Welcome to The Rachel Kurzyp Show.

Today I’m sharing the 5 biggest lessons I think we should all take away from 2021.

I’ve chosen these lessons because they have kept coming up for my clients, community, peers and even me. I hope they resonate with you too and serve you in the new year.

So let’s dive in.

Lesson #1 

Don’t let your perfectionism stop you from doing income-generating activities. You need less than you think to serve your clients and make sales. I didn’t have a sales page to sell out my new 3-month 1:1 coaching program. I also didn’t use Facebook ads, a launch event or even do much warm up content.

I decided to change my business model overnight and focused my energy and time into sending personalised emails and DMs. You can listen to episode 50 if you’d like to learn more about the sales strategy I used and why I believe it worked as well as it did for me.

Many of my clients wait to invite people to work with them because they want to have all their assets first. For example their Instagram bio updated, their new brand images, a beautifully designed sales page. I’m not saying these assets aren’t important because they are – I’ll be having a sales page for my coaching program next year. What I’m saying is that, wanting to be over prepared, have everything looking beautiful and check off everything on your to-do list before you act, is your perfectionism and inner critic trying to keep you safe.

If you continue to prioritize ‘having everything done perfectly’ you’re literally leaving money on the table and will slow down the growth of your business. Perfectionism is something I have struggled with so I understand how challenging it can be to practise ‘done over perfect.’ But trust me, this mindset has changed my life and business for the better.

Listen to episode 56 with Sam Dhu if you’d love to learn the practical ways I have worked through my perfectionism because you can be a perfectionist and have a successful business.

Lesson #2

Being bored with the same old content on Instagram is literally the universe giving you a sign to do something different. The theme of this year has been that we’re looking for new ways of being and thinking. We want to be inspired and take action because we know that what worked for us in the past isn’t going to serve us into the future.

So if you’re looking for someone to lead you but you can’t find them, this is your opportunity to become the leader you need and are meant to be. It’s time to redefine what being a leader is and claim your expertise. You can listen to episode 46 that will support you to do this.

And in the meantime, start creating the content that you’ve been looking for. Share your values and unique ways of doing things. State your vision and call in others to join you on your journey. Acknowledge your fear around getting called out and making mistakes because you won’t always get it right and you have the right to change your mind. But you don’t want to let that fear stop you from being seen and heard and serving your community. 

If you want to learn more about being an inclusive leader and building a racially diverse business, then listen to episode 53 with Annie Gichuru.

Lesson #3

There is a big difference between consistency and frequency. The greatest challenge for my clients this year was following their content plan. This year has been huge for so many of us. We’ve moved house, had babies, changed careers, adopted pets and fought for causes we’ve cared about. So it became obvious pretty early on that what we wanted to devote our time and energy to was going to be different from 2020. 

Yet we still expected ourselves to show up in the same way and felt like we were doing something wrong when we didn’t put a podcast episode out or show up on stories. We then blamed ourselves for being inconsistent. When in actual fact, the problem was frequency. 

Consistency is behaving or performing in a similar way. It’s not about quantity. And many of my clients have been consistent. What changed was the amount of time, energy and creativity they could devote to creating content. What they needed to do was change their content plan to reflect this. You can listen to episode 34 where I talk you through how to do this.

I think this lesson can apply to so many areas of our business and lives. It’s so freeing knowing that you can still achieve your business goals while doing less when you show up with focus, clarity and intent.

Lesson #4

There is no one right business model or marketing strategy. And anyone who tells you there is, wants to sell you something.

Business has been tough for many of us during the global pandemic. Certain tactics and strategies that used to deliver results are no longer working. So many of my clients and community have been looking to business owners who have been in business for many years and who have appeared to have continued success for what to do and what not to do. 

There’s nothing wrong with looking to others who have gone before you for advice. However, it’s become clear that many of the celebrity entrepreneurs we look to all have the same business model and share the same marketing strategies. That is, move to a 1:many model through selling products, courses and group programs. 

If this business model is aligned with your vision then great! But for many of my clients and community, this business model doesn’t feel aligned because it draws upon capitalist values that were meant to be left behind in the corporate world. 

For example, you can’t have a sustainable and profitable business if you offer done for you or with you services. I believed this for the longest time and it wasn’t until I worked through why I was resisting the 1:many business model that I realised I had bought into the one size fits all approach to business.

Know that the most successful business model and marketing strategies for you are the ones that feel aligned. They all work. They are all created equal. If you’re wanting to determine the right business model for you, listen to episode 43 where I share 3 soul searching questions every business owner should ask themselves. And tune into episode 47 if you’d like to know how I intend to scale my 1:1 business model.

Lesson #5 

You need to make your vision and business why actionable. A bigger emphasis has been put on building a purpose-lead business this year and I’m here for this. Many of my clients and community have done this work yet are overwhelmed and unfocused day to day and as a result, aren’t meeting their financial goals. I believe one of the main reasons for this is they haven’t created goals and broken these goals into actionable steps that when completed will support them to live and achieve their vision. 

It’s so easy to get sidetracked and question your vision when you’re spending hours in other people’s businesses or are scrolling through Instagram being influenced by trends. And before you know it, you’re bogged down doing tasks that others have given to you and your to-do list is filled with ‘shoulds.’ This has happened to me many times before so if this is you right now, know that you’re not alone. 

Business planning should be easy and is one tool you can use to support your business. So I’d encourage you to take the time to create your goals and monthly tasks for 2022 and revisit them weekly. When you do this, you’ll be able to prioritise your business and have more time, energy, creativity and money to do the things you love. Listen to episode 45 if you want support to free up space in your day. And check out my recent Instagram post that will support you to create your business plan. I’ll leave a link in the show notes.

What have been your biggest lessons of 2021?

Send me a DM on Instagram and let me know. My handle is @rachel_kurzyp.

Well this concludes the last episode of 2021. I hope you’ve enjoyed listening to the show as much as I have loved creating these episodes for you.

Have a safe and happy holiday and I look forward to supporting you in the new year.

Thanks so much for tuning into today’s episode.

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