10 reasons to give it a crack this year.

And why #6 is my new mantra.

Jan 04, 2024

👋🏼 Hey, I’m Anna! I’m a founder and operator in an ongoing relationship with writing. Welcome to my weekly newsletter where I share business, career and life lessons that I’ve learned over years of trying hard, failing often, and on occasion succeeding too.

I’ve always thought the ‘New Year, New Me’ concept was a little bit weird.

It conjures up the impression that when the clock ticks over from 11:59PM on December 31st, a hotter, fitter, more successful, healthier, wealthier, happier, and wiser version of myself will magically appear. It can be a bit deflating then, when on January 1st, I am exactly the same amount of hot, fit, successful, healthy, wealthy, happy and wise. Or arguably even slightly less so, given the amount of champagne I would have likely consumed the night before.

Perhaps a more fitting mantra is ‘New Year, Slightly Better Me’.

And while I don’t believe the new year is necessarily a catalyst for radical transformation, I like to make use of the moment and set myself an annual challenge. I don’t know about you but I always feel more courageous during this first week of January; the freshness of a new year makes it feel like anything is possible. A clean slate, if you will. I try to capitalise on that feeling and set an intention that will push me to my edges.

In 2023, I committed to writing for 30 minutes every single day. Approximately 60% of the time I dragged myself to the computer kicking and screaming and cursing my former brave and courageous self for setting such a torturous goal. But a year on, I’m proud to say that while I didn’t quite make it to 365 days in a row, for the most part I followed through. And even better, along the way I fell deeply in love with the writing process. These days I couldn’t think of a happier way to spend my time.

In 2024, I’m committing to Putting Myself Out There more online. The idea of doing so scares the shit out of me, mostly because I’m worried that people will judge and talk about me behind my back (I acknowledge this is a completely unfounded fear and that most people are too wrapped up in thinking about how others might be judging or talking about them behind theirs). This fear is why, some weeks, I haven’t shared my essay to social media even though I’m really proud of what I’ve written. It’s why I’ve rarely posted a video talking to camera (shudder). It’s why at times, I’ve had to drag myself kicking and screaming to publish. But I also know that I want to have impact. I want to help people learn from my successes and wild mistakes while founding a business. I want to save people time by sharing knowledge and skills from over a decade of working for global brands and from five years of working for myself. I want to connect with those who are also on the building-or-creating-something-meaningful path. And to do that my work needs to be seen. My words need to be read. And that ain’t going to happen unless I show up and share.

So this year I’m having a crack at writing more frequently, broadly and loudly. I’m having a crack at sharing online daily. Despite the fear. Despite the self doubt. Despite the stress. Despite the anxiety. Because desire trumps fear every damn day of the week.

If you’re also toying with the idea of giving something a crack this year, I really hope you dig deep. I really hope you go hard and try boldly. And here’s my compelling list of reasons why.

10 reasons to give it a crack:

You can’t win if you don’t try.
A red hot go is the best and only way to honour your dreams, ambitions and potential.
For something great to happen you have to make it happen. Giving it a crack is the act of making stuff happen in your life.
Everyone’s scared. The only difference is that some people act despite the fear rather than letting it consume them. Being brave doesn’t mean you’re not scared. Being brave means you believe in the possibility of who you could be and your ability find the lesson if you don’t make it there.
When you take action your life’s timeline splinters into two, paving a path you otherwise never would have discovered. Action helps you explore the terrain of your own life.
It will increase the likelihood of failure - there’s no way around it - but it will also expand your entire world. This is what it feels like to be alive!
There aren’t many doorways you can’t walk back through if you change your mind.
Failure is never as bad as you think. And even if it is, your growth is in your suffering, the beauty is in the breakdown and potential is built in the darkest shadow of your pain.
If it doesn’t work out you will not become destitute. You will not be out on the street. Your life will not end. You will be ok. It will always be ok.
If not you, then who? If not now, then when?

Who dares wins.

As the brilliant author Charles Bukowski said:

“If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is.”

He’s right. Giving it a crack is the only good fight. So fight it! Because if you do, the crack you boldly give might widen into a doorway that becomes an opening to your new life.