Sarah Arnold-Hall

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2020 Year In Review

Last night I watched Death to 2020 on Netflix. It’s a comedy about how bizarre this year has been, and I can certainly agree. But it’s also been one of the best years of my life. I had opportunities that I would never have had the world not turned to mush. I’m incredibly grateful for the people in my life who made it possible for my business to take off.

Here’s a quick monthly rundown of 2020:

  • January: I am running my business part time, and working for other people’s businesses part time. I have 2 clients. I hit 50 push ups in a row and injure my shoulder.

  • February: I get a personal trainer, who pushes me beyond my limit and makes the shoulder injury much worse.

  • March: I join a gym that I never, ever (not even once) go to. Coronavirus hits the UK. Saturday 14th, life feels normal. People are “overreacting”. Sunday 15th, we actually take it seriously. Life suddenly feels anything but normal. People are under-reacting. We make the decision to move back to New Zealand on the first flight we can get. Tuesday 22nd, we arrive into New Zealand and go into quarantine for two weeks inside a closed-off part of Daniel’s parents house. Nationwide lockdown.

  • April: I realise how much time I have now. I start a Facebook Group called Impossible Girls, and we get 500 members in the first month. I joined Stacey Boehman’s 2k for 2k business program.

  • May: I sign 2 clients for my membership site. I make the decision (on Stacey’s recommendation) to stop offering the membership site to new members, and only offer 1:1 coaching.

  • June: After more than two years of coaching, the sales process finally clicks. I sign 3 clients in a week. I hire a team member – but she decides to take a promotion at her job and leaves. I can’t make a decision about who to hire next.

  • July: My Facebook group hits 1000 members and I run a giveaway. We go to live with my mum and sister to enjoy the time with them before my sister heads off to University. I asked strangers at the mall to subscribe to my YouTube channel. I made a viral post that got 31k likes. 900 people joined my Facebook Group in one day.

  • August: I sign 1 client. I make the decision to apply for Stacey Boehman’s 200k mastermind (I have none of the year-long entry requirements, but I decide to create them in two months).

  • September: I sign 8 clients. I watch Michael Jordan’s docu-series The Last Dance every night.

  • October: I sign 8 clients. I realise I won’t have to go back to working for other people part time. I delete my CV.

  • November: I am fully booked with 20 clients. I get accepted into Stacey Boehman’s 200k Mastermind. I learn the importance of having a solid back-end of business.

  • December: We hit 3400 members in the Impossible Girls Facebook Group. I close my membership site. I hire a Personal Assistant to run the back end of my business so I can focus on coaching and creating content.

Here’s where my thoughts are at:

I’m currently listening to the audiobook “Essentialism” by Greg McKeown, and it has totally opened my mind to how unconsidered many things in my life are. Things like:

  • Working Monday to Friday (Are these really the best days? Do I want to do all of them?)

  • Working 9am-5pm (When do I enjoy working the most?)

  • Downloading apps on my phone (How will downloading/using this app steal time from my life?)

  • Hour-long meetings (Not every meeting needs a whole hour, why not 15 or 30?)

  • Reading books (I’ve discovered I get through so many more books if I listen to them on audio)

Changes I’m making in 2021:

  • I’m going to create all of my content on Fridays, and have it scheduled throughout the week by my Personal Assistant.

  • No admin or client work in the evenings past 6pm (I love to work, because I turned my hobby into my business, so it’s easy for me to work from the moment I wake up until the moment I go to sleep!).

  • I am investing in all the equipment I need. For a long time, I’ve been making do with broken laptops, and working at a kitchen table with no office, coaching from my bedroom. But now I have an office and it’s amazing how much more efficient and productive I am. I’m completely sold on investing when I have the right tools. I’m making it a priority to update my computer software, and buy the technology I need to run my business at optimum power.

  • I am deleting all social media, email apps and even messenger from my phone. For a long time, I thought I needed it for my work as a coach. And I do – but I don’t need 24/7 access. So now, I am only accessing them from a computer in my office when I am officially at work – not when I’m in bed, or eating dinner, or outside.

  • I’m hiring people to do the things I’m not good at. For almost 3 years, I’ve been running my business totally solo, and it’s been fantastic. But now, I’ve got to a point where trying to do everything myself means I’m so busy doing admin, there’s no time to grow (or rest!). I’m excited to work with more photographers, assistants and designers.

Thank you to everyone who supported me in 2020, this is a year I will never forget! <3