The Power of 'Yes': Lessons from 2023 w. Bunny Young

Commitment and clarity. Community. One of the Cs that I don't think is talked about enough is celebration. That's at the top of the pile of my biggest takeaways from 2023 is this reminder that your business will grow when you grow. And if you're just focused on growing your money and not personally, my biased opinion is that you're going to be disappointed. Yes, all of the impact. Yes to you being able to have your cake and eat it too. Here. Here is your permission slip to have it all and enjoy the ride. Welcome back to another episode of the yes and Podcast. I am your host and serial entrepreneur, Bunny Young, and I am so thrilled to bring you this very special episode. It's a 2023 edition of all of my lessons from 2023. And pretty soon I'm also going to be bringing you a very special edition that is just from all of my clients on for 2023. If this is your first time visiting this corner of the podcast universe, the yes and Podcast is all about being able to design a life that works for you and a company that works for you and not the other way around. And because we are very committed to making that happen around here, especially me, I want to make sure that you're not just getting the information, but you're also getting those tangible steps to put it in place. My goal is for each and every one of my listeners to not only build a company that's more successful than any of the companies that I have built, if that is your desire, but also to live a lifestyle that has that ultimate level of freedom and fulfillment. So that is what we're here for. Yes, all of the freedom and the fulfillment. Yes. All of the impact and the income. Yes to you being able to have your cake and eat it too. So let's get into this episode of the yes and Podcast. What had the most significant impact on me and my growth, both from a.

Personal and professional standpoint in 2023 is this realization that you cannot, your company cannot grow more than you. And there's been several times where actually that hasn't been true, where my company has outgrew me. Company that I founded and that I started had outgrown me. And that's because I was so focused on the metrics of the company and.

Not on my personal metrics, that I ended up building something that almost destroyed me. If we're being honest, I'm actually sitting in one of those stories. Not from 2023, but from 2019. I was in a horrible car accident. And I was building this coworking space, the only coworking space in Virginia that has on site childcare. And it was a wellness focused coworking space, meaning that every, with every membership, members would get a massage, monthly massage, nutrition counseling, all of this kind of stuff. And nutrition counseling, not therapeutic counseling. And we had a salt cave that was being built and I just had such a heart for it. And the sacrifices that I was making along the way were not one of the biggest, being taking on not one, but two business partners that values didn't completely align with mine. And this all came to a head when I was in a really serious car accident. And so when I was in that car accident, it was more and more pressure to be able to do the things that a startup business needed and do all of these tasks, both mentally and physically. And I was recovering from the car accident. And so here it's like the business was growing, but I was not because.

I wasn't able to function. And I was trying to push myself and it ended up really seriously setting.

Me back and almost the business as well.

And so I was able to get out of the relationship with those business partners. And it's funny because not funny haha, but funny ironic because this, it's like this lesson keeps coming up. So.

And 2023, the biggest lesson that I had was your companies can only grow as much as you're willing to. And so being able to sit there and say, how am I investing in myself? Not just investing in a business coach, not just investing in more marketing, not just investing in a marketing coach or ads and really saying, okay, what are the metrics of growth that support the kind of life that I want to have? And being really honest with that, because growing a business for growth's sake means that it'll never be enough.

And so I had to know in.

My life what was enough. And I had to allow my nervous system to settle into that so that I didn't get lost like I did in 2019, where I was letting other people's metrics and other people's standards and my idea of business growth take over my life and take over my health.

And take over my family.

And so this year I took a.

Ton of trips with my family and a ton of trips with friends. I also spent a ton of time every single month this year in California with clients and also experiencing that lifestyle because that's something that I had discussed with my husband last October, is moving back to California. And so while I'm growing my business in California and the opportunities in California. I'm also growing that muscle of allowing my frequencies and allowing my normal to adjust to being in California. And really saying, like, this is something that I want to do and where I want to be and knowing that, knowing that from a deeper than a mental, but on a cellular level aligning with that.

We talk about ease and we talk about flow. And I'm not going to lie to you and tell you that it wasn't a lot of work in order to make sure that my priorities stayed front of mind. However, I can tell you that making it happen felt so fulfilling and so good. And seeing people in my life be like, you're going back to California. And it's like, yes, because I'm not just going back to California every single month, but I'm going back to California as like a commitment. Like, we're moving back to California. And when I had the actions in my life from a personal level that supported my mindset, my business followed. Opportunities followed. I just met with a client that we were doing a VIP session and it's like a strategy session and really getting into all the things. And I asked her, I was like, what's the amount of money that you want to make this month? Like, what is that number? And she threw out this number. And then we put all of the money that she had made in just the past week, and it was that number. And so it's like being really clear.

On that intention and claiming it, the.

Most incredible things happen. And every time that I've made an investment that's 100% clear and 100% in alignment in myself personally and in my business professionally, that's the energy that's risen to meet me in it. I remember investing the first time I invested $10,000 in a coaching program, which was a ton of money for me. It was a ton of money. I remember getting my first $10,000 contract within 24 hours. And that's. I'm not alone in being able to share that with you. And so that's at the top of the pile of my biggest takeaways from 2023 is this reminder that your business will grow when you grow. And if you're just focused on growing your money and just focused on growing your business and not personally, I believe my biased opinion is that you're going to be disappointed. And that's what had the most significant impact. So the habits that I'm taking into 2024 to be able to continue this in some other lessons from 2023 and I'm going to tie them together here in a second. So the habits are meditation. It's not overrated in any way, shape or form. And I think that creating space mentally, emotionally, physically, even financially, creating space allows for the most abundant things to flow in. So I'm committed to meditation on a daily basis headed into 2024. And then another thing that I'm committed to is I've been doing these gratitude practices with a small group of people every single morning. And we only do it for about five minutes. But it's incredible how consistent everybody's been in showing up and sharing gratitude and how that can just shift your entire day. And I've been using a journal for over a decade now and I was trying a new journal actually from one of my clients. I'll put the link in the show notes for you guys if you want. It is called the Peak Performance Planner. So you can look that up on Amazon with the Peak Performance Planner. And having just a couple things that I'm grateful for, like the way that it's structured, that is something that I look for in every single journal. And so that's definitely something that I, I always look at what I'm going to stop doing, what I'm going to start doing, what I'm going to continue doing. So I'm going to continue my gratitude practice.

I'm gonna start daily meditation, start back up.

The other thing that I'm committed to is some physical fitness. I can tell you bringing a baby into this world in a couple weeks, but growing a baby this year for the majority of the year has definitely taken its toll on my body. And so I am committed to starting back with a physical routine as soon as I am cleared to be able to do that. And what am I going to stop doing? I am going to stop and I have this on the podcast so you guys can commit to it. I am going to stop any new commitments for the next year for the entire 12 months. So no starting new businesses, no starting new courses, no starting new programs, and no starting new like business ventures. As far as, you know, going in as an investment, we have a, or as an investor, we have a huge opportunity with our coaches HQ platform that launched, did a soft launch launch this year and has just been growing and I'm so committed to seeing that take off and be able to serve the coaching industry. That platform just excites me and it's everything that I wanted when I was starting my coaching company. And I think that the, my partners in that are just an example of alignment as opposed to what I was sharing about in 2019. And so and I think that has to do a lot with how I've.

Grown as a person where the value of the people that are around me as well.

And so that's what I'm going to stop doing is like, I have read so many books about this power of focus, and I do believe in doing one thing. I just happen to be a serial entrepreneur that gets really, really bored really quickly. But I, I feel like I have the right amount of alchemy for 20, 24 of things that I've already committed to. And so I would invite you to do that homework as well. What are you going to start doing? What are you going to stop doing? And what are you going to continue doing as you head into the new year or kick off the new year? And a couple other takeaways that I'm going to finish this out with.

Community.

Like the I cannot say enough about surrounding yourself with the community. That's not just about surrounding yourself with people who are where you want to go or doing things that you want to be doing, but it's how it's that alignment. And for me, that's values and family first and committed to something higher than just the money and higher than even themselves. And I've added some incredible people to my community this year. And I think that that's one of.

Two huge takeaways that I want to share with you.

And I talk about my Cs that we built the Defy program on, and I'm happy to share more about the C's if you want in another episode. But commitment and clarity. Community. One of the Cs that I don't think is talked about enough is celebration. Celebration. So what I'm gonna leave you with for this episode is what are you celebrating? I love hearing your celebrations. In fact, your homework is to go on social media, go on Instagram, find me hebunnyoung and tag me in a celebration. And I will share in your celebration. I will even send you a personal voice note. Celebrating. It doesn't matter if I get a thousand of these. I will have some time on my hands in the next couple weeks. So I will respond to each and every one because you deserve to be celebrated. And when you celebrate yourself, you're inspiring other people. And when you celebrate yourself, you are calibrating your mind and your brain around the aspect that not only are you worthy, but that you have done an incredible thing and are capable of doing incredible things. And then your brain creates a neural pathway for more of that to happen. So celebrate yourself. Celebrate yourself publicly. Tag me on it and allow me to celebrate to you and allow yourself to be seen in that. And that's three times that your brain is going to get that dopamine hit and know that this is a good thing. So Those are my 2023 highlights. My takeaways. I didn't actually. I shared. I shared some takeaways. I didn't really share the highlights. Let me know if you want me to do a highlight episode as well, because I'll bring you along the ride for. For the highlights because it has been a freaking amazing, incredible year. And to go into so many different countries and so many different places and seeing so many different people along with growing this new member of our family and being able to have the business grow alongside the businesses grow alongside has just been such an incredible wild ride. So, speaking of wild rides, wherever you listen to this episode, whether it was in the car or walking down the beach, you guys always laugh. I get comments about how I end my episodes with wherever you took us. And I just want you to know that I am so grateful to have you along this journey. This. Launching this podcast this year has been such a gift. Working with my production team, working with all of you, the listeners, and seeing the growth in this podcast and watching you guys share it with other people and seeing what it means to you to have a place to. To find permission for a yes. And lifestyle. That has been just an incredible highlight of my 2023 and I'm looking so much forward to doing so much more of it in 2024. Love hearing from you on ideas for.

Episodes that you want to hear, guests that you want us to have. Want me to have an interview on this podcast and just know that from the bottom of my heart, I am cheering for you.

Cannot wait to celebrate you again. Go find me on social Instagram at the Bunny Young. Tag me. I will be happy to celebrate you. And until our next episode, enjoy your guests and lifestyle. Here is your permission slip to have it all and enjoy the ride. I'll talk to you soon.