Every December I get the same feeling. It’s a mixture of being proud of how well my business did this year, and apprehension about the year ahead.
Sometimes the apprehension takes over: what if I can’t make this money again? What if no one signs up for my mentoring or my courses and programmes again? What if the past couple of years were all a fluke?
Luckily I have many wise and kind people around me that give me the reassurance that I also give my clients.
It’s not a fluke. And I’m not starting over.
If you’re feeling similar as the new year begins, I hope these words of encouragement make you feel better.
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Gentle reminders to return to
January 1st is just a day. A year is just a year. Nothing is different between December 31st and January 1st—you’ve achieved just as much on the 1st as you had on the 31st.
No matter what the previous year in your business looked like, you’ve been sowing the seeds and doing the work.
At the beginning of the year the flower bulbs are in the frozen earth, covered by a layer of snow: but inside they’re harnessing energy, getting ready to emerge once spring arrives. Similarly, your quiet periods, your slow periods, the periods during which you were just thinking, dreaming or working behind the scenes are all ways of harnessing energy. Of sowing seeds. Of being a bulb, getting ever more ready.
You can trust your ability to figure things out, even if you’ve never done something before.
The past can be proof, even if you’ve not made a single sale in your business yet.The past is proof of what you can achieve—of the things you have achieved in your life up until this moment. Very few of us are formally trained to run a business. But we still have amassed so many skills that will help us do so.
There are no guarantees in life—and you can trust your ability to figure things out. If your bestselling product never sells again, you’ll figure something out. If fewer or no people sign up for your 1:1 support, you’ll figure something out.
You’ll pivot, you’ll adapt, you’ll change. And it’s completely normal if you don’t know how you’ll do that yet. You don’t need to know that yet—this situation might never arise. But if it does, living your life has given you the tools to figure things out.
Keep going, keep going, keep going. While I don’t believe that we need to keep going at all cost, in many cases all we can do, all we have control over, is to keep going. Keep sending out your newsletters even if growth is slow. Keep sharing about your offers is no one buys them.
And finally, listen to the words of wise people around you—they might see your business and where you’re at much clearer than you do.
Resources
If you’d like to dive deeper into feeling more confident and starting the new year with intention, these are some of my favourite resources.
Community
In the Female Owned community, we had a workshop on getting started with self-led offers, plus a behind-the-scenes look at how I created my small business podcast at the end of the year. This month, the Accountability Club is already buzzing with support and discussion, and in January I also wrote a behind-the-scenes post on my business in 2025 (including the money I made). Coming up is our quarterly office hours where I answer your questions. If you’d like to join us, you can upgrade your subscription here.
Words of encouragement
Keep a ‘keep going’-list where you write all the compliments you receive and positive experiences in your business. It feels like a bath of love.
Formulate a mantra. It might be ‘keep going, keep going, keep going’. It might be something else. Whatever it is, a mantra can be a useful reminder, even if you don’t always 100% believe that it’s true.
Create a list of all the things you’ve figured out in life. You’ve probably figured things out about life admin, like taxes and insurance. You might have figured out which degree to sign up for, and how to complete it. You might have figured out how to find a new home. You will have figured out new tools, from software to kitchen appliances. Write it all down as a reminder of how capable you are.
Workshops
How to tackle fear and uncertainty in your business
Ground, focus and plan: crafting an intentional year in your business
Hands-on support
If this post resonates with you, 1:1 mentoring might be exactly what you need right now. When you work with me, you get ongoing voice messaging/email support between our calls—which means you’re never alone in those moments of doubt or when you need to talk through a decision. We’ll work through your specific challenges at your pace, with strategies that honour your business, your life and your needs.
I’d love to know what resonates with you from this post.
Please feel free to share this post it with business friends, in your newsletter or elsewhere. 💛
I’d love to support you in all phases of your business. Providing clarity, focus and next steps is something that my clients tell me I’m really good at. If you’re curious about how we can work together through 1:1 mentoring, check out what I offer or send me an email–no strings attached. I have payment plans available, and flexible options for mentoring calls.
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