Paul Smith’s Post

Is it time for an unpolished and raw annual review? No lessons, no selling, no messages. I'll let you decide… This year brought me significant change, so in no particular order: 👉 Sank personal $$ to keep a business alive but it's now doing well. I struggled to pay rent at times. had panic attacks, sleepless nights, and tears but…still fighting to keep dreams alive. I am determined to not give up even though I very often want to. Luckily, my team is awesome. 👉 On that, I almost gave up the corporate governance game, but a trip to North America for keynotes and meetings reinvigorated my motivation. Thanks mostly to Matt Fullbrook and Karen Fryday-Field. 👉 Moved across an entire continent to be closer to the various centres of my life, but had to make huge sacrifices to make it happen, not least moving away from my son. 👉 Met someone and fell in love. Still going so yay! ❤️ 👉 Raised $$$ for Future Directors to fully realise our tech transition, add new short courses, and positively impact a slow-moving industry. 2025 will be a huge year for us. 👉 Helped start a new director community overseas but unfortunately still waiting to get paid for much of the work. Ok, there's one lesson, always get paid upfront and don't rely on trust alone. 👉 Launched my Board Futurist brand and started to write my 3rd book, but missed my (personal) deadline for completion due to exhaustion, distractions and a focus on income-generating activities. 👉 Delivered so much work and content that I’m ridiculously proud of but struggled to always celebrate. Workshops, keynotes, mentoring, board reviews, videos, articles, short courses, advisory, and my new baby the ChairCraft Program with Kay Solanki GAICD CIECL. 👉 Enter 2025 with more pipeline & potential across everything than ever before. It won't be without significant challenges, but such is the life of a obsessive change-agent. 👉 Passed my 100th podcast episode, 11,000 LinkedIn followers, and Future Directors is nearing 1,000 members in over 50 countries. This last one is amazing given our challenges. 👉 No holidays, but many rest days. I took my mental and physical health more seriously as I rapidly approach 50. 👉 Got to hang out again with my friend Dr Jane Goodall during her tour Down Under. She’s 90, so will it be my last whisky with this inspirational icon? I hope not. 👉 Decided to be bolder and braver with my work. Taking on the mediocre and established players without fear, in a space that thrives on maintaining the status quo. Thanks to Zoe Williams for the coaching moment. 👉 Finally, met some amazing new people this year. Too many to mention but the highlights included James Arvanitakis Alix Beattie Miranda V. Flury, MPH, MBA, CoopDirector.D Andrew Beitz Ashleigh Camm and Tom Chapel (who looked after me in Atlanta). Keep fighting the good fight. You are not alone.