Here’s to 2023!

December 15th 2022 – Written By Stephanie Sheargold

How do you like to finish your working year?

I think December is a great time to reflect on the year that’s just passed and the one that’s about to arrive. There’s something powerful about stopping and thinking about what you’ve achieved and what you might do differently next year. 

It’s especially important for those of us who are self-employed or run our own businesses. After all, when you’re the boss, there’s no-one to carry out an end of year review for you. (Although whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you to decide!)

For the sake of accountability and transparency, I thought I’d share my thoughts on what this year has been like for me and what I see as being important as we move into next year.

The best bit

This might seem like an obvious one to choose, but I have been so proud to see the way in which Timpi has grown this year. We have a team of VAs who we know really well and who are wonderful at their jobs. We’re also lucky enough to have a very low turnover of VAs which means we’re able to match new clients with our VAs really well. This in turn helps keep our fantastic clients happy. 

The worst bit

I wasn’t the first, and I won’t be the last. But, I worked too hard and didn’t respect my limits. Cue burnout and needing to completely stop this autumn. After a few years of slow progress (we all know why!), I felt a need to ‘catch up’, making up for lost time. However, this was counterproductive because basically, I’m human and not a superhero with endless energy reserves! As life returns to normal for us all, it’s so important to go at a steady pace and take time out of the business for the good of our health. 

My favourite working location

As an enormous fan of remote work, I had to include this in my round-up. I’ve been lucky enough to work in some incredible locations this year and my favourite was Barcelona. The food was incredible, the wine was amazing and there is so much to see. Helpfully, it has some excellent co-working locations, so I was able to continue delivering a high quality service to my clients and the VAs on my team, while benefitting from the opportunities that Barcelona has to offer. Want some tips? Feel free to reach out, I’d love to tell you more!

The things I learnt about myself

One of the best things about reflecting on the past year, is the way it allows you to recognise things about yourself that you might not have realised before. There are two things I recognised:

1. Although running a business is soooo difficult, it’s something I truly love. There may have been days when I wanted to throw my laptop out of the window, but honestly, I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.
2. I can’t be brilliant at everything. I’ve recently established a new Instagram account (pls follow!), and hit SUCH a block when it came to posting. I realised that it’s something that I just can’t do naturally. So, I now have someone to help me with this. I know I will master it eventually, and in the meantime, I’m using experts to help me with my learning curve.

My plans, hopes and dreams for next year

Where to begin? I have plenty of plans for next year which include:

• Taking time out at the start of the year for a revitalising and much-needed holiday to set me up for the year ahead.
• Continuing to grow Timpi by building up our client offering with exclusive partnerships and bringing even more incredible VAs onto our team.
• Establishing a more sustainable approach to business. It’s too easy to think that ‘stuff’ is the solution to everything, but this doesn’t need to be the case. For example, I’m now making a conscious effort to be more mindful about the way we thank our clients by planting trees for each new client we onboard.
• Establishing the Timpi Academy. This brand new training course is designed to give new and aspiring VAs the training and support they need to become competent, qualified and confident in their work. I see it as a powerful way of helping set an industry standard for VAs and I’m really excited to launch in April.
• Increasing my visibility to become an expert in the industry. If I’m honest, this is the one I’m struggling with the most as it takes me completely out of my comfort zone. But I’ve set up my Insta account, have the help I need and I WILL do this!

So what about you? Is reflecting on the year you’ve just had a regular practice for you or a new idea? If you’d like some extra help putting your plans into action, get in touch with me directly or get your VA on the case!

Looking for some extra inspiration to help your 2023 planning? This is the blog you’re looking for 👉 ENOUGH with the hustle! Here’s the best way to make 2023 a success