Out of Office: Action Leads To Progress

I love that each month when I go to write my Out of Office post, I can reflect on the month behind me and always clearly recognize a theme or lesson learned. This month, without a doubt, that lesson was that action leads to progress. Here’s what I mean by that…

I spend more than full-time hours working on my business. I start work at 5:30am and often don’t finish until 6/7pm. I do something for my business every day of the week and I haven’t had a vacation in almost two full years (I miss you, Disneyland). When you put this much energy and effort into something and you don’t see direct results, it can be super frustrating. But what I’ve noticed lately, is that all of this action leads to progress, just not always in the way that I imagined it to.

Here’s an example: This month, I reached out to a number of brands that I was or am hopeful to collaborate with and, so far, I haven’t confirmed a partnership with a single one of those brands. All that work and time and energy, and no conversions. BUT, while pitching those brands, I was approached by three other brands that wanted to work with me. I tested out their products, loved them and I can’t wait to share them with you in the coming months. Believe it or not, one of those brands ended up becoming my highest earning collaboration to date!

Another example: If you follow me in the LIKEtoKNOW.it app, it may look like I’m simply throwing together some collages, hitting ‘post’ and hoping to earn some affiliate income. Trust me, it takes SO much time and research to share these products. I spent an entire day creating content and gathering links for the LTK Day Sale and the monetary results were disappointing this time around, but all of that content does not go to waste. Those hours of work may not have led to direct sales, but I welcomed some new followers, gained a better understanding of what my audience is shopping for and I’m better able to not only earn for myself in the weeks ahead, but also find exactly what my audience needs help finding!

I’ve seen this happen often in Kirby’s business as well. We get so focused on the fact that the work we are physically doing at the moment is not leading to direct results, and we get disappointed, but then we realize that action leads to progress, and continuing to take steps forward creates growth.

Do you notice this in your business or in the work that you do?

some wins from this month

Collaborated with my L&G family on their latest collection launch and we hosted a giveaway together!
Collaborated with a special local business to share details on their floral subscription service.
Launched my #SHFeelGoodChallenge! This was a personal challenge that I chose to take on as I struggle with pregnancy and not feeling myself. Feel free to join me if you need that reminder to do things that make you feel good.
Landed three multi-month partnerships with some wicked brands that I love. So grateful!
Mostly finished the nursery! We’re ready for you, Blob.
Published 13 blog posts in June. These were my top three blog posts of the month: