Turning 25
Every year I take a second to audit my life. So much can change within the space of a year it’s essential to take a second to see where you want to be better for the year ahead. From the title you can kind of work out why this one is such an important for me - the quarter life crisis is officially pending and now I need to work out what I plan to do for the latter part of my 20’s.
When you start building a business for yourself, you learn a lot of things about yourself that most jobs won’t. You learn your work ethic without the watchful eye of a line manager, you learn to manage deadlines and taxes, you learn how to price yourself in a way thats affordable for a client or customer but also helps YOU put bread on the table. It can be draining, and as the business has grown a lot more, I can really feel the brunt of that. But I’ve also learn to set boundaries for myself - I know when to say no, when a client isn’t a good fit, or they’re just outright being unreasonable. I’ve made connections, grown my plans for the business, and actually found the time to plan ahead . It’s overwhelming as heck, but it feels like it’s all going somewhere.
Outside of work, I think my support network has definitely evolved. I’ve got in a relationship where I’m actually able to continue working on my business with utter understanding and support. i’ve cut loose friendships where that wasn’t possible, and just found more time to appreciate my own company. I definitely want to do more with my personal life now I’m finally in my “mid-twenties”, but that all comes with time and organisation…two things I haven’t entirely mastered for myself yet.
If I took a second to read through last years post (which I haven’t), I think I’d still have these same intentions at the top of my mind; organise, streamline, and turn off when needed. I’m closer to achieving them this year, but like anything in life there’s a long way to go before it’s fully complete.
I have however, embarked on some passion projects to add some pizazz to my life- writing for other publications and organisations for free, to bring back my own creative writing spirit. After Steph Writes Stuff turned into more of a professional space, I’ve definitely been grieving the “do whatever you want” manifesto that 22 year old me prided herself on. It takes time to work up to a freelance publication writer level, but I think if I finally found a way to organise my clients months in advance I could get found by more than just Heroica and The Guardian….ya’ girl wants to be in Vogue!
This year has been tough, nobody is ignoring that. But damn I’m happy with what I’ve done so far and what I’ve got coming. My only goal right now is to streamline my clients and start getting back to learning and my passion projects. I want to grow my business but I also don’t want to be the girl who wastes her twenties by staring at a screen 24/7.