Annual Review For 2019: The Year Of Transition
Most people don't live 10 years...
They just live the same year ten times over.
Ouch.
One of things you can do to prevent this is to review your year.
Review what you did right and keep doing it.
Figure out what went wrong and learn from it.
Decide what you want to focus on moving forward.
I’ve done this for the last 6 years of my business and it can be a very enlightening process.
Here's the basic structure of my annual reviews:
What went well last year?
What didn’t go so well last year (and what did I learn)?
What am I working towards this year (and how will I make it happen)?
What is this year's theme?
Let’s dive into my 2019 annual review…
What Went Well Last Year?
Moved to Burlington, Vermont.
At the end of 2018, my wife Emma and I went on driving tour of five small cities in New England. We ranked each city on a weighted rubric (yes, you read that right) and Burlington came out on top. So we signed a lease and moved in June.
We enjoyed our time on the farm in West Virginia but were ready for a change. Now we’re only a 15 minute walk from downtown. We have easy access to nature. And we live closer to family. Burlington is a great town.
One of my goals when we moved was to take the lead in establishing new social connections, since Emma did a lot of that for us in West Virginia. One of the best things I did on this front was to join a co-working space to work out of in the mornings. It’s allowed me to meet some great guy friends, which has led to dinner parties, a dodgeball league, and a men’s book club.
Went all in on Enough Fitness.
My weight loss coaching business, which started as an experiment in June 2018, became my main priority for the second half of 2019. It was a bold transition after having such a great first quarter financially while focused on gregfaxon.com. And we were in the middle of our move to Vermont. But I knew in my heart that it was time to make Enough Fitness my main focus.
The first thing I did was automate my course sales and create some passive income through gregfaxon.com. Then I started promoting my weight loss coaching on social media and built out the new website. I also got certified by Precision Nutrition (don’t care about the certification, just knew it would help me support my clients better).
This year I’ve more than doubled my rates, built a leveraged group coaching program, and had a bunch of awesome success stories. See below for two of my favorite transformations from the year:
Had a good year financially.
While I didn’t reach my targets for 2019, I did increase profit by about 30% this year — the largest increase since my first two years in business. Given the amount of transition that I experienced this year, that’s something to be proud of.
December was a particularly strong month. Most people complain about December being slow, and I think that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. I’ve found December to be a consistently good month for me.
Two lessons I learned: First, the key to having big months like this is to focus obsessively on booking strategy sessions and selling high-end programs. Second, I had my best month financially when I was focused on getting clients for both of my businesses, not just one of them.
While I still have big goals to hit in the future, I’m happy with the slow and steady growth that my business has experienced over the last 6 years. Profit has increased every year. I’m in this for the long haul.
Walked the walk with my own fitness.
One of the best ways to establish credibility as a coach is to model the type of behavior and results that your clients want to achieve.
This year I competed in my first two powerlifting competitions. I also did a shirtless photoshoot for my new business.
On the powerlifting side of things, my main goal was to go 9 for 9 at both meets. This means that you successfully lift your chosen weight for all three attempts of each exercise (squat, bench, and deadlift). I competed on back to back weekends and accomplished my goal at both meets.
Here were my final results from the second meet (I competed in the 163 pound weight class):
Squat: 402.3 pounds
Bench: 270 pounds
Deadlift: 446.4 pounds
Total: 1118.8 pounds
For the photoshoot, I lost 10 pounds of fat while maintaining my muscle mass. It took about 7 weeks. Since I was already lean, I had to be very disciplined about measuring out my food portions and getting enough protein. It was was worth it.
Presented at the Leadpages virtual conference.
I was asked to speak about how to pick a niche at Converted, a virtual conference put on by Leadpages. There were 5,480 registrants for the conference. I had a great time putting my talk together. Afterwards, I got this feedback from an attendee: “Thanks Greg for the best niche presentation I've ever heard. Very practical way to discover, design, and develop your niche as you grow your business.”
What Didn't Go Well Last Year?
Felt financial pressure during transition.
I knew that going all in with Enough Fitness would mean starting from scratch to a certain extent. And I recognized that it probably wasn’t ideal to do that while also moving to a new city - one where our cost of living would be higher.
And I was right. Some months the passive income from gregfaxon.com completely covered what I wanted to deposit for Emma and I. Other months, I had to get clients ASAP for Enough Fitness even though I was still laying the foundation. And all the while, I continued to invest heavily in my own coaching and development.
WHAT I LEARNED: It ended up being a solid year financially. But transitioning to something new takes time and energy. This really made me appreciate the audience and the other assets I’ve built here at gregfaxon.com over the course of years. Even though I needed some time to focus solely on Enough Fitness, it will be important to keep my eye on both businesses moving forward and spend at least one day per week on gregfaxon.com.
Moved fast and broke things.
I’ve always erred on the side of taking action. It’s a wonderful trait for any entrepreneur.
But there’s a dark side to Mark Zuckerberg's motto: “Move fast and break things.” And the dark side is - you end up breaking things. Promises, commitments, trust. Your Chemex coffeemaker…twice…
There were times this year when I suffered the consequences of under-thinking things. Botching a date night with Emma. Launching a program too quickly, recruiting a couple of close friends for a new mastermind, and having it fall apart a few months in. Pushing send on an email or Facebook post without thinking about how it would be received.
WHAT I LEARNED: Listen to that conservative voice that asks you to pause, if only for a one minute. Make plans ahead of time. Read through the message before sending. Slow down by 10%. Don’t say yes without first considering the consequences. This will be especially important as my business grows.
Experienced depression, burnout, and disappointment.
Welcome to entrepreneurship, am I right?
2019 was a great year. But there were definitely periods of emotional turmoil. Sometimes I felt energized. Other times I could barely get anything done. I had a critical team member get really sick and vanish off the face of the earth for months. I questioned my purpose. I practiced daily with my bow to prepare for hunting season and then didn’t see a single deer. I ignored some red flags in a new relationship and it came back to bite me later.
I’m grateful for those experiences and for the people who supported me through them. Part of being human is experiencing the ups and the downs. But there are also things I can do to head off these experiences in the future.
WHAT I LEARNED: Have high standards for the people you spend time with. Choose sustainable sales and marketing strategies over an “all or nothing” approach. Honor your value of discipline. Have big goals that you are working towards at all times.
What Am I Working Towards This Year?
Becoming a true entrepreneur.
You might say, “Greg, you run two business. Aren’t you already an entrepreneur?”
Well, yes and no.
Up until this point, I’ve largely been what Seth Godin would call a “freelancer.” — and what others might call a lifestyle entrepreneur. The job of a freelancer is to do the work. The job of an entrepreneur (whether funded or bootstrapped) is to build a company of people and processes that does the work.
Now, I don’t think this is totally binary. Tony Robbins has built a huge company around him, but he also speaks at his own events. And I may be the one who initially builds an online course, but it still makes me money while I sleep.
Here’s the bottom line. Up until now, it’s mostly been me doing the work. I’ve hired some contractors here and there. I’ve built passive income streams and group programs. But for the most part I’ve prioritized profit margins over growth.
And I don’t regret any of that. But I have started to see it as a little bit selfish - I get to stay comfortable but I don’t have the same level of impact I could have if I scaled.
Recently I’ve felt called to build something bigger than myself. To develop as a leader. To run an actual business with an office and a holiday party every year. Not only will this force me to learn new skills, it will also allow me to focus on what I’m best at.
Of course, this will also require a different mindset and decision making framework. I think that Enough Fitness is the perfect vehicle to help me become the type of person who can run a large business. And gregfaxon.com can continue to be a way that I teach others what I’m learning, without feeling like I need to build a big team.
HOW I WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN: First step is to get myself a new executive assistant - so if you know anyone who is detail oriented and loves optimizing processes, have them contact me. I’ll also need to build the habit of hiring other people to implement the systems I create instead of “hiring myself.” Then I’ll need to develop a sustainable marketing, sales, and delivery system for Enough Fitness that can be handed off to employees in the future.
Being ready to close on a home.
Assuming we continue to love Burlington after experiencing a full Vermont winter, Emma and I would like to put down roots here and get our own place. We’ve already secured the downpayment and are pre-qualified for a mortgage.
Since we like the home we’re renting, we’re not necessarily in a rush to buy this year. But we want to be ready to pounce if and when the right opportunity comes up.
HOW I WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN: Identify the right realtor, choose a lender and get approved, continue doing our research, set a great financial foundation with the business, and eventually close on a house when the right one comes on the market.
Becoming a more thoughtful friend.
I was going to call this goal “develop strong male friendships” or “have at least one guy friend locally who I can call up any time and grab a drink with.”
But what occurred to me is that the best way to make those things happen is to become a better friend myself. To become the type of person who other people want to spend time with and invite to things.
Most of my best moments from 2019 involved other people. Hosting a good-bye party in West Virginia. Mountain biking with a friend in the mud and pouring rain. Having friends visit us in Vermont. The things I feel most consistently grateful for in life are my relationships. And yet, I haven’t focused on developing these relationships to the same extent that I focus on developing my business.
HOW I WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN: Call or email one non-local friend every Saturday. Initiate a social event or dinner once a week with local friends. Schedule a visit with an old friend once a quarter. Default to “yes” when invited to things, assuming you can follow through. Be the type of person that others invite to things because you’re fun to be around. Add value to people’s lives by being helpful and positive. Say thank you. Never complain. Be chill.
Becoming the type of person who has a healthy gut.
No, I’m not talking about gaining weight. I’m talking about healing my digestive system. Over the years I’ve experienced several chronic issues related to gut health. I’ve tried a lot of things - working with various practitioners, doing elimination diets to discover intolerances, and going through several rounds of testing. But I haven’t cracked the code yet. Frankly, I’ve sort of gotten used to how things are.
As much as I’d like to set another performance or appearance goal this year, I know that healing my gut will ultimately make the biggest difference for my energy, performance, and overall well-being. I also think that the knowledge I gain will help my weight loss clients in the future.
HOW I WILL MAKE THIS HAPPEN: Even though I’ve done a lot, there’s still more I can experiment with - reducing stress, continue to manage my celiac disease, limiting alcohol consumption, slowing down my eating, various supplements, etc. I’m also open to hiring the right expert to support me alongside traditional doctors.
What Is This Year’s Theme?
Last year was all about transition. Moving to Vermont. Shifting my focus and attention towards Enough Fitness.
That’s why all of my goals this year have to do with who I am becoming, rather than what I am achieving. I think 2020 will be a year that I focus on my identity.
One of the best books I read this year was Atomic Habits (affiliate link) by James Clear. In it, he talks about the importance of identity. Identity determines your habits, which in turn determine your outcomes in life.
So instead of starting with what you want to achieve, you should start with the type of person you want to become. And then figure out what that person does on a daily basis in order to have the results they enjoy.
In case you're curious, here are all of my previous Annual Reviews:
