Feb 16, 2022
Subtitle:
With the beginning of a new year comes the organizing, goal setting, and planning. What is your theme for 2022? What do you want your year to look like for your business as well as your personal life? We discuss our themes for 2022, why we chose these phrases, and what they mean to us. We also talk about how control is an illusion, ambiguous loss, bioluminescent creatures, and our NEW agency myth busting podcast on this week’s episode.
Summary:
What are your goals for 2022, and what is your mindset for the year? One way to organize your thoughts and goals, business and personal, is by creating a theme and or a personal word for yourself. We talk about what inspired our themes along with the importance of mindset, investing in your team, letting go of control, and learning how to live with uncertainty and how they relate to our themes. Keep an ear out for our NEW agency myth busting podcast coming next week!
Top 3 Curtain Pulls in this episode:
For more tips, discussion, and behind the scenes:
About The Guys:
Bob Hutchins: Founder of BuzzPlant, a digital agency that he ran from from 2000 -2017. He is also the author of 3 books. More on Bob:
Brad Ayres: Founder of Anthem Republic, an award-winning ad agency. Brad’s knowledge has led some of the biggest brands in the world. Originally from Detroit, Brad is an OG in the ad agency world and has the wisdom and scars to prove it. Currently that knowledge is being applied to his boutique agency. More on Brad:
Ken Ott: Co-Founder and Chief Growth Rebel of Metacake, an Ecommerce Growth Team for some of the world’s most influential brands with a mission to Grow Brands That Matter. Ken is also an author, speaker, and was nominated for an Emmy for his acting on the Metacake Youtube Channel (not really). More on Ken:
Show Notes:
[0:32] Bob opens this episode by asking the guys how they’re doing and a quick chat about fasting and warmth.
[2:21] Brad talks about his phrase from 2021, A New Hope, what it meant to him, and how he applied it to his business. “We were not promised tomorrow, so you gotta rock and roll today.”
[5:17] Ken discusses how learning to live with and above uncertainty is a lifelong journey. He also mentions his phrase from 2021, which is also his phrase for 2022, and why he chose it as well as how he applied it to his business and why it’s important to him.
“My phrase was ‘winter’s my season’. Ideally, you're preparing for the downtimes, so that when the downtimes come, you can not only survive it, but somehow thrive in it. In some ways, there's a lot of opportunity in winter.”
[13:40] Bob talks about how the last few years have brought ambiguous loss for everyone and how embracing that loss (or winter) can bring opportunity. “It's all a matter of perspective, but there is an ambiguity and a loss behind what we have all gone through. And when you learn to love the situation you're in, there are some really cool things that can happen.”
[15:37] Bob discusses the importance of prioritizing and investing in your team’s mental, physical, and emotional health. “We got to stop seeing all these things as individual things in the workplace, but actually, they're collective things that we should be investing in.”
[18:23] Ken mentions a stock buying concept and relates it to the importance of preparing for a season of winter in your business. “The concept in it is this idea that when everything is falling apart for other businesses, if you're ready, that's when the opportunity lies. You have to take that and you have to plan for that.”
[19:14] Bob talks about his phrase for 2021, reimagine growth, and why he chose it, and how he applied that to his life. “I really want to do this, but I figured if this was the safer path to go and be an accountant, and then you're 55 years old, and realize, man, I hate accounting. I think growth looks very different, to every human being, and my idea of growth has changed.”
[22:06] Bob reveals his theme for 2022, simplify. He relates it to Will Smith’s new documentary series, Welcome to Earth. He tells the guys a quote from one of the episodes that helped inspire his theme. “At the end of it, he says ‘until you go into the dark and go beyond the darkness. You'll never see new light and new things that you've never experienced. Not just embrace it, but love it and engage with it.’”
[26:26] Brad tells the guys about his theme for the year, getting jiggy with it. He also talks about why he chose it to be his theme and why it’s important to him.
[28:59] Ken relates Brad’s theme to a question he’s pondered, “If you removed the financial gain from any action that you did, what would you be left with doing?”
[35:26] Ken discusses how the feeling of being in control is simply an illusion, and your productivity will increase if you let go of control.
[36:57] Bob mentions the importance of smiling and how it can positively impact your clients as well as yourself. “When you get on the phone, and you smile, you can hear it and the client can feel it.”
[38:28] Ken talks about his personal word for the year, leverage and how it relates to his theme and his personal and business goals for 2022. “You can lift more, if you loosen your grip.”
[45:04] Bob wraps up this week’s episode by telling the listeners, “We're going to start a new series. So tune in next week. We're going to start talking about the myths of agency life and we're going to do some myth busting.”