Strategy vs Identity

For the first time in days, the house is quiet. The dog is asleep, the kids are out, and every visitor has gone for the day (Blimey, the house has been bursting at the seams with six kids and six adults here this week).

Which means I have time. Precious, rare, full-focus time to finish the things I’ve started and give my attention to what matters most. Summer, with young kids at home, has a way of throwing your grand plans in the air, doesn’t it? Fewer hours, more distractions. And yes, I can be guilty of giving myself a hard time if I feel behind, so this is me reminding myself that I’m not behind. I just need a few working hours and a moment to regroup. By this afternoon I’ll be exactly where I need to be.

And while I’m on this point, since it’s Friday, why don’t you also do a quick audit? What do you need to finish off today to feel back in control? Name it. Do it. No overthinking permitted (this bit is important)!

Like I say, this week has been full. A house of people, kids, noise, mess, laughter, late nights. It’s been good, but the focus hasn’t been work. So what do I have to share with you besides fish and chips on the beach, bonfires, and runs in the hills here in Parc Eryri (Snowdonia)?

Work.

And more specifically, this week’s theme: Strategy vs Identity.

My focus right now is threefold: levelling up my systems, tightening processes, and stepping more fully into my role as CEO. I’ve always been fascinated by identity and communication. I studied Law, Psychology, and English for A Levels, then Criminology and Contemporary Culture at university. Human behaviour, the motivators behind decisions, and what people believe is possible for themselves has always fascinated me. You become what you believe. Like labelling theory, but internal. 

And now here I am, having woken up one morning in June and declared to the world that I will attempt to generate £1,000,000 in turnover over the next twelve months. Do I panic? No way! I breathe, I believe, and frankly, I just get on with it... even when life is a juggle.

There’s an identity evolution that follows your cash flow and your impact. In the beginning, and this stage lasts far longer than most admit, your business confidence rises and falls with your sales. If you are there right now, know this is normal and it can turn around.

Great sales bring great confidence.
A quiet month can send it crashing down.

The turning point comes when you no longer let sales dictate your self-belief, but anchor it in your long-term vision and absolute trust in what you can build. That shift is not easy. You might need to go down before you go up. You might invest before the cash is there. You might commit to something with no guarantee it will cover itself. This dance between risk and unshakable self-trust is where your identity either expands to match your vision or shrinks back into safety.

Strategy vs Identity.

Strategy is the plan. Identity is how you hold yourself while you execute it. And it is your identity, not just your to-do list, that will determine whether you see the plan through when it gets uncomfortable.

Right now, my decisions are firmly for the long-term needs of the business. In my first six-figure year, short-term gains were everything. In the multi-six-figure years that followed, I balanced those quick wins with medium-term plays. Now, my focus is almost entirely on the long game. It’s calmer. More deliberate. And it means letting go of the “I’ll just do it myself” habit and letting my team take the reins, which requires trust and proper processes.

July was a huge sales month. August will be the inhale before September’s momentum, and that is OK. I have opened my CEO Day Retreat but I am not really focusing on selling anything else in particular. My End of Year Extravaganza sold like crazy last month, and the Sponsors will be announced next week, which I am so excited about. Otherwise, this chapter is about systemising, process mapping, outsourcing, trusting my team even more, and embracing my role as conductor rather than one-woman band.

I’m investing time, resources, and funds now, knowing the return will come later. I have no doubt in myself, my team, or the market appetite for our offers. Everything we put out is selling, and selling fast. That could mean I’m underpricing, so I will review our pricing strategy in October.

This morning I’ve signed off the final visual assets my team created for something, and next I’ll be doing the last funnel check for our new list builder. Ads go live on Monday because audience growth is still our number one priority.

We’ve had two more pieces of press coverage this week, and this afternoon I’m writing two contributions for online business publications as well as a full-scale piece for a magazine who have asked me to be on their October cover.

The questions they have sent are sharp, deep, and personal, the kind I love. You know my “No Small Talk” rule? If you are in Vibrant Connections, you will know exactly what I mean. I am not interested in surface-level interviews anyone could answer. I would rather wrestle with meaningful questions than hand over another set of generic answers.

None of this PR content will be live straight away. That is the beauty of the long game. Strategy sets the moves in motion; Identity is deciding to keep showing up for them until the results arrive.

In fact, I might take those magazine questions outside with me for a walk. I think better when I am outside and on the move. My goal is to finish this work today, then do almost no work for the rest of August. Let’s see how that goes - easier said than done when you are in growth mode!! (I'm rubbish at pausing, which is another issue, and not one for today)!

So that is Week 6 of Mission to Million.

Personally, I am loving sharing like this. No gloss, no filter, no agenda, no sugar-coating. Just the truth of building something bigger as it happens. And if it helps you see what is possible in your own business, then it is already worth it.

Happy Friday, and remember to breathe and believe.