Today kicks off the third quarter of our year-long EVOLVE 2021 program, and we’ll be focused on the following Ellivate core principle for the next three months:
Harmonious Systems –
You should run your business (not the other way around!). Explore where you can simplify and outsource your processes, so you can spend more time in your zone of genius and run the business with more ease and grace.
I have a simple question for you – do you run your business, or does your business run you?
If you feel like your business is running you these days, you are not alone!!
For the first 3 years of my business, my business was definitely running me (sometimes, it even felt like it was running me over!)! I felt frazzled most of the time, like I couldn’t keep up with all the things I needed to do.
Why did I feel this way? Hmmm…let’s see…I was ideating, operationalizing, selling, marketing, delivering, billing and collecting on the work! Of course, as a business owner, I also needed to work on the business, not just in it, so I saved my strategic thinking for my personal “downtime” – nights, weekends, sometimes even the middle of the night. My brain would sometimes turn on in the quiet hours of the night, and I couldn’t always shut it back down into sleep mode.
I was teetering in and out of burn-out. What I was doing was not sustainable. It was time to take control of my business, my calendar and my life.
I started working with a new coach to help me set and honor boundaries for my business. Over the next few years, with consistent effort, I streamlined my processes, one at a time. I started outsourcing and automating what I could, based on my available budget. Each step I took freed up more time and energy to tackle the next one.
I took back control of my time and my calendar. Instead of letting others book my time whenever they chose, I set clear boundaries on my meeting hours and trained myself to honor them (after all, no one will honor our boundaries, if we don’t honor them ourselves!). I built up my “no” muscles through lots and lots of practice.
I’m happy to share that I now have a schedule that feels good to me (most of the time), and I’m still able to do most of the things I want to do in and on my business. It now feels like my businesses actually support me (rather than the other way around). Instead of draining me, my businesses energize me more often than not.
This is not something we’ll ever get quite perfect. There will always be more systems to harmonize in a business – more things we can simplify, outsource and automate as we continue to learn and grow our businesses. The question is, are you feeling more harmony or dissonance in your business?
If you’re feeling the harmony – congrats!! Please, share some of the ways you’ve achieved this harmony with other business owners – inspire us to do the same!
If you’re feeling the dissonance – where do you feel it the most? Start there…and ask for help. There is a whole community of women entrepreneurs ready to support you here at the Ellivate Alliance!
With deep love and gratitude,
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