Even for someone who doesn't embrace change, sometimes stepping out of your routine may be the little push you need to help you reach your goals.
For me, Fall has always been a time of transition, a time to go from Summer, which I very much enjoy, to The Holidays, which I also really enjoy, maybe even more. Fall is just kind of there, marking time on the calendar. I am deescalating from the fun of summer to the excitement of The Holidays. There is comfort for me in Fall, just knowing that it's always going to come around and there are no expectations from me. I don't have to work or do anything special. If I put up a Halloween or fall decoration, great. If not, no big deal. I may make a pot of soup, bake a loaf of bread, make an apple crisp or cobbler, but if I don't, that's okay. No one will notice one way or the other.
I live in a mild climate. Late fall and winter bring rain, not snow. The changes of the seasons are usually pretty subtle. One day you will wake up and think that it got cold (or hot) overnight, but when you think back, you realize that the changes had been coming, but gradually.
And that's just the way I like change to happen. I don't embrace change like some people do. I really don't like change at all. Why fix what isn't broken? I eat oatmeal every morning. Plain oatmeal, with berries. Raspberries.
But this year, I decided to be different.
To actually use Fall as a time to learn something new and to move my business forward. I applied to and was accepted in an Audio Description four-day online retreat. Before the pandemic, these were in person, for a week-long, fully submersive experience in the country. Which sounds amazing, except I never signed up because of the cost of traveling and lodging and meals away from home, commitments to my family, teaching, watering my plants... (which is pretty much all 'code' for not taking time for myself and exploring new avenues of potential revenue... ). But an online course, sure. I can do that! Sign me up!!
The other thing I did was to commit to working with a marketing coach. Someone who could help me see the Big Picture, by taking all of the different fingers or avenues I have going on and piecing them together, in a way that is specialized for me. I can listen to podcasts and sign up for courses that give me the basic overview of the hows and whys of marketing and getting myself seen and known, but it's too easy to then think of the suggestions as being for someone else, and not seeing how it directly relates to me and the direction I want to go in.
While it feels very contrary to how I usually feel during Fall, it is energizing and exciting to wake up with a specific plan to my day; to do what I want to get done in the next eight to ten hours, rather than to react to what I see on social media. While it usually takes me a few weeks to gear up to Let's-Do-This mode after the let-down of the Holidays, I'm kind of thinking that by maintaining this energy with my business through the Fall, it will only help me get started that much sooner in the New Year. And can't we all use a little extra push trying to keep those New Year's resolutions?
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