Do you know when someone trips and takes an elaborate fall, but does a little bit of spinning and flailing and catching themselves before they hit the ground? The past few years have been like that; I think I’m finally laying flat, looking up at the ceiling like whoa. 

You see, friends, I went pretty quickly from some big changes in 2016, to recalibrating in 2018, to an amazing hot mess of a 2020 to a whole new life: Right now I have a 3.5-year-old, two stepsons, two old-lady dogs, and a whole array of crazy, lovely messiness that I’m still trying to figure out. (Maybe the point is that you never quite figure it out?) 

2022 into 2023 was tough. My hubby was out of work for a while with some health concerns, and this sent my Type A tendencies into a tailspin. At first, I went into overdrive to keep everything okay. My control-freak-ness escalated to 11, and so did my stress and worry. I was hanging in there, but it wasn’t pretty.

In 2023, I started to crumble. I realized that muscling it out will only get you so far. Overall I was emotional, anxious, and defeated … I felt like I was ducking and punching, but never on solid footing. 

Money-wise, while 2022 was my best year in 5 years — 2023 was my worst in 9. (While I’m usually on top of my monthly income, I didn’t even realize my income was 10-15k lower than usual until October!)

Ah, the ups and downs of self-employed life, right?! 

While it’s easy to see this as B-A-D, I can’t help but think that maybe the universe only gave me what I could handle. I had a limited amount of creative juice, ya know? Considering my low bandwidth, I never stopped loving my work. I got joy and respite from doing cool projects with wonderful clients. But instead of my norm of 70% conscientious worker / 30% messy human, I’d say my ratio was flipped this past year. 🙂 

Listen, I never said I had it all together! (If you do, please email me and fill me in!) 

Alas, like I’ve shared in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022, here is my 2023 by the numbers:

• Years in business — 17 (Ilise, THANK YOU for getting me started. Also, we are too young to have known each other this long. 🥰)
• Total clients — 24
• Clients / Partners who are designers — 9
• Refreshing in-person get-togethers with friend-colleagues — 3 (shout out to Jeanine, Tara and Liesl!)
• Client websites written — 14
• Client blogs + newsletters + case studies written — 50+
• Clients for whom I write monthly or bi-monthly newsletters, case studies or blogs — 6
• New services launched — 1 (It’s a pick-my-brain session!)
• Un-newsletter subscribers — 1037
• Un-newsletters sent — 4 (Eh, at least that makes 86 since 2010! Read them on my blog. I also found one I drafted and forgot about — so that’s a head start for 2024.)
• Years in a row I’ve sent annual client holiday gifts that sadly came to an end this year — 16! (Something had to give. I’m aiming for February.)
• Months of daily back pain that ended instantly from listening to one audiobook — 16 (Yes, I’m serious. Closest thing to a miracle that’s ever happened to me.)
• Miles logged on the treadmill desk — a few weeks: 20+, most weeks: zero. 🙁
• Times I listened to Wichita Lineman — 50+ (Do you ever get completely obsessed with a song?)
• Adorable dogs at the nail salon (which is the main reason why I try to get regular pedicures) — 6

What’s my plan for 2023?

• Acceptance. Dear Echkart Tolle and Tara Brach — please implant your wisdom into my brain … the books aren’t quite getting it done.
• Discovery. Stop trying to claw back the way I did things before, and actually open myself up to a new way.
• Small wins. Instead of scheduling lengthy gym sessions that get detoured, grab my kettlebell and do 50 reps of something in between calls. (This is also a helpful approach when it comes to marketing! If you need a simpler approach to marketing, check out The 2024 Simplest Marketing Plan.) 

Heading into 2024, I’m money down, spirits up! I’m open to abundance, aiming for my best year yet, and ready to DO THIS. Are you with me?

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Hi, I’m Deidre. In my posts, I talk about my voyage down the road of self-employment as a web copywriter, my achievements and roadblocks along the way, and what I’m learning as I go (with Marketing Mentor as my guide). To keep in touch, sign up for my un-newsletter here and get my freebie download, 12 Sparks to Write Sizzling, Audience-Attracting Website Words. If you want to get my perspective on your copy, check out my pick-my-brain session.