Erin Thomas Wong (00:00)
Hi, and welcome back to the Life-Friendly Business podcast. I'm Erin Thomas Wong, The Life-Friendly Business Mentor, and I'm on a mission to help women realize they are not failing at business. They're simply following a model that doesn't fit their real lives. I help female solopreneurs take a capacity-first approach so they can build their businesses in a way that supports their life rather than consumes it. And in this season, I'm
sharing a different way to think about your entire business.
In the last episode, we talked about stepping into your role as the CEO, creating space to think, reflect and make intentional decisions. And once you start doing that, one of the most important questions you can ask is what actually matters most right now? Because when you're running a business on your own, there is always more you could be doing.
There is always another idea to pursue, another platform to try, another strategy someone else says you should implement, another course to take, another thing to tweak. And if you're not careful, you can spend your whole week busy without moving the needle in any meaningful way.
This is one of the biggest shifts I help women to make, understanding the difference between being busy and doing the work that actually creates results, because they're not the same thing.
And this is where I love talking about your 5%, which comes from James Wedmore, the small handful of activities that create the biggest impact in your business. The things that genuinely lead to clients, sales, visibility and momentum.
When your time is limited, focus becomes everything. If you only have a few focussed hours each week, you cannot afford to spread your energy across 20 different tasks. You need to know what matters most right now today.
I often say that when everything feels important, nothing is going to get the attention it needs. And that's when the overwhelm creeps in.
This approach becomes even more powerful during challenging times in our life. I've worked with clients who were navigating bereavement, illness, family crises, major life changes. And in those moments, the most important thing they need to do is to look after themselves.
to put their own oxygen mask on first. Because when life throws something significant your way, your wellbeing absolutely has to come first. And then we need to ask, how can the business support you during this time? What is the minimum you need to do to keep the wheels turning? What is your 5 % right now?
And this is where having the life-friendly foundations in place first really comes into its own. Because when your business is built around clarity and simplicity and a focus on what truly matters, it's going to be far more resilient. It can flex with you, it can support you during difficult seasons, and you're much less likely to feel like everything's going to fall apart the moment that life happens.
Another thing that pulls us away from our 5 % is what I sometimes call comparitonitis. You see someone launching a new offer, starting a new podcast, posting on Instagram every day, winning awards, running webinars, launching ads, and suddenly you start to wonder whether you should be doing that too.
But just because someone else is doing something doesn't mean that you should be doing it too. And just because you could do something does not mean you should.
Every yes comes with a cost. A cost in time, energy, attention and mental bandwidth. And every time you say yes to something that isn't truly aligned, you're saying no to something that matters more. We cannot do everything.
Depending on your business, your 5 % might include following up with warm leads, having sales conversations, sending an email to your list, creating content to nurture your audience,
creating content linked to your offer, refining your message and asking for referrals.
And often the things that we spend most time on are not our 5%, like endlessly tweaking Canva graphics, reorganizing folders, researching tools, overthinking, trying to perfect things before we actually put them out there.
And if I'm really honest, your 5 % is often the work that you've been avoiding because it feels harder. It's about getting visible. It's about having those uncomfortable conversations. It makes you feel more vulnerable. But that's exactly why it matters. I see this all the time with my clients. We strip back the huge list of things they think they should be doing and focus on one or two or three meaningful actions. And almost always there is an immediate sense
of relief because they stop trying to do everything and start making progress on what actually counts.
When you're deciding what deserves your attention next, ask yourself,
this help me to attract new clients? Will this help me make sales? Will this strengthen my core offer? Is this the best use of my limited time right now?
This is a huge part of the Simplify move in my life-friendly business framework in my book, How to Build a Life-Friendly Business. It's about cutting through the noise, focusing on what matters and letting go of the rest.
So I want you to ask yourself, what are the few activities that genuinely move your business forward? And what are you spending time on that's keeping you busy, but not necessarily moving you closer to your goals?
You do not need to do more. You need to focus on what matters most. And when you know your 5%, everything starts to feel lighter, clearer, and much more manageable.
If you'd like support identifying your 5 % and staying focused on the work that truly moves the needle, that's exactly what we do inside The Cocoon It's where I help women simplify, prioritize and build a business that works with their real life. You can find the link in the show notes. And remember, you get to do this your way. See you next week.
