2022 in Review

Hey passionate creator,

I can’t believe 2022 has almost come to an end. Did it seem like a complete blur to anyone else?

Maybe 2022 was your best year yet. Or maybe you didn’t quite achieve your goals. Either way, this pocket of time before the new year begins is the perfect chance for reflection before looking ahead at 2023.

Highs of 2022

I think it’s so easy to focus on wanting more. As creatives and entrepreneurs, we’re driven by growth and there’s always something more we could be doing. But even if you didn’t cross off a big goal this year, focus on how far you’ve come:

• What are you most proud of?

• What were your favourite moments?

• What were your biggest accomplishments? How did you achieve them?

I’m celebrating my wins as a creator, both for my personal brand and as part of Passionfroot, along with many team wins:

• My YouTube channel grew from 4000 to 31,000 subscribers.

• I joined Passionfroot as their founding creator.

• Our team grew but our values stayed the same. As we continued to build Passionfroot, we bonded during our off-sites in Berlin and Mallorca.

• I started this newsletter and wrote 42 issues. It now gets sent out to 525 creators every week.

• I spoke to some amazing creators like Dickie Bush, Ali Abdaal, and Alice Lemée for our podcast, Creators On Air.

• We had a big rebrand with our Froots finally making an appearance.

• We've experienced so much joy seeing people share their Passionfroot page on social media.

2022 challenges

I'd rather not call this section "lows of 2022". Sure, things might not always be smooth sailing, but instead of beating yourself up over it, I think it's a good chance to gain clarity before looking ahead at 2023:

• What did you not do this year that you hoped you would?

• What challenges did you face? How did you overcome them?

• What’s the biggest lesson you learned?

• What do you want to leave behind in 2022?

The biggest obstacle I faced this year was my work-life balance. I experienced creative burnout multiple times throughout the year and it's something I hope to work on. I talked about how I plan to do this in last week's issue.

Looking ahead to 2023

Distill your reflections into lessons you can take forward into the new year.

🔍 Maybe you need to focus on one thing instead of getting distracted by Shiny Object Syndrome.

👥 Maybe you need to get to know your audience better before planning new products and courses.

🍃 Maybe you need to step away from work more often to get inspired with fresh ideas.

Rather than getting a new planner out and writing a long list of goals, use these lessons to hone in on your most important goals for the new year.

My focus for 2023 is a better work-life balance and nurturing the Passionfroot community with this newsletter, events, and getting to know more incredible creators.

I'm so grateful to be a small part of your creator journey and I'm so excited for what's to come for all of us in the new year.

What are you most excited for?

If one of your 2023 goals is to create on TikTok, this article shares 10 tips & tricks that scaled founder-led and brand-led accounts.

Here are 8 things you can do to have a better year as a creator, including giving actionable advice instead of just opinions.

If you're determined to leave your job to become a full-time creator, this manifesto makes a good case for why you shouldn't and how to make part-time work for you.

If you're trying to find the perfect planner or productivity system before the new year, you might need this reminder.

Whenever you sell something, you have to connect to a core human desire. Thomas Frank shares 32 of them and I think they're relevant for the content we make too.

Digital Writing, Twitter Growth, and A 7-Figure Side-Hustle with Dickie Bush

Dickie Bush has almost 300k followers on Twitter and is one of the captains behind the popular online writing course, Ship 30 for 30. I really enjoyed talking to him about his Twitter growth, his current writing routine, and how his course has been such a big success.

I know this issue was a bit longer than usual, so I'm grateful if you've made it to the end. hope you’ve enjoyed some relaxation over the holidays and I hope you feel proud of yourself for everything you’ve accomplished this year.

I'll see you in 2023!

Stay passionate,

Akta