I'm writing this newsletter from a pool bar in Tenerife, where my wife and I are taking a short break in the sun ☀️ before we dive into "silly season" - our nickname for the family craziness that is the Christmas period and the year-end rush.
We often take a break around this time of year. I use it to decompress from the year that's almost behind us and look ahead to the new one on the horizon.
And yes, before you call me out for working on holiday, there has been plenty of downtime. But as fellow entrepreneurs know, when you create mental space by taking time off, the ideas factory kicks into a whole new gear.
My Ideas Factory Has Been Working Overtime
Writing will be my focus moving forward. There's plenty of space in my schedule now that I'm no longer running a busy agency with 30+ clients and employed staff. This weekly newsletter will be where I dedicate much of my writing time for you.
YouTube and my own podcast (both of which I have started and failed to continue with in the past) will be getting a renewed focus too.
Just this last week here in the sun, my new notebook has been filled with scribbles and ideas ready to transform the businesses of whoever crosses my path in 2025. The trajectory for my business next year is so exciting:
- My first book ships at the end of Q1
- Four international speaking gigs are already confirmed
- A dozen podcast interviews are lined up for me to be interviewed
- And I'm launching two brand new multi-day live training events - yes, I'm doing in-person events in 2025, in the UK 🇬🇧 and USA 🇺🇸
So, What Has Got Me Here?
Yesterday, while sipping sangria on the sunbed and jotting down notes, I reflected on the key factors that brought me to this place in my business. This is something I want to share with you this week, so you can make time during December to think it through for yourself.
While I've learned many lessons from mistakes made in the past, two things stand out above all that have contributed to my success: Intentionality and Resilience.
Even as a teenager, in foster care, I knew what it was like to need go stand on your own two feet and make the right desicions, pressing through tough times and not giving up.
It's been the same in business. I needed to make the right decisions, stick to my guns and press through many times.
Strategic growth doesn't happen by accident. It takes time to plan, execute, and persevere rather than quit and pivot.
I remember the wise words of Nigel, one of my church's pastors, when my former business partner and I shared our vision for starting a ministry for business owners within the church. It was late 2007, and we had only been running our own business for a few months, yet we felt ready to lead others and wanted to start a regular teaching and training company.
Gracefully, Nigel made two points:
"You need to have experience in business to do this well" - highlighting that we had just started our business and lacked the credentials to teach others.
And "When you start something where you're serving a group of people who will look to you for support, you need to be in it for the long term."
I understood Nigel's first point but didn't fully grasp the second - almost proving his first point! 😂
Everyone talks about planning, goal setting, and being intentional about business goals. Few think about developing a persevering mindset and building resilience for tough times. It's the experience of doing things, getting things wrong, finding things tough, but pushing through that develops real wisdom and resilience.
Don't get me wrong, quitting is what all the most successful people do - they just quit the right things at the right time, and push through on things where others quit too early! You can read more about that in "The Dip" by Seth Godin, an awesome book on this topic.
I saw so many people pivot, quit and re-invent after the pandemic, and it's become another pandemic in my mind. It's too easy to quit, we live in a disposable society and a time where we can get everything instantly, we expect business success to be the same for some reason.
With both the experience that Nigel talkes about me needing and the calling to be in this for the long haul now, 2025 sees tha start of a new ear of authorship, speaking, coaching and serving you, my community, in a brand new way that I am so pumped to get started with (that's why I am not waiting until the New Year 😂)
It's Time to Plan for 2025 Now!
This week I would love to invite you to focus on intentional planning for significant growth in 2025.
While recently reviewing some client data from my agency days for my new book's case studies, I noticed something striking...
Businesses that I spent time with planning during Q4 consistently outperformed in Q1 and Q2 compared to those that waited until January.
This is the Intentionality side of the coin.
The clients that succeeded were ready to hit the ground running. There was no warm-up act in January - they were ready! They knew what they wanted to do, what they needed to do, and what they were aiming for.
And with the coaching side of my business, that's where the accountability, challenge, and encouragement from me kept them in the game. Where they would sometimes quit too early, they were building Resilience to push through.
As you prepare for this week, here are three questions that I would encourage you to spend some time on.
1 - What's your biggest growth opportunity for 2025 for your business?
Think beyond just "more revenue" here. Maybe it's entering a new market, launching that product you've been sitting on, or scaling up your existing services. The key is to identify something specific that excites you AND has real market potential. Look at where your customers are already asking for more, where you're turning away business, or where you see a gap that perfectly matches your expertise. Your biggest opportunity often sits at the intersection of what you're great at and what your market desperately needs.
2 - What's the one system/process you need to strengthen to support that growth that could be a threat to your success?
This is about identifying your potential breaking point before you hit it. If you doubled your business tomorrow, what would break first? Maybe it's your client onboarding process, your fulfillment system, or your cash flow management. Don't just think about what needs improving - think about what needs to be bulletproof to handle the growth you're planning. The system that's "good enough" today could be your biggest bottleneck tomorrow. Look for the workflows that make you wince when you think about scaling them up.
3 - Who are you going to be accountable to with the things you need to do to make this happen?
Success rarely happens in isolation. You need someone who will both champion your vision and challenge your excuses. This could be a business coach, a mentor, or even a community that has your back. It needs to be someone who understands business growth and won't let you off the hook easily. The best accountability partners are those who have either achieved what you're aiming for or are actively working toward similar goals. They should be someone who will ask the uncomfortable questions and celebrate your wins, no matter how small.
Take a moment this week to write down your answers. I'd love to hear what you come up with. Drop them in the comments.
And...
If you're feeling stuck or want to validate your thinking, join me tomorrow on my weekly live Q&A session inside my community.
It's an open forum to ask any questions, and I'll be there to help you work through your plans for 2025.
If you're not a member yet, you can join today
Here's to Intentional planning and building the Resilience to see it through!
2025 is going to be YOUR year.
Now back to enjoying the sunshine (and maybe one more sangria) ☀️,
See you on my live Q&A maybe.
Bye for now
P.S. If you're looking for someone to bring accountability, challenge, and encouragement to your business journey in 2025, I'd love to help. There is space in my schedule to serve a couple of new private coaching clients - if interesteded, drop me an email at [email protected] and tell me what support you're looking for so we can make an Intentional plan for your business. Let's make next year your best year yet! 🚀
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