Guess How Many Years in Business?
6 Lessons Learned

August is a big milestone month over here at SimplyAlign – I’m celebrating my business anniversary! Can I get a virtual high five?

Two decades is how long I’ve been online, and that’s a lot! I started in 2003, with my “Living in the Flow” Newsletter, Tai Chi Flow videos, and energy sessions. And I recently stumbled upon an archive of my old newsletter/emails from 2010 going forward– talk about a blast from the past!

Wow, I was busy through those years. Guest spots on summits, podcasts, radio shows, speaking on stages big and small, teaching across the US and in Australia (7 times), hey I forgot that I even wrote a chapter in two best selling books – it’s been quite the ride and I’m still enjoying it…oh so much! And I’m excited about what’s coming up this fall -stay tuned more details coming in the next month.

In the meantime, I’ve been thinking of all the lessons I’ve learned along this 20-year entrepreneurial journey. I’d love to share a few of those nuggets with you because they relate to ALL areas of life, not just business. So here we go:

1. Use the 80/20 rule. Also known as the Pareto Principle: roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of effort. For example, 20% of a plant contains 80% of the fruit, 20% of a company’s customers bring in 80% of the profit, and I’d venture to guess – you wear 20% of the clothes in your closet 80% of the time. You get the point. I had to learn NOT to use 80% of my time for a 20% result. To instead, prioritize my highest impact tasks (20%) for the optimal, and easiest results (80%).

2. Honor the Struggle / Embrace the Suck. Running a business is fun…except when it’s not. There are parts of business that I don’t love: admin tasks, learning new technology, communication misunderstandings. But that’s like everything in life, you’ve got to take the unpleasant with the pleasant because those good parts are so worth it. I delegate what I can, and have learned to appreciate the unavoidable parts. I choose to see them as opportunities to rise and be bolder.

3. Time Blocking is my to-do list’s best friend. I started time-blocking to keep myself on task. It’s my daily to-do list put in certain blocks of time, so I never have to waste time mulling over what I should work on next, and getting distracted in the process. I prioritize that beforehand. It also helps me to totally focus on the task at hand during that block, even if another idea pops in my brain (which happens a lot). I just write myself a short note to remember it and keep on the task at hand.

4. You can’t grow what you don’t know. You can’t make a plant grow if you don’t know its soil, right? Same goes for business and life. You’ve gotta pay attention to those numbers, like that wise Peter Drucker said, ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure.’ But here’s the kicker—once upon a time, I was hesitant about diving into my income figures. It felt like checking the scale every day when you’re trying to be healthy, ya know? Too much and it’s like getting overly focused on numbers. But fast forward to now, and I’m all about those digits. It’s one way of giving my business the respect it deserves.

5. Outdoors + Movement = Clarity. I love working and it seems there is always something to be done. That’s not a good combo…it means since there is always work to do and I like working…well, I’ve learned to get myself away from my office. Outside in nature is a great place to be – it “sharpens the saw” and can be pure gold for creativity. Some of my best ideas have come to me because of sneaking away from work to enjoy nature on a walk or high-speed bike ride.

6. Do Less Better. When overwhelmed, PRUNE. When I get too much on my plate for too long, I’ve learned the answer is to take a look at what’s feeling overwhelming and ask myself the 3-Ds: “What can I delegate, delay, or delete?” I find most tasks fit into one of those buckets. Pruning back the non-essentials makes it possible to do the essentials – to do less – better. It frees up more creative power for the most important things. Keeping it simple is always a good thing in my book!

Those are just a few of the lessons I’ve learned on this journey. I’ll probably share more in the future, but this is long enough for now.

Oh, and guess what?

August isn’t just about SimplyAlign’s birthday bash – it’s also my wedding anniversary month! Yup, Dean-the-dream and I are marking 42 years together! Holy cow, that’s a long time! Maybe next week I’ll have a list of what I’ve learned from marriage, but probably not because even 42 years does not an expert make, haha!