This year has been a journey of super highs and super lows for me. A year of many, many learnings (some people call them failures), and some amazing wins. It’s a year that I’m super grateful to have shared with so many people, a year that brought me to my knees a few times, and a year that included the best day of my life to date.
If you’d like to read the previous chapter, you can read my 2017 reflection here.
So if you’d like to join me, let’s dive right in for my reflection of 2018.
My Yearly Theme
I’ve set themes for a few years now, a word that I embrace wholly in my life and business.
After my 2017 theme of ‘growth’, I felt I needed to review and do a little bit of clearing and cleaning, so I settled on my 2018 theme as ‘World Class’.
Infusing this theme into our business, we:
- Were more deliberate and consistent with our visual branding.
- We implemented a LOT of new policies, procedures and systems.
- We took on a new full-time VA as my personal assistant (who is like my right arm! I don’t know what I’d do without Joel)
- Spent a lot of time in development towards taking our current programs to a new level in 2019. More on that later.
In my personal life, I:
- Spent much more time creating memorable moments, and living life filled with fun and adventure – I deliberately scheduled this time in my calendar as a non-negotiable this year.
- Focussed on my health, which included weekly dance classes, walking 10,000 steps to begin each day, taking a number of high quality supplements, and cutting out most processed foods.
We’ve chosen ‘expansion’ as our 2019 theme, with the intention as a company to build our revenue, our influence and our impact. My intention will be to personally expand in these area’s also, and I’ll be looking out for many new opportunities to share my message globally, as well as doing the work that needs to be done so I can step up to the next version of me. More media and speaking opportunities come at me!
The only area I don’t want to expand, is my waistline (or any other area of my body). Hear that Universe???
Sharing The Wins
This year saw me focussing on my two core products, Business Success Academy and my Black Diamond Inner Circle.
I spent hundreds of hours in development this year with many subject experts, and have some pretty exciting additions to both these programs next year.
The biggest additions will be adding a host of done-for-you services to my Black Diamond program, to enable our clients to spend more time working in their zone of genius while our team takes care of the details and implementation. We’ll also be adding a live event to our Business Success Academy Implementation Program.
Personally, I really embraced actualising my dream life. My top 3 core values are love, freedom and beauty, so I spent a lot of time on the road this year visiting beautiful places, and hanging out with friends and family. It’s amazing how much we fit into one year, and how many happy memories we created.
Note: If you like travelling, don’t hold yourself back by thinking you can’t afford to continually take expensive trips. Sure, we did manage to have a few overseas and interstate trips this year, but we also explored so much close to home. Some weekend road trips including the Blue Mountains, Barrington Tops, and a ski trip in the Snowy Mountains, as well as discovering some gorgeous places hiding out in our own home town. We were out on adventures nearly every week this year, and had a ball.
Another big win for me was attending some fantastic business events. These kinds of events are my happy place, and I was inspired by other entrepreneurs out there playing big games, I learned a TONNE, and I met some fabulous new collaboration partners. I’ll be attending even more events in 2019.
My Biggest Business Learnings
I can’t believe after 25 years of being in business, I am still constantly delivered so, so, so many learnings. So many!
By far the biggest lesson this year, was more of an epiphany after hearing Amy Porterfield on a podcast interview. She mentioned how she used to get so anxious when a client wasn’t getting the results she knew they were capable of achieving, and she would spend her energy 24/7 on trying to get them over the line.
She shared that none of us are here to hold our clients hands and do everything for them, but we’re here to offer our knowledge and our guidance. Some people will make it, and some won’t, and that has everything to do with them, where they’re at in their life, and how resourceful they are.
Thank you Amy! You saved me from many sleepless nights, and gave me the insight I needed to move from feeling resentful and trapped working 24/7, to owning my worth and my boundaries.
And I’ll share my second biggest learning in the hope you don’t make this one too…
Don’t discount your products.
When you discount your products, your clients won’t value your worth and therefore won’t get the results you know they’re capable of getting. So essentially, this is a lose/lose situation for you and your client.
“When people pay, they pay attention. And when people pay a lot, they pay a lot of attention”
Sharing The Podcast Love
I’m a podcast junkie! I love creating them, and I love listening to them.
This year I was interviewed as a subject matter expert on many podcasts, and you can find each interview on my media page here.
I also interviewed many experts on my podcast. After releasing 78 episodes of the Unlimited Influence podcast, I made a switch to a new show. In May, I launched the Thought Leaders Business Lab podcast, and have published 38 episodes of the new show this year.
I have some plans in the pipeline for next year including releasing multiple episodes per week, having a weekly co-host join me for a special segment, and I look forward to introducing you to many more amazing entrepreneurs through the show.
I also listen to many different podcasts each day on my walk. Here are some of my favourites from this year:
- The Mind Your Business Podcast – James Wedmore
- Community Made – Jayson Gaignard
- Social Media Marketing – Michael Stelzner
- Online Marketing Made Easy – Amy Porterfield
- And for a super quick dose of inspiration, The 2 Minute Mentor – Runn Wild
My Favourite Books
I’m a huge fan of reading, and I love, love, love books. I don’t think I’ve ever walked out of a bookstore without multiple purchases. Except the Amazon bookstore in Seattle where I bought one book only – and returned 15 minutes later because I couldn’t stop thinking about the multiple books I’d put back on the shelf. The Amazon bookstore in Seattle is a trap I’m telling ‘ya!
Some of my favourites over the course of 2018 include:
- Crushing It! – Gary Vaynerchuk
- Braving The Wilderness – Brené Brown
- The Barefoot Investor – Scott Pape
- This Is Marketing – Seth Godin
- How To Style Your Brand – Fiona Humberstone
- Focus – Keith Abraham
There was only one book this year that I couldn’t get into, and finally ended up putting down permanently by page 72. It’s bright orange and has a swear word in the title. Apparently I don’t follow the masses…
The Best Day Of My Life…
Without a doubt, marrying the love of my life, and becoming a Mrs. was the highlight of 2018.
The fact I was building our business all year, while organising an overseas wedding astounds me, but as I’m writing this, helps me realise why I’m ready for some down time over the holidays!
After doing a pre-wedding trip to Hawaii and Seattle, we boarded a cruise ship, destination Alaska.
Our wedding day started on the ship, as we cruised into Juneau. Just after lunch, our party was taken by “van limo” (as called by our driver), to the local airport, where we all boarded helicopters and flew up to Mendenhall Glacier, which is where we got married before returning to the ship for dinner and dancing till the early hours of the next morning.
Spending a day cruising Glacier Bay National Park was humbling. But being married on a 95.27 km² glacier with close friends and family was spectacular.
If you haven’t been to Alaska, I highly recommend adding it to your bucket list.
Looking Forward…
I spent a week in retreat in December writing my second book, which will be released in the first half of 2019. This book is for you if you want to build a freedom business, and create a business and a life you love while making a positive impact in the world. I’m so looking forward to sharing this with you all soon, as this one is filled with a lot of blood, sweat, tears and love.
How Can I Help You?
I’m super excited to announce that we’ll be offering our first ever “BSA Live” experience in 2019. Although the doors to Business Success Academy are currently closed, you can add your name to the waitlist to be notified when the doors re-open.
We’re also launching a beautiful retreat experience called ‘Unlock Your Genius’, and will be announcing the 2019 locations and dates in January. If you like stunning locations and once in a lifetime experiences, keep your eyes peeled for this announcement!
From myself and Leon, we wish you all a safe and joyous holiday season, and look forward to creating magic with you in 2019.
Thanks for hanging out with me this year, it’s been a blast!
Sam 🙂 x
“It is never too late, to be who you might have been” – George Elliot
