On a walk near the Swiss mountain village of Gstaad, I passed several lovely old farmhouses. It was an icy, grey New Year’s Day, not many folk about because anyone sane was safely indoors drinking hot chocolate by the fireside. But I was rewarded for braving the cold. Some of the houses had wise sayings carved into their wooden facades, and one of these stopped me in my tracks. Translating from the old High German in which it was written, it said: It’s nice to settle in with your friends. But if you want to improve in life, you’ll need to spend time with others whose expertise surpasses your own.’

I smiled when I read this sign, because its message was the theme for my life in 2012. 2012 was the best year of my professional life to date, with the most growth and positive change within a one-year period. I chose to accept the truth of that sign a full year ago, and followed through. I moved out of my cosy comfort circle to work with some experts in areas in which I was weaker – experts who simply ‘turned up’ once I had decided to move forward. One was Debbie Allen who I heard speak at an event of the National Speakers’ Association of Australia in Sydney early in 2012. Before her talk was over, I knew that I needed and wanted to work with her. Debbie is an excellent international speaker, and one of the best coaches for entrepreneurs and small business holders in the US. She and her colleague Tracy Repchuk – an internet marketing expert – coached me through making my new website, and provided invaluable lessons along the way. It wasn’t all comfortable, but I learned a lot from these two experts. By the way, it was Debbie who made the word puzzle below as an additional marketing tool, as it represents all the aspects of my business and charity. If you want to know more about Debbie, read her excellent book: Confessions of Shameless Self-Promoters. If you’d like to view the new website, see www.lesleystephenson.com

I also hired help, quite a lot of it, understanding that if I wanted to expand I would have to share my work load and my pay days. My office assistant and a small group of other service providers now enable me to take on far more of the work I love, and have more fun along the way. And then there was a more difficult moment when I also realized it was time to let go of a ‘community’ to which I had pretended to belong for far too long. A lot of positive energy was released into my life by that decision.

Taking risks, making some tough decisions – this was part of 2012. And the sign is right: if we want improvement, if we want to play bigger, we have to move outside our cosy circles to do some ‘gasp’ things as Tara Mohr calls them. The scary things which initially seem so difficult, and which can bring such great rewards.

Have a wonderful 2013.