If you’re like most of the creatives I know, you love to overthink the business side of things. When you’re doing the work you love, be it making a new design, writing another chapter, or working with your clients, no problem. It’s all FLOW.
But when it comes to doing some task on your marketing list, you find yourself overthinking the whole thing to death.
Analysis paralysis comes on strong, and before you know it you’ve been thinking about that “great idea” for months!
Yikes.
The best cure I know for analysis paralysis, overthinking, or any other form of procrastination is to push yourself into action RIGHT NOW.
It’s my birthday this week, and I’m celebrating by giving myself the gift of continuing education! I’m really stoked to be doing some more coach training (in the sunshine, no less!), but if I were giving myself some physical presents here’s what would be at the top of my list.
When you have been excited about something for a long time and you’re on the cusp of making a big move, you’ll probably experience resistance in your actions and beliefs. The way it shows up can be sneaky because it can seem like we don’t have any part in it, but often times we’re unknowingly sabotaging our own actions.
Change and growth can be SUPER uncomfortable, so instead of just recognizing that discomfort, our brains do a great job of throwing up all sorts of barriers and excuses (aka resistance) to keep us exactly where we’re at.
Headed to a tradeshow? Not sure how you’re going to get people to actually talk to you? Here are a few things to consider to make your tradeshow successful, and to get sales without feeling salesy.
Hannah Brooks is a Relationship Coach for smart, sensitive women who want a more loving relationship but find themselves easily upset with their partner. They’re tired of feeling resentful, disconnected, and lonely. She helps them reconnect with their partner and create the intimate, supportive, and peaceful relationship they really want so they can feel appreciated and on the same team for life.
When I first started working with Hannah, the immediate warmth and ease I felt with her made me realize that she was naturally gifted at creating a safe space for her clients to explore the often difficult topic of a disconnected relationship. But after hearing more and more about the great results her clients were getting from working with her, I knew that she was a really powerful coach, too, armed with tools and insights for creating big, life-changing results for her clients’ relationships.
You probably spend a lot of time each week doing the work, driving things forward, sending emails, juggling receipts, returning phone calls, and serving clients or creating your thing to make your business work.
These things are all necessary, of course. Neglect these tasks and you likely won’t have a business anymore.
But when you’re busy with your nose to the grindstone, you might forget to address a few other things that are MAJOR contributors to the success and sustainability of your business over time: the big picture, and rejuvenation.
You know those days where you’re feeling a little discouraged by business?
The days where you haven’t made one sale.
Those moments when you feel disappointed that you only have one client.
The times where you start doing the math on what you have currently and what you need…and it feels daunting.
Yep, those days happen. But you have a choice as to how you’re going to deal with them. You can either decide that it’s a lost cause and you’ll never get there. You can get sucked into the overwhelm and start googling jobs on Craigslist.
Or you can ask a few simple questions about how you can take just one baby step forward.
Martha Lewis is a sleep coach for loving parents who are exhausted and frustrated because their baby or toddler isn't sleeping. She help parents all over the country to get their children sleeping so the whole family can get the sleep they need to thrive instead of just survive. Just check out the success stories on Martha’s website, and you get the idea that this kind of work is life-changing for parents! She shares a bit of her journey below.
There are so many parallels between new hikers and new business owners I could talk in analogies for days.
When passionate, talented people decide to launch out on their own to take the work they love and turn it into a business, the learning curve is just as brutal. Sure, they know how to do their work, much like my students already knew how to walk…but navigating in this new environment is a challenge they weren’t expecting.
“My website isn’t working! I don’t know what’s wrong…I built the dang thing, where are the sales?”
I hear this all the time.
There’s a misconception that building a website is the hard part. People sometimes think that “once you build it, they will come.” But, of course, that’s not the way things work.
If you feel like your website isn’t working, let’s start by identifying whether it’s a traffic problem or a conversion problem. Here’s what I mean:
When you’re in charge of managing your time and your projects, you might get to the end of the week and think “where did the time go?! What have I even done this week?”
At least I know how that’s how some weeks feel to me!
It’s easy to have one week blend with another, and let projects get stretched out further than you’d like. It can be hard to keep yourself on track sometimes. But a quick weekly reflection can really help you to get clear on what’s working and what needs work.
I got an email earlier this week from a friend who is in a tough spot with his business. He said that he feels like he’s in triage mode with his business. It’s definitely an emergency and he doesn’t know how to fix it, which really bothers him because he’s a super smart guy. He’s used to fixing things. He’s used to being a solutions guy.
The fact that he can’t figure out what is the best next move isn’t because he’s not smart enough. It’s because he’s running on empty and feeling panicked.
