2021: A Year in Reflection
A natural tendency of mine is to look into the next day, week, month, year and start planning things out in my mind. I have a hard time turning this part of my brain off especially if I am invested in making something happen. This is what compelled me to start my business to begin with… I had a really hard time working within the confines of a normal corporate business structure. I work very well on my own, and or directing a team of people. But when there are other factors at play - say a boss who is not on the same timeline as I am .. or a colleague who has irrational deadlines, it tends to make me clam up and not operate in my zone of genius.
Zone of Genius is an interesting concept, but it’s certainly helped me hone in where I operate best. With that said, I absolutely do love having a team. I have very large visions of what Accounting By Edrina can become with the amazing teammates at my sides. If the past two years has taught me anything it’s that life has a way of throwing curve balls - and not all my “amazing visions” can come to life. I certainly felt an ebb and flow within these past couple of years and, if I’m being REALLY honest with myself, it simply feels like one long year of 24 months. There were barely any markers for me marking the end of a year and the start of a new one.
So, this year I am using that information to help inform my stance going into the new year. I’m cautiously hopeful. I can already see that January is going to be another full month, and I am SO grateful for that… while also working out through my mind how I will implement boundaries and self-care measures into my life so that I’m not working 24/7.
This year had so much to unpack, and I don’t think a singular blog post can hold it all … but, alas - I shall try! I’m going to break up my year in terms of how it went for me, this is not by traditional quarters - so hope you can think outside the box with me here.. haha!
January through April - Busy Season
Little did I know that I would be helping an uncle of mine with a tax office he had recently procured. Being able to help a family member throughout the tax season after the roughest year of our collective lives added the exact spice to my life that I didn’t know I needed. In fact, it certainly gave me more perspective on what clients are concerned with, and helped inform some content throughout the year.
MARCH
New Blog Post: One Year After Lockdown
APRIL
New Blog Posts:
May through July - The Season of Rest
May was the month of recovery for me. I was able to rest and reflect on the first few months of the year. Then in June I was able to take my very first vacation without my laptop - which is no small feat! Having intentional time away from work, home, and everyday life is SUCH a blessing that I do not take for granted. And, while taking a vacation is certainly hard to plan as a service based business owner, I'm so glad I put the effort and time in! I have some pretty strong beliefs about going on vacation. One of those beliefs is how it helps to re-center you. In the busyness of everyday life, sometimes it's hard to make intentional choices because those choices are often made for us. I like to use vacation time as a way to reign that in, to remember that what I do in my life is also my choice.
I would not have been able to take this vacation without the help of my AMAZING team. They were able to hold down the fort and make me look good while I was able to get much needed rest and relaxation.
In July I celebrated our five year anniversary with my boyfriend. It's a milestone for the both of us that we don't take lightly. I can’t wait to see what the next 5, 10, 15 years down the road looks like for us!
August through September - Gearing up and then shutting down
At the beginning of August, I was in my best friend’s wedding. 20 years of friendship sure flies by when you're having fun! It was such a special time to spend the weekend in Temecula with all of her loved ones and to celebrate their wedding 1 year from when it was originally supposed to happen. I’m so glad we all were able to come together and celebrate!
Exactly one week after my best friend’s wedding I ran my first ever 5k. For many years I have gone to the Rose Bowl to walk the Rose Bowl loop a few times each month, which is a 5k. So when I was reading about the Sunset Run at Dodger Stadium it sounded SUPER doable to me! And when I challenged my guy to run this 5k with me, little did I know he'd be up for it!
I actually didn't start thinking seriously about this race up until 4pm the night before. Where I realized that the race would not be "just as easy" as the Rose Bowl 5k is, because the course was all around Dodger Stadium... which is FULL OF LARGE HILLS and also located in the mountains. Resulting in probably the worst first race course we could do… But y'all, we did it! We finished the race strong. While I did run/walk/run/walk I still had a 18.5 minute mile average because THOSE HILLS.
I'd like to encourage anyone out there who has been hesitant at following through with goals, or even creating stretch goals that would challenge us in new and different ways, that you can do it too! This could be your story. If you find that something is holding you back from reaching those goals then do your best to remove the obstacles and simply go for it.
Then in September, everything came to a screeching halt because I randomly, and suddenly, got vertigo which pretty much knocked me out for about 2.5 to 3 weeks. I highly do NOT recommend getting vertigo… But, if you do, just know that there are meds out there that can help (as I had no idea!).
October through December - A new type of roller coaster
This past quarter of the year have been pretty crazy full. I feel like we all collectively were trying our best to see all the people we hadn’t seen over the course of the pandemic. We tried our best to celebrate as safely as we can, in terms of all the holidays. In October I was in another friend’s wedding which happened to be at a church around the corner from my home - which was great for me since I was still coming off my sickness (vertigo). I’m so glad my body decided to cooperate so that we could share in this special moment for another dear friend of mine!
These past few months became like a new roller coaster for me in terms of my clients. I went through a few disengagements with clients, and then gained a couple more new clients - which is bringing me into the new year excited about what is to come! I am remaining cautiously optimistic and looking forward to the momentum I have now to carry that excitement forward into the new year.
OCTOBER
New Blog Posts:
NOVEMBER
Launched: Bookkeeping for the Entrepreneur LIVE
DECEMBER
Blog Post edit: Nonprofit Spotlight: Jericho Road Pasadena
New Blog Posts:
In terms of clients, I started the year with 11 clients and ended the year with 13 clients. Here’s how that breakdown went:
April - signed on 2 new clients, brought back 1 annual client
July - signed on 1 new client
August - disengaged with 3 clients
October - signed on 2 new clients
November - signed on 1 new client, disengaged with 2 clients
December - signed on 2 new clients, disengaged with 1 client
I always love creating this blog post as a way of reflecting on what happened over the course of the year. Here’s to a new year with new hopes and possibilities!