back-to-business

After getting back from our holiday — a full two weeks of not working, save for a few blog posts and recording one episode of The Make Light Show — I sat down to get back to it, and found … nothing. I had halted coaching sessions for all of August, so I didn’t have any clients to meet when I returned that would catapult me into working. Without the urgency of those meetings, I suddenly realized that I had no idea what I was working toward, or for.

So I decided that I needed to get clear on what Chookooloonks Media LLC stands for.

I cleared off my desk, and then I looked at the front page of my site. I revisited my mission statement, to see if I still believed in what I’d written all those years ago. (I do.) Then, in my journal, I crafted a vision statement, that established what I wanted my business to look like, in order to achieve what I’ve claimed as my mission. Then I made a list of the tools and offerings that I currently have and plan on creating to achieve that mission.

And out of all that work came an epic to-do list. I’ve intimidated myself, but I’m up to the task.

It took a solid day to do it all, but I have to say, I was having a ball. Ever since I was a kid, there’s very little I loved more than getting my head organized, with the liberal help of clean sheets of paper, markers, PostIts. Back then, in my mind the only thing better than getting ready for summer was getting ready to go back to school: before that first day, my work area would be all clean, schools supplies all shiny, my head all in the game. Yes, I was a dork. A blissed-out dork.

Sitting down with my journal this past weekend, getting my head in my business game, felt just like that.

This week, I shared all my plans with Kim, and she gave me good feedback, and we’re now off to the races. Over the next few months, you’ll likely see a few tweaks to the site to make sure that it’s all aligned with my refreshed mission and vision, as well as some brand new offerings.

All this to say: in this time of back-to-school, I strongly recommend taking a day to reset and calibrate your true north in your work and business. Clean sheets of paper, colourful markers and PostIts absolutely required.

(And of course, now that I’m back, I’m seeing coaching clients again — so if you’re looking to work one-on-one with a coach to help add purpose and meaning to your work, we should definitely talk.)

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