Last year was the first year I went full-time in my business and at the end of the year, I wrote a blog post about the different things that I had done to upgrade my business and life. It actually ended up being one of the most popular blog posts that I have ever written.
Well, this year was even more successful than last year and I decided it would be a great opportunity to share with you what worked BEST for me to continue to upgrade my business + life this year (and of course an even better opportunity for me to process it as I celebrate with a glass of champagne!).
Here are the 25 things I did to upgrade my business + life in 2016:
1. I have to be completely transparent + stress that I got MASSIVE support in order to have such high levels of growth consistently (seriously I gave myself about a 70% raise this year!!!) — I invested in a mix of 1:1 support and group coaching that I participated in and I really don’t believe that I would have been able to sustain my growth without it. I actually had a few weeks off in between 2 programs and my productivity decreased greatly during that time. Don’t be afraid to invest in support for more massive results.
2. Increased the financial investments I make in myself — the support from #1 definitely had a high financial cost BUT by making the investment I am committing to building my business for the long-term and saying I’m worth it,
3. Grew stronger relationships with other entrepreneurs who share are equally motivated + supportive so that we can push each other + keep each other on track — You want at least one person that you can call multiple times per day to celebrate with, cry, etc. and I’m lucky to have a few that are always there for me.
4. Upgraded my workspace — I may have built a 6 figure business working from my couch but the reality is that I want my business + team to grow beyond my couch so I’ve upgraded to a desk in my office (still in my house!)
5. Improved my ability to FOCUS —This was HUGE as I’m someone who has a super short attention span and I like to juggle multiple projects at once so that I don’t have to give 100% any 1 thing. The truth is multitasking wastes energy, it’s draining, and it prevents you from really digging in + doing an amazing job at just a few things.\
6. Secured my 2016 income in 2015 — one thing that stresses me out is NOT knowing my income from month to month (especially since sales calls are not my zone of genius!). I can get overwhelmed without a secure income plan. In 2015 I created programs for 2016 and started selling them so that I was able to start the new year with over 40% of my income booked out already.
7. Spent almost a month in Mexico — I absolutely LOVE freedom + flexibility and one of the reasons I set up this business was so that I can work anywhere. I escaped my winter for sun + fun in Mexico (and I also crazily pulled off a launch from there). Travel like that reinforces my desire to always be an entrepreneur (even on the toughest days of business!).
8. Stopped self-sabotage — I got more honest with myself about when I was self-sabotaging by saying something was hard or creating excuses not to follow through on it. Of course, I didn’t stop it 100% but I’m in a much better place to cut back on it even more in 2017!!
9. Ran a mastermind — being immersed in people’s businesses and helping to lead other women entrepreneurs is so motivating! Plus I love seeing how these women grow their businesses + make more of an impact during our time together. My next mastermind will be launching soon so if you want the details, CLICK HERE to get on the VIP list!
10. Learned things for fun — I don’t know about you but as an entrepreneur, it starts to feel like I’m always learning about things for work + business, and sometimes I just want to take a class for fun!! So last year I took an indoor rock climbing class and towards the end of the year I started learning how to create facebook pages that get massive growth
11. Did more networking with some really amazing people — I invited people who I thought looked like fun for a drink either “virtually” or in-person! It’s always good to put yourself out there so you can meet new people + build some great relationships
12. Let go of stuff that doesn’t help me — I’m sure this can be a whole blog post on its own but I had to cut back on some bad habits (like working from the couch, worrying about what others think, overthinking, another business, + even clients who weren’t the right fit) so that I can make space for new better habits + new opportunities.
13. Experimented with a business idea for fun — I hit my income goals really early this year so created a course for fun (in order to help me improve with creating content) + I ended up having over 50 people sign up!
14. Talked to more business owners — since women entrepreneurs are my target market, it’s really important that I talk to them regularly so I can be super clear on which problems I solve for them and how I can help them achieve their goals. I’ve gotten clear on who I’m supposed to work with — women entrepreneurs who want to be amazing bosses as they scale their impact + income. They are action takers who are willing to get out of their comfort zone to change their lives and get results. Click here to learn more if that sounds like you
15. Outsourced more frequently — I know my weaknesses and they often involve keeping track of details + tech. In order to experience growth, I’ve learned to invest in people who are smarter + more skilled than me in those areas. One of my most favorite things to outsource this year was webinar support during my launch for the Authentic Affiliate Academy.
16. Got more visible with webinars + live streaming — I love talking so these are great ways for me to provide my audience with information that is relevant + helpful to them growing their business.
17. Went pro with some of my business tools — I upgraded my email system to ConvertKit (click here for a FREE month) and my opt-in pages to a different program as well (click here for a free 30 day trial) I have to say it’s been amazing to be able to market better and of course now that I have an amazing team to turn over these techy tasks to, my life is easier too! ConvertKit is seriously the best — it is so easy to use and you can do so much with it so that you’re providing your mailing list members with the information that is best for them.
18. Created more free content for my audience — going pro with ConvertKit + a new platform for optins and courses has really made it much more easier for me to do that + I love seeing my mailing list grow much quicker as a result of this! Click here to grab one of my most popular content upgrades for the year (it’s perfect timing too since it’s a free goal setting guide)
19. Built a reliable team of pros — I mentioned outsourcing in #15 but I’m not just outsourcing to random people — I’m building a team of pros who believe in my vision for my clients + my business and want us to get bigger + better results.
20. Started making + drinking bulletproof coffee — with a dose of Brain Octane oil I’m able to focus better in the mornings and have more energy so I get more work done in shorter amounts of time
21. Worked on my money mindset — this was on my list last year + you can bet it’s on the list again. Have you heard “new level, new devil?” Well as you make more money + become more profitable there are new money blocks that you need to address + overcome. The mindset work is never done! Denise Duffield-Thomas’ Get Rich Lucky Bitch book is amazing for working through these.
22. Read more business books — I tried to not get too caught up in “learning” mode as I’m more of an action taker but it’s good to read + learn new strategies. It’s also reassuring to know that the things that work for me in business often work for others too.
23. Focused goal-setting — I set bigger goals but focus only on 1 or 2 chunks of them at a time so that I’m giving 100% to my current priorities — it’s easy to get distracted by unimportant things but that was a habit I needed to change. By working on my goals this way, I’ve been able to avoid burnout and provide better services to my clients (which is why they usually sign on to work with me multiple times at an average of a year!). If you want to learn my goal chunking process (which helped me surpass 6 figures quickly), you can download my Consistent Income Generator Toolkit here.
24. Consistency is key — I’m consistent the majority of the time in my business and that’s why I’ve been able to create such momentum + success in such a short amount of time. BUT sometimes I fall off track (Umm all of November!!) and it just reminds me how important being consistent is so that we never have to run our business in “panic mode.”
25. Improved my schedule — I used to be all over the place with what I was working on + I also had client calls every single day of the week. It made it really hard to focus on bigger projects, content creation, and being consistent with my follow-up. I’ve condensed my schedule so that my clients are on just a few days a week + I have specific times set aside to do outreach, plan my next webinar, or even just do my mindset work!
26. Doing more of what works — honestly when it comes to running a profitable business + having fun doing it, it’s important to do more of what is working + cut out what isn’t. You need to look at your numbers + track these things so you know where to focus your time + energy. That’s why I will continue to focus on masterminds + 1:1 coaching clients. My next mastermind is starting soon so click here to get on the waitlist + get access to early pricing and details
Got a question about how to upgrade your own business + life this year? Leave a comment below and let me know what’s going on!
P.S. Some of these links are affiliate links and I may receive a commission if you purchase anything through them! Thanks in advance if you do 😉
