January is a whirlwind for anyone - new year, new agenda and new plans. After a few weeks, the mountain of deadlines and the daily agenda list can leave you stressed, exhausted, and running on fumes. Sound familiar? We accountants and bookkeepers are especially prone to January blues with all the 31 January filing deadlines. It’s often tempting to push through and power on, but sometimes, the best way to tackle those challenges is to take a step back and reset.
This was exactly what our team decided to do earlier this year when we attended the EngagerLabs by Engager.app conference in February. We pressed pause, stepped away from our endless to-do lists, and took a day to recharge, learn, and discover innovative ways to move forward. Spoiler alert—it transformed how we approach our work.
Here’s how you can hit reset and take your business to the next level.
You might be thinking, “I can’t afford to take a day off.” But what if taking one day to pause could yield weeks, even months, of clarity and improved results?
January had left us drained, struggling to see the big picture beneath daily demands. Attending the EngagerLabs conference was a chance to refresh our perspective—and it paid off tenfold. The speakers and sessions pushed us to look at challenges differently and gave us tools that reshaped the way we work.
Here are four of the most valuable lessons we learned at the conference and how they can help your business thrive too.
Key Speaker: Andy Grant
What struck us most about Andy’s talk was his story of resilience. Having overcome significant personal challenges, Andy explained how setbacks, while hard to bear, can also be opportunities for growth. He stressed the importance of focusing on small, consistent wins rather than dwelling on failures.
For instance, instead of constantly worrying about that one client you may have lost last year, focus on celebrating the clients who stuck with you and the new ones you’re acquiring. Every win, no matter how minor it seems, is a step forward.
Lesson learned? Shift your mindset. Challenges will come, but how you choose to react to them determines whether they’ll hold you back or catapult you forward.
Actionable Tip: Start a "Wins Journal" where the team writes down one success—big or small—from their day. Reflecting on successes fosters resilience and optimism.
Key Speaker: Nick Entwistle, One Minute Briefs
Nick Entwistle’s session was all about getting bold with ideas and letting go of the need for perfection. Through creative exercises, like one-minute brainstorming sessions, we were encouraged to think differently and craft original ideas under time pressure.
One standout result? The tagline we created on the spot for a client’s product—“What’s good, better, best can happen? Build it with MyCloud-Accounts.” Equipped with this new mantra, we approached marketing projects with fresh vision and confidence.
Nick reminded us that bold thinking doesn’t mean flawless execution; it means taking risks and letting creativity flow, then refining afterward.
Actionable Tip: Dedicate 10 minutes in your next team meeting to rapid-fire idea generation. It’s not about "perfect" ideas—it’s about creating a springboard for bigger, better solutions.
Key Speaker: Karen Reyburn
Karen Reyburn’s talk stood out as a reminder of why marketing is far more than selling a product or service. Great marketing is the thread that connects your brand to its goals, customers, and values. It’s also the story you tell your clients and a direct driver of business growth.
More than just acquiring new business, we learned how strong marketing can strengthen client communication and rally a team behind shared goals. Marketing, Karen explained, builds resilience—not just for your brand but also for your relationships with your clients.
Actionable Tip: Your marketing promise sets expectations for your clients and must be supported by consistent action. Think of 1 sentence today you repeat to every single client of yours - do you have consistent systems to make sure you, your team fulfill this obligation?
Perhaps the most eye-opening part of the conference was the emphasis on collaboration—both internally within teams and externally with partners. The opportunity to network with like-minded professionals gave us a renewed sense of shared purpose and support.
Building authentic partnerships, we learned, can unlock opportunities you never imagined. Whether you’re connecting with a complementary business or forming stronger alliances within your own team, collaboration sparks growth and innovation that wouldn’t happen otherwise.
Actionable Tip: Identify three potential collaborators—whether they’re experts in your industry, tools to integrate into your work, or even clients who are tackling similar challenges. Reach out and explore how you can work together.
One day at EngagerLabs taught us to rethink our priorities, experiment with bold ideas, and refocus on what truly matters. But the takeaway that resonated with us most came in the form of a simple question posed by one of the speakers to the audience:
What’s the single most important change your business could work on today?
It doesn’t have to be a monumental shift. It could be streamlining your invoicing process, hosting regular team brainstorming sessions, or simply starting that marketing revamp you’ve been putting off. Big results don’t happen overnight—but small, consistent changes compound into profound improvements over time.
If you feel January (or any month!) leaving you burnt out, maybe it’s time to step back for a moment before moving forward. Pause, recalibrate, and leverage what you’ve learned to build a better future for your business.
Pause isn’t just about stopping—it’s about creating space for what matters. If you’re looking for tools, ideas, or inspiration that can help you and your business grow, consider attending events, networking, and having conversations that shake you out of your routine.
You don’t need massive disruption—just one commitment to positive action at a time. Where will you start?