Being a business owner is tiring. I mean really tiring at times isn’t it?

You’ve got to show up. Consistently. If you don’t create and make regular offers your bank account notices, and so do your anxiety levels.

It can get pretty tough when you believe you need to be in a constant period of growth in your business. After all, that’s the way that it looks online, right?

If you recognise yourself in that, you’re definitely not the only one, the first or the last.

Breathe a sigh of relief because that’s not quite the reality and it’s important to integrate this understanding so that you can release some of the pressure on your expectations.

There are essentially two things going on:

1) you’re pushing rather than coming from a place of creation and passion (creation and passion, by the way, love strategy and a huge dose of lifestyle – the living part)

2) your beliefs around what is required of you are skewed. Rightly so, the online world is full of messages that can get you, your logic and your intuition in a twist.

The good news is that it doesn’t need to be all about jogging jogging jogging the whole time, pit stops are not only required, but essential

Get out of business overwhelm

And when it comes to business growth (or anything else in life for that matter), we’re not machines.

There are times of growth and times when we need to maintain and improve the infrastructure. I know you get impatient, you want things done yesterday, but you need to take the time to set solid foundations in place. When you’re in creation mode you can’t simultaneously be in full on launch mode.

You can’t build a house and decorate it at the same time. At first you build (your business), then you decorate (your programs, your uniqueness), then you invite guests over (your clients). Then at some point you need to renovate (take stock of where you are, where you’re heading, upgrade your systems). Then you decorate again (refine your programs and ideal client profile). Then you invite guests over (clients) and so forth.

Business growth cycles

When you pause for a moment you’ll remember that there are natural cycles that we go through (the seasons, feminine cycles, life happening), that’s nature, that’s where we come from, those are the natural laws we live by. Modern life tries every trick it can to by-pass these.

The result?

Overwhelm, unrealistic expectations, burnout, perceived failure…

So remember, your monthly income goal doesn’t stay static, regular, every single month (unless you have a 9-5).
When you launch, you have peaks. Then you have a full schedule so you need to create space and that will affect finances for subsequent months. When you feel you need to take life slower (for whatever reason), that will affect your finances. When you’re all excited and creative with a new offer, that will affect your finances in a different way again. Look at your income over a longer period, a quarter, half yearly, yearly to release that monthly pressure.

Allow yourself to take your foot off the gas when you need to or you’ll end up hating the journey and wanting out. It’s exciting to go full steam ahead and in the beginning but it’s not sustainable over the long term. And there’s a reason I’m not using the analogy of making it a marathon rather than a sprint because, if you’ve run a marathon, you’ll know that there is an end. Your business journey doesn’t. Until the large lady sings. Apparently.

Here’s how to grow your business like a human (without burning out)

Sit down with a calendar and plan out what you want to create and achieve over the next 3, 6, 12 months and factor the lead-up, creation and promotional timelines into that. And your holidays. Most importantly your holidays.

Tell us, what’s your favourite way of planning in your business to avoid overwhelm of getting your gazillion ideas out there all at once?