Below is a brutally honest, utterly snarky and mildly unhinged recap of my best year yet. It will ruffle a lot of feathers and tickle a lot of noses but it will be time well spent for you if you know in your gut that things are slowwwwwwwly falling apart in online business.  So read this and heed my advice because what follows is not just a review of the year but also a solid AF game plan if you want your business to thrive & actually benefit from this mayhem.

Or you can continue on with business as usual and maybe start hunting for a job on the side because this chamber pot of online business is about to spill over and you better have a backup plan when it does.

If 2018 kicked your butt & made you want to dry roast your own eyeballs over the pier of your burning dreams, you are not alone.

2018 was a hard year..for many.

Attention spans were flimsy

Ad costs were stupendous

Competition was aplenty

Keyboard Assholery was bountiful

And the time-honed principles of the  Internet Marketing Rulebook of Douchebaggery finally stopped working.

This made 2018  kind of a leprous psycho unicorn…cute but untouchable, desirable but also loony.  

Lucky for me, 2018 was more unicorn and less psycho.

It made me question my tactics (and sanity) at least once a week and kept me on my toes as I navigated all the changes Facebook, karma, internet gods and keyboard warriors threw my way.

But also paid off bigly when I paid attention to the market cues and adjusted course.

Because really that’s was 2018 was:

Ditch this

Do That

Stop This

Start That

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

In other words, 2018 was just a whole lot of…Recalibration.

Of business models

Value propositions

Offer structures

Brand equities

Decision models

And everything in-between.

Those who cried FOUL or decided to stubbornly stick to the old way (the one laid out in the Internet Marketing Rulebook of Douchebaggery) finished 2018…

Sadder

Poorer

Or proclaiming something is dead (emails, webinars, launches, courses you name it)

Others coped by doing a combination of these:

Went from premium to uber premium (think $50K packages)

Went from premium to low ticket (hello continuity my old friend)

Went from selling their own stuff to affiliating for others (which on its own is a super smart strategy BTW)

Went from “we all need a course” to “masterminds are the new black”

Went from “ discounts are for losers” to jumping on every sale bandwagon there ever was

Went from “all you need is a funnel” to “oh wait, we also need a strategy WTF?”

If you are one of those who coped by switching up their business model every 3 days, please accept my deepest sympathies for the sad demise of your goodwill & equity in the past 12 months.

But who am I to judge?

I barely held on to it myself and the only reason I am still standing & still growing is that I spent more time & energy on building an extraordinary brand than on tweaking my ads, funnels, offers or business model.

More on that later.

But first, let’s talk $$$

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The YEAR 2018- Money Made. Money Spent. Money Kept.

Gross Sales 2018- $2.1 Million, earned from selling the following 100% homegrown products:

• Sold Out Launch 6.0
• Sold Out Launch 7.0
• Sold Out Launch 8.0
• Mass Persuasion Method
• Recurring Revenue Engine
• Sell it, Dammit
• 60 Second Copy Generator Software
• Software Bundle
• All Done Social Software
• Persuade Live: London
• Sold Out Launchathon
• Bots That Sell
• 7 Days to 7K
• League of the Extraordinary
• Persuasion Hacks Lab

But don't be fooled by this number, this is NOT the actual money that landed in my bank account. It has cash sales but also credit sales. Some of the people on credit sales will default. Some will ask for a refund. This number also does not include any discount coupons. We typically create a provision for these to be 15%.  There's also some referral/affiliate commission I paid this year (small amount but still there) and my payment processing fees.

And then there are the expenses. I don't have a lot of expenses because I run a very lean business & did not create any new launch assets this year that required 3rd party costs. I do all my copy, design, tech, editing, social media myself or in-house.

Major expenses (there are tons of small ones but these are the only major ones that matter to this conversation):

• Facebook Ads ($190,000 including $20,000 that I just set on fire testing random strategies, more on that below)
• Payroll & other support cost (coaching & program tech support): $150,000
• Softwares, Applications & Tech Support: $75,000

All in all, I am at a 60%+ profit in my business this year except for my favorite expense of all times…10% of my sales that goes to feed & educate street children in South Asia.

Not bad for a 2 person team right?

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THE YEAR 2018- Truths Discovered

1- You Don't Always Need a Call to Action

One of the key commandments laid out in the Internet Marketing Rulebook of Douchebaggery is this:

Always have a Call to Action. Always.

Tell people what you want them to do & do it again and again and again.

2018 showed me otherwise.

• I ran ads with no Call to Actions and got better results than when I had a CTA at every turn.
• I wrote emails with no CTA
• I delivered live streams chock full of value with, you guessed it…no CTA

People were free to decide what to do:

With my stuff

With ME

And that choice, that power, that possibility changed everything.

 

People did not take ONE action, they took ALL the actions their sweet little hearts desired.

• They watched the video
• They shared the video
• They went to my site
• They got on my email list
• They liked my Facebook page
• They followed me on Instagram
• They subscribed to my Youtube Channel
• They then followed all the links on my website
• Signed up to any pre-recorded webinars available
• Bought any available products (True Story: my accountant was perplexed how we sold $5K worth of Mass Persuasion Method in one month when I was not promoting it anywhere #greatproblemtohave)
• And then they emailed me asking when I will open the other courses.

THAT’S what happens when you allow people to choose, not take away their power AND let them explore.

Sometimes, they will surprise you.

P.S: I am not saying you should NEVER have a CTA but that it’s fun & profitable to break the rules once in a while and see what happens.

2- Desire Stretching is the DEATH of All Sales:

One of my favorite hobbies is signing up to watch people's webinars and combing through their sales pages and making myself feel better about my life choices.

But I also see GLARING, horrifying errors that I can't point out to them but will do so today in the spirit of public service.

Here’s what 99% of people do when they try to sell their stuff online:

They stretch the desire and they keep stretching it until it becomes a paper-thin gauze of nothingness.

And that’s when all hopes of a sale die, a quick decisive lethal blow.

Instead, try and MAGNIFY the desire., turn it into a lump of red-hot burning coal they just can not ignore.

 

 

So, let's just say you sell a weight loss supplement, but it also has other health benefits.

An example of stretching the desire would be that you talk about how this supplement makes people lose weight, beautifies their skin, enhances their libido, gives them more energy, improves their blood test scores etc.

So, you just stretched the desire now into five different things.
Now, that means that their desire for that one core thing, which is to lose weight, is not as magnified as it should have been.

Instead, try & magnify that one core desire.

Instead of talking about six different things that your supplement does, only talk about one thing.

Lose weight.

And then magnify it by talking about different situations where that weight loss, would manifest.

“Imagine slipping into a size that you wore in high school”
“Imagine walking into a party, and making people go “What did you do to look like this?”.
“Imagine going shopping because it's more fun, and you can shop from a regular size store.”
Imagine, never having to worry about bits and bobs popping out of your clothes.”
“Imagine taking pictures, and not being worried about your double chin, or your back fat”

 

So, you just took one desire, but you magnified it so much that it's now literally impossible for people to walk away from that desire because you turned it into a red, hot, burning coal.

Simple but so so profound.

3- EVERYONE is Doing Facebook Ads Wrong (yes, everyone)

Everyone is doing Facebook ads wrong, yes everyone! You, your mentor, your coach, your Facebook ads agency, your marketing company, your mom, your dad, everyone!
And they have been doing it wrong since 2014.

But the reason that wrongness did not bitch slap them in the face until now was because Facebook ads were still cheap.

So even when they were doing it wrong, they were still getting in front of enough people, a few suckers said yes to their offers and they made money.

However, it was all a numbers game & the moment the expense numbers became big enough, their spit & duct tape ads strategy stopped working.

 

Before: Get 100 leads at $3 per lead, sell a $100 product to 5 of them and viola you just made a $200 profit
Now: Get 100 leads at $7 per lead, sell a $100 product to 5 of them and viola you just lost $200.

Get the picture?

Back in 2016 when I started talking about this idea that you need to be running five different types of ads if you want to maximize your return on investment. I got a lot of:

“what the hell are you talking about?”
“Stop overcomplicating things”
And “ my FB ad guru says to just get people to my webinar & I will make money, easy peasy”

Luckily I paid no attention to them, my clients & I kept going with our way of doing ads and we routinely get as much as 10-12 times return on our ad spend.
The reason?

Facebook is NOT a marketplace, it’s a social platform and the people who get trusted on here are the ones who are familiar and have done something to earn people’s trust.

 

If the first time people see you on their newsfeed is with a “ sign up to my webinar” ad, they are like “who TF are you moron?”

You're not giving people enough reason to take you up on your offer, because you look suspicious, douchy and a bit creepy TBH.

So if you want to launch a product, say in April, you should be running “why me” and “why you” ads starting February, March.
Warm people up, show up in their stream, become a familiar face in their Newsfeed.
Tell them why you are the right person to be selling this thing, why they are the right person to be buying this. Only then, share your “why this” and then your THIS will not make them want to puke their lunch on their keyboard. Now they're interested in hearing what you have to say about this.

This means:

• Lower probability of people labeling you as an intrusive douche
• Higher probability of them saying yes to you
• Lower cost per lead
• Higher percentage of buyers
• Mo money in your pocket
  

 

4- Spontaneously Combusting 7 Figure Launches are Nothing to Aspire to

I distinctly remember the moment in 2017 that I said to my husband (complete with glazed over eyes & a sappy smile on my face):

“This year I will have my first 7 figure launch”

He looked thoroughly unimpressed.

And then he processed to diss my dream by politely (but snarkily) pointing out that it’s not the top-line that matters in business but the bottom line AKA how much money you actually SAVE.

“So do you know what’s the profit on these launches? How much effort, time & resources go into these launches? Is it higher or lower than your existing numbers?”

I

Did

Not

Have

An

Answer

So I went on a mission to get all the answers.

Any guesses what I discovered?

This is what a typical 7 figure launch looks like:

Sales: $1,000,000 (insert a girly shrieky YESS and a #humblebrag post complete with screenshots)

Affiliate commissions: $500,000 to $600,000 (no big name affiliate will promote you without at least a 50% commission rate PLUS leaderboard prizes)

Refunds & Payment Defaults: $150,000 (At a very conservative 15%)

Launch Team cost: $10,000 (based on an actual quote I recieved)

Affiliate management team cost: $20,000- $,30,000 (based on an actual quote I recieved)

Advertising cost: $100,000 (a very conservative estimate)

Video production/ Launch assets creation costs: $10,000-$20,000 (a very conservative estimate)

Payment processing fee: $40,000 (based on a 4% payment processing fee)

Profit: $110,000 (this is before you regular ongoing business expenses)

Translation: You put yourself throiugh months of torture and sleepless nights to give away 90% of your money, no biggie.

 

Needless to say, my enthusiasm died a swift yet painful death and I started to see these 7 figure launches for what they really were.

Money sucking, misery-inducing festivals of self-importance where only the affiliates make money.

And I finally admitted to myself that my model is better, profitable and sustainable where I spend $10,000- $15,000 on Facebook ads, do 1-2 webinars, send a bunch of emails and walk away with $60,000-70,000 AFTER ALL EXPENSES, plus add a few thousand people to my list that I can sell to again.

I will take these numbers over a 7 figure launch any day, especially that…

• I don't have to hire & manage a gazillion people.
• I don’t have to beg people to promote me
• I don’t have to create a dozen versions of  swipe copy, create any new launch assets anything
• I don’t have to spend weeks or even months planning & orchestrating the whole thing.

Best part?

I can repeat this process 4 times a month (and I did, multiple times in 2018) and make way more than one launch of 7 figure, plus I get to keep most of the money AND my sanity.

 

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THE YEAR 2018- Lessons Learned

1- Go Deeper, not Wider:

I grew up on the internet listening to the cries of Go Big or Go Home, which honestly on a side note, why is going home such a bad thing?
I would love to go home and take a nap and never get out of the house again.

Anyho, back to the point.

This obsession with going big & wide & massive isn't really working anymore.  All of those million dollar funnels are falling apart and people are losing their shit because they're focused too much on going big, going wide.

2018 taught me that we should all aspire to go DEEP rather than wide.

There used to be a time when you could run a Facebook ad directly to an automated webinar pretending to be live and people would just watch the webinar, be fooled into thinking it was live, even interact with a poor bot on a page thinking that it was an actual human (so bloody creepy ughh) and then bought after you were done delivering your Rapport-Teach-Pitch webinar format (with super low emphasis on the teach part)

At least some of them bought.

But they were enough to keep you under the illusion that your poonel was working (that’s a funnel where you put poo at the top and therefore only get thick, murky poo at the bottom)

Now, people are getting super smart, they place zero value on automated webinars and sadly even see actual live webinars with skeptical eyes.

I have had people say to me on my webinars:

“Oh my god, you just answered my question & took my name! “We're actually live!”

Imagine that.

How sad is that?
How disgusting that people, even when they can see that a webinar is live cannot be really sure because they have been burned so many times.

Instead of trying to go wide and going big and targeting as many people as possible and then treating these people as mere numbers, why not try and go deep with:

That one live stream
That one webinar
That one sales pitch
That one email

Instead of trying to get 1,000 people on your webinar, why don't you try and get say 100 people, but then..

• Talk to those 100 people
• Build a  rapport
• Teach
• Reassure
• Build a belief ladder
• Pitch
• Nudge
• Get them to believe in you, your product, your offer.

And when you do that, when you go deep, even those who are not watching the webinar live, even those who watch the replay, they can see that you're taking the time to address actual human objections, not some random objection that you made in your head.

Once I did this, my webinar started converting at 10%+, because people could see ME see THEM..human connection people it matters.

2- When People Tell You They Love You, Believe Them

I have always talked openly about my self-esteem issues and how I am an utter & complete compliment whore.

I thrive on people telling me how awesome I am and when I don't hear that, I don't assume they are busy or living their life like normal humans., I assume they hate me and plotting to take away my internet badge. Yes, I worry daily about internet police raiding my closet office and taking away my right to ever use the internet because of some despicable act I had unknowingly committed on the internet.

Yes, I am the master of freaking out about imaginary situations with literally zero probability of ever happening, it's kind of a superpower really, not to brag or anything.

 

2018 taught me one thing, when people are silent but present (on your webinar, email, FB page, FB live) it’s 100% because they love you, not just mildly like you but actually love you. They just don't express it and that's OK.

They admire you, find you inspirational and want to learn from you. Why else would they share even a tiny fragment of their already flimsy attention span on you?

Yes, if 2 people tell you they love you, please go out on a super positive limb and assume that 20 people are silent admirers, you have my permission.

3- Leave Time for Magic:

I used to live & die by my calendar. Every minute of my day was planned out down to a minute. I was always in launch mode and the constant fire-fighting was my fuel.

Now I wish I could say that I stopped doing that because I got wise & decided to let my brain breathe.

But no, I did this because I needed to empty my brain.

At that point, there were tangles tangled with other tangles inside my head.

My brain had so many open tabs, it was a miracle I wasn't lying comatose in the middle of the road trying to manage them all

So I decided to set aside some time for untangling my brain. That’s how it started.

I soon realized that a lot of the crap trapped in my brain is actually gold…gold that I never allowed out because…well ain't nobody got time for that.

And when I actually gave it time….BOOM

I ended up creating:

3 new courses

8 new masterclasses

One high-end continuity program

One brand spanking new software

One (now abandoned) cross-promotional social hub

And one…are you ready for it? Poetry book…yep a full-on, book of poems that was trapped inside that brain, tangled in all the mess.

All of this became possible because I allowed time in my schedule for nothing.

To let my brain wander.

To flirt with new ideas.

To play some creative ping pong with something other than numbers

To create magic.

4- Play the Hand You're Dealt Like It's the Hand You Wanted:

When I was starting my business, I tried everything to blend in.

I even took accent correction classes so I could sound like everyone else on the internet (that obviously didn't work LOL)

I was hell-bent on breaking free from who I really was.

My accent

Where I come from

My history

My lineage

My background

For a while, it worked.

I was making lots of money.

But I was always panicking and overwhelmed

I was constantly anxious that I would say something grammatically incorrect

And then they'd find out I'm not as good as I pretended to be.

And I was right.

After a while, the sales dropped.

The fans tapered off

The brand hype calmed down.

And I realized that in my quest to blend in., I was blanding out…

I had lost my edge, I literally sounded like everyone else.

And that was quite a disaster, I assure you, for someone who looks like me because now I looked like a wannabe.

I had a choice to make:

Do I want to become one of the herd? A shoutier, nastier me-too?
Or

Do I want to embrace my baggage, my own bizarre bag of weirdery and then flaunt it like it’s an LV clutch on speed?

The choice was obvious.

I realized this one profound message that changed my life. It will change yours too if you embrace it:

Play the hand you're dealt like it was the hand you wanted.

I was trying so hard to get away from my hand, to play someone else's hand, all while looking outlandishly ordinary.

What an utter loss.

One of the biggest lessons from 2018 for me has been to excitedly, enthusiastically, passionate embrace my bushraness, my unique set of cards.

Wear these like medusa wears her snakes (weird, creepy but HERS)

5- Be the Prize

Imagine your buyer suffer from a raging UTI that has her nether regions on fire and have her up all night tossing, turning, cursing.

Now imagine that YOU are a bucket of ice and a healing balm rolled into one,  a concoction that’s guaranteed to make her itchy hurting vagina all better.

How should you be acting when pitching, selling, launching this solution?

I will tell you.

You should be acting like you are the goddamn PRIZE

Like you are the answer to all their pained cries for help

Like they are lucky that you exist

And that you are willing to share that solution.

You’re not a desperate, whiny, eager-to-please entrepreneur who chases after sales.

You are a prize

And the prize doesn't chase.

2018 was the first year where I fully stepped into my role as A PRIZE, now I have plastered my rather substantial bottom to the spot and let me tell you.

The landscape from here is utterly splendid.

My pitches are smooth

My sales effortless

And I no longer have to deal with nasties asking me to justify my price.

Time for you to do the same.

Step up & be the prize.

 

So let's say you're in the middle of your pitch and someone says:

”Hurry up and tell me what you're selling.”

Never hurry up.

Your mindset should be:

You would be privileged to hear me pitch

Give me money

Be in my company.

You would be privileged to talk to me

Get to benefit from my genius

Get to buy from me.

So never come from a place of:

Buy from me because I’m awesome or I have a great offer or my product is cheap.

Your stance should be:

Buy from me because this is the best thing for you, because it will change your life, and because no one else can match it.

 

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THE YEAR 2018- Blunders Committed

1- Blew $20K+ On Testing Shit

Seriously, I wish I could bitchslap the Bushra of March 2018 that she didn't need to try new things when her existing things work perfectly (and 10 times better than the market norms)

 

Yes, I spent a crap ton of money testing theories people like to spew out of their face holes in their “free value” webinars. Hint: It’s pure unfiltered BOOLSHEET and I should have known better than to spend close to $20K in solid ad money testing that shit.

I tested new landing page formats (even though mine convert at 80%+)

I tested new ad images (even though my return on ad spend was 1,000%+)

I tried new launch strategies (even though my own launches routinely sell out)

Oh well, at least I proved to myself that my system worked better than all of the pooru strategies combined.

That knowledge is worth $20K..right? RIGHT????

2- Tried Adding a Bushra Touch to Everything Even When it Was Not Needed.

I went through a lot of 2018 insisting on adding a Bushra touch to everything when I truly didn't need to, especially things that we were just recycling from previous launches or were just routine.

I didn't need to schedule all emails

I didn't need to write, schedule, design & post my social media

I didn't need to create automations that we have used a dozen times before

I didn't need to create landing pages that were just duplicates of previous ones

I did not need to Bushrafy everything.

Some things don’t need me and in fact that Bushra touch I was so insistent on adding was more like a skid mark, delaying things & making everyone suffer.           

Oh well, now I am wise..OK wiseish..

3- Temporarily Forgot that Humans Do not Value Free:

I came up with this GENIUS BRAIN CHILD CALLED HYPE HUB (caps and bold added for emphasis, also because I am not very modest when it comes to my brainchildren)

It was a genius idea and people were waiting with their credit cards open when I shared a teaser.

My blunder?
Bundling it as FREE with my existing membership program.

Which helped me sell some of that membership program but no one really appreciated the genius behind Hype Hub, most people took it for granted and there was very little participation.

Eventually, after 5 months, I admitted to myself that it was a dud and killed it.

The lesson for the future: Only offer genius brainchildren for money even if it’s a small amount so people value it enough to use it.

 

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THE YEAR 2018- Achievements Unlocked

1-First High-end Recurring Revenue Engine:

I am a huge fan of Recurring Revenue Engines AKA continuity programs AKA membership sites. My super low-end recurring revenue engine launched in 2015 has earned me $1,000,000+ in clean cash in less than 3 years, and it’s the most effortless product I have in my portfolio.

I have been flirting with the idea of a high-end continuity program for a while but was too scared (yep, I was shit scared that I will launch it & no one will buy)

In November of this year, I finally did it.

I launched The League of the Extraordinary, it was a new concept, it was also completely untested and I had zero results to show (yep I don’t believe in beta testing) and I ended up adding 150 new members to The League.

Now I already have a super successful continuity program that's been going strong since 2015.

But it costs $39 per month (started at $14 in March 2015)

So taking the leap from that to a continuity program that’s $100+ a month (even $200+ a month) was positively horrifying.

I sat on this idea for the entire 2018 and what stopped me from pulling the plug for so many months was really this one question:

What can I offer every month that will justify people paying every month?
If you are planning to offer a membership program that asks people to pay you on auto every month, this is the first and perhaps the only question you need to answer before you take the leap.

If you don't have a solid answer, create a one and done product instead and be done with it. It will be easier to sell too.

This hands down is the product I am most excited about this year and once I combined this excitement with a solid value proposition and a sturdy AF belief ladder, selling it was almost effortless.

The lesson here: Build a solid AF Belief Ladder because once they believe, they buy.

2- First Hands-off Launch:

The League of the Extraordinary added yet another first to my hat of feathers this year.

It was the first launch ever where I didn't do everything on my own.

I created the content, ran the ads, wrote the emails, created the sales page but all the nitty-gritty of day to day with the launch itself was handled by my operations manager.

• The tech set up for the application
• The entire process for when we received the application
• The payment settings
• The live chat
• The pre-sale questions
• The vetting of the applicants
• The member's areas, Facebook groups & signup bonuses
• Reminder emails for all webinars
• Keeping everything under control and my sanity in check

Now, I know this doesn't seem looks a big deal to anyone but for me this is MASSIVE.

I have never ever delegated so much of my launch ever and the anxiety that comes with not knowing for sure if everything is working OK and taking someone else’s word on it…is quite an experience.

Here’s the icing on my hat of feathers (eww gross I know)

Nothing broke

Everything worked smoothly

And we ended up adding 150+ people to The League.

And now I can continue with my reckless pursuit of hands-off launches.

3- First Real Vacation:

When I say it like this, it makes me sound all victim like “I never get to take a vacation sob sob”

But that’s not what I meant.

We take 1-2 vacations a year PLUS travel back home a couple times too. But I always have my laptop hot glued to my side and a million open-ended loops in my head.

I never get to mentally switch off.

There’s always one more person to respond to

One more ticket to close

One more email I need to send out

One more something hanging over my head..always.

2018 was the first year I took an empty-headed vacation, while my incredible power duo team kept everything in check.

 

My team literally acted as a badass barrier of awesome, blocking me from the day-to-day.

I roamed the streets of Scotland with zero worries, zero deadlines and finally for the first time, fully present.

It’s also a huge milestone because I had zero anxiety about giving up control and for someone like me that is the biggest win of them all.

4- First Big(ish) Event:

I never knew it was possible for me to fall in love with 50+ people all at the same time but I did, at my first big-ish live event in London.

At Persuade Live, I fell totally and completely in love

With the people

With the connections

With the conversations

And how the room was buzzing with manic laughter, priceless brain bumps & so much positive energy.

 

It was surreal to see so many people in that room hanging on to every word, giving me their complete undivided attention..

Indulging me in my cruel mind games ( “sell me a haunted house” and “sell me a chastity belt”)

Flying from all over the world…

Grappling with Jetlag

Leaving their kids, pets, and lives behind for two whole days.

“We should do it bigger next year” was my first thought on day two and I think I will.

I think I will.

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2018 was a full year and I am so incredibly grateful for that fullness, it wasn't a busy, hustling sort of fullness with everything bursting at the seams.

It was a professionally gratifying, intellectually stimulating but also delightfully mellow sort of fullness.

Where I had time to do lazy lunches (and lazier launches)

Write words that delight me (this monster post would not have happened in any other year)

Work out almost every day

Binge on netflix almost every night

Spend summers lazing around on my mum’s couch

Watch sappy movies with my nieces & baby brother

Write poetry with my son

Take drawing classes with my daughter

Start a political dumpster fire with my dad

Go on long leisurely breakfast dates with myself

Go on evening walks with my husband (OK I was dragged to these walks but still)

 

I have had to take 4 trips back home, once because my mom broke her arm and I just had to be there. 3 other times because we felt like it. This in addition to…

One vacation in Scotland

One vacation in Turkey

One visit to London

And every time I could just book a ticket and leave.

I have a husband who insists on the trip because it’s hard for him to see me worried, anxious or bored

Children who get that I am needed there more than I am needed here

A team that’s more like family and acts like one when I need to leave

A housekeeper who keeps everyone alive & fed in my absence

Clients who are OK when I disappear and excited when I am back

.

.

.

I get that everyone has their own definition of bliss & abundance.

For me, it’s simply the ability to make choices.

A choice that may not involve fancy cruises or luxury trips but is what you need most in that moment.

It’s about flirting with possibility.

Even if that possibility seems silly, weird or banal to others.

This is what this business does for me

It gives me the ability to make a choice

To flirt with possibility

Not having to live with a choice someone else made for me

Not having to tolerate the status quo because no other possibility exists

Not having to settle for “meh” because “wow” isn't an option

And that choice, that possibility has been the biggest gift of 2018.

 

What has been your biggest gift in 2018? Leave a comment to let me know.