2024 has started and with it, a familiar seasonal intention to build new habits into our daily lives. New Year’s resolutions, for me, are usually about a commitment to embrace something that I previously put off.
This year, I am intent on guarding my early morning. Doing so allows me time to embrace the day prepared so that I’m responsive rather than reactionary! I remember making a choice to do this last year but, as the year wore on, a gradual invasion of this protected time took place…
A battery of interruptions in the form of Teams notifications, emails and social posts finally managed to completely distract my morning time. I did try to address it and by the end of the year I had improved, however, as 2024 stretches ahead of me, I realise my need to face the day armed and ready is ever more urgent!
2023 had its challenges and I’m sure that everyone in my network felt at least some of them. Among them, I could list the following:
- Cost of living
- Unrealistic expectations
- Lack of perspective
- Survival at someone else’s cost
- Misunderstanding
- People leaving
- Delayed contracts
- Cancelled contracts
- Wrong people in the wrong roles
- Exhaustion
- Negativity
- Debt
- Delay
- News
- Conspiracy
- Covid
- Death
The list of negativity affecting businesses seemed at an all-time high. For many, 2023 presented many opportunities to stare into a negative abyss or endless cycle of distraction, but ultimately, there was another way!
I noticed that even amid the negativity and long-term consequences of lockdown I had a choice. I could either become a victim of circumstance or embrace the conviction in my heart and decide to lead with a more victorious mindset!
Quiet time:
Absolute game-changer. The first priority of the day is to get quiet. Read, meditate, ponder, process, plan and (for me) pray!
Guarding that time has always been an absolute priority but now I am feeling its importance again. I won’t always get it right but not having that time means that I feel as if I am chasing the day.
I am purposing not to get distracted by other people’s noise and to stay connected to purpose. My happiness was completely affected by not giving myself that time to unpack.
Another lesson learnt in 2023 and a subsequent resolution for 2024 was the need to build in time to wind down at the end of the day as well. Learning to be present in my thoughts, enjoy the moment of now and relaxation has become a practice.
I’ve talked about it often before, but being present in the present has been something I have worked hard on. I won’t always have all the answers to everybody’s questions, as there are times when they need to be found by the questioner.
Community time:
I cannot emphasise this enough. Community is REALLY important. For my family, Church has always been part of our lives and continues to be a foundation stone for the way we do life in a community of people who aren’t perfect but all believe in the same thing.
It has always given us a wider perspective on serving people. Going to church has meant that I have held various roles over the years, from helping people by assisting in prison ministry to being a pastoral leader and helping people in their lives. Church means that we have a wider family, and we can build with confidence knowing that we have people who love us and we love them.
Hum4ns has been another incredible, growing community, this time built of like-hearted entrepreneurs. Meeting new faces on both sides of the bridge has made our Hum4ns Talks events some of the very best in the South West.
We kick off the year with Darren Edwards, Welsh International Rugby Player and Coach for a fireside chat on 15th January at The Square Club in Clifton Bristol.
There’s an old adage, “I liked it so much I bought the company” and it’s one that makes me smile because we took on Introbiz Bristol just over a year ago for this very reason. Purposeful networking in the North of Bristol has helped us build some great links with Village Hotel and Lexus Bristol. The great thing with the Introbiz network is that it meets online twice a week and, over the pandemic, it was game-changing for us.
Lastly, the international community of HBBA has opened my eyes to a global community, which has meat that for us, going global is not far away now. HBBA meet in London once a month and the connections we have made at these meetings have won us business and collaboration opportunities like never before. What’s more, everyone there is about helping each other and the warmth of the Hungarian people makes for an awesome experience, every time.
Community helps to create opportunity and having a group of contacts and connections makes all the difference.
Team Time:
I am surrounded by innovators. Our team at Cre8ion have grown up on being innovative. Podcasts, although a relatively new venture for us as a team, have been an exceptional way of raising our profile. I value that exploration attitude to our business that has helped create job opportunities, collaborations and new products.
As we scale, another R&D opportunity for us is the Metaverse.
We can’t ignore it as it provides huge opportunities as a canvas for the amazing 3D environments and products that our production team have been creating. We know there’s a future for us in this emerging world!
These three areas, quiet time, community time and team time all help me to remain optimistic in testing times and doors have now opened in the USA.
2023 taught me how important it is not to lose yourself in the midst of the grind and also that you are the sum total of the people you spend your time with! Going into 2024, I have more clarity than ever and am done with the negative distractions of the news and people who make problems rather than those who are driven by finding solutions.
I want to continue to change the world by inspiring people to go after purpose but also to make sure that they have the right voices behind and around them to help!
If you think like I do let’s see how we can work together and make 2024 our best year yet!
Watch the latest episode of the Purpose People Podcast now via the image link below!
