S1/E9 – End of Year Reflections

 Hey everyone. Morgan here with the Lucky Pup Podcast and I just wanted to share a little bonus episode with you all. I am taking the week off of editing an interview this week. Um, and because it’s the end of the year here in 2023 and I have really taken some time to do a bit of reflecting  

Now, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but I am a huge sticky note user. I have sticky notes covering my desk and my monitors. I have sayings I don’t wanna forget. I have my words of the year and some motivations for the year ahead. And the biggest challenge for me is that I tend to forget some of these things that I’m holding onto.

I’m a bit of a collector. I love collecting information  and  . You know when everything is in a pile and kind of scattered throughout my workspace, I really forget what all of those things are and I forget what I’ve wanted to remember because it’s just not in front of me. It’s not organized in any kind of way that is particularly useful.

So one of my favorite things about having this podcast  is, well, first of all, I get to connect with all of you and I get to connect with our amazing guests, and I get to share their stories and their knowledge and their information. And  the other part is that I get to have this creative outlet and a place for me to really organize all of these things that I’ve been working on and get to share little pieces of them with you. 

Now I’ve been organizing my notes and my sticky notes from the last year, and it feels so good to get my desk cleaned off and ready for the new year. And what also feels good is that I’m being reminded over and over again of all of these things that I’ve been thinking on and marinating and collecting over the last year or two years, three years, sometimes even five years.

I look back at the notes from five years ago, and there are similarities to what I’m doing right now.  And now that I’m working on this podcast and I’m closing out my thoughts for the end of the year, all of these notes that I’ve held onto are being run through a new filter, and it has been really exciting for me to see all of these continual reminders of what I’ve been focusing on and how they’ve all been interconnected in their own way. 

Now I had a high school teacher who used to tell us that we needed to just marinade on ideas some more when they could maybe use a little bit of refinement. Um, whenever we would say something and it needed further development, she would, you know, diplomatically tell us, you know. I think you need to marinate on that a bit more. 

Well, I have found that to be so true in my life, and, um, you guys know that I love books. Well, one of my favorite books that I’ve read recently is Procrastinate on Purpose.  Now, perhaps I was just looking for some validation for my procrastination habits, you know, make me feel a little bit better about the way that I do things.

But what I really loved about this book,  is that it really outlined the benefit of procrastination when done intentionally.  

My phrase for 2023 was actually Go With Intention.  Now, you’ve heard quite a bit on the podcast this season that our actions and our strategies and all of these components of our business should be done with intention.  Well, when we procrastinate with intention,  procrastinate on purpose, we can in fact allow ourselves more time to marinate on something that is really important, but it’s maybe not quite ready yet. 

In my end of year reflections here, I really have been humbled by the old me because as I’m looking back on these sticky notes and my musings and my thoughts for the last couple years, I’m finding really this theme to everything. Even if it’s just a little bit here and a little bit there. There has been this overarching theme that I’ve been marinating on.

Now. This theme is very much woven into what this podcast is all about and why I wanted to bring it to you, and it’s also very much woven into the things I’m looking at doing for next year.  So some of these things, they are maybe new or different ways I can show up for our community. Some things that I’ve wanted to work on in my own business, some ways that I can help other business owners get their business even farther in the next year.

And it has felt really, really good to have some time to reflect on all of that and all that has happened this year and also kind of where I want to head in the next year.  So I wanted to come to you today and say, . That if you’ve been thinking about projects, if you’ve been marinating on your own thoughts and your own plans, your own wishes, and your dreams for the future. 

It’s okay to keep marinating until the right time  because sometimes we just know. We just know when the time is right to bring something forward and to start implementing it. If you listen to my conversation with Diana Davis, we chatted about how you, you know, how we just believe, we really believe that you are in the right place at the right time, and the world wouldn’t set you otherwise. 

If something is meant for you,  it’s coming.  . Now, I also wanna say that if there is a challenge that you’re struggling with, maybe this challenge is gonna teach you something that you need to know or it’s gonna prepare you for a change that you need to make.  

You know, if you’re having a wonderful year or a wonderful season, that is absolutely amazing,  and I am so proud of you because I bet that you did some work that led you to where you are, and I cannot wait , I know the future success is coming your way. 

And I also wanna encourage you that if there’s something you’ve been marinating on, like me, maybe you’re marinating and there is maybe something that you know needs to change, or you’re maybe finally ready to make that leap, I want you to know that the world will rise to meet you  again. If it’s meant for you, you’re gonna have it. 

You can do this,  and I totally get that. Making change is absolutely scary, but I can also tell you it is so very empowering. You can do it. I believe in you.  So as we’re closing out the year, I. I just really wanna give you a validation that you’re doing a great job, you are where you need to be, but also this next year is ready for you. 

So in the coming weeks, I really wanna encourage you to take some time for breathing room time for some reflection. Maybe it’s some time for white space where nobody needs you and nobody is waiting on you for anything. It’s just time for you to do some dreaming, kinda offload the responsibilities of the world, and think about maybe what you want in the new year. 

I don’t know if you are someone who likes to have a word of the year or a phrase of the year. I, I am that person. I started doing this in 2018. I was challenged to pick a word of the year by a business mentor. Um, and this is the year that I took my business full time. I. And I actually keep a list of all of my words of the year and my phrases of the year, and I like to reflect back on them, you know, usually once a year, um, sometimes more if I need a little encouragement.

Because I like to see how far I’ve come. I really believe that we need to measure our success backwards. We can’t always be looking into the future  and what we hope to gain and what we hope we can accomplish because then we are always wanting. But if we’re looking back and we can see how far we’ve come, we can see how much progress we are actually making and we can feel kind of content in where we’re at. 

Um, so I like to look at that list of those words of the year and I like to think about what I was hoping those years would be when I picked those words and what they actually turned into be.  You know, some years,  some years, those phrases, um, seem pretty prophetical. Like I manifested exactly what I wanted. Other years are certainly more comical. Like when I said that 2020 was gonna be my year of planning and intention,  I can tell you that didn’t happen. Um, but I do have my phrase for 2024 picked, and it just kind of came to me one day as if it downloaded from the universe straight into my brain and in my heart, it just felt right. 

So again, I just wanna encourage you to take a moment, either as we’re finishing out the current year, um, maybe in January as you’re starting the next year or whenever you’re listening to this, just take some time to ask yourself, what is it that I want out of my next year? Maybe it’s the next six months, whatever timeframe you’re looking at,  but ask yourself, what is it that I want out of my personal life and outta my relationships? 

What do I want from my business?  What do I want it to look like with my clients and with my team?  What about your own pets, your own hobbies, you know that I am gonna really encourage you to be making additional room for those things in life that make worth living.   because  we did not become business owners to give everything we have to our business and to our clients.

We cannot just give ourselves the leftovers  if nothing else. This year I want you to stop giving yourself the leftovers. Stop giving those you love and the things that are most important to you, the leftovers, because what is the point of working so damn hard if we are giving away everything and leaving nothing for ourselves? 

I mean, truly, what is the point? You can’t take money with you. You can’t make up for lost time if you are working so hard and you don’t even have time for a vacation or to do anything fun? What’s the point of making all that money? What’s the point of working that hard? I do not want for you to look back at the end of this next year and say, gosh, I, I did.

I gave it all away.  Why did I give away all of my time and all of my effort and all of my love and my attention to my business when I could have been sharing it with those who are most important to me?  So think about what you want out of this next year and know that you can make it happen.  Know that you can have the strategy and the goals and the trajectory and the determination to work towards what you want your business and your life to be. 

Now, we can’t do everything all at once. I am definitely not saying that,  but we have to start with little pieces at a time and start making those moves if we’re always dreaming. And not putting into action. It’s never gonna actually happen.  So  do dream big.  Do not also forget to commit to making yourself a priority. 

If you have been going to conferences, you’ve been taking webinars, you’ve been taking courses, maybe you’ve been working with a business coach,  again, we have to make moves. Don’t forget that. You also have to put that knowledge into action.  So have the courage to act out your wildest dreams. Courage, that was my, that was my word for 2022,  and it helped me.

This knowing that I was committing to be courageous for the year, helped me act out some wild dreams, helped me reach further and further and more and more of what I wanted.  Don’t let the face of uncertainty or insecurity get you down.  Please do not wear your toil as a badge of honor ’cause you can have an amazing year.

So after all of that, I wanna close out this episode by saying thank you. Um, I am so thankful for all of you who are listening who have listened and who are gonna listen to this in the future.  Thank you so much for being here with me. I have been  . Both excited and very nervous to make this podcast. ’cause again, you never know who might show up and who might listen, who this might land with. And it’s, um, it’s kind of vulnerable to be out here trying to have really authentic, candid conversations. And thank you so much for being part of this podcast. You are part of this podcast. Whether this is your first time listening, whether you’ve listened to every episode up till now, thank you for being here. 

As you’re reflecting and working on your goals and your plans for this next year, I’d love for you to reach out to me on social media. I believe in making social media social, that’s why it’s called social media. And I wanna be able to cheer you on because I know that you are going to do great things. Thank you guys so much, and we’ll talk to you in the new year.