10 years, 10 lessons
September is a month of birthdays in our house. I had my birthday, my youngest son had his 17th birthday (how is he old enough for a provisional driving license?) and, now a big one I almost forgot: my little company just turned 10 years old.
It was now an entire decade ago that I walked out on a secure career at a very insecure time of my life. When I could see that the seasons were changing, and that I needed to grow with them. It was now ten years ago that I recognised that it was just as risky, if not more so, to stay put and ignore the feeling that it was time to move on. It is now ten years ago that life was so hard, with all kinds of grief, loss and disappointment to navigate.
Ten years on, life is not plain sailing by any means. There are plenty of hurdles and obstacles and painful situations to keep on facing both in my work life and personal life.
Did I know this for sure when I did it? No, of course not. In fact, statistically speaking, it was foolish. 20% of all new businesses fail within their first year, with around 60% failing by the end of the third year. But I know now, and we’ve made it ten years trading!
In ten years, we’ve:
Coached thousands of professionals
Worked with hundreds of companies and their leaders
Launched 11 cohorts of The Purpose Pursuit, racking up a 500-strong alumni
Given away six figures to fantastic causes that we believe in
Is it everything I thought it would be? No. Are there many hopes and dreams that haven’t worked out? Yes. But is it still worth working hard for? Absolutely.
So, in today’s special episode of The Purpose Pursuit podcast, I share ten quick lessons I’ve learned from ten years of running my own business. They’re not business lessons as such, more life lessons from the last decade of my experiences. They’re relevant to all of us, whatever your life stage and situation and I hope they give you some helpful insight and wisdom learned from my mistakes and successes.
Annoyingly, time and time again this has been proven in my life, in the lives of loved ones, and of course my clients. If we choose it, as time goes by, we can grow and develop not just in spite of, but because of the difficult things we face. For example, The Purpose Pursuit course (and book!) wouldn’t even exist if the business hadn’t faced a crisis moment during covid lockdowns. Good stuff can come from hard stuff.
Showing up steadily, especially in the small, unseen ways, has built more impact than any big launch or breakthrough. I love a short sharp burst of energy, but I have learned that the biggest changes in my life, and in my client’s situations come from the ongoing commitment to change and development. Day after day, bit by bit. I Love James Clear’s work on this: he reminds us that if you master continuous improvement and get 1% better each day for one year, you'll end up 37 times better by the time you're done.
The work that lights me up points to the work I’m meant to do. Joy doesn’t lie. It leads. The same applies to you: the things that light you up, make you smile, give you energy are your clues towards your purpose. It’s not that we are meant to love every moment, of course not - but the joy we experience when we use our gifts and talents is the data we need to help us build a life full of our unique purpose - which is both a gift to us, and those around us.
So, there’s three lessons from my top ten, listen below:
And if you’d like to celebrate with me, consider pre-ordering The Purpose Pursuit book.
Here’s to the next ten!
Love and gratitude,
Hannah x