This year has been a challenge for me. I spent the first six months of the year with my husband literally across the world (he came to Jakarta first). We spent mid-May to mid-June packing up our house, saying our goodbyes to family and friends, and moving around the world to another country. Looking back I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. Usually this is the time of year we talk about setting goals for the next year and start looking forward. This year, especially, I think it is equally important to look back and see what we learned. Here I am, six months into our new life of living abroad, and I can really say that I have learned so much this year.
This year I learned about organization and creating tasks. Most who know me would say I am already organized; but I really had to take it to a new level. At TrainerTainment, we have the awesome luxury of working from home when we are not onsite with a client. This awesomeness can mean more distractions at times. When there is no distinction between your personal life and your work life, staying focused becomes quite the challenge. I’m not complaining, but have realized how organization and discipline are such important parts of successfully achieving our goals.
For me, the growth of organizing my personal life without my husband for 6 months and with three little boys, planning a move to another country, and adjusting to a new lifestyle was a tall order. I also had to balance all that personal change with my professional life. I’m the marketing director at TrainerTainment and in that role I know the company relies on me to create awesome marketing programs. I am in a leadership role for our team. I had to transition out of training and coaching role due to the time and distance challenges. We didn’t know if living a world away would allow us to be able to work together so we could accomplish everything. And you know what? I think my family and my TrainerTainment team would say I rocked it! My kids didn’t die, my husband didn’t die, I didn’t die, and I didn’t kill the company.
One of the things I did early on was schedule every minute of my time. I know that may seem improbable but I really prioritized and made lists so everything that needed to be done with work and home had a time. I lived and died by my calendar. It was one of the few things that made sense in my world of chaos.
I gave myself the flexibility of moving things on my calendar when I might not be feeling creative or when those life emergencies got in the way. My calendar gave me a great overall look of when things were due and what goals I had set for that day or week and then I could make adjustments. Being that organized didn’t just help me see what I needed to work on, it also allowed me to reflect back on the week and see that I accomplished. It kept me from the panic of all that needed to happen to make this BIG change in our lives.
I also learned a lot about persistence. Marketing can be pretty tough sometimes. If you talk to me I sound like I have it all together when it comes to marketing, however, I face the same challenges as many of you as I experiment by the day with how to best get TrainerTainment noticed!
I got my degree almost 10 years ago, and marketing has changed so much in those ten years. OH wait, a whole bunch changed just last week! My job is to create leads, promote products, generate sales, and create a brand for TrainerTainment. I have had some great marketing campaigns this year, and I have tried some things that have been total flops. What I can tell you is persistence is everything! There have been weeks where I wanted to totally give up on social media because of lack of engagement. When I look back and see how many new fans/followers/likes/shares/comments we have had on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest this year, how many people we are helping, I am glad that I keep working at it.
Some weeks our email blasts are awesome and everyone is opening them, while others are not that great. Marketing is a real conundrum. I have to read every day to keep up with the constant changes. But in the end, all the persistence, the ups and downs are well worth it. I get so excited that we reach new people every day to share our knowledge and our awesome products not for us, but to help companies like yours to grow your people and your business! That alone is enough to get me excited about what I do, and to keep trying new things to get our message out there helping more people.
The last big thing I learned this year is that we all can be strong. This time last year, when Aaron asked me what I thought about moving to Jakarta, my first reaction was no– not in a million years. I think more than anything, the reason I said that was because I didn’t think I was strong enough to make a move to another country and still do my job. But you know what–I am. I have learned a lot of Bahasa Indonesia. I can get a taxi and go anywhere I need to go. I do my shopping, maintain a house, and most of all, I am happy.
I also got to see how strong people on my team are. Beth was faced with such a huge challenge of Jerry having lymphoma. I know first-hand how hard it is for someone you love to go through cancer. (My mom had leukemia when I was in the 6th grade and it was something that changed my life.) We were able to see how strong Beth was to not only take care of Jerry but still continue to lead our team and to keep TrainerTainment strong. Sherry, our Director of Training and Operations had to really step up this year and take over doing speaking engagements and training so Beth could focus on Jerry, and so that I could focus on moving my family. She did an amazing job! To see Sherry really be able to step up and help lead the company at a time when two of us had so much going on in our personal lives was amazing. She really has been the glue that has kept us together. I don’t think she realized how strong she was, but she is.
Juliet, Kathleen and Allison joined our team, and in their own ways, have shown how strong they are to be able to overcome some huge expectations and goals. I think we have all learned that we go through trials, but that we are pretty strong as individuals and as a company. We know that you are strong too! We have seen so many businesses this year grow by leaps and bounds, and there is no way they could have done it without the strength of awesome leadership in their owners, managers, sales teams and team members, and in simply believing in themselves. We all have the strength to overcome obstacles, try new things, and meet our goals.
Don’t hesitate to believe that you are strong and can do whatever you put your mind to! A verse that always comes to mind that my mom taught me at a young age was Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
I would love to hear what you have learned in 2014!
