Hey friend. Welcome to the Mom CEO Suite podcast where faith, family and business come together. I'm your host, Phylicia Pough, Christian wife, mom of two and life and business system strategist for mom entrepreneurs. With over 10 years of experience working behind the scenes of businesses and ministries and as a work from home mompreneur, I'm here to share my personal journey and practical strategies to help you design systems that bring peace to your work and home life. While many strive for balance, I believe it's harmony, an integrated flow that works for you that truly sustains. Together we'll explore how to grow your service based business in a way that is sustainable and keeps your family at the heart of it all. Plus hear real life stories and expertise from other mompreneurs who are walking the same path. Motherhood gets hard, entrepreneurship gets hard. But together we can do hard things. Welcome to the suite. Hey friends. Welcome to the episode. Thank you so much for being here. So this is the last episode of 2024 and I wanted to talk to you about what I am letting go of for the new year. You know, over the past couple of episodes I've been talking about how to simplify, how to experience greater work life harmony. And so with all of those things, letting go of certain things is just in alignment with being able to be position to experience that work life harmony. But also when I think about letting go, you know, I think about releasing things so that there is room and space for the things that we desire. There's space for us to actually receive that. Right? And so I'm just sharing a little bit more about my personal journey. So I'm going to talk about the specific things that I'm letting go of and then I'm going to talk about what I'm actually going to be focusing on in 2025 and my focuses, these are not the only focuses, but these are just some of the main things that I am integrating into what I'm already focusing on. Okay, so what are some of the specific things that I'm letting go of in 2025? Now when it comes to marketing strategies, I am letting go of those that do not feel aligned for me and those that are just not sustainable for me. And I have realized over the past year, as much as I, you know, think it's a good idea to post on Instagram, I know that for me posting on my Instagram feed, it doesn't feel aligned and it's not sustainable for me right now in this season. So I will be going back to a 9 grid for my Instagram page, and I won't be posting regularly. If I do post reels, it won't be posted to my page just so my dying grid won't get messed up. I'll just post reels as I'm inspired. But I am not, you know, committing myself to sticking to some type of schedule when it comes to posting on Instagram, like posting once a day or three times per day or anything like that. So I'm letting go of that. I'm also going to be closing the Facebook group for the Mom CEO suite. And again, all of these things are things that work. Any marketing strategy that you implement, it can work. But just for me, in this season, it's not sustainable for me. I can't keep up with it. I am not just inspired to keep the content going in that Facebook group. And so I'm just going to be shutting it down. And when it comes to social media, I'm going to be doing less posting on Facebook and Instagram. And so, kind of with this theme of, you know, shifting away from these unaligned strategies and things that are not sustainable for me, I'm also letting go of this feeling that I have to be everywhere to find my people. That is like a mindset shift that I had to have, is that I do not have to be everywhere in order to find my people. And so I'll be primarily. When it comes to social media, I'll primarily be committed to posting on threads. And then anywhere else that I post, it'll just be as I'm inspired. So that's the first thing I'm letting go of, is marketing strategies that don't feel aligned or are not sustainable for me in this season. Okay, the next thing that I am letting go of is my timeline. And I am of a certain age. I just had a birthday. I just turned 38. And so a lot of times I feel like I wasted years of my life in different relationships, in building other people's brands. And I feel like, honestly, I just wasted a lot of times. And so sometimes I feel like I'm not where I quote, unquote, should be. But that is based on my timeline and based on my life's plan, not necessarily what God has planned for me. And so I am letting go of my timeline. And with that, I am having to let go of the fear that says that I have missed my opportunity or that I have missed my moment. And I have to trust that God is capable of restoring time. I have to trust that God is capable of restoring Time. All right. So the next thing that I'm letting go of is trying to do it alone. This is kind of twofold. So trying to do it alone, meaning without God, and then also trying to do it alone without business support. So I've mentioned in past episodes that I do still consider myself a solopreneur. I leverage automation heavily in my business, and I outsource here and there for specific tasks, but I don't have dedicated team members. And then when it comes to my participation in programs and business coaching, business consulting, that's traditionally not been something that I have engaged with. So let me just back up a little bit. Since I'm letting go of trying to do it alone. One of the things that I have implemented in my business and life is really consulting God intentionally before connecting with people. In the beginning of 2024, I feel like God was really impressing upon me to be very intentional about who I was connected to. And, you know, I didn't really. Not that I didn't think too much of it, but it was like, okay, let's kind of see where this goes. And there have been different instances where I thought that a connection with someone would be a good connection, just based on mutual interests, like, you know, being a part of a mom community and related or adjacent content. But then as I watched different people because, you know, God was telling me be very intentional. So I wasn't just immediately connecting with people and forming partnerships and collaborations. I actually watched people a whole lot longer than I previously had. And as I watched people on social media, I would see just through their. Their words and through their actions, that their personal values or just some of the things that they were about was not in alignment with who I was as a believer and just some of my core values as a human. And so I really now have become very intentional about consulting with God before connecting with people in that manner. In a previous episode, it was episode 106 where I talked about tiny habits that improve my time management. One of the things that I mentioned was that I started praying before my work sessions and so not trying to be creative on my own, not trying to get ideas on my own, but really tapping into my source as a believer and just getting guidance from God before my work sessions and not operating in my own strength. That has been super helpful for me in the past couple of months. So then in terms of business support, this year, 2024 was the first year that I was intentionally a part of memberships. So I was a part of two memberships this year. I was in Andrea Singletary's Social Media Detox Club and then also K. Hillman's Shmoney Mama membership. So one was focused on visibility and the other one was focused on sales. Prior to this year, I participated in, like a networking type of community, but not a membership that focused on a specific thing. And I will say that I have enjoyed both of those memberships and I plan on continuing to be active in them. And so now in 2025, I am looking to kind of go deeper, if you will. And I'll be getting support with podcasting and email through Andrea Singletary's Social Media Detox accelerator. And so this is the first time that I'm really getting some support in terms of coaching and consulting in my business. Because trying to figure it out on my own has not benefited me. And it just takes longer. There's just so many different things. When you go and try to do your own research, you can go down so many rabbit holes and it's really hard just to find a focus. And so I'm excited about starting this work in the new year related to elevating my podcast in my email, because that's my ultimate goal, is to be able to have that be my main marketing channels and have that be very effective to the point where I don't have to show up on social media. Being on social media is optional. Okay. So that's what I'm letting go of, trying to do it alone. And what I have learned is that this is something that has trickled into my business from how I am in my personal life. Like, in my personal life, I have traditionally done all the things alone. I have figured everything out. I won't say everything, but I figured things out on my own. That's just been the nature of my life. And so I brought that into my business. But again, I've realized that it has not benefited me. And so it's very true, the saying that how you operate in your personal life is how you operate in your business. And the things that you don't deal with in your personal life, they will show up in your business. I. I have seen that to be true. And so I'm trying to let go of this idea that I have to do things alone. I've always figured things out on my own. I am the second oldest child. I've always kind of been in this leadership type of situation where I am the one that's leading, where I am the one figuring out the things and doing all of the doing. And so I'm Looking to shift that in 2025, the next thing that I am letting go of is feeling the need to do it all. And so this is kind of related to what I offer in my business. The episode where I talked about simplifying the business, I shared how I'm looking to simplify my offers. You know, I don't need to offer all the things. You know, I do sometimes suffer from shiny object syndrome, but not in the way, like, I have to have this new object, but in a way of I need to learn this new platform so that I can be more valuable to my client. And, you know, that's just a mindset shift that I need to come away from. And so I'm letting go of feeling the need that I have to do it all. Even if I focus on one or two platforms, I don't have to know them all. And again, this is related to trying to do it alone. You know, as the business continues to shift, I can get to a place where I'm hiring people to focus on specific platforms. And so I'm really stepping into the role of CEO and not being the person that's doing all of the things, setting up all of the systems. Other people are doing that. And I am really just leading the organization. So letting go of feeling the need to do it all and then finally letting go of unaligned projects. So in 2024, I started participating in bundles as a way to increase my visibility. And I participated in some bundles that, yes, they brought in email subscribers, but they were not. They were not my audience, they were not my people. And so I will be letting go of unaligned projects. I'm being very specific and strategic about the types of projects, the types of collaborations, bundles, you know, podcasts that I go on to. It has to be aligned with my core values or it has to be aligned with my business goals. Otherwise, it's a no. Okay, so no more unaligned projects in 2025. So those are some of the things that I'm letting go. What will I actually be focusing on? So when it comes to the business, you know, I've already mentioned focusing on simplifying my offers, but in episode 101, I talked about how I'm marketing my business. And this is really the core of what I'm going to be focusing on in 2025 as it relates to my business outside of my offers. So I'm going to be focusing on the podcast, focusing on email, focusing on my website SEO, and focusing on Pinterest. So that's really where my attention will be outside of my offers in 2025, when it comes to the personal stuff, I'm really going to be focusing on spiritual alignment. Like, I, I just feel like I can go deeper and it's time for me to go deeper in my spiritual walk. I really want to incorporate fasting into my life. So it's not just like an as needed type of thing, but it's more so a lifestyle. I really want to be able to just do more with my spiritual life. In 2025, I am going to be sticking to my home management systems. This is something I am excited about. So over the next couple of weeks, you are going to hear me talk more about home management systems. I'm going to talk about, you know, what they are, how you can implement them. I'll specifically be talking about my meal planning system and some other things. So definitely stay connected with the podcast so you can get the insight into all things home management. And then the final thing that I'm focusing on in 2025 is not the final but final that I'm sharing today is detoxifying my life. I've really just been doing research about lifestyle and, you know, the toxic things that are around us and that I consume. And so I've just been in the process of making healthier substitutes as it comes to the products I use. So I've already kind of shifted or started shifting away from plastic containers and using glass containers. I still have to continue with that process, shifting away from aluminum foil. And in terms of products, I've transitioned to using all natural soap bars, natural deodorants, deodorants without aluminum. I'll be starting things like creating my own cleaning products. And so there's a lot of different things that I'll be looking into. But this will be a focus for me in 2025 is really just detoxifying my life. And this is not going to be something that I probably complete this year. I don't know if it'll ever be complete, but it's a journey that I'm starting and that I will go on just making healthier substitutes even with the different types of foods I eat. So, you know, if you want me to share more about that, what that journey looks like, let me know and I'll put it into the mix for the podcast. So that's just a little bit of what I'm letting go of what I'm focusing on. And so I just want to encourage you that letting go, it's going to be a process. It doesn't have to be perfect definitely. As you are going through your own process of letting go, give yourself grace and use your use your faith as a filter for your decision making. So I want you today just to take one small step in letting something go. Identify what something that you need to let go and just come up with your plan for how you are going to do that so you can create that space to receive what it is you truly desire or to receive what is really for you or to experience the growth that you are desiring. Sometimes we have to let go to receive. Okay, so this is the last episode of 2024. Happy New Year and I will see you in the next episode. Thank you for listening to the Mom CEO Suite podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, can you do us a favor? Leave a review on itunes and share with other moms in business like you. Help us spread our message and empower others who are at this intersection of motherhood and entrepreneurship.