{"id":449,"date":"2024-01-05T09:11:41","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T22:11:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simonkelly.me\/?p=449"},"modified":"2024-01-05T09:23:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-04T22:23:10","slug":"2023-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simonkelly.me\/2023-review\/","title":{"rendered":"2023 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Towards the end of each year, I typically take a few hours to reflect on what went well, what didn\u2019t go so well and what I want to improve for next year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As Ray Dalio says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\nPain + Reflection = Progress<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
Reflecting on my year is important to me for three main reasons: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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- Create positive momentum (remind myself of the good things from the year)<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- Learn lessons so they aren\u2019t repeated<\/li>\n\n\n\n
- To always be growing a bigger and better future
<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\nI usually just keep these reflections in a notebook or somewhere private, but I thought I\u2019d share my review this year in an effort to create more content that could be useful to others and for me to review in the future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s how 2023 was for me and what\u2019s coming up in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theme of 2023: Practice<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
I usually pick a theme for the year that is a word I can come back to that will gently nudge me in the area of growth that I want to go. Kind of like a little mantra to help me overcome a pattern of behaviour or thinking that I found myself stuck with in previous years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
For 2023, the theme of the year was \u201cPractice\u201d. The idea of this was that instead of trying to get things perfect on the first go, I would overcome procrastination by thinking of everything as practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This helped in many areas of my life, from designing websites for clients to going to the gym to learning how to improve my NLP training skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m really happy with how this went and will continue to keep the mental habit of thinking of things like practice as I go into 2024, with the shift that I want to practice in public, as this is an area of growth for me now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wins for 2023<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
2023 was a really big year. When I look at where I am in life, it is almost unrecognisable now to where it was 12 months ago. I had a few moments throughout 2023 where I said \u201cI\u2019m living my dream life\u201d which I\u2019m incredibly grateful for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here are a few big wins from the year:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Merged my digital agency with SGD<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
After working with SGD<\/a> since October 2022, we finally merged businesses on July 1st, 2023. We\u2019ve gone from a team of 3 to a team of 15 and doubled our revenue in 12 months. It’s been a big year of growth, and I love working with our team! We have so many smart people on the team and can’t wait to see what we can do in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Launch digital strategy roadmap<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This is a new service as a workshop I learned from Troy Dean<\/a> with significant contributions from Allan Dibb\u2019s 1 Page Marketing Plan<\/a>. This workshop positions us as a digital marketing partner and not just a web design agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Spoke at MavCon Goldcoast <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This event was a mastermind for digital agencies. The event host, Troy Dean, caught COVID and was stuck in his hotel room. I was asked to MC the event with about 60 minutes notice, and was able to get on stage to open the event, interview some of the attendees and facilitate a few of the workshops. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I noticed my mindset during this had shifted significantly to thinking about how I feel on stage to how I can help bring value to the people in the audience. This is a great shift and it was a really good experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Launched Leverage Mastermind with Brook McCarthy <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Brook has been my marketing coach and I\u2019ve worked closely with Brook on her Hustle and Heart launch<\/a>. We\u2019ve known each other for some time, have hired each other for various projects, spoken at various events and generally align on how we think about business and digital marketing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We found that many solo consultants and coaches are stuck trading time for money doing 1:1 services while getting an income that\u2019s barely minimum wage. We wanted to create a group to help them create more leverage by launching their flagship group program, and that\u2019s exactly what we did! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We have a fantastic group of humans in the Leverage Mastermind<\/a> now and I\u2019m excited to continue to help them grow their audience and launch their programs in 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12 month leadership and NLP trainer training with Amy Bell<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
This was one of the highlights of the year. It was an incredible program where I grew substantially in my thinking and behaviour as a trainer and leader. I\u2019m so thankful for everyone in the group. This has laid the foundation for 2024 as I move into more of a leadership role where I am putting much skills into practice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n