Letter #98: 15 work and life lessons to take into 2024
Including my no-pressure goal tracker [free]
Heyyya bud 👋
Longg time, no see — but for good reason: I was in Dubai to move my business set-up to the UAE 🎉
(I’m guessing you can hear the excitement in my voice? It’s actually the relief that comes from hitting one of your major 2023 goals 😂)
If you’re new here or need a refresher:
I’m a freelance content marketer for B2B SaaS, working with industry-leading names like Vimeo, Shopify, and Calendly. I help write, repurpose, and refresh content.
This newsletter that you’re reading is one of the best marketing emails to read according to Forbes (I looooovee saying this lol). And 9 out of 10 times I talk about what makes content that converts here.
Today though, we’re switching things up.
Because, well, I’ve shown up after 4 weeks (the longest break this newsletter has ever been on) and it just doesn’t make sense to dive straight into work mode.
So here’s a round-up of my favorite work and life lessons from last year to help you start 2024 strong:
Embrace the excitement of figuring things out with a simple reframe. Replace, “I’m worried about…” with “I’m excited about…”
Repurposing is repetition but that’s really why it’s so effective. I used to think repetition is cringe. But it’s key to making your company/personal brand known for something. In other words: repurposing is authority building.
Publish whatever you learn online. Could be on LinkedIn or a Substack publication. But it’s one of the best ways to discover your spiky point of view — you need it to create content that stands out.
Quality over quantity. Yes, but sometimes you need to rethink that. When you need momentum or want to continue fueling consistent publishing, quality can sometimes hold you back. In that case, refresh blog content. Republish old content on social media. And get the bare minimum good stuff out for your newsletter. Your next piece of content will turn out a banger. Guaranteed.
Learning is in doing. You’ve probably heard this a couple of times. But the magic is in actually ‘doing.’ You’ll leave with at least one new thing learned that you didn’t know previously. Pinky promise.
You can only DIY things to an extent. Know when it’s time to outsource and save the results you’ve been seeing before they nosedive.
(Figure out how to) Monetize a channel before you lose interest/direction. In several instances, money is a motivator, not a necessity.
Asking for help is bold, especially if you’re a giver by nature. But once you do, be prepared to return the help as best as you can.
(If you already haven’t) Build yourself a support group. You need people who lift you up, make you see how you’ve progressed and grown — both in your personal and professional life (so you basically need 2 groups).
The bigger your goal, the more patience it demands. So if you become frustrated at the pace of things, remind yourself that patience is part and parcel of accomplishing good things.
Everyone is a doer. The difference lies in the way you tackle your self-sabotaging (progress-stalling) feelings.
Instead of self-love, focus on self-respect. The more you respect & appreciate yourself, the better your inner monologue is going to be. The latter is a game-changer for accelerating your growth in all work and life lanes.
Standing up for yourself is a work in progress (WIP). I call goals like these ‘WIP goals’ so you can’t just strike them off or consider them accomplished over a year. It’s why you’ll find this goal in my 2022, 2023, and now 2024 goals list.
You look good, you feel good. Invest in the small details of how you carry yourself, even if you work remotely.
Instead of looking too far out into 2024, set quarterly goals. This way, the goals are easier to remember and easier to achieve. Identify 3 things you want to accomplish by the end of March and regroup to see progress made + set 3 new goals. By year end, you’ll have hit minimum 7-10 goals (realistically speaking).
I’ll leave you with this goal tracking sheet that I use to keep tabs on my goals minus the pressure (here’s how to use it).
See you next week with some tactical content advice.
Best,
Masooma
Sane and achievable advice for making the most of 2024, plus a free quarterly goals tracker? Yes please :) Nice content share, Masooma – thanks.