Where has August gone? I could swear it was just July a minute ago! I’ve been remiss in posting here this month but it’s because I’ve been super busy with work and I took a long weekend for my annual trip to NYC. So, I’m giving myself grace on the non-posting. I had good reasons!
Anyway, I’m back now, still super busy but taking a moment to breathe. I thought I’d write about my trip to New York and some of the personal stuff happening right now. If you read my blog regularly, you know this is a departure from the norm. I hope you’ll indulge me in this one personal post. I promise to be back to providing actionable brand and marketing insights in the next one.
Anyway, life is good.
I marked two years as a full-time business owner in May, which is an accomplishment that makes me so proud. I really didn’t know if I could do this. The lack of a steady paycheck still makes me nervous but also I’ve never felt more in control of my life and my future. Weird! For the most part, I love the work I’m doing and feel a sense of accomplishment in every project I finish and send on to my clients. They seem happy with the work I’m doing for them.
The struggle to scale.
That said, I’m struggling with figuring out how to scale my business. I can’t seem to find the balance between too much work and not enough income. I’m stuck at the same income I made last year, but I feel ten times busier. Part of this is due to legacy clients that I’ve been resisting raising their rates. I’m also blaming myself for severely undercutting my worth in taking on a new client. But, the main problem is that I can’t seem to figure out how to diversify my offerings to be more scalable. Writing is my main service and I love it. But my writing process is not efficient and there’s only so many pieces I can produce well in one day. I’d love to do more brand strategy work but I haven’t had any luck finding those clients. I’m not sure what I’m doing wrong.
Regardless, I’m not complaining. My business is great.
Personally, I’m feeling every minute of my 57 years. People may say that age is not a number, but believe me, those years take a toll. In the last year, my body has slowed down considerably. I’ve got pain in my back and legs I’ve never had before, my balance is shot, and my mid-section is growing. I don’t feel like I have any control over my own body. It’s very disconcerting. For the first time ever, I’m thinking about paying for a trainer. If you know me and my aversion to asking for help, you know this is a very big deal.
To celebrate my birthday, I took my annual trip to New York City.
I love it there so much. I saw two musicals, The Notebook and The Great Gatsby. Both were great but not as memorable as others I’ve seen (Hamilton, & Juliet, Moulin Rouge). I took a tour of Broadway theaters that was really interesting. I really wanted to take the interior tour of the Hudson Theater but it wasn’t available on the day I had free. Next year! I also took the tram to Roosevelt Island which was fun and visited the Tenement Museum again. I visited the New York Historical Society Museum and the Museum of Photography. I wandered around Central Park. I caught a free concert at Bryant Park. I walked the High Line and visited Hudson Yards. I ate great food at Sarabeth’s, Scarpetta, Marks off Madison, and more. I walked about 30 miles in total. I didn’t work at all. It was wonderful. I can’t wait to go back next year.
My trip was a nice break from the day-to-day workload. Now it’s back to the grind. I’m working towards going to Florida in November and staying for three months. That’s my next big goal. I’ve got to accomplish quite a lot before then.
So, back to it!
Thanks for reading my once a year personal post! I’d love to hear what you’re up to! Give me a shout and let’s chat.
