ā iām not big on setting resolutions.
statistically, they donāt work. & though I love a challenge, I donāt love betting against myself. enter: a 2024 word or theme.
If you have no intentions of what this year will look like, it will surely look a lot like 2023. Whether thatās a good thing or a bad thing, youāll have to decide.
In 2023, my word of the year was āscrappyā - meaning everything about my life was going to be seen through that filter. I would be scrappy about starting this business - designing the website myself, working as hard as I could for it to be successful, doing it all on my own with little outside support. This was also supposed to be a word for my financial healthā¦ but alas, not all of our dreams come true.
I have so many ideas and goals and visions for 2024 that itās really hard to narrow down my whole year into one word. So I didnāt. I have a few, and hell - some are phrases.
Community.
I did start my business with no support (ok other than my family, shout out). I did start it with no clue what I was doing. And while I wanted to be scrappy about it all, a few months in, I realized I needed to invest in this business. I hired a business coach, and that investment literally changed the trajectory of Climbing Trees. Itās the reason youāre reading this newsletter right now.
What it taught me is that while there is pride in doing things on your own, itās a lot more fun & easier to do things in community with others. Growth comes from life-giving relationships (yes, even ones you pay for!)
So in 2024 - my #1 word is community. I want to not only grow my own business within a community mindset, but I want to meet & talk to EVERYONE. I am obsessed with learning about people - itās what has truly broadened my horizons & perspective over the years. & I want to be even more intentional about it in 2024.
Continue discovering who I am. Be her.
This one sounds pretty *woo woo* I know. But hear me out.
Everyone says your twenties are spent figuring out who you are. And itās so true - but it is impossible to see thatās whatās happening when you actually are in your twenties. So the minute I turned thirty, I fully realized the extent of who I am.
Kidding, obviously. I know more than I did a decade ago, but Iām still very much in discovery mode. But knowing who you are and BEING that person are two completely different things.
you can know what boundaries are important to you & still not have the confidence to enforce them
you can know that no oneās opinion of you matters & still be self-conscious about wearing a crop top
you can know that you have something important to say but still hold yourself back from actually saying it
So itās pretty simple: take all these parts of myself Iāve discovered over the years & BE HER.
More that I wonāt launch into:
Be present. Cook more. Feel like myself in my body. Get another tattoo. Be the best mom in the universe.
You know, attainable things.
ā moms - show us your mug.
So yesterday, as any good and productive mom would do during the kidās napā¦ I made an Instagram reel.
This reel was supposed to highlight my 2023 - one short clip for each month.
1 big problem - THE WHOLE VIDEO IS A LIE.
For the first 6 months of 2023, I barely had 1 video or photo that actually had my face in it to share.
(Now, that all changed when I started this business and started obnoxiously taking videos & selfies of myself every day š)
But before that, NADA.
There may be a million reasons you donāt want to be seen in photos. Maybe your body isnāt familiar to you after having kids. Maybe no one is around to take your picture. Maybe itās just not something you think about at all.
But when you look back on photos of your children or vacations or just good ole fashion fun, youāre going to want to see yourself in those memories. Trust me.
So I encourage every mom this year - show us your face!!! Your beautiful, nurturing, loving, unique, brave face. Ask random people to take pictures of you. Set up your phone in the living room and put a timer on to snap some of you and your kids. Buy a gosh darn selfie stick if you mustā¦
But make sure you are represented in the memories, too.
First - coming next week, a link to register to my first live webinar with my friend Natalie Serebrennik - weāll be talking all things workplace toxicity. save the date for January 18th!
Check out this article about Lydia Hill who is betting on a TV show aimed at teen girls, all for the purpose of encouraging them into STEM careers. Itās a hit & Iām not shocked.
Boy do I love starting the year off with a new planner. I bought this one for myself & this one for my husband.
OK everyone - have a great first week of 2024.
as always,
Iām rooting for you.
xx, Hannah