Navigating School Holidays, Illness, or the Responsibilities That Take Us Away from Business (Part 3)

“It’s better to focus on minimal momentum for consistency rather than maximum effort towards exhaustion.” -Sonya Stattmann (28:16 - 28:24)

Maintain minimal consistency for the success of your business.

The culture in which we live in loves to perpetuate what we like to call the “work, work, work, collapse” model. You start pushing yourself and feeling great. But it’s only a matter of time before you collapse.

Sound familiar?

You’re not the only one running in the hamster wheel. Many entrepreneurs fall into this cortisol roller coaster of the highs of productivity and lows of burn-out. But the systematic thinking of “toughing it out” to get the job done is both debilitating and inhibiting you from actually finding balance. It’s time for a shift from giving your maximum effort to maintaining a minimal consistency for the success of your business.

“Every time we have to pick back up our momentum it takes twice as much energy... Whereas, if we maintained a momentum it’s so much better energy-wise.” - Sonya Stattmann (8:42 - 8:58)

Business is not meant to be an “out breath” only production. There’s a more sustainable way to navigate through entrepreneurship. Unless you want to keep collapsing, you need a balance with the “in breath” as well.

Here are three actionable steps you can take to help you find balance and create enough energy that will sustain you.

Observe. You may wish for more, but being human means limited capacity. It’s imperative to understand your unique energy. Do you function best in the morning or night? Are you drained after specific activities or with certain people? What about your monthly cycle? Identify what preserves and depletes your energy to better block your time for rest and work.

Fuel. A car can only drive when there’s gas in the tank. The same goes for you! Return to the basics. Eat well. Sleep a full eight hours. Meditate. Exercise. Implement a routine of radical self-care to fill your tank. Rest equates to more energy which translates to greater effectiveness in the small windows of work.

Protect. It may feel paradoxical, almost a waste of time, to indulge in a great amount of radical self-care. But the truth is, you won’t have any energy otherwise. Create strong boundaries to protect your time for both rest and work. It’s okay to say no even to potentially new but demanding clients, especially when you are in a limited capacity.

“You won’t have any energy to get up and go if you’re not being really allegiant.” - Laura Shook-Guzman (18:44 - 18:51)

It all comes down to honesty. You need to be honest with yourself and others on what you need. You need to be honest about what you can actually give your business. Then you can plan and allocate your energies properly for a successful journey into entrepreneurship. If you have an extra surge of energy in the future, then great! Go ahead and use it! But as we end this series we hope you will give yourself permission to shift and change based on your needs. While consistency is key, have grace and compassion as you search for balance. You’re really doing great!

Just breathe and slow down.

All you need to maintain momentum is to find that minimal consistency, enough to sustain you through every week, year-round.

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Thank you for being you. We are so honored to have you as a listener!