// ONE YEAR ON… The Real Business Journey //
The 1st of December marked a big day for me. It was one year since I retired Sass Place and moved on from that chapter of my life. It’s crazy to think that a whole year has gone by already, yet at the same time it feels like a lifetime ago. It has been a year of healing, of finding joy, of finding me, of challenges and of truly pinch-myself moments.
Businesses take energy, and they can be hard work. But one of the things I have learnt this year, is that business doesn’t have to ‘feel’ hard. It doesn’t have to be full of challenge ALL the time (that is a whole other raw post). When you find your flow and align with what is important to you, what brings you joy and what you love to do – it has a whole new way of being.
Some of the hardest parts of letting go of something you have created is the worry of ‘wasting’ all your hard work or the whole worrying about what people will think stuff. I knew that what I had done would never be a waste – it started off something that has gone beyond SA with other coworking spaces with creches all over Australia (Sass was always the first!). But I did think about all that money I invested and reinvested back in constantly that was gone to waste (ie. $5k to trademark…). I can say looking back now, that was like a Masters degree for me. EVERYTHING I went through and learnt, is WHY i am here now doing what I am doing. I NEEDED to fall down, so I could help other women get back up or catch them before they fell.
Failure is something so many of us can be scared of, yet it is the best opportunity for growth. I had many people say they were sorry it didn’t work or that it failed. I don’t see it as a failure, the business worked, it kept going, it didn’t go under financially, it achieved its purpose of giving women a space to work from and to launch or grow their businesses even if they are also a mum. And perhaps most importantly it fulfilled a chapter of my life where I needed it too. Sass Place did what it was here to do, and now it’s mission was done and my mission was done and it was time for new things.
So was it the right decision? I can say that with a HELL YES!! I am so glad I let go of the expectation and the needs and wants of everyone else around to focus purely on what I wanted and what my family needed. By taking time to decide what brought me joy, and aligning my life with that I have created a whole new world that I pinch myself everyday!
And life what a contrast…. I am in bed before 11 every night, not 1am or later. I am less stressed. I am doing what I LOVE everyday. I am able to be involved in my sons school and work school hours or juggle around my family. I have my joy project inSA Woman Australia. My health has improved. I have time freed up to be home more and be able to work from home too. My nurturing has grown to a point where I have replaced my income from my pre-sass place days.
If you are at a cross roads with where you want to be in 2019, my advice is to give yourself time to think about what YOU want. And to remind yourself that it is ok to change your path if it is no longer the right fit, or to tweak your business to be inline with who you are now. The rollercoaster of business is a big one, you want to LOVE what you do!
So much can change in a year, but I am grateful everyday for the experiences that Sass brought, and the journey of 2018.
xx