29 Dec Year In Review
The week between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day is always a time of reflection for me personally. I don’t travel much during this time; in fact, I prefer a quiet week at home with my family.
Throughout the year I wake up to the same routine. I get a cup of coffee for me and my wife and settle down to read a passage from scripture and reflect on the previous day and the day ahead. For me, writing out my prayers is therapeutic. I think about meetings I had with staff or decisions that were made. I seek wisdom for the day ahead. Not only for work meetings, but also my relationships with my family and friends.
One of the added benefits of journaling my thoughts is getting to go back and read what was important in the moment. Sometimes there were issues of great pain or stress that I have not thought about in weeks. Other times there were great wins that slipped my mind. In business there is always a rollercoaster of emotions. Highs and lows that occur even on the same day. In the moment, the lows seem like your business is going to fall apart and the highs can give you a false sense that everything will be okay going forward. Both are extremes that rarely come true.
My journal reminds me that we will get through our current struggles of dealing with inflation, supply chain issues, and the current labor market.
That is where I get encouraged. My journal reminds me that we will get through our current struggles of dealing with inflation, supply chain issues, and the current labor market. As my mom used to say to me as a kid, “Son, this too shall pass.”
Much like when we survived Q2 of 2020 when the world shut down and several of our clients stopped spending marketing dollars. Much like when we survived losing a couple of great team members who had the opportunity of a lifetime that we celebrated. I think that is the biggest lesson I have learned about running a business. Most businesses fail because they focus on the hard things and just stop trying. I say most because there are stories beyond a business owners’ control. But most just get tired of the fight.
So, take the time during this season to reflect on all your struggles and your wins over the past 12 months. Make a list and ask yourself if all those times of stress or times of triumph turned out the way you thought they would turn out. I’m betting you will walk away from this exercise grateful for where you have been and encouraged about where you are going.
Scott Miller is the CEO of Centerpost Media, host of the Create. Build. Manage. Show (seen on BizTV, heard on BizTalkRadio, and available wherever you listen to podcasts,) and a member of the Forbes Agency Council, Entrepreneur Leadership Network, and Dallas Business Journal Leadership Trust. You can find Scott on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter via “@scottmillerceo” or on LinkedIn via “@scottmillermedia.” Centerpost Media is a content marketing agency with a vision to help every business they encounter with their media needs by providing outstanding quality, service and value. Centerpost Media is the parent company to BizTV, BizTalkRadio, BizTalkPodcasts and Bizvod.