My biggest lessons for 2021 – Part 1

2021 has been a big year. There has been lots happening on a global scale, and I’m sure many of you have felt the highs and lows this year.

Over the next two episodes, I share some of my learnings, and importantly, the lessons learnt from another big year.

In this Episode:

02.14: Lesson 1 – Good things and bad things happen, and they can happen at the same time
06.30: Lesson 2 – It’s ok if your profit isn’t always growing
09.00: Lesson 3 – It’s not just about the money – creating freedom, choice and confidence in your business.

Links:

Transcript

2021 has been a big year, huh? There’s been lots happening on a global scale. And I’m sure that many of you have felt the highs and the lows this year. Over the next two episodes, I’m going to be sharing some of my learnings from the year of 2021. And importantly, the lessons that I’ve learned from another big year.

 

Hello, and welcome to The Clare Wood Podcast, where myself and incredible guests share about money mindset, financial successes, and how to manage your money in a fun and practical way to create wealth and abundance in both your business and your life. I’m your host, Clare Wood. I’m a Business Coach and a Money Mentor. I strongly believe that money has the power to positively change the world. I can’t wait to help you transform your mindset around money, create a love of numbers, and build the business of your dreams so you can live a life of financial freedom, giving, and global impact.

 

Before I dive into today’s episode, I just want to remind you about my 2022 planning retreat. This retreat is happening at the Sunshine Coast, here in sunny Queensland. And I know you might be nervous about traveling at the moment, but if you do book in to come along for the retreat and you are unable to travel due to lockdowns or restrictions, I will refund your money in full. You can find out more about the retreat via the link in the show notes for today’s episode. It is going to be two amazing days of relaxation, connection, planning and budgeting to set you up for your most epic 2022 yet. Oh, and we’ve got a private chef who is cooking an amazing dinner for us on the Saturday night. So if you do want to find out more about the retreat, do make sure you go and check it out via the link in the show notes for today’s episode.

 

So as promised, today’s podcast episode is going to be about my biggest lessons from the big year that was.

 

Lesson 1 – Good things and bad things happen, and they can happen at the same time

 

The first lesson that I want to share with you is that there can be good things and bad things happening all at the same time. It’s easy to think that some people have an easy life. I bet you there’s someone that you think of straight away that you watch on Instagram and you think their life is just perfect. And lots of people do have amazing lives, but the truth is, everyone has challenges. Everyone has struggles that they have to deal with, and everyone goes through challenging times. I used to think that the two were mutually exclusive. Either people had these amazing, incredible lives, or people had these terrible lives with lots of really challenging things going on. But a big lesson that I’ve learned this year is that actually there can be good things and bad things happening at the same time.

 

I’ve experienced it myself and I’ve witnessed it in clients of mine and people across the globe. There can be reasons to be suffering and reasons to be celebrating all at the same time. So let me share some examples from my own journey this year. Some of the great stuff that has happened for me this year, first and foremost, has been clients of mine having some breakthrough results. One of my private coaching clients hit a million dollars in sales for the year, which is more than double her results from last year. Another client of mine has increased to $80,000 sales on average. And I’ve had other clients of mine who are stepping into their confidence, having massive launches, working less hours and feeling more confident in themselves, their capabilities and their business. In my own business this year, I’ve had two launches that were over $100,000 each and my business has grown to now be a multi-six-figure business.

 

On a personal front, I have bought a house on the water by the beach. So I’ll be moving in a couple of weeks to my dream location. I am still pinching myself that this is something I’ve wanted for so long, and it is finally becoming a reality. 2021 has been a year that money has been flowing with ease and I’m feeling a lot more confident, happier, and working less hours. So lots of amazing stuff has been happening, but there’s also been some not so great stuff going on. Here in Australia, it’s been another year of crippling lockdowns, with the global pandemic situation continuing to evolve daily. I’ve been experiencing some of the anxiety that comes with the unknown, and supporting some clients of mine who have been through some horrendously long lockdowns and a lot of the challenges that that brings along the way. I just want to acknowledge that there are a lot of people that have been doing it really tough, both here in Australia and across the globe this year. I also have been through experiences of grief, health struggles, and supporting people around me through really challenging times.

 

On a business front, as much as I’ve shared about having some big launches and financial success, I’ve also had some not so good times on the business front. I’ve had quite a few launches this year that really bombed. One of them, I only had five people join a course. And in fact, my latest launch of the Mastermind, I only had one new person join. A lot of people don’t talk about the lows with the highs, but I want to acknowledge that this is the reality of business. It really is a roller coaster and the people that you see kicking arse out there are still probably going through tough times, at times, behind the scenes. So the lesson, bad things and good things can be happening at the same time.

 

Lesson 2 – It’s ok if your profit isn’t always growing

 

Lesson number two. It’s okay if your profit isn’t always growing. Okay, I know I preach about profit a lot, and that’s because of my background. I’m a CPA, I’m an Accountant, of course I’m going to talk about profit. So this point might seem a little bit contradictory, but bear with me. Something I have really learned this year is that you can’t always prioritize profitability first. In fact, doing so can stifle your growth. As I shared earlier, I’ve had some clients of mine who’ve had some epic income leaps this year, and 99% of the time it’s due to big and maybe scary investments that they have made. And 2021 has been a huge year of investments for me too. This year, I hired a new business coach called Suzy Ashworth in March this year, and year-to-date I’ve spent more than $60,000 on coaching. I’ve also hired my first permanent team member and invested in a new brand and website. So this entailed investing in a designer, a copywriter, a photographer, and a videographer. I’ll be sharing more about the whole new brand launch process early in 2022. But for now, I just wanted to highlight that there has been a significant investment there.

 

Throughout the year I’ve also invested in quite a few courses, trainings, working with consultants or experts on particular areas, and going along to retreats. So as you can see, me as the one who preaches profit has spent quite a lot on my business this year. And I will say, this has been done in a very conscious way. At the start of the year when I did my budget and mapped out my plans for the year, I had intended this year to heavily invest in the business. Because while I’m a big believer in building a profitable business, I also know that profit growth, like sales growth, doesn’t always have to be linear. In fact, so long as it’s done mindfully, I strongly believe in consciously investing for long-term growth, even if it means a short-term decline in profit.

 

Lesson 3 – It’s not just about the money – creating freedom, choice and confidence in your business

 

Lesson number three. It’s not just about the money. Now, you’re probably thinking, “Clare, isn’t that what you’re all about, helping people to make more money?” And don’t worry, I’m definitely not stepping away from that. But something that I’ve noticed in 2021 is that clients are increasingly choosing to work with me. Yes, to make more money, but usually it’s about more than that. It’s about freedom, working less hours, having more choices and having more confidence. This year, as I have chosen to work less hours than ever, I’ve been supporting and encouraging my clients to do the same. And something I’ve realized is that most people don’t actually want more money. They want the feelings that money buys and the opportunities that money buys. This has really led to a big shift in how I coach, because I’m really focused on people getting the outcomes that they desire and creating the lifestyle that they desire, as well as growing their businesses financially.

 

So these are my first three lessons from 2021 that I wanted to share. Please make sure that you do tune in next week because I’ll be sharing more of the big lessons that I’ve learnt in 2021.

 

As I mentioned at the start of this episode, my 2022 planning retreat is coming up very soon. So if you are keen to come along for two days of planning, connection, and relaxation, make sure you do find out more via the link in the show notes for today’s episode. And you can book in a quick 15 minute call with me to see if it’s going to be a good fit for you. But for now, I want to wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and I hope you have a fabulous break.

 

Thanks so much for listening. If you love this episode, please share it with your audience. And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram @clare_wood_coach. And also make sure you hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. Have an abundant week, and I look forward to talking to you again next week.

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