Change coming too fast for new resolutions | Dec 30th 2006
The end of the year is a time of transformation and change. The theme of moving on either spiritually, physically or otherwise is prevalent everywhere. No matter how often I’ve seen or heard the stories, I never grow tired of them. Whether it’s Scrooge realizing the error of his ways, the Grinch’s heart growing three sizes in one day or Harry finally realizing he’s loved Sally all along.
These lessons speak to the deepest part of what I want for myself and my kids. They hint of hope for the future, the goodness of all mankind and the concept of peace reigning at last. Still, it’s hard to keep these warm feelings alive after the ball has dropped and the glitter has been swept away.
Am I jaded? I just don’t feel like making a New Year’s resolution for 2007 even though I watched my favorite end-of-the-year transformation movies and read the Grinch to my daughter about a dozen times in December. These stories beg change, but I’m not buying it this year.
Perhaps my ambivalence to committing to a New Year’s resolution has to do with experiencing a tremendous amount of change in my life and my business in 2006.
I went from full-time to freelance in March, won half a dozen new clients and simultaneously dropped several longstanding, high-maintenance clients. I began writing a column in my local newspaper, started actively networking with people in my chosen industry and redid my bathroom.
My 5-year-old started kindergarten and my 2-year-old started two days a week of day care. I bought a fuel-efficient car, traded in my beloved minivan (for gas guzzling reasons) and turned 35. I lost 10 pounds, threw out all my old clothes and gave myself a complete makeover.
If it seems as if I can’t get my business versus personal changes straight, it’s with good reason. My personal life and my business life are entwined so tightly together that any changes I experience with one inevitably have a big impact on the other.
Enough already
Rapid growth is the most prevalent problem facing the companies I work with. Taking on many new projects affects the overall quality of what the agency can deliver, taxes its existing staff and makes for very unhappy clients. I call this the anti-growth phenomenon. Too much growth, too quickly can actually stifle success. I saw this phenomenon slowly kill the first agency I ever worked at (from 1997 to 2002).
Sometimes the best decision a company can make is to stay exactly the same for the New Year. It’s not about shunning growth, it’s about focusing on becoming a better partner to your existing clients, and striving to take the service you provide to the next level. This advice also works well on a personal level.
My biggest ambition for 2007 is to keep things low-key and work on improving the things I already have — my relationship with my kids and my husband, my 100-year-old house that is in desperate need of some love and attention, and my business as it is today. In my gut, I know that staying the same for 2007 is the best way to achieve success for 2008 and beyond.
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This article was published in the Poughkeepsie Journal on Saturday, December 30th, 2006