Yes, even if you feel like you crawled your way to the final working days of last month weeping and wailing (like I did).
Are you an organised business owner or a fly-by-the-seat-of-yer-pants kinda gal? You *may* be surprised to learn that I skate very close to the latter when it comes to planning, reviewing, organising, tidying… all that jazz.
It seems like everybody and their auntie reviews their months these days, so they can goal set for next month and generally be awesome and I’ve always wondered what it would be like to just BE organised…So today, I just rolled up my sleeves and became one of those people.
The results? I feel like the TOTAL boss. I loved reviewing my month, and here’s why it might make you feel great too…
The social media slumps
It’s the 1 February today (YESSS! Farewell January, you absolute asshat of a month). And this morning, like most mornings, I ignored the call of social media until I sat at my desk with a coffee. Like most mornings, I regretted it instantly.
Urgh…new month = millions of people being smug about last month’s wins
I mean, that makes me sound horrible and of course, it all comes from my own insecurities, but when you’re feeling low and flat, the last thing you want to see is high-energy posts declaring #wins #smashingit #killingit and
💪 #wegotthis emojis.
January was a monster. Or was it?
As far as I was concerned, January was HELL. And it was all my own fault. I was annoyed at myself for creating a punishing work schedule, and THEN having the worst procrastination of my life.
I was annoyed that while I worked morning, noon and night other people were out there #smashingit. There was a little envy in there, if I’m honest. And feelings of failure.
Here I was, sitting at my desk on the first day of a not-January month, and I felt like crap. So I gave myself a shake, did a bit of research and got a grip of myself.
Yes, January was full-on – but in the 31 days, did I really achieve NOTHING?
If I’d left today to go in the direction it was headed (me feeling crap) I would have started February on such a negative note.
If I believed my own stories, I would be a failure, a fake, a phoney and not fit for purpose.
But instead, I did what other people do. I did a bloody review! And after I’d done it – I felt BLOODY AMAZING. Why? Because I’d gone from feeling like a total failure, to realising all my achievements. Real evidence of being successful, and clever and useful and actually valid!
My January wins
- Invoiced the most revenue of any month I’ve been in business;
- Volunteered to walk an elderly woman’s dog so I could be held accountable to get out and walk each day;
- Said yes to scary things: hosting Freelance Heroes Twitter Chat and doing a live coaching session with someone on Instagram
- I was a guest on a podcast
- Lost 7lb in weight
- Went back to yoga
- Wrote a gratitude list for 30 days straight
- Made a massive dent in my money mindset & money skillset
- Wrote over 70,000 words for clients
- Had 3 clients re-book their monthly packages with me
- Set up 3 sales calls for February
- Tiny growth on my social media: 20 new followers on Facebook, 15 new followers on IG and 10 new email sign ups.
I would never have acknowledged one of these achievements, never mind imagining a list this big.
So now, I don’t feel like a failure. I no longer want to punch myself in the face for having such an unproductive January. By writing this list, I’ve gifted myself a list of 12 brilliant things I did in January. And if that doesn’t set the tone for February in an amazing way, I don’t know what does!
Time to change the stories you tell yourself
I can’t recommend this exercise enough. As you can see from the list, I’ve included wins from home life and work life. And it feels so good seeing them all written down.
If you want to try it, too, download my free* monthly review sheet and you can get cracking on your feel-good list today!
*full disclosure, you will be asked to give your name & email address so I can send you the sheet, and you’ll be added to my mailing list.
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