Lessons Learned in 2022 - Part 1

Last week I shared with you my top tips for Capturing Your Year, and promised to share with you my biggest lessons learned as I capture mine. So without further ado, here we go:

1 - It takes ten years to become an "overnight" success. This year was a mega year for me: I published a book (which quickly became a global best-seller!), I spoke at 47 different events, was flown to 9 different countries, was a guest on 20 different podcasts, delivered projects for some of the world's biggest brands, and was on the cover of a magazine. But behind all of this seemingly-sudden success were years and years and years and YEARS of groundwork. Of doing free speaking events before I got paid for them. Of pitching myself before clients started coming to me. Of writing for the love and joy of it before getting a book deal.

And while I am so much closer now to making the positive impact and having the reach that I want to make and have, I am still not totally there. But I know there is no fast track. There is no "overnight" success. There is always work to be done. And I have to keep doing the doing, event when the results feel elusive.

Because success takes time. And it takes its own time.

2 - Managing our emotions is one of the hardest and most essential skills to master. During this very big year, I've had really high highs and really low lows. There have been heart-shredding tragedies, spirit-soaring achievements, and every accompanying emotion between those two extremes. And while I usually see it as an asset that I feel the feels so intensely, it can also be exhausting. And every human being I have worked with struggles with this too. Managing our emotions - our fire, our intensity - is hard. 

But we have to do it. Because our emotions don't always serve us. They are often a habitual reaction instead of a considered response; an animal brain instinct instead of human brain thoughtfulness; an ego-savior, instead of achievement-enabler.

And for me, managing them takes practice (and a commitment to doing things like taking deep breaths in the moment, building in ample alone time, focusing on what I can control instead of obsessing over all the annoying/stupid/ridiculous/slow/illogical/unjust/maddening things I can't).

If we don't learn to manage our emotions they will, of course, manage us. 

3 - Don't wait for a vacation to recharge. As you've probably guessed, I am a high-energy, high-intensity person. When I am "on", I am on. And my work requires me to be "on" quite a lot: I help organizations solve big problems, I mentor leaders, I speak in front of audiences. (And some days, I solve big problems, mentor leaders, and speak in front of audiences and then whiplash into parent-mode without a spare minute to pee or inhale a Snickers!)

But the only way I can sustain my pace is because I build in time to refill my batteries regularly throughout the day, instead of trying to cram it all into a vacation. My form of recharging can be anything from watching some silly TV (Ghosts is a recent frivolous favouite), running an errand, ordering takeaway for lunch, or simply reading a book late into the night so the only person I am "on" for is myself. 

Because if I don't remember to recharge, my body will finds ways to remind me: I'll get a sore throat, my joints will start to hurt, my neck will get tight, and no number of massages will be able to work out the Gordian knots in my shoulders.

So don't wait for the knots (I have to remind myself... and maybe you too?). Take 10 minutes (or 30 or 90...), and recharge now. However you can.

I'll be back next week with my next installment of Lessons Learned in 2022, so watch this space.