After being an entrepreneur/business owner for most of my adult life, I understand that sometimes the day-to-day can get static and uninspiring. The excitement and thrill, in the beginning, are similar to a new relationship - you wake up every morning excited to spend time with it, and after a while, you may find yourself in patterns that don’t exactly have you jumping out of bed to participate in. Like most things in my life, when I catch myself in this complacent state, my perception could use some altering, some adjustments need to be made in my daily life, and my level of mindset and presence could probably use some tuning up. I have honed down my experiences to 5 actionable steps I use to consistently fall back in love with my business to share with you here.
Get out of your routine
I catch myself from time to time living in what I call “little land”. The place in my head where everything needs to be done in order, on time, and exactly how I’ve always done it. When I'm in this state, I feel uninspired, like everything is hard, and everyday starts to feel like groundhog day. Part of having a new experience with something means getting out of the box of your “usual” routine and shaking it up a bit. Get uncomfortable and step away from it all for a day. Not to do something else “productive” or “purposeful”, but to play hookie, and do whatever you want, whenever you want to. My experience with this is I end up getting a genius idea (or at the very least having an amazing restful day) and return to my desk feeling refreshed and ready to approach it all the next day. (Sometimes, admittedly, a few days later because I realize just how burnt out I am.)
A gentle reminder that you didn’t start your own business to be a slave to your business - you most likely started it to create more freedom in your life, so perhaps it's time to actually experience it. Sometimes I need this experience to remind me that the world does not crumble when I step aside, it actually runs quite smoothly when I get out of the way. [hehe]
Say it out loud
When I try to keep things to myself, especially when it comes to my unhappiness or uneasiness, it seems to fester inside and multiply. One thing I’ve learned after suffering through being a self-sustainable, hyper-independent boss lady, is that I don’t have to do it alone, and I don’t have to bottle everything up and just “push through it”. My best resources are the people I have in my life that I can vent to honestly in the moment, and release what is happening inside my mind. The doubt, the fear, the frustration, the joy, the excitement - it either amplifies, or disintegrates depending on with whom I share it, and actually creates a deeper level of intimacy between me and the people I share it with because I’m willing to get vulnerable. Sometimes, I get valuable suggestions from people, sometimes I find my answers by simply saying them out loud. And of course, if you’d like an unbiased opinion, and don’t feel like you have that person in your life yet, you can always book a confidential call with me and I’m happy to listen and share my experience.
Outsource, outsource, outsource!
This I cannot stress enough. Ever heard the term “follow your bliss”? It’s a statement that a lot of people hear, and dismiss quite quickly saying that it’s a pipe dream or something that you do after the “real” or “hard” work is done. (You know, when it’s 6 pm after you’ve worked all day and you just want to sleep while you eat your dinner).
What if you spent this next week performing the tasks you do for your business while noticing what inspires you, fills up your bucket, and leaves you feeling energized, versus, what drains you and squashes your sense of purpose? What if you made a list of the things that drain you and you made a decision to outsource those things and merely focused on what elevates and inspires you? What would your daily life look like then?
One other thing to consider if you feel hesitant about outsourcing is that the people you outsource to are experts in that matter… I know that I am not a graphic designer, but the 3 I have on my team are AMAZING and they create beautiful work I could not even begin to compete with. You are the expert on your portion of the business, and outsourcing to a team that can handle the other nitty-gritty tasks will ease your workload and get you back into doing what you love!
Check out the creative services we offer or learn more about our virtual administrative services including bookkeeping, project management, and human resource management like payroll, contracts, hiring, etc.
Brain Dump it UP!
When was the last time you did a brain dump for your business? This helps me when I am trying to re-organize my mind, get outta the weeds, and simplify processes. Start with the name of your business, then revisit your values, why you started the business in the first place, who your ideal clients are (current & future), how you want to impact their lives during and after working with you or using your product, what you are grateful for that your business has brought to your life, and see what else comes up for you. Perhaps you’ll end up down a rabbit trail of marketing ideas, or people may come to mind for connections you’d like to make. Maybe you’ll see the things that you want to get to but need a little support in executing.
If you'd like to be guided through a series of questions to get to the bottom of it all, book a live session with me!
Vision Board - Do you have one?
Has anyone ever told you about the Universal Law of Attention that states “What you focus on grows”? It can be so easy to lose sight of what you are building in the day-to-day: the bills, the emails, the invoicing, the marketing, the services, the products, the timelines, and the deadlines. Having a simple visual representation right by where I work has been key to me not only staying motivated at times when I am not so inclined, but also prompting me to spend some time in my imagination (where everything is created first) with the overarching view. With the internet right at our fingertips, it has never been easier to create one! I usually save images that I find while scrolling through social, then send them to my printer to add in the next time I’m near the corkboard.
Are you ready to focus on the parts of your business you love and enjoy what you've built? We can help you design, communicate and run your businesses with ease through our full range of graphic design, business management, and consulting services. Book a call with Erin today so you can fall back in love with your business.
