Goodbyes and Change
December is a month of saying goodbye. A year ends and many of us take holiday time to be with friends and family. So we joke, “see you next year” to our vendors and clients (and our employees) as well as anyone we regularly network with. We even have a seasonal goodbye. In my part of the world, you can feel the switch from fall to winter as the days grow shorter and the temperature chills (Or for my readers on the other side of the world, spring has become summer and the temperature is going up).
This month brought a different kind of goodbye that I didn’t expect. A wonderful colleague and mentor lost his battle with cancer and died earlier this month. John Reddish and I met on a small business Twitter chat (#smallbizchat). He was someone I could joke with and share my dreams, goals and questions about my coaching business. We met in person when he was in town for a speaking engagement and we had such an amazing conversation over tapas. We talked about our businesses, the thinkers that have influenced us and our love of good food. He was a talented coach who had a deft touch with encouragement and truth telling. So now, saying goodbye to him leaves an empty space. His mentorship was such a gift!
Goodbyes are often the harbingers of change.
When someone we respect and admire dies, we think of how to live with that empty space in our lives. Some people call that process “closure.” For someone who made a huge impact on us, our feelings of grief can include doing something in honor of them or to live up to what they expected from us when they were alive.
So I’m seeking change. Seeking something more. John always encouraged me to act on my real reason I coach small business owners. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to tell him what I was imagining for 2011.
Change is coming….
I”m pretty excited about 2011. These are some of the ideas I wanted to tell John and there’s so much I want to tell you (some of it hasn’t been totally ironed out yet).
- Bloggertone-I will still be blogging on that site and some of the themes I cover there (e.g. doing business with the Global Irish and Ireland) will be posted here as well
- Webinars-Free and not-so-free programmes will be offered over the year
- Guest bloggers-More posts from interesting people and their ideas and/or how they build their small businesses
- Interviews-Sharing ideas from different people, different settings. All so you can take a look at yourself and your business and see how you can be even better
The really big message…I’m going to be talking a lot about how you make the rules and shaping each action you take to build a solid business that you truly desire. Even how maintaining the entrepreneurial mindset is essential for an established small business. For some of you, this is going to sound revolutionary. For others, it will sound perfectly normal. No matter what this message sounds like to you, no matter where your business is targeted, you are agents of change.
Goodbye…Hello…Living up to expectations
Although I won’t have John to bounce my ideas off or his gentle prodding for me to go through another edit of an idea, it’s still important to remember he believed in me. This belief is humbling, to say the least. So it’s my hope and intention that I can live up to his expectations. Otherwise, the goodbye will be very long and change delayed.
What are you saying goodbye to?
What would help you make your business stronger, more powerful, more sustainable, more…in 2011?
Who believes in you even when you don’t believe in yourself?
6 Comments
This is an excellent post and John would have really liked it.
To me 2010 was a learning year, facing new things year, defining year, prioritizing year, and perhaps was or felt more disorganized than I am really comfortable with.
I’ve commented about my 2011 vision on two excellent posts and would like to share both the posts and comments with your readers……. do a little cross pollinating for New Years Eve.
Lisa Petrilli wrote: Beyond Vision and leadership to a Mythical 2011
Cheryl Burgess wrote: 2011 New year’ Resolutions from Our Adland Galaxy
Happy New Year to you and all your readers
@CASUDI
CASUDI recently posted..No Wine Before Its Time
CASUDI,
Thank you for the comment, especially the cross-pollination!
Some years need to be the years we learn and shake up what we do. I hope, despite the discomfort, that 2010 was illuminating for you. The mobile world is pretty exciting. I just came across this article on Bloggertone about mobile shopping this morning.
Certainly ideas are nothing without real-life application. I can’t wait to see what comes your way in 2011!
Happy New Year!
~Elli
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What an uplifting post and a lovely way to honor the memory of a friend. Isn’t it a shame that it takes something like this to waken us up? I too lost a dear friend in 2010 to cancer, and after her funeral, I re-read the words of Randy Pausch from his “Last Lecture”
” We don’t beat the reaper by living longer, but by living well, and living fully……It is not the things we do in life that we regret on our death-bed. It is the things we do not. Find your passion and follow it”
These words I am taking to heart in this coming year!
Marie
Marie Ennis-O’Connor recently posted..The Yoga Mat – Its Place in my Cancer Care
Marie,
Thank you so much for the comment. Although I try to cherish the people in my life, it’s easy to think you have time. Your quote from Randy Pausch is very much consistent with the mindset I’ve started 2011 with. Thank you for sharing it.
Passion is a funny thing. There are some who can just “know” that following their passion will lead to good results. Most of us dance with what we want most. We’re not sure if we can trust ourselves to see it through. Is it okay to feel so strongly and act on this? It’s not practical. Yet living a colourless life may be more detrimental. Sometimes we need a shake-up of some sort to illuminate why we desire our lives to count for something.
I can’t wait to see what you do over the year!
~Elli