I work with many business owners who have found themselves in a classic bind that plagues heart-centered entrepreneurs around the world right now. They absolutely love the work that they do when they are doing it, yet most of the time they are working on their business, they are not doing that specific work that they love.
Perhaps you’ve been there?
As an example, I love leading retreats. It’s my favorite thing. I love nothing more than working with a small group of committed people who are willing to dive deep and create lasting change. Yet for years I found lots of ways to do all sorts of other things that had me behind my laptop, working too many hours, and depleted rather than nourished.
I had major FOMO (fear of missing out) and it snuck in all over the place. The core of my work was in alignment for me, so that worked. Yet because I wasn’t super clear about how I wanted to live my life day-by-day, I’d say ‘yes’ to activities that weren’t really set up to have me at my best.
In actuality, though, I DID know how I wanted to live my life. I worked with clients on getting clear about what they wanted for themselves, and I’d done the work too. Yet something was missing in my ability to stay on course with what I knew I wanted.
I had the clients I wanted, I was working with them on topics I loved, I was disciplined about modeling the way with what I was teaching in my teleclasses and programs. It’s just that I was doing all kinds of other stuff TOO!
So I was doing the majority, if not all, of the things I was seeking. I just hadn’t OPTIMIZED for what I was really seeking.
A while back, I was in a moment of major frustration. In spite of loving almost everything I was doing, I was tired. A mentor, after reading between the lines in my plight, suggested something to me that really hit home. It was simple idea that made a world of difference (this is why a mentor who can read between the lines is imperative!):
“What would it look like if you optimized your business for connection?”
See the source of my tiredness was not that I wasn’t enjoying my work, or that I needed a major overhaul of everything (though in the moment it felt that way!) It’s just that wasn’t seeing the way to integrate exactly what I was truly seeking into the very fabric of the design of my business.
It was there, yet so were so many other things. That particular month I’d packed my schedule full of travel, both for my business and to other events where I could create connection with like-minded people – something that has been a necessity for me in my growth. But I’d added this on top of everything else was doing – all the online marketing and program delivery and writing and creating and team managing, etc, etc. And it didn’t fit.
And most of this other work was being done by myself, in front of my laptop.
And my driving force for my business and why I am in this business has to do with promoting connection and intimacy as a pathway to joy. And the main intimacy I was creating was with my computer. And my spouse, if I could find a way to change gears from my online life in time…
Do you relate?
This slight tweak to optimize for connection was small and subtle, but opened up a whole new energy field. I’m still implementing some of the changes, but here’s a sampling:
- Host more retreats! I was already hosting a lot of them, but I found myself trying to minimize the number to be efficient. Yet if I’m optimizing for connection, and it is the thing I most love, then why?
- Host retreats in places where like-minded friends live. Spend more time at the destination city and connect with them.
- Record all ‘how to’ content so that live time with clients is spent connecting to truth, not talking about stuff.
- Automate all marketing and spend minimal time in anything launch oriented. Co-create marketing with a copywriter who makes it fun. Promote my free content (marketing funnel) in LIVE connection with people!
- Use live connection to develop my content and thought leadership so that my time spent writing and creating content is super fast and easy, minimizing laptop time. (I’ve got super ninja methods for doing this in a way that is flowy and fun that I’m now sharing with clients who are designed similarly!)
- Co-create promotions, teaching segments, passion projects – following only what is easy.
- Pre-defining principles for everything I will and won’t do and having my team own my calendar. Knowing I will tend to say ‘yes,’ and fit in just one more thing, I’ve taken that responsibility away from myself.
- Starting each day with connecting to myself and my own sense of joy. To optimize for connection with others requires connecting to self.
Now these are just a few samples of tweaks that I made as a result of optimizing my business for what I am seeking personally and what I am promoting. Don’t simply take those as connection may not be your thing.
STEP 1: What would YOU like to optimize your business for?
This is likely a way of being or an experience you want to have in running your business. It should align with what you are actually selling (though it may seem unrelated, it will likely be aligned). Connection, lifting others, free time, travel, confidence, empowerment, teamwork, joy, levity, simplicity, etc. The possibilities are endless! This is why it’s so important for your soul to choose.
STEP 2: Coming next week!
Stay tuned for next week’s newsletter to learn the second step to optimizing your business for the thing you most desire! Take a minute to complete step one this week so you’ll be ready!
If you know you are ready to optimize your business for the thing you most desire… I mean really optimize – like total alignment and flow… and you already have mastered certain aspects of your business that you are ready to build upon (or even blow up if necessary), on Friday I’ll be opening up six spots in a new high level program for those who want to fine-tune their business alignment for the things they most desire. If this sounds like you, simply email support(at)alignedentrepreneurs.com with the subject line ALIGNED for an application.
Want to join the conversation for alignment? Join us in our FACEBOOK GROUP over at the Aligned Entrepreneurs Tribe.