Have you considered THESE nuggets of business-boosting wisdom?
This time four years ago, I would have been knee deep in lesson plans and display boards preparing for a brand new term of high school teaching. Instead, I’ve started the week in a cute café prepping the launch of my brand new free live stream event and putting the finishing touches to a few new offers I have in the pipeline.
The two are in no way similar and yet the former (High School Teaching) is what I’m qualified in and once upon a time would have felt WAY more comfortable than doing my own thing and heading into the ‘big bad world’ of business. Except two things…
1. Comfort zones never got anyone anywhere.
2. Business isn’t big and bad in the slightest.
I mean I suppose it could be if you allowed it to be. But the reality is, business is what you make it.
And what are you making your business out to be right now?
Difficult? All-consuming? Overwhelming?
I hope none of those words describe where you’re currently at. But in case they do, I want to share a few thoughts with you today. Because seriously, if a woman who spent most of her twenties teaching teenagers Drama and English can turn that around and start running her own business, so can you... (if you want to of course!) And not only that – because I presume a number of you are already in business – you can actually do it without stress and burn out too.
When I first started out, I was stressed and frustrated. I was taking on far too many 1:1 clients at a time – to the point I had to shut the program multiple times. I was also creating content, writing, and essentially doing all the things. I didn’t yet have a virtual assistant and so I was very much a one-woman show and the performance was most definitely not enjoyable.
It looked like flailing and frustration and way too many late nights overthinking.
Not a good look.
Can you relate?
And business is meant to be enjoyable, right?! So, did you miss the memo?
No you didn’t. You just need to think about doing business differently. Here’s a couple of insights as to how that’s all supposed to happen…
When I first stepped out of 9-5 life, I knew I needed help if I was going to allow the transition to be a smooth one. Yes, I could learn everything myself and absolutely wing it (hello, 5 years as a blogger before I did anything remotely business-like!) but if I was going to make this my full-time thing, I knew I had to go all in. Working with high-level coaches is definitely one of my favourite ways to scale my business. There’s nothing like daily support and insights from someone other than my own mind. As much as my first Business Coach did so much more besides, one of the biggest things which hiring her did for me personally was help me to recognise that this wasn’t a hobby-status side hustle anymore. I was finally taking myself seriously. Which, by the way, you’ll absolutely have to do if you want others to treat you the same way.
While receiving coaching might not be for everyone, that doesn’t automatically mean you count yourself out until this elusive ‘one day’ when you’ll be able to grow and go again. The best time to start and scale is right now and it’s well within your grasp to do so. And so if not coaching, what?
Free training, books, courses… the list is pretty endless and so you’ll most certainly find support if and when you really want it. But actually, I want to talk to you today about something we might be overlooking when it comes to business boosting.
For all the coaching, the group programs, the books and beyond which I’ve invested in as I’ve scaled my business over the past two years, there’s a key area which I’ve only recently properly explored and started realising the benefit of.
And when I say benefit, I mean the type the goes deeper than knowing where to place your Facebook pixel or what colour ‘Heading 1’ should be.
I’ve recently started exploring the book of Proverbs and the amount of light and wisdom it has to shed on the world of business is so eye-opening. There are so many topics which speak into business found in these short verses, and to be honest, there are Biblical business principles scattered throughout the entirety of the Bible.
How much thought have you given to that?
How many Biblical principles are you allowing to infiltrate your business? And when I say infiltrate, what I actually mean is how much of the living and active word are you allowing to live through how you go about the day to day tasks your business requires of you in order to keep running.
Listen, I’m the first person to say that preaching every five seconds isn’t helping anyone. But what I’m also saying is that the Bible has a lot to say about how we treat people, how we handle money, our attitude to work and so on. In fact, as I’ve been studying the proverbs, five key principles have really stuck out to me…
One: Work-ethic and Seizing Opportunities
Two: Finance
Three: Wisdom and Planning Ahead
Four: Excellence and Skill
Five: Generosity, Service and Giving
What are some which you notice?
The world is waiting for your work.
By the way… If you know you’re ready to finally draw a line in the sand as far as hanging out at hobby status or side hustle goes, I have just the thing. My ‘What’s in Your Hand’ live workshop has been created to empower you with the skillset and mindset you need in order to bring your God-given mission to life using the very gifts, skills & talents you already possess. You’ll walk away with a 4-week action plan and will be ready to get going immediately. To learn more and to register for next week’s workshop, click HERE.