I’m participating in a 31-day blogging challenge called reverb10, responding to writing prompts that are designed to elicit reflections on 2010, and hopes for 2011. You can find out more about it here.
Today’s challenge: Let go. What (or whom) did you let go of this year? Why?
This year I got clear on my professional passions, even having the courage to call my professional skills gifts that shouldn’t be overlooked.
With this clarity came the realization that I had to let go of my Beeline Labs business partners, the incredibly talented Hylton Jolliffe and Francois Gossieaux. And I had to walk away from Beeline Labs, a two year-old marketing innovation firm, which had earned a good reputation, especially in the area of social business strategy.
It was hard to walk away. But I felt staying would be unfair to me and to my friends/partners. Emotions are contagious. When passions are misaligned, people get cranky and disengaged. And this feeling spreads to team members and sometimes even clients.
So we split, and in doing so I let go of all the pressures and responsibilities of growing and managing a firm. Scaling big wasn’t a meaningful enough goal for me. I threw away the desire to be well known in marketing circles. I threw the concept of “personal branding” out the window and into my pond.
I stopped listening to people who advised me to write another book, get back on the speaking circuit, stay focused on social media because now’s the time to make some serious money, build a firm with equity and shoot to be acquired. I let go of worrying about how to “position” myself and instead thought more about how to provide more value to my clients. I let go of forecasting and calculating how the work I love will result in financial gain.
I feel much lighter, almost like I could fly.