What Losing in 2024 Taught Me About Winning in 2025
Finding out what doesn't work might be your fastest path to success
written by Sarah Check & AI Sarah
TL;DR Lost money and assets this year (a lot of us did). But I got skills and direction that I’d struggled for years to build. Sometimes the fastest way to better results isn't more planning - it's quickly trying solutions out and seeing what sticks…and doing more of that.
I started 2024 desperately gripping optimism.
I was fresh off a 9.5k masterclass launch and finally getting the support system I'd dreamed of - virtual assistants, housekeeping, high-level masterminds, the works. I was determined to keep pace with my entrepreneur peers while handling life with a toddler at home.
Then I got pregnant (yes, it was planned). Any amount of pretending-everything-could-be-kinda-like-things-were-before-kids got puked up every morning.
Plus, other factors effected the biz. AI shook up the industry (why hire writers when you had ChatGPT and Claude?). My tried-and-true copywriting offers weren't booking like they used to be. Client acquisition? Way harder. Self-marketing? Felt like pulling teeth when juggling a toddler, barfing, and trying to train a team all at once.
I had good support systems in place - but I realized they weren't targeting what I really needed.
That's on me. I should've been more honest about my goals: I specifically needed guidance on managing a business at home with very young kids. I dreamed of finding a mom mentor who'd built their business while in the thick of the baby/toddler years. But most successful mom business owners I talked to had either built their empire before kids or waited until their little ones were older.
Here's what 2024 taught me about getting real with yourself and your business.
I needed to reduce my overhead until it hurt.
I realized I might become the exact mentor I needed sooner than I could find/afford one.
I had to try out more solutions quickly instead of researching them or painstakingly executing them.
I needed to collect more data (e.g. be honest with myself with actual data) to find out what to do more (and less) of.
I needed step back and practice some foundational skills (like being consistent with my new circumstances).
My word of the year was “Garden".” I wanted to lean into the seasons of cultivating, planting, weeding, harvesting, and resting. That was exactly the 2024 vibe — and I’m so grateful.
Let me tell you what took me a year to learn, but in 15 minutes.
"Trust Your Gut" is Terrible Growth Advice
Maybe you call it your gut or intuition. I discovered I didn’t call it anything — I just rolled with this assumption that I needed to wildly minimize risks. I spent years treating uncertainty like a problem to be solved.
I’d drive myself to a new challenge, and the Scaries Feels would hit, and my gut in the passenger’s seat would be clutching the seatbelt trying to give me “helpful” “logical” advices about how to “reduce risks.” Hiring virtual assistants, booking coaching, anything to feel like I was "doing something productive" about my discomfort.
Here's the thing about gut instincts, though: she’s trying to protect you. And when you’re in territory you’re familiar with, that you’ve navigated like a pro a thousand times before — she’s got good advice. But when you’re in new territory, your gut hasn’t built a lot of intuition. You’ve got to build it by taking risks. She wants you to survive over thrive. So when the challenge is around thriving and inviting growth — not surviving — she can give out some pretty…superfluous advice.
My gut told me that, logically, hiring virtual assistants and housekeeping would make everything easier (it didn’t once my overhead got too heavy).
It told me I needed high-level coaching for any learning to be "legit" (it didn’t when I got coaching that didn’t target the right stuff).
It told me that committing to substantial content creation was too much for my stage of life (it was — because I hadn’t learned how to do it).
But when I finally let go of these "solutions" - mostly because I had to - something unexpected happened: nothing went wrong. Well, nothing worse than what was already happening while I was paying for all that overhead.
Sure, it was nice having someone sift through my emails and post my social media content and collect leads. But since I wasn't clear on the roadmap and course correction towards my goals, those tasks weren't actually moving the needle. I was paying for motion without progress. So I let them go.
It was very grounding to have a real live coach holding my hand. But I hadn’t really given free high-level content a shot — I’d just assumed that trustworthy live coaching, even if it didn’t target what I needed, was better. So I cancelled the mastermind and coaching I’d pre-booked.
The real breakthrough? Learning to give my anxious gut a hug while doing the hard thing anyway. I heard someone coin it as keeping anxiety in your purse.
Sometimes, you’ve got to plant some seeds during bad seasons instead of waiting for a more ideal time.
Sitting With the Scary Stuff
I did a 3-month social media marketing plan in 2023. I made content based on what I was seeing in my industry and what I felt would help. Despite being consistent, it was a huge flop. No conversion, hardly any traffic or interaction, a ton of time and effort wasted.
But was I trying out new solutions to see what would work better? Nope. I was sticking with the “productivity” I felt comfortable with. I had planted a garden but refused to cultivate it.
When I finally stopped doing non-scary "productive tasks" and faced the uncertainty head-on — shocker— something shifted.
Got a Social Media Bootcamp course from a PR expert who grew converting SM accounts for a living (yay me, I got a course that actually targeted the specific goal). It challenged to post 3 short-form videos EVERY DAY across three platforms for 60 days.
Yes, that’s over 150 videos. A far cry from the 3x/week “value” Canva carousel posts I was doing before.
It was exhausting. And stressful…at first. Putting myself out there was like public speaking 3x/day. But forcing myself to stay in that uncomfortable spot made me build muscles I didn't know I needed.
I got super fast at planning, shooting, and editing content.
I learned to look at what was actually working and do more of it.
I figured out how to balance content between posts that get you discovered (the viral ones) and nurturing posts for my existing audience.
I grew thicker skin against mean comments.
My speaking skills & hook creating got way better.
I stepped outside my comfort zone, and as I stood there long enough, my comfort zone quietly grew to accommodate where I was. The discomfort didn't magically disappear - I just got better at working with it.
Might sound stupid, but it also helped me learn how to sit with the scary feelings when things went really sideways. Later that year, our daily driver car died, my laptop was destroyed, I gave birth and needed a walker and cane, and was hit by Hurricane Helene.
Everything might (and probably will) fall apart. But it’s ok. The scary feeling will not kill you. You can hold it while you figure out the next step. By the time the hurricane blew out Asheville’s power and roads, the feeling of uncertainty was an old friend that didn’t speak as loudly as she used to.
We made it though just like we had the other stuff.
Rain comes, but eventually goes away.
If "Good" Isn't Good Enough, You're Asking for the Wrong Thing
Those virtual assistants I hired? They weren't bad at their jobs. They were actually pretty great at what they did. I wasn't clear on what I really needed them for.
I was very clear about what TASKS I wanted them to do. I gave them SOPs, Loom video trainings, and we had weekly meetings.
The tasks that really helped had very clear links to money I was making (like getting tech support with my 9.5K masterclass launch).
The tasks that weren’t useful existed because I felt like they were important (like managing my email and Instagram).
I had them posting content and gathering leads, but since those processes weren't working well to begin with, I was basically paying for premium-grade wheel-spinning.
Same thing happened with a mastermind I joined. I picked it hoping it would help me navigate the whole young-kids-plus-business circus. The mastermind was packed with amazing content and teaching - but none of the coaches had been where I was. I even knew that before committing.
That's not on them - that's on me for expecting guidance about something they'd never experienced.
Sometimes things aren't underperforming - you're just expecting them to solve problems they weren't designed to solve. Like being disappointed that your hammer isn't great at unscrewing things.
Going into 2025, I'm leaving wishful purchases. It’s inefficient for me, but it’s also a disservice to the people I’m hiring. No more hoping something will magically help with challenges it's not built for. I'm checking the seed packet before I plant them instead of putting down seed and hoping for tomatoes.
Finding My Kind of Crazy
Early in the year, my laptop and Alex Hormozi's $100M Leads book went flying off my car roof (I was trying to keep them away from a toddler with water toys. Lol). It was my last straw with totally pivoting my business offer, since I had to revert to my old laptop.
On the bright side, it led me to discover Leila Hormozi's YouTube channel. During a 9-hour car trip, I sampled one video, and was so impressed that I spent Florida to North Carolina getting the best executive skills training I’d ever seen.
It wasn't just business advice - it was permission to embrace the hard stuff.
Instead of more copywriting tips or social media strategies, Leila talked about the stuff I was actually struggling with:
how to truly train a team (which explained a lot about my VA situation)
how to build real consistency when the odds are against you (which explained a lot about why I kept outsourcing solutions instead of working on foundations)
how to sit in uncomfortable seasons while working toward your goals
She considers the whole idea of "work-life balance" to be nonsense, and talks about letting them blend without treating it like a bad thing. I felt SO seen. That's exactly what being a stay-at-home parent is. You never fully get to clock out, and while you have a huge goal in mind (raising happy, capable adults), there’s a lot of un-sexy essential work. Like wiping butts.
To hear her treat life as an exciting, character-building challenge was just what I needed. It was a huge relief to find a space that was celebrated seasons of goal-focused grind — prior to that, I’d almost exclusively consumed content that demonized long hours and work that wasn’t 100% aligned with your passion.
Leila finds satisfaction in working intensely because it helps her become who she wanted to be, I realized I felt the same way about motherhood.
Plus, instead of trying to keep my executive skills locked in my "business box," I started applying them to my homemaker role. Suddenly I got better at everything - shopping smarter, delegating to my husband, training my kids, managing my time. I can’t tell you how much more fulfilled and excited I feel about my life at home. Managing all the mundane moving pieces with executive strategies has been super rewarding.
Turns out, embracing the hard stuff beats trying to make everything easy. Leaning into weeding, watering, and waiting gets stuff to grow.
Building Self-Trust Organically
Telling yourself to "trust yourself" is like telling yourself to calm down when you're angry. It’s a skill you build with practice, not an ideal you discover hiding within yourself.
I'd spent years avoiding certain commitments and outsourcing particularly scary tasks because deep down, I didn't trust myself to follow through.
I chronically made massive goals then under evaluated outcomes, creating a cycle of making commitments that were very hard to keep — fulfilling its own prophesy.
Like hiring virtual assistants to handle my social media and email because I didn't trust myself to be consistent with it.
Or booking coaching because I didn't trust my own learning process.
Or not creating content because I was worried it would flop, even if I tried hard.
When I finally had to do stuff myself, I tried making my own gym for doing the reps needed to build self trust during extreme discomfort. If I wanted the muscles, I needed to grow them organically.
I committed to creating three months of email and blog content while pregnant. And I prepared for an unmedicated birth.
And you know what? I pulled through on both. Not because I believed in myself more, but because I practiced showing up made it a habit.
Sometimes it meant sitting with nausea while planning content.
Sometimes it meant posting even though I knew I could make it more perfect.
A lot of times it meant asking for help instead of trying to do it all.
It meant saying “no” more firmly to commitments instead of leaving the door open.
It meant breaking aspirational goals into smaller goals that felt less impressive, but were more manageable.
It meant trying out solutions knowing that it might not work at all, even with all the effort I’d invested.
When I’m doing something really hard that’s a long haul effort, I like to imagine a conference room full of versions of me from over the years. The five year old me, ten year old, and so on until I’m an old lady. I think about what they would say to me while I’m in the season I’m in.
Usually it’s advice, encouragement, or an honest reaction to my circumstances. It give me space to react at a 5 year old level (“wow, you’re so cool!”) to an 80 year old level (“I’m proud of you”).
When I was giving birth, I went back to the conference room in my mind. I needed their support more than ever. Intense pain is manageable, but intense pain without an end in sight is much, much harder.
The vibe was different.
My child versions were running around excited to meet a baby and be a part of a high-drama event.
Teen and early 20s versions of myself were cheering in disbelief, astonished that it was even possible to deliver without an epidural.
My thirty and forty-year-old selves were coaching me — “you’ve got this, you’re making it happen!” “this is a win you’ll be able to hold on to for the rest of your life!”.
My senior selves were smiling softly with a little golfer’s clap. They said, “We knew you had it in you this whole time. This was the moment you prepared for.”
You don’t harvest the day you plant the seeds. But doing the work until you get the fruit of your labor makes planting new seeds so much more rewarding.
Not Getting Seduced By Shortcuts
I'm a shortcut junkie. It’s my superpower and my weakness.
For example, back in high school, I discovered CLEP exams that, if passed, gave you the credits for basic prerequisites, like English 110. I’d do the high school class, then go take the respective CLEP exam, which was usually only 90 minutes long and less than 200 bucks. Ten exams later, I'd avoided spending hundreds of hours in general ed classes, and saved thousands of dollars. It rolled with all my other community college credits into a full legit associate degree. At 17 year old.
Needless to say, it’s pretty hard to go back to a good old fashioned “slow and steady wins the race” mentality after tasting that kind of expedited progress.
If I’m not careful, constantly consuming life hacks atrophies my muscles for working through things that have no shortcut. Like building soft skills — accountability, resiliency, staying on top of emails, that kind of thing.
Years 2020-2024 felt like one bootcamp after another for soft skills. Being a nurse during COVID, having a kid, and running your own business will do that to you.
But in 2024, I got to dig deeper into the different between simplifying things and shortcutting things.
I'd spend hours planning, strategizing, and looking for clever solutions (shortcuts). It felt productive. And less scary than the grunt work. Like somehow, if I just thought about it hard enough, I'd find a magical way around the grunt work.
Meanwhile, I was also great at staying busy with tasks that felt good but didn't move the needle. Both extremes - all strategy, no execution, or all execution, no strategy - were just different ways of avoiding the real work.
Ironically, simplifying often IS the shortcut. I didn’t need to find the software or SOP that would be the perfect fit. I needed to quickly come up with something basic, try it out, then course correct.
I spent 2024 practicing trading shortcuts to the result for simplifying the process. It majorly grew my problem-solving intuition.
I was super inspired when I saw a typo on the very first page in Alex Hormozi’s $100M Offers book. And his janky stick-figure illustrations. The man’s got a 500 million dollar net worth. He can afford the best editors and illustrators. But the goal of his book was to impart a message effectively. Clearly, typos and Sharpie-drawings did not slow him down.
If he can do it without being afraid of looking unpolished, I figured, so can I.
Plus, it was a big inspiration to focus way more on getting better more than looking better.
Sometimes there isn't a shortcut. Sometimes you just have to put in the reps, make the calls, write the emails, and do the thing. You’ve got to weed, water, and wait. Strategy without execution is just daydreaming while calling productivity. And execution without strategy is just running in circles really fast.
The 60% Problem (and the Invisible Labor Solution)
In 2023, I had to face facts: I wasn't as fast at writing copy and managing admin as I used to be. (Having a kid will do that to you.)
I'd estimate how long something would take - like writing a video script for a client - and it would take way longer. Then I'd feel awful about missing deadlines. I simplified stuff, got faster, but I felt like I couldn’t get back to that pre-kid speed.
Stuff clicked when I found a study showing tasks take up to 60% longer when there are interruptions. That's exactly what happens when you're trying to work when your breastfeeding baby takes 3 naps a day, and your toddler’s asking for help again.
My business was really important to me — but being at home with my kids was more important. I needed to really own that choice and shape my decisions around it.
The first step was to allow that priority to level the biz stuff that didn’t fit any more. I knew could not deliver the big complex stuff when I was nauseous or < 3 months postpartum. I had to give myself permission not to make money in those seasons. It also lead me to develop and offer awesome AI products in 2024 — much easier value to deliver than a service.
The second step was owning up the the ancillary task I was rushing through, not accounting for, or just ignoring. It’s the invisible labor of the task. You can’t simplify the process of growing your garden if you act like it takes care of itself. You can’t simplify writing when you forget to factor in outlining, organizing, editing, and SEO.
Instead of fighting the interruptions or beating myself up about being slower, I got strategic about all the little things around the main task that eat up time. This let the high-value stuff not be pressured to go faster — but rather, the necessary but lower value support tasks.
So when I started using AI to help support my copywriting, I didn't use it to do my job. I used it to handle the cleanup work so I could focus on the parts that really needed my expertise. I wanted to use my brainpower on copy strategy, adding original stories/insights/data, and making sure it spoke to the audience. But I didn’t need to waste brainpower on cleaning up voice dictation cleanup, proofreading, or reorganizing content. I
By streamlining these surrounding tasks, I shaved hours off my blog and email writing time. I went from having 3ish blog posts over 4 years to a blog every 2 weeks month after month after month.
Simplifying helped me work with distractions, which grew my consistency, which then grew my quality.
Just Light the Match Already
You make exactly $0 doing when you don’t launch or pitch yourself. Putting yourself out there isn’t high risk. It just feels really uncomfortable.
I put myself out there a ton this year with that mentality. I wasn’t losing money by putting out 8 lead magnets, blogs, launches, or DMs. But if I didn’t put myself out there — I was losing the opportunity to build tons of skill, authority, and online presence.
And losing the opportunity to make money.
Two weeks before Black Friday, I had this wild idea to cobble together a full funnel - landing pages, emails, fulfillment, everything. My dear inner perfectionist was having a stroke. It was too last-minute, too bare-bones, would flop with my small email list. I had an infant and a toddler. Moms just didn’t do this.
But doing nothing would guarantee both zero dollars AND zero learning. The biggest loss potentially hurting my own feelings. But they’ll be fine. So I went for it. I offered a subscription to my ChatGPT email and blog bots to my small email list.
And guess what? It made more than $0.
It actually got over a 1% conversion rate! Below average? Maybe. But did I plant a seed, put in the work, and grow some fruit? Yes!
So I was over the moon! What could a conversion rate look like if I DID put in more time and prep? Or if I had a bigger list?
The money was great, but the real win? Squishing my assumption that last-minute or basic launches were pointless. Also learning to pull together a launch at breakneck speed. Talk about a problem-solving critical-thinking bootcamp. Turns out you don't need a perfectly polished funnel or pitch to make sales. You just need to strike the match. Plant the seeds and see what roots.
You can't make a bonfire by just pouring gasoline somewhere that feels like it should make a fire. But if you've got even a tiny fire going? That's the perfect place to put your gas.
Now I know exactly where to pour the gas next time.
2024 Wrapped
Here's what 2024 taught me: when you keep "doing research" and "getting ready" before trying a new software, offer, solution, or SOP – you're gatekeeping yourself from your best results.
Up until this year, I wildly underestimated that letting yourself quickly finding out what doesn't work lets you refine your efforts into things that DO work. And it's way lower-risk than you think.
When things fell apart this year - the virtual assistant team, the laptop breaking, the market changes, Hurricane Helene hitting my city, having a baby (and needing a walker), cars breaking down - I could have spent more time planning, researching, and trying to make the perfect move.
Instead, I started trying things:
Made 8 lead magnets and grew my email list
Built blog and email support tools (then turned them into products)
Put together a Black Friday offer in 2 weeks
Started consistent 2x/month blogs and 2x/week email newsletters
Collected data to know what to do more of (and to make case studies for you!)
Sold big blog packages and custom GPTs to try out different offers
Majorly improved my skills at quickly trying out solutions
Learned how to plan, shoot, edit, and evaluate short-form video content
Gave birth medication free!
Navigated a natural disaster with a newborn and a toddler
Did P90x after birth
Got a baby sleeping through the night at 13 weeks
Got an infant and toddler sharing a room!
Deepened friendships that I’d held back on
Learned how to find (and use) free and very low cost high-level coaching
Figured out how to build chatbots (which helped me reduce 5 hour blogs into 2 hour blogs)
Figured out how to sell those chatbots
Discovered and perfected several new deserts I’d always wanted to try
I heard Sharran Srivatsaa boil down the process of getting better super well: suck, but don’t skip.
Did a lot of that in 2024. The workouts didn’t always have great form. The content was sometimes lame. The chatbot building didn’t work for a long time. But sucking at trying things out gave me better results than skipping.
You make $0 and no skills by doing nothing – which makes it very hard to lose when you try new solutions. When you plant seeds and take care of them — it’s hard not to grow things.
This was a vulnerable share. Thanks for being here.
I'd really love to hear what 2024 showed you – would you click leave a comment and tell me? What did 2024 show you? What would you like 2025 to show you?