Editor’s letter

I’m celebrating F-I-V-E years in business this month. Holy shit how did that happen? Where did the time go? And, here’s to the next five years being even more fun than the first.

But.

But as we all know, it isn’t always sunshine and roses.

Being a business owner is the ultimate rollercoaster. Yes, and I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

To commemorate the big occasion, this month I’ll be sharing my five biggest lessons from five years in business – I’m officially dubbing this series ‘5 in 5’.

Missed one? Lesson one. Lesson two.

Number three: yes, results matter… but business is so much more enjoyable when you focus on the journey, not the destination.

When I first pivoted to branding wayyy back in 2018, I would spend hours looking at other branding professionals – studying their work and their business, dreaming about getting to that skill level one day. And then a few hours here and there would turn into an entire day derailed because I was so focused on the end-result. Getting to a perceived level of skill as a designer, rather than focusing on actually doing the work. The work of getting better, aka practicing.

A few months later, I decided to start learning Divi – a theme for WordPress. And I have this distinct memory that’s stuck with me. I was chatting with my business coach and she asked how it was going, learning this new platform. And I remember saying to her, “It’s actually really fun learning it. I’m seeing what’s possible to create and getting really inspired at the thought of designing websites for clients with this theme.”

It was a complete shift in mindset – enjoying the journey, rather than getting hung up in the result of that journey.

Yes, it’s important to strive for goals and work towards something. But as business owners, if we’re constantly focusing on the future, we completely sidestep the fun of owning a business – the little steps that take you towards that end result – the journey.

Because if you’re only in business to get to the specific outcome and know you won’t be satisfied until you reach that particular milestone, you may end up being unhappy for months, years or decades.

Enjoying the journey is realizing that yes, reaching a new milestone is important and fun. But what’s arguably more important is what happens between those two points – where you are now and where you want to be.

Because, a majority of your business journey is going to be the ‘getting there’ and day-to-day activities, rather than ‘the result’. And if you don’t enjoy the day-to-day, what’s the point?

And with that, happy branding 🙂