January 4, 2020
Category: Regenerative Business, Regenerative Faith, Regenerative Family, Regenerative Health
I have been thinking about 2019 a lot and I figured I would spend some time sharing some of the things I have learned this year. In my Full Focus Planner, I do a quarterly review on business, personal and whatever else is part of my life at that time. It has gotten me into a better habit of reflecting on what I have learned and how I can apply that to the next few months. I thought that would be a great thing to do for the whole year.
What I’ve Learned in 2019
Business
I feel like this year has been such a big year for finding myself again in my business. I have been motivated to learn and grow and feel like I have made some huge strides. As you may guess, as an Ennegram 9 and an ENFP, my strengths are NOT quick decision-making, details, or logical organization. I am more of a visionary, future-thinking, sales/marketing and people-focused type of person. Growing up my mom did a great job teaching me to be organized within my personality and that has been extremely beneficial for me running a business that is filled with decisions and details all of the time. But I have always searched for the elusive “best” system for me. I have finally found what I think is pretty close to the best system for me. If I’m honest, the Full Focus Planner has changed my life. Not only does it help me keep track of the details (that I hate being bogged down with but I still need to accomplish) but it also helps me accomplish the important business goals that can easily be relegated to the back-burner. (I will probably write another blog sometime on how much I love it and how much it has changed my day-to-day time management as well as my motivation to improve my business and myself. But that’s for another day!)
Looking through the last year, Steve and I came to realize that 2020 will be a restructuring year. Our business grew about 25% last year and we can’t keep up that kind of growth with the current systems we have in place. I was listening to a Michael Hyatt podcast where he talks about Simplicity as a core value of a strong business. He was discussing how easily complexity gets incorporated into a business and how important it is to step back and see how to simplify. That really stood out to me and it has become our goal for 2020. Our goal is t0 automate as much as we can, lower the burden of complexity on our employees and be able to do the same amount of work (or even more) with the same staff and the same resources. I know we are going to have to hire this year but we want to get the internal systems dialed in before we do that. Often when a business grows fast or adds new services (of which we’ve done both often) complexity rears its ugly head and if you aren’t careful, you continue to add more and more complexity to business systems, making it harder on both your employees and customers.
So with my Full Focus Planner helping me get the important goals done in our business (like automating and simplifying our systems), I am super excited about the goals that we will reach as a business this year. Steve is a mastermind at organization and business systems and I’m excited to see how working together on this goal will give our business a new life and exponential potential for growth. I can’t wait!
Spiritual Life
This year has also been a great year of spiritual growth for me. I feel like I am a much more balanced person than I was a year ago. Steve and I have been reading and learning a ton about the Bible and how our lives are supposed to look if we are truly following Christ’s example. That growth has not only been good for our own personal development and a sense of purpose but it has also been really beneficial for our relationship with each other. We have been having great discussions that are sharpening us. You will get bits and pieces of those discussions as you read other blog posts. I feel content looking at the path we are on as a family with our faith.
Relationship with Steve
I decided earlier on in the year that I wanted to learn as much as I could about who I am so that I can feel confident in my own individuality and be the best version of myself. I grew up with a mom who trained people in the Meyers Brigg Personality Tests so I have known my personality since I was very young. That helped me understand myself and was a great confidence booster. This year I have been studying the Enneagram Personality tests – reading “The Road Back to You”, listening to podcasts, and doing research online. This personality framework is unique. At first it was a little hard for me to handle. The basis of it is that everyone has a major “deadly sin” and as a perfectionist, it was hard to accept, especially because mine was “sloth”. I did NOT appreciate that very much…hehe. I have always felt like I have been ambitious and have worked hard. One of the many things I appreciate about the Enneagram is that it shows you who you are when you are healthy, unhealthy and in between. My “sloth” comes from my ultimate value of “peace”. When I am in an unhealthy place, and I don’t have peace in my life and relationships, I shut down from the world and basically turn off my very powerful emotions so that I am like a shell of myself. This made the stressful years, that I have talked about previously, become so clear. And it is exciting that I am no longer in that place and I have moved to a much more healthy version of myself with much more energy.
The other great thing the Enneagram has taught me is how Steve and I work together in our healthier version and our not-so-healthy versions. We negatively feed off of each other during our stress-filled times. BUT when we are healthy we are such a powerful duo! Here’s an excerpt from the Enneagram Institute that truly changed my life about Steve and I:
On the positive side, each type brings a certain idealism and desire to change the world to make it a better place. Nines bring a more interpersonal orientation than Ones to their idealism, but both can be self-sacrificial and hard working, and willing to put their personal needs and interests aside for the welfare of others. Both are also able to delay rewards for a long-term good they seek. Ones bring clarity and rationality and the ability to articulate ideals and understandings. They strive to improve themselves and their environment, are conscientious, have high ethical and moral standards, and are fair and consistent. Nines bring a gentle, accepting quality that nurtures and supports others without as much explicit demand for self-improvement. Nines are steady, easy to get along with, feel uncritical and undemanding, and prefer harmony and smooth relations over the pleasure of being right or of having the last word in a situation.
In short, Nines tend to take a bit of the rough edge off of the criticality and seriousness of Ones, while Ones give clarity and direction to Nines. Further, Ones feel that they have a mission in life, and they are able to inspire Nines to become aware of their own purpose and to want to follow it. This can be a highly altruistic couple who balance idealism with humanity. As a couple, they are gracious company, hospitable and generous, but they also need time to be alone with each other as a couple. They have a mutual love of nature and animals that may bring them closer together, as well as their love of their children and family. Nines soothe Ones, while Ones remind Nines to strive for excellence.
This sums it up perfectly and continues to remind us of why we were drawn to each other in the beginning. The day that I met Steve was the day that I felt like I had found my “soulmate”. When I met Steve, I felt connected to him immediately. We could have a ton of fun together but then also talk for hours about philosophical ideals. After going through a few very stressful years together, I wish we would have known what we know now. But at least we do now. The Enneagram has made me more self-aware, which is always a good thing (even if its not always fun to learn).
Relationship with my daughter
The other relationship that has benefited from my new knowledge about my Enneagram number is my relationship with my daughter. I was listening to a podcast of another ambitious Enneagram 9. She runs a non-profit and has touched may lives. She also said that she didn’t appreciate her deadly sin being slothfulness because she too was ambitious and hard working. Something stuck out to me on that podcast. She said that she tells her kids that after 9pm, the Holy Spirit leaves her body and she can’t be held responsible for anything she says or does. She joked that it wasn’t theologically sound but I totally related to that. At about 8:30pm I get SUPER GRUMPY (and I’m not typically an overly grumpy person)! Unfortunately that is right when my daughter goes to bed. My fellow Enneagram 9 said that she goes from 100 to 0 in a split second and a light just went off in my head. “That’s why I am so grumpy at 8:30!” This new self-awareness has helped all of us take a few minutes of rest time before bed so that I am not just going 100% from 7am to 8:30 and then just crash. Steve has also been able to be more aware and taken over bedtime a few nights when I can’t handle it. I have been able to be honest with my daughter about being grumpy so she knows it isn’t her fault and its not anything she has done. She’s been very forgiving and I’m improving.
2019 has been a really great year of conversations with my 7 year old. She is such a wise, sweet and intelligent girl. We have had so much fun talking about how to be better friends to those around her, how to show others God’s love and how to stick up for her friends when she needs to. We have read through Luke and Acts together as a family and we have been watching the Bible Project videos together. It has been fun that we have all been learning and growing as a family. I know these conversations with her are just going to get better as she gets older. I love hearing about what she’s thinking about and I’m excited that my grumpiness will not get in the way of these wonderful discussions.
Health
The whole reason I started this blog was to become a healthier version of myself. A lot of that healthiness has to do with emotional and relational health but physical health is a super important part too. My sloth definitely comes in to play with exercising and eating right if I am not aware. This year I have become more active and have been trying to be more conscientious about what I eat. For 2020, I have set 3 habit goals:
- Eat 5 or more servings of fruits and veggies per day.
- Drink 3 or more water bottles worth of water.
- Exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes or more.
I am already starting good streaks with these habits and look forward to a year of health and improvement! I would love to hear about what you learned in 2019 and what goals you have for 2020. May it be a year full of joy and prosperity!