Today, I will start by giving you one of the most valuable lessons I have learned myself:
Be less dependent on the hours in your week and more dependent on your value and experience.
This is you, right?
Do you recognize this?
You are working long hours every day of the week. Your clients still want more from you and you want to offer quality, so the overtime is real.
And I know what you’re going to say: There are just not enough hours in a day. What If I tell you the lack of time is not the issue at hand… it’s your lack of boundaries!
My advice: Set some boundaries to make sure that your quality stays up there.
How to set boundaries
When I was leading a team as an Interim Manager, I had one team member who was so sweet and said ‘yes’ to everything. At one point, she was always working long hours that no one asked her for. She was Yes-woman (reference to the movie Yes-man with Jim Carrey. If you don’t know it, you should stop what you’re doing and go check it out right now, after reading this blog of course!)
The advice I gave her was the following:
When you are saying ‘yes’ to many, you are actually saying ‘no’ to many others and yourself.
Together, we came up with a plan that would work for both of us and today, I am sharing that plan with you!
- Plan 1 hour this week to make a list of what you love to do in your business and things you want to eliminate
And please, don’t limit yourself to only the business side of things. Maybe you want to wake up later in the day or you want to make more time for the kids. Anything goes!
But businesswise, take a look at your team. Can someone help you with the tasks you don’t particularly love, like responding to Emails, paying the bills or keeping up with your administration?
Would you like to spend more time on actually creating instead of solving problems?
Do you feel seen already? I know I am!
I know it can be a bit daunting at the beginning. But please, be honest. It’s for your own good, and that of your business.
- Write down how you can eliminate the things you don’t love or how to grow the things you love
Start by writing down your processes and then make your ‘annoying tasks’ list. Starting from there, you can delegate those tasks to someone who loves doing them. Yes, they are out there!
I myself, for example, started off by making weekly plans, but quickly noticed that it didn't work for me. I switched to monthly planning and I love it!
- Present your new offer and new way of working to your clients and let it benefit them
Okay, time for some real talk. Your clients are the reason you can do what you love. So every decision you make, should involve them. When your new way of working benefits you, it will automatically be better for them to.
Let me explain. When I started my freelance business, I very quickly had a waitlist for more than 1,5 years. I didn’t feel a sense of service to my clients because they had to wait that long to be able to work with me. So I created an online offer that worked for everyone.
It was beneficial for me and my business, but my clients enjoyed the fruits of my labor as well.
So think about it:
- What would work for you?
- Would extra help from an assistant or a project management tool help?
- What would be beneficial for you and your clients?
My gift to you
For the ones who do not really know me yet, here’s the most important thing: I never come empty-handed.
If you want a little bit of extra help, I’ve made something for you. My Business Mindset Map gets you in the right headspace for success with just 5 questions! You can download it here for free!
If, however, you want or need some more guidance towards your dream life, my new Big Business Course is the way to go.
I was you last year: I realized I was responsible for the direction of my own business, so I followed many business training courses. During that process I realized I could help so many other business owners with my actual Interim Management experience for multi-million dollar businesses for over 12 years.
So, starting from the beginning of March, I will help you to make that transformation in just 3 months time and get you to really use all of your valuable experience. And last but not least, pivot your business to achieve those 6 figures.
What do you say? Are you in?
Don’t wait too long, because there are not many Big Business spots left!
Quote of the day
A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman, but the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.
– Melinda Gates
