6 Month Check In
Can you believe it’s July?. In Jan i wrote a blog, touching on the wild ride that was 2020 but also what my intentions were for this year.
One of my staff recently asked if I’d write a check-in, with a follow-up question, “have you stuck with what you said?” My first answer was “Probably not. I don’t think I’ve done enough.” She countered, “You didn't set hard targets though, so how can you say that?”
This made me stop and think about what I’ve achieved so far.
Heck, there’s really been a lot. My team and my clients have both hit some epic milestones.
Now, here I am, Sunday night, 3 weeks into yet another lockdown. Another lockdown wasn’t really in my 2021 plan, but here we are. What better time to check in with myself and see how I can tackle the back end of this year.
So have I “done more” these last 6 months? I have! My book-reading count is well up. My sunrise chasing is at an all-time high. Winter beach swims? Check. Work wins? Plenty. Exercising more? Uh ha. Adventures? Yup. Good times have been had.
As for our clients, wow, we’ve been lucky enough to work with some pretty damn awesome businesses this year. From launching an incredible give-back program to helping another business see significant online growth even when her doors were shut for eight months, to ad accounts sitting at 33 ROAS consistently, to complete brand relaunches. Another grew at such a rate that they were able to hire an in-house team that, yes, meant they no longer required us to manage their accounts, but we were there from day one and to see how damn far they have come has been one of my best business wins to date!
Now here's where I say, all of the above was epic, but it wasn’t without some really rough times. I want to be very clear, so often share our wins and don’t touch on those harder times. From a personal perspective, the start of this year saw me riding the “2021, come at me” high, but I hit a few hurdles damn hard. I now live and work alone, and being isolated can make motivation extremely difficult. We’ve seen clients come and go, some really hurting my soul - I loved their accounts, but the times saw them needing to shift gears. My small team has felt the Covid-19 overwhelm bad. I've seen staff come and go and had other difficulties that I won’t bore you with, but know, they were there.
My grandfather, bless him (we lost him mid the height of covid last year, was one of those rough times), always challenged me to be better. Whenever we met for our monthly dinners he’d pick my brains about all things work, to the point he upskilled himself in social media so that when we caught up he could ask me the most pressing questions in the industry at the same. This is the same bloke that, when my brother became a pharmacist, went to a pharmacy conference so he could then talk to my brother about all things pharmacy. Oh, and did I mention this was the same grandfather that, when my aunty was studying mathematics at uni, he did the course with her. There are many more stories like this about him. This man worked every day ‘til a few weeks shy of his 88th birthday. He “retired” years earlier but went into work everyday following it. He was a true leader in his industry, with some of the country's greatest businessmen & leaders admiring him. Not only did they admire him for his business wins (of which were plenty), but they admired him for his willingness to grow, learn, adapt, challenge, accept change and take action.
So here I am staring down the barrel of the back end of 2021 and what is going through my mind? “Alright then, Sammantha (yes 2x m’s, but that's another story) that's all well and good, but how are you planning on being better? What’s your growth strategy and are you ready for what's coming?” I ask myself this question daily. I challenge you to do the same.
The back end of this year. How are you planning on being better? What's your growth strategy? And are you ready for what's coming? I'm asking you this on a personal and business level.
Get out those notepads and start scribbling down your answers, review your business and digital marketing strategies are you on track or do they need adjusting? Targets, KPI’s, goals, do they need shifting? If they do great, whether up or down, that's OK. The fact you are acknowledging it and setting yourself new goals is a win. Those personal ‘do mores’ how are they tracking?
It’s time to reset, refuel and hit the ground running. I challenge you to spend a day sitting with this. Yes, a whole day of nothing but reviewing the last 6 months and planning for the next.
You’ll thank me for it later.
July - December 2021 we got this, lockdowns and all!
S x