TRANSCRIPT
[0:00] How well is your business serving you in living the life you want? This is the question that I ask people when they join the Evolve Mastermind. How well is your business serving you in living the life that you want?
[0:18] Quite often, I find that when women come to work with me, they might be in one of these situations. Situations they might be completely stressed out because they're working all the hours they possibly can to try and make this business work and what's happening is they're not spending time with their family or with their kids so they're feeling a lot of mum guilt they're feeling burnt out they're feeling resentful towards their business as well because they feel like they just have to be working all the time this is not serving them the other end of the scale is that they love their business, they love what they do, but maybe it's not bringing in the income that they need. And that's creating a lot of stress and worry and self-doubt around their business. That is also not serving them in living the life that they want. The problem is that you can end up spending months, if not years, in this place. So what can we do to change this? The first step is to take an honest look at how your business is working for you, whether you are able to create the life-friendly business that you want with the model that you're working to. It doesn't matter how many years you've been doing this business, it is never too late to change your approach.
[1:44] If you're feeling out of control of your business, if you find yourself avoiding making decisions, you feel like you've got no headspace to think things through, maybe you feel like you're drowning and maybe you feel like you're absolutely on the road to burnout, which is not a great feeling. The thing that you're missing here is carving out the time to think and to reflect and to plan and that's what I call CEO time because so often we can be so busy in the weeds of the business in the day-to-day running of the business that we're not allowing time to have the overview and that's what can make us feel so out of control. So in this CEO time you need to be thinking about what you want your business and your life to look like and be realistic about how it is measuring up for you right now. You need to take an honest audit of how things are going. Is it the fact that actually you love what you do and you're loving running the business, but it's not bringing you enough money yet? So you're almost in that position where you're thinking, do I need to take on another job or do I need to stop this business because it's not bringing in enough money? Or is it the fact that maybe you are making money, but you're completely stressed out because you're having to work all the hours to be able to fulfill those orders and those sales.
[3:11] The most important thing is that you resolve to face this head on.
[3:17] It's really easy when we're living such busy lives to just feel like we need to be in survival mode and we're just trying to get through the day and that means getting through the week and then that means the month and then that's the year and you look back and you've basically been stuck in this phase of things feeling really really hard and not feeling like you've got the headspace to make a change so if this is resonating with you please take this as a sign that you need to stop and you need to reflect and think about how you want things to be and then you need to resolve to actually take action on it. This could be chatting to a business friend. It could be chatting to a mentor. It could be speaking to people in your community. You need to be able to speak openly and honestly with people that are actually going to get it. And it's that moment of kind of realization and verbal processing as well that will help you move forward so that you You can create a business that is serving you in living the life that you want. And I just want to clarify here that the idea of a life-friendly approach is not a nice to have. It's a must. And I'll tell you why. 74% of people have felt so stressed that they've been overwhelmed or unable to cope.
[4:44] One in 14 adults feel stressed every single day. And not surprisingly, after lockdown, 82% of parents have symptoms of parental burnout. Taking a life-friendly approach to your business and recognising all the other things that you are doing in your lives and that you are responsible for in
[5:09] your lives is not a nice to have. It's absolutely essential. So when I put together the seven core principles of a life-friendly business, these are all the things that over the years, when I've been thinking about the different things that I've struggled with since I've been in business back from 2008.
[5:28] These are the things that I wish someone had told me. So the seven core principles of a life-friendly business are that number one, the business gives you the flexibility that you want. This is so often why we start our own businesses in the first place. It also needs to energize and inspire you. I want you to love running your business. I want you to love doing what you do. So that is something that is really important here. The business also, of course, needs to support the income that you desire. We are running a business and we need money to live, pay our mortgages, food, bills, all those things. It's also one that's run on your own terms. This is where you need to step up and know that you're the one that makes the decisions in this business. So if you're feeling like the business is running you rather than the other way around, we need to take back the power. It's also a business that is led by the best boss, and that is you. And one thing I come across so much is people being really incredibly hard on themselves. So think about how you can be the best boss to yourself that you can be.
[6:37] Also, a life-friendly business is one that strategically relies on the support of others. Just because you may be a solopreneur does not mean that you have to do everything on your own. You know, I totally get the whole idea of starting on a shoestring budget. I've done it myself several times and that feeling that we're the only one that can do everything in our business. Business but that can lead to burnout it can also lead to all the guilt around the fact that you're having to work all the hours and do everything yourself and it's not enjoyable and it's not good for your nervous system so we really need to be thinking about where we can get support and lastly your life-friendly business is built on smart work not hustle or burnout this is not about the whole idea of you have to put in the sacrifice.
[7:30] You have to work all the hours, at least for the first few years, and then you can look at your work-life balance. This is about getting those things in now, in the foundations. And it doesn't matter how long you have been running your business, it is never too late to take back the power. And yes, it might mean having some difficult decisions. It might mean changing the way that you're working with your clients or your customers, but it's 100% worth it for your health and your sanity.
[8:01] So my big message on this episode is if things are not feeling good for you right now, please resolve to take action. You don't have to stay in this place. You have the power to change things. If you can't see the wood for the trees and you can't see how to change things,
[8:19] that's where you need to reach out and get support. Support you can reach out to me you can reach out to people in your own community having clarity on your situation is absolutely invaluable and it's really hard to get clarity when your brain is like a snow globe and you're just trying to juggle too many things we need to allow ourselves time to breathe and our brains time to settle i do have a free workbook on helping you find clarity in your business. So I'll put the link to that in the show notes. You can find that on the website, lifefriendlybusiness.com. So take a moment to consider how you want your life and your business to look and feel. And that also includes the measures of success. How are you measuring your success right now? Is it purely financial? Is it on the impact that you're creating? Is it on the flexibility that you have to work around school holidays and doctor's appointments. What does success mean for you? This is so important and it might not be the same as the person next to you. And then you need to take an honest audit of how things are matching up right now.
[9:28] And then the most important bit is if things need to change, you need to make that happen. Don't stay where you are right now. Don't waste any more time.
[9:38] Life is short and it is possible for you to build an amazing, thriving business that you love, that you jump out of bed for every day, that fills you up, that gives you the flexibility that you need, that supports your income, that's run on your own terms, that that you love working for because you're the best boss that you are to yourselves, that you're getting the support that you need so you don't feel on your own and that you know you are being savvy with your time. This is one of the key things you need to learn to be savvy with your time. And that's something that I love helping you with. So do reach out if you want to talk more about it. But I would love to hear whether you've resonated with this episode. Please reach out you can email me at erin at life friendly business.com or find me on social at life friendly biz i'll see you next week.
