Action Clarity

I felt like I was constantly spinning my wheels. I was working 80+ hours a week and literally felt like nothing was working. All of the work I was putting in felt like busy work, like I’d never catch up and like I’d never get ahead. And all I really wanted is what I was preaching during the classes I taught, “ease, rest and reset”. 

Then I happened to ask a question in a facebook group, “How can I create more income in my business without burning the candle at both ends?”

The answer: Take Action.

Excuse me, what?!?! I AM TAKING ACTION AND IT’S NOT WORKING. 🤪 👀

But then I dug a bit deeper. Just like in yoga - when the discomfort comes, how can you sit with it AND move through it? Translate that to any business - How can you sit with the discomfort of not making money (or making less than you want) and take action to create more? 

Yes I was taking action but I was taking the $5 actions. Chasing the low hanging fruit if you will. Things like posting 700 times a day on social media, adding unnecessary classes (that no one was showing up to) and creating fun graphics or chasing after people who weren’t going to be championing my studio. Was it fun work, sure but it wasn’t foundation building. I wasn’t clear on the actions I was taking or the foundation I was building - I was literally taking any action I could that I thought would produce results. So when I got the answer to “take action” from that facebook group post I was SO confused (also a little peeved 🤣 ). 

How could I take more action than what I already was?! I brought this up to my coach and she asked me, “are you taking the right actions? Are you taking actions to support YOUR business and support the foundation you’ve built? And what would you do if you were just starting out again?” 

Those questions stopped me in my tracks. I thought I was taking the right actions. But I also hadn’t stopped to think, “What if the actions I’m taking aren’t working for MY business? What if there’s something else that I can do that’s better?” Sure what I was doing was working for other businesses, 100%. But maybe I needed to shift what I was doing and re-evaluate how I was running my business. 

So I got curious about the actions I was taking and the actions that I could take. 

In this case, in my yoga studio, I needed to support and nurture those who were already coming to class. Nurturing those people would foster the growth of the studio. Those people were my foundation and wanted to do whatever they could to help me but I wasn’t letting that happen. I was standing in the way. Something that can happen quite easily to business owners. We see things the way we want and don’t always stop to try and see things from another vantage point. Honestly this is something that a lot of my clients get stuck in as well. 

How does someone step into action clarity?!?! How do you find CLARITY in ACTION?

In my last blog post I talked about core values and passion words (if you haven’t read it, CLICK HERE!) - I wasn’t aligned with any of mine any more. In order to align with your actions you’ve got to be aligned with your core values and passions. 

I happened to be leading a yoga teacher training around the same time and during YTT I have students do the core value and passion exercise. This time I chose to do it with them and was so glad I did. I was able to reaffirm my core values and passions. Which also allowed me to revisit what the heck I was doing in my business as well as where I wanted to go. 

At the same time my coach asked me to do a brain dump of all the things that needed to be done including the things that I wanted to do to move my business forward. After I wrote that list I then went through all the things that I had written down and numbered them from most important to least important. For me seeing that list lit a fire in me to start work again in a more meaningful way. I was able to refocus, reset and find rest. I refocused my efforts on the people attending. I offered classes I knew they would love. And I took rest myself. 

Side note: self care is SO important. It’s vital not only to your health but also to the health of your business. 

Since then, I’ve re-evaluated how I go about that brain dump process and added some columns to that list that you’ll see when you download today’s freebie - Will it make money?, Is it necessary? and Is it fun?

As you go through this exercise you’ll write down all the business things to do RIGHT NOW then go back and put a check in each column that that business to-do deals with. 

For example: website building might fall under “Is it fun?” AND “is it necessary?” AND “will it make me money?” And Accounting might fall under “is it necessary?” …at least that’s where those things fall for me 🤪

After you determine where things fall in that list, get to work. Start working on the things that are necessary & will make money first (bonus if it’s also fun!). Then work on the things that are necessary - these things will often help to build your foundation. And the things that will make money - those are the things that will build your business. 

How does this list HELP? It will help you stay out of decision paralysis - fear of making a decision. It will also help you stay focused on what needs to be done. 

I get it, I’ve been there - you’re the boss and you have all the things to do. Literally everything falls on your shoulders. This is a way to step out of the wormhole of things that you could spend your time doing. This method is great for working on the here and now. Think of it as doing a deep clean on your business. You’re getting into the cracks and crevices in order to prepare for the next step - planning for the future!  

Next week we’re going to dig into PLANNING out your goals. Specifically how I plan out big goals and how I break them down month to month. 

I can’t wait for you to do this exercise! I want to know how it goes! Leave a comment below or send me an email!! 

And don’t forget that on TUESDAY March 29 at 1pm CST I’m hosting a FREE zoom call where we’ll go over all of this information! I’m so excited to see you there! 

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