What I earned and what I learned.
Edition #87 of Earn After Reading
Can we get honest with each other for a second?
(You’re thinking, “Well duh, Taylor. That’s kind of what you do every week in this newsletter.” And well… you’re right).
I want to ask you a serious question.
And whatever answer comes up isn’t to make you feel discouraged… quite the opposite in fact.
The answer that comes up is meant to give you clarity.
The question is: What did you earn in 2024?
And I don’t just mean what income you earned. (Although if hitting a specific income was a significant goal for last year, that’s worthy of celebrating. Cheering you on if you made your first $1 in business, your first $10k month, or your first 6-7 figure year.)
What I’m really asking is what did you earn internally? Mentally? Physically?
Take a second to let that question sink in.
As you marinate on what you earned, let’s do a very elementary breakdown of ‘earning'.
earn verb (1)
ˈərn
earned; earning; earns
: to receive as return for effort and especially for work done or services rendered
: to come to be duly worthy of or entitled or suited to
: to make worthy of or obtain for
What effort did you put in that earned you something?
Maybe you finally put in the endless hours to launch that thing you’ve been sitting on and you earned the confidence to add ‘business owner’ to your bio.
Maybe you spent 2024 working on your health, focusing on what you ate, how you moved, and how you recovered, and you earned a new physique.
Maybe you powered through the “boring work” in your career or business, working with client after client, to earn the title of ‘expert.’
Or maybe you’re like me, and you spent the last 5 years building your business brick by brick, so you damn sure earned a year of ease.
I’ve been sitting on this question this past week, as I’ve been reflecting on 2024 and what I learned, what I failed at, and what I succeeded with.
If you saw my 2024 recap on Instagram or tuned into the most recent episode of Ironically Serious, I definitely earned some things last year…
I earned the title Mrs. after pouring 6 years of hard work and commitment into my relationship.
I earned 15 amazing vacations and trips, creating core memories for myself and my loved ones.
I earned a heavy ass metal for completing a half marathon, which I proudly stuffed away into a drawer 🤣
I earned the same income as I did in 2023 without doing more–in fact, I did less.
I earned more authority in my industry, after completing 29 full Dubsado setups and selling countless other offers and products.
But I also earned some hard fucking lessons.
Lessons that are teaching me exactly what not to do this year; the hard truths that are shedding light on who I don’t want to become.
So in light of 2024 being one of the best years of my life personally, but also one of the most interesting/telling years of my entrepreneurial journey, I want to share 10 realities I’m carrying with me into this next chapter of my life (the chapter I’m entering as a new wife, an online business ‘veteran’ and a woman who’s nearing 30 and tapping into everything she’s meant for…)
I am in control of everything. There are no excuses I can or should lean on as to why things are happening to me. I’m not happy with the habits that are becoming me? I’m in control. I’m not satisfied with where my business is right now? I’m in control. I want to make changes in my household, or family, or personal health? Still in control. The minute I stop looking to make excuses and get real with the fact that I have the power to change anything… it’s like unlocking a superpower.
Everything works out–it just does. (Just tattoo this on my fucking forehead at this point). As an anxious person and ‘worrier,’ I constantly let the beliefs of what if paralyze me from trusting my intuition. When in reality, it always works out. Sometimes it’s not in the way I think it will… like when I was 21 and going through a divorce, working as a bartender. Who knew it would work out that I would find my husband at 1 am in a strip club and go on to build a life we are proud of? I’m learning to give up on the worry and trusting what’s to come.
My network is more important than I give it credit for. Do you know what’s amazing about building a network of trusted peers, clients, and partners? They are a direct form of sales and marketing. Taking multiple weeks off last year (for my wedding, honeymoon, summer, and holiday break), I got to see just how powerful my network is. When you focus on building a solid network (just as much as you focus on having an aesthetic Instagram feed), you’ll see how insane it is when you are booking clients and getting leads not because you had to find them or post every day or pay for them… you got them because your network is speaking your name.
Boundaries aren’t just a nice-to-have, they’re non-negotiable. The question isn’t will I burn out, it’s when will I burn out? My boundaries are my sanity, and only I can decide what those boundaries look like and how much I’m willing to push them when tested.
My work won’t always be exciting, and that’s normal. In the aftermath of chasing other jobs and saying yes to opportunities I thought would fulfill me more than doing the slow work to build my own business, I realized nothing is exciting 100% of the time. In fact, the things I actually want to accomplish are going to take discipline and repetitive work that isn’t shiny and sexy. It’s the slow consistency that will get me to where I know I’m meant to be.
Being comfortable is holding me back from moving the needle. Without a doubt, the moments when I’m the most ‘comfortable’ are the seasons when I’m making the least amount of progress. Doing the work to get to your dream life/self/business/relationship isn’t fucking easy. It’s not comfortable. It’s not always fun. But what’s the alternative? Being ok with a mediocre life? Limiting your potential because it’s the easy route? Not being your best version of yourself because you know the path to the other side is going to be hard? I get to choose my hard, and I sure as hell don’t want to choose the reality of settling.
If it’s not a priority, it has to be a no. Not every opportunity is a good opportunity, even when it’s wrapped in gold. I still remember in my early days of starting this business, I said yes to every damn thing. Now? I need to lean into choosing the right opportunities, but it has to come down to my priorities. This year I’m asking myself, “Is this opportunity a priority? Is it going to help me make progress for the priorities I’ve set? OR is it just a distraction?”
Consistency will always beat luck. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m never going to complain when the world wants to throw me a bone). But if you’re waiting on getting lucky, going viral, or praying something is going to land in your lap… sure, it might. Instead of placing your bets on luck, place your bets on consistency. The universe rewards effort, so I can’t expect the universe to reward me if I’m not putting in the effort. (And if you do get lucky, literally lucky you, but nothing feels as good as something you earned).
I can’t change what I don’t measure. I wish I could remember where I read that line, but it’s been living in my head rent-free since I read it a few weeks ago. To keep it plain and simple, how can I expect to change something I’m not measuring and tracking? How can I expect to improve when I’m not keeping tabs on what’s working and what’s now? How I can I measure my results if I’m not putting down the numbers? With big goals to pivot my brand and scale this year, I’m focused on tracking it all (leads, sales, workouts… you name it.) If I want to change it, I need to know where I’m currently standing.
I can’t predict what will happen to me in life, but I can prepare to be the best version of myself. Fear is always in the back of my mind (the fear of loss or going through something unimaginable). And while I can’t read the stars to see exactly what’s going to happen in my life or when, I can choose to constantly do the work to be the best version of myself mentally, physically, and emotionally… so when those times come, I can be prepared to face it.
With 355 days ahead of you, you have everything you need to start becoming everything you're meant for. Hopefully these truths will spark something in you, just like they are for me.
My wish to you this year is fulfillment, endless fucking joy, and pride–pride in what you’re building, who you’re becoming, and where you’re going.
After all, you’ve earned it.
As always,
Taylor
Hi, I'm Taylor Hedden. When I'm not navigating the ups & downs of the real world, you can find me dishing out a weekly dose of humor, heart, and a dash of TMI right here in this little corner of the internet.
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