Coming Up for Air from Holiday Success

Image from SacredCircleCreativeLife.com

The holidays are my favorite. When I hear Andy Williams belt out "It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year," I know the holiday season has begun (as well as the 24/7 Christmas songs on the radio stations). I have been fortunate over the past few years to be able to slow down and enjoy the period of days when crisp autumn leaves fall victim to frosty mornings and the goodness seaps out of random strangers in one way or another. However this year, my slow down never really occurred. I worked right up to and after each holiday like wildfire. I sat back over my New Year's day off and thought about what had happened. How did I miss out on those quiet moments I love - like sitting in the dark and staring at the Christmas tree? And like most reflective moments - it hits you like a ton of bricks when you least expect it.

I'd been given a dose of success.

Yes, I said it and before you quit reading thinking I'm one of those people who prefers to be a starving artist for the principal of it - let me explain.

My day job is as a self-employed website designer and social media manager. It's artistic, innovative and I enjoy it. The week before Thanksgiving, advertising and referrals paid off with 5 new clients coming on board. I was stoked - who wouldn't be? But here's the catch.

I wasn't prepared for that kind of success.

I'm used to 3-4 clients in a month - not 5 in one week. I'm a customer service and results-oriented person so of course - I HAVE to deliver. Can you say pressure? And of course, all of my new clients need everything done YESTERDAY. Needless to say, it has been a month and a half of work, work, work and by the time New Year's arrived, I was at the stressed-out breaking point. It wasn't pretty.

Why did this happen? Because I didn't have any systems in place to handle that amount of success. The more I say it to myself, it seems logical. I was used to my normal level of success - which is the amount I was prepared to handle. Getting 5 clients in one week proved that my systems of delivering my service at the level of quality I want...were faulty. They're flat out weak. So what have I learned?

Plan to be successful. Failing to do so can lead to...well...failure.