About a year ago, I was in my mentor’s office discussing a feeling I couldn’t quite shake: “Am I holding my business back because I have a low-risk appetite?” I forget what decision that question related to, but it was undoubtedly related to spending a big sum of money on the business. My mentor’s response, and something that I continue to think about most days, is that our risk appetites aren’t fixed. You want to take more risks? Practice it the same way you would anything else, and don’t be restricted in what you think a risk is. I promise it will start to change the way you look at your decisions.

I’m always asked when I knew the right time to quit my full-time job and launch The Daily Aus full-time was. The reality? When we could afford it. The idea of putting all your savings into a business and neglecting your basic needs (rent in Sydney isn’t going to pay itself) is majorly glorified. I’m so glad I only took the ‘risk’ once I knew I had the financial security to do so.

Value your time the same way you would value anyone else’s. I still need to work on this, but understanding there is value in your time is something I wished I had been told earlier.

There have been many times over the last few years when my co-founder Sam or I (or both of us) have been asked to do something (usually a big project) and we’ve said yes, purely because we’re flattered. Is it good for the business? Absolutely not! It means we’re prioritising or focusing on a project that isn’t about or – crucially – for the business. We now stop and ask ourselves: Is this actually a good business decision? Or are we being a teeny bit vain?

Again, anyone in my team reading this will laugh at the irony of me telling someone else to do this when I don’t, but hell, that’s the benefit of a one-sided newsletter. I once went out for dinner with a friend who was wearing beautiful rings on her hands. I asked about them, and she said they were each bought (by her, for her) after a particularly significant professional milestone that she was proud of. Now I’m not telling you that buying rings is the answer, but finding some way to celebrate the wins is crucial. When you’re juggling a hundred things, recognising that you’ve done at least one of them right, at some point, is going to be fundamental to pushing you through the hard parts.