A couple months ago I had the heart-stopping experience of my entire website disappearing for a period of several days. It was a silly mistake with my hosting company and it was eventually rectified but within those few days, it felt like my child was in the ICU and all I could do was sit by and wait. Years of work, thousands of dollars, untold hours of creating content and hundreds of blog posts…gone. My pins on Pinterest–my number one source of website traffic–led nowhere. If someone found me in a Google search, they would have landed on an empty page. If a potential client had looked me up from my business card, it would have seemed I had vanished. NOT the best image for an image consultant.
I didn’t panic. I tried to maintain a positive outlook and a “what will be, will be” perspective. Friends even offered to help me rebuild if it came to that! And in those few days I asked myself…what if I did have to start over fresh?
Really. What if everything I had created over the last seven years just vanished? What if my reputation was wiped clean, my history was erased?
What would it be like to start over? What would I rebuild? What would I let go? And maybe the best question…what would I do with my business and my writing if I were just starting out?
It was weirdly refreshing to think of starting from scratch.
Have you ever asked yourself “What would I do if I had to start over?”
The start of a new year is a great time to roll out a fresh reiteration of whatever you’ve been working on. Maybe you built something but it took on a trajectory you weren’t on board with. Maybe you’ve been doing a business or writing a book with your target market in mind just to realize it’s not even truly “you.” Maybe your brand is outdated (or you don’t have one at all). Or maybe your blog or your business just needs a little freshening up.
I encourage you to think about what it would be like to start over fresh. Pretend today is day one! Imagine what you would do if you didn’t have expectations and history pressuring you to keep things the same. Let your creativity loose!
Throw aside what other people think! Build something authentically “you” that makes you happy and makes you excited to get going every day.
{But first? Perhaps you need to REST. I know that’s what I need at the end of the year. Read more here.}
Then when you’re ready to start fresh, here are a few ideas.
If you need help with your branding or your personal image, consider Discover Your Signature Color here.
If you’d like some one on one time to strategize and prioritize with me before the price goes up, come on by the studio! Strategy Tea for $25/hour.
Here are my best posts about dreaming and scheming and starting off a new year. A word, a vision board, following your curiosity…do what appeals most to you.
Start here: Ideas for what to do instead of resolutions
Explore these posts:
Redefining the vision board (I created a vision shelf!)
Create a vision affirmation statement
Words to boost your confidence
And let me know how it goes. As for this space and what I’m doing toward getting a fresh start? Well, you’ll just have to stay tuned.
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