We send out a weekly email wrap-up to all of our customers and VIPs at Hasseman Marketing.  It goes out on Monday Morning and it has for years.  And since it has been happening for so long, it has evolved over the years.  It started out as a more “sales-y” email and has evolved to delivering content.    And recently it evolved as we updated the software we use to deliver it.

As we made that recent change, Hasseman Marketing’s Director of Marketing, Dustin Haywood, decided to update the look of the email.  It went from mostly text with links to a more graphics-heavy look promoting the articles, videos, and podcasts we do.  He did a great job upgrading the look.  (You can sign up to get on this list here).

But with every change there are challenges.

Last week, in doing the newsletter, I realized (after the fact) that I had missed updating a couple of the links…so they went to the wrong articles.  It’s not the end of the world to be sure, but it is frustrating.  Totally my fault.  So I asked myself…

What did I learn?

I decided that my big lesson was that I needed to give myself a bit more time.  First, there are just more things to update in the new format and so that will take more time.  Plus, it’s just new.  As I get more used to the new format I will get quicker (I hope).  But for now, I just need some extra time to get it ready.  No problem.  Lesson learned.

Usually, I get up at 5 am on Monday to start this project.  In order to get ahead of the game, I started working on it before dinner on Sunday.  I was about halfway done with the project when the family started to arrive for Sunday dinner.  In my excitement, I hopped up to greet the gang and left the project.

What did I not do?  Hit save.

This morning when I woke up to finish the project, I realized that I would have to start over.  And since it was really early, and I didn’t want my screaming to wake up Amy, I just took a deep breath and asked myself a simple question.

What Did I Learn?

In this instance, I learned two very valuable things that will serve me in the future.  Was it frustrating this morning?  Absolutely.  But in nearly every frustration in life, there are lessons we can learn if we are open to them.  And by leaning in and asking this question at the moment, you might be able to speed these lessons up.

Make sure you never miss an update.  Now is a good time to get on this VIP email list.    Sign up to be an HMC VIP here.