I want to make in this world – whether that’s at home or in my business.
My hope for you is that you take the time to ask yourself what would make you happy in your business, and go and do that. Don’t settle. You deserve to be happy.
Want to read some easy tips on how I’m preparing and organizing my business for the new year? Check out my post, How to prepare your online business for the new year.
Until next time,
Kristi
