Written by: GiGi Diaz, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
It’s exhausting to have to become a “new you” at the start of each year. After 365 days of putting in the work, can you feel how deflating this is for your subconscious mind to be told, “Not good enough, we’re starting over for a newer ‘new me.’” It’s exhausting just writing this.
Why do you think most of us feel the need to reinvent ourselves every January?
Why isn’t who we are and what we’ve been working towards for the past 365 days enough to keep building on? Why does it need to be made new?
I don’t have the answers to these questions, but I do have some great tools to help you build on the amazing YOU that you’ve already been polishing. Tools to help you expand with self-love and strategy.
If, by chance, you come across this article long after January, know that these tools are effective at any point when you’re transitioning from one season to the next. This can be a new year, a new quarter, a new lifestyle, you name it.
Step 1: Look back
You can’t know where you’re going without first knowing where you are and what brought you here.
As yourself the following questions:
What worked well for both my business and me this past season? Take your time with this and be as specific as possible. Think about launch times, workload, events, lead generators, and people. Everything that influenced you or your business should be considered.
What didn’t work out? Once you have your list of what didn’t work out, objectively and without judgment, ask yourself what merits trying again and what is best if you just release yourself from it and leave it behind.
What can I celebrate? We have a tendency to only celebrate the huge wins. But it’s the little wins in between that keep us in forward momentum, excited, driven. So make a list of your little wins along with your big wins to remind yourself you’re already in expansion, you’re already amazing, you’re already doing it. You don’t need to start from scratch. You’re building on your wins.
Step 2: Look within
This is the most important step or at least my favorite. You see, we left corporate – or are planning to – because we felt suffocated and overworked by that system. Pressured, underappreciated, and boxed in are also common denominators for why we trade in corporate for entrepreneurship. But oftentimes, we launch our dream business only to burn ourselves out in it by overworking, trying to do what every guru out there says we should, discounting or underpricing our services.
This is definitely not the vibe in which we can thrive. So this step is all about stepping into the true entrepreneur role and deciding how you want your business to feel and work for you. Try out the following questions:
How do I want entrepreneurship to feel? This can be fun, in flow, smooth, and abundant. You decide.
How can I bring more of this feeling into the day-to-day? If you choose fun, maybe you can add a dance break every 2 hours to your workday. If you chose in flow maybe this means saying NO to commitments that you feel pressured into not in alignment with. If you chose smooth, maybe this means you need to establish systems and automation to have the client journey flow.
Who do I need to become to feel like my highest CEO self? Don’t let this one confuse you. This isn’t about DOING, i.e., getting more certifications or attending more events. This is about BEING. When you close your pretty eyes and visualize yourself at the peak of your mountain, having achieved your wildest dreams, what is that version of you like? What does she eat? How does she move? How does she speak? Who does she spend her time with? What are her routines like? Does she work out? Does she meditate? Once you can see this version of you clearly you get to embody her by behaving as that version of you. By eating like she would, meditating if she does, and purifying your network like she has. For my manifestors out there, THIS is the KEY to making your wildest manifestations a reality. It’s BEING in alignment with what/who you desire.
Step 3: Look ahead
Now you get to put it all into practice. This is where accountability and community come into play. Having a business coach to keep you focused and accountable will make this process exponentially more effective. Having a powerful circle of fellow entrepreneurs who get it and are on a similar path of expansion will help you feel seen and supported.
Here are the tasks to bring steps one and two into the year ahead.
Map out your personal life. Grab a calendar and look at your next season, whether that is 2024 or your next quarter. Which weekends are off-limits for family only? Are there birthdays, vacations, or special dates you can already put in? Pencil in your weekly personal days for self-care and recalibration. Add the new routines from step two into this calendar too so you don’t leave it to chance. Be proactive.
Map out your business to support your personal calendar. What programs or services are you launching this year? This can be what you’re keeping from step one and anything new you’re taking on. Make sure you pencil in 3-4 weeks for your launch runway to help warm up your audience and build up interest. Make sure you’re choosing to launch new services at a time when your personal life is slow. If you know you have an anniversary, vacation and the kids going back to school in September, don’t plan your launch this month. Make sure every single thing you’re adding to this calendar, from meetings to events, is in alignment with every part of Step 2.
Don’t do it alone. It’s easy to get discouraged and quite frankly, it’s also boring to walk the entrepreneurial path alone. Find community so you’re surrounded by sisterhood and support. I’d love to invite you to our Seizing Happy® Hybrid Community where you’ll be surrounded by a phenomenal network of womenpreneurs and have access to live mentorship and support. You can find us here.
You don’t need to start over this year. You can build on the amazing YOU that you’ve already worked on becoming. You’re the writer, producer, and main character in your life. Act accordingly this season and watch how everything changes for the better.
GiGi Diaz, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
GiGi Diaz is a Certified Mindset & Business Coach, media personality, host of the Chats with GiGi podcast, and entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience. Simultaneous to her entrepreneurial path, she’s led a successful career in media being featured on and working with organizations like NBC6, Telemundo, Radio Disney, iHeartRadio and many others. She’s also the founder and CEO of Seizing Happy®; a coaching organization dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs achieve their business goals without burnout. GiGi’s philanthropic impact can be felt through The Seizing Happy Foundation™ (501c3) helping women of color achieve financial success through entrepreneurship via mentorship, workshops and specialized events. GiGi earned both, her Bachelor’s in Sociology and Anthropology and her Master’s Degree in Global Strategic Communications at Florida International University.
