My top ten lessons for 2014

As the year comes to a close, I always like to reflect on what has worked this year, and what has not?  What are my takeaways and lessons to learn?  Here’s my top ten:

1.      Titles make all the difference

What you call a program, webinar or article makes all the difference between folks coming, or staying away.   Instead of calling our health show, the Women’s Health Show (yawn), we decided this year to build on our successful webinar series – Five Days to Feeling Fabulous, and so we called it Live your Fabulous.  The result – great turn out for basically a first-time event and we will use it again next year.

2.      When you have the right people in place, delegation is easy (well, easier)

With my personal move to the country, my trips into Toronto have been kept to a minimum and that has been made simpler because I have two great gals – Karen Kessler and Anne Bergman, running the show there.  Thanks.

3.      You don’t need all this paper

Building on the move theme, we still have boxes of paperwork in the basement.  I haven’t needed or looked at it in the year since we moved, which speaks to the fact I have way too much paper. I have started to streamline what we keep and file.

4.      Murphy’s law – what can go wrong, will go wrong

That’s how it felt about our webinars this past year – from power cuts in the middle of delivery, to no sound and the presenter talking to herself, to a recording link that connected to a porn site!  You sure have to keep your sense of humour over stuff like this.

5.      Just ask

Back in July I got an email from Sam Horn’s office to check if I still wanted to get her emails. Although based in the US, she was complying with CASL, and mentioned in this bulk email that she would be in Canada in 2015 with her new book. 

Knowing what a great speaker she is, I saw this as an opportunity, after all, what had I got to lose?  So I emailed her direct and asked if she’d speak at our conference in May.  She said yes!!!   I still get goose bumps thinking about it. (It is May 26 ladies, mark your calendars)

6.      There are some courageous women out there

As part of our research for the book, Amy and I have been interviewing women.  Some of their stories would blow you away.  I am in awe at how they can get up in the morning and function, given all that they have been through.

 7.     What I thought was scary, isn’t

There was a time when talking in front of the camera would have left me tongue-tied and shaking in my boots.  Not any more. And I am not alone, with One Red Lipstick, women are finding their voices and speaking up.

 8.     Guest blogging brings great returns

I have been writing for the past six months for She Owns It.  This opportunity has given me such great exposure, with my blogs being promoted out there to well over half a million people, and my following has, as a result, increased dramatically. They have signed me up for another six months. Woo hoo.

 9.     “Slow down, you go too fast”

Life can change on a dime as I found out after my fall in October.  I am just so grateful that I didn’t do any permanent damage to my eye but it has caused me to challenge myself as to whether I needed to do everything that I’ve been doing.  And the answer is no, so come 2015, watch for the new Anne.

10.    Put your expectations in writing

I have learned the hard way that when you don’t spell out and put your expectations in writing, you leave yourself open to people taking advantage for their own gain.

I have been doing this for 12 years now, which is a long time for me, as I get bored easily.  But I never get bored with seeing someone blossom, grow and become who she is meant to be, and if I’ve played a small part in making that happen, I glow inside.  Making a difference is still the ROI for me.

So as I look at this list, it seems to me that 2014 overall, was an exciting year.  One of growth - professionally and personally - and one where I have had the good fortune to partner up with Amy Hunter and Fay Chapple. I highly recommend collaborating with like-minded women. It is powerful.   

Letting go of the perfection trap

For several months now I have been talking about doing webinars. I even invested in software to do it, and read the manual which in itself is a feat as I don't usually "do" manuals.

But have I delivered a webinar yet?  Eh, no.  So what is holding me back?  I could say that all things technical intimidate me, and while that would be true, if I dig deep, it is more than that.

I want to have all my ducks in a row.  I want to make it failure-proof.  In other words, it needs to be perfect before I take this leap of faith and put myself out there. I know I am not alone in this need to have everything just so, and I have to remind myself it is just a one- hour webinar, not a death-defying exercise.

I am often the person encouraging others to take risks, to step out of their comfort zone and move forward.  "Make the mistakes," I say, "you will learn from the experience." Perhaps it is time I took my own advice. Perhaps I need to give myself the benefit of the doubt, and got out of my own way and just do it.

At our recent retreat, I had the women set goals for themselves for the next two months, and assign a deadline by which time it will be done.  So when I mentioned the webinar idea, just in passing I might add, the entire group pounced on it, and in unison asked me when I hoped to achieve this goal?

We all laughed because they had nailed me.  But it also served to show that no matter how confident we may be or appear to be on the outside, there is often that little voice inside chiding you for your ambitions.  "Like, who does she think she is?"

What would I say to someone else? "Just take baby steps in getting towards your goal, so that by the time you have to do it, the whole activity no longer seems so threatening.  You are running the show, you know what you have to do, and yes, it may not go to plan, but think of that sense of accomplishment when it's done.  Let go of perfect."  

Wise words, i should listen to myself more often. So ... I have unpacked and dusted off the gear that I need, got my slides ready, and asked for help (another hard piece) in working out the technology.

Will I achieve my goal by the time assigned? Realistically, probably not, but that's OK too, because I am taking those baby steps to make it happen.  You see I have this great coach, I just need to listen to her more often:)

As Elizabeth Gilbert said in a recent interview, "imperfection never stopped men from putting themselves forward, so don't let it stop you."

The joy of technology. Not.

Last fall in my wisdom, I decided that we would offer more webinars to our members – three a month, to be precise, which was a serious undertaking, but I was thrilled with the way presenters stepped forward to participate.  Not only that, I drew on women from around the world – how cool is that.

Except for one thing.  Without fail, with practically every webinar, something technical went wrong. Even my more seasoned of webinar leaders, Jan, found herself talking into thin air – no one could hear her.

Then there was the webinar where the hook up wasn’t working, but it gets worse.  This month, we sent out the recording link for one popular webinar, having tested it ahead of time on our computer to make sure it worked, only to find that when you tried to watch/listen to it on an iPad, it took you to a porn siteJ

Another seasoned webinar presenter had a power cut right in the middle of the presentation.  I could go on.

Now in the past I would have taken all this as a sign – that the universe was telling me that this was not a direction I should be pursuing, but not this time.  No, to me what the universe is telling me is that I need to take more control over the technology used, and that despite my fear of all things technical, it’s time I learned more.

So that is my plan over the summer.  I’ve purchased a program and when it is quieter on the work front, plan to tackle and wrestle this technology, so that come the fall in 2014, we are fired up and ready to go.

Stay tuned. Technology permitting, of course.