Hi there,

It’s beginning to look a lot like… time for my yearly review! My yearly wrap ups have become a tradition around Jo Grist HQ - you can find 2020 here, and 2019 here, and I love the opportunity to look back on the year that was, the lessons I’ve both learned and shared through working with my incredible community of women doing wonderful things in business.

 I believe that businesses - particularly those of the one-woman show variety - are a living, dynamic entity and deserve a holistic approach, as do the powerhouse women behind the businesses. When I work with women in business, we’re looking across all facets of their business through my coaching approach. I wholeheartedly believe that the health of a business is a reflection of the health of the human behind the business. My tagline is, after all, Renergise your business. Live a life you love. When you’re living out of balance or kilter, when self-care has taken a deep dive down the priority list, ultimately your health will suffer and so too your bottom line.

My coaching work is all about the simple steps and building blocks to live with vibrance and have that vibrance influence every element of your life, including your business. The information I share has a similar holistic approach and so let’s get stuck in!

Look, first and foremost, I’m a foodie. I love great food and some (potentially most!) of my favourite adventures and holidays of my life have good food at the core. It’s only natural then that one of my favourite posts to share was this one where I made a case for oversimplifying not overcomplicating self-care, including having nutritious wholefoods as the centre of your business/life daily habits.

Have you heard all the online chit chat about the great resignation? This is a fantastic overview of the concept but basically it’s a phenomena coming initially from the United States. It’s said that in Australia too, the experience of working through a pandemic has given rise to people evaluating their professional choices and where pre-pandemic they may have ‘settled’ for employment opportunities which were less than satisfactory, people are assessing what’s truly of importance to them professionally and personally, and finding employment that aligns to this rather than bending their lifestyle around the expectations of an employer. I’ve simplified the concept - hence the link above to the HBR article that goes into much greater depth - but I’m also seeing a similar reassessment across both clients as well as the women in business networks I’m a part of.

When the world is full of uncertainty, it makes sense to double down and be clear on what drives us. I had an incredible response to this piece about knowing your values. So too with this piece about leaning in to the seasons and reasons that influence our actions and performance.

While none of my clients decided that their business was no longer fulfilling or rewarding as per this post, I did have a number of the women I work with do a deep dive into the role they play in their business. Is it a visionary CEO role, or have they bought themselves a job through their business? What even is the vision for their business? Have they defined it, and are they taking the meaningful steps to bring it to fruition?

After a deep dive such as the one we do through both my group programs and my one-on-one coaching[1]  comes time to quiet the noise around us and create an action plan, and as I shared in this post, it’s momentum that is the secret weapon to bring a vision to reality. 

Goodness, even in the act of writing this post I’ve done a deep dive of my own, as I’ve read back over the content I shared over the course of this year. Professionally, like all of us, there were many ups and downs as borders opened and closed, we waltzed in and out of lockdowns (and in, and out, for those of us in Melbourne!) and the sense of generalised stress seemed heightened through the unknowns.

Personally, it’s been equally tumultuous - milestone after milestone of birthdays, celebrations and anniversaries passed for the first time after the loss of Edwin, my soul mate. I moved house and added two new fur-babies to my life and stepped into the role of ‘cranky mum’ as the two little scallywags made themselves at home AND made their presence known as only kittens can. 

Through all the highs and lows, I’ve been fortified and strengthened by my incredible circle of friends, colleagues, family and clients who make me laugh, let me cry, inspire and motivate me every day, and for that, I’m truly grateful.

Wishing you a fabulous festive season and a prosperous new year.