It’s almost summer, and time to kick off your sandals to relax!
After all, you created this business to achieve lifestyle freedom, didn’t you?
You may want more time, energy, and unlimited vacation, but do you find yourself working around the clock, unable to switch off?
Perhaps you are becoming stressed trying to cram in even more work in less time.
Face it. Running a business can feel challenging at times.
And you could be stuck in a pattern that is not working.
It’s time to ask yourself if you are genuinely building the life and business that you had imagined.
It may be the moment to recapture your freedom.
Step 1: Maximize your cycles
You could be feeling out of sync because you are pushing yourself out of alignment with your natural cycles. So it’s essential to become aware of what works best for you before changing other areas.
Have you ever noticed that sometimes you are in your flow, feeling productive with ideas bursting, while other times you can’t seem to focus and feel exhausted?
Your inspiration, mood, and energy will wax and wane with changes in your environment.
Let’s talk about the seasons
Just as trees sprout new leaves in the spring, growing lush and more vibrant in the summer, only to decay in the fall and winter months, your mood and performance may shift throughout the year.
You may feel more relaxed in spring and summer as life forms around you while wanting to reflect, hibernate, and focus more deeply in the fall and winter months.
How do the seasons impact you? When do you find you are most creative or productive?
How about monthly?
In addition to the lunar cycles, it’s essential to acknowledge how your menstrual cycles impact you as a female entrepreneur.
You may feel physically and mentally sluggish at the end of your cycle during the menstrual and luteal phases.
As your estrogen levels rise and progesterone dips, you may need to rest.
Yet there is an enormous opportunity here.
Capitalize on the spike in energy and increased productivity, focus, extroversion, and social skills during your follicular and ovulation phases in the first half of your cycle.
How do you feel the monthly cycle impacts your work, creativity, and mood?
And what about daily?
Daily patterns profoundly affect your mood, cognitive abilities, and performance.
You most likely feel more focused and ready to work on productive tasks with the sunrise.
Notice that your energy falls in the afternoon and then peaks again before falling asleep, aligning with the sunset and night sky.
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
80% of people are “morning people” who have their peak energy and mood early in the day, while 20% of people are “night owls” peaking much later in the day.
The best time to focus depends on what type of task it is. It would be best to prioritize analytical work like problem-solving, communication, research, forecasting, data, reporting, and organization with an undistracted focus during your first peak.
And as your mood and energy dip, do administrative or brainless work.
While your mood and energy recover later in the day, do insight tasks like brainstorming or free-flowing thinking.
Tying it all together
Acknowledging your unique cycles will enable you to maximize your best time to be focused, productive, and creative. There is a time to work hard and also a time to play hard or rest.
Do you know what your body needs and when?
Permit yourself to rest when needed to maximize your “superhero mode.”
Step 2: Create your ideal life and business
Observe
After tapping into your unique cycle blueprint, imagine your life and business from 20,000 feet.
Detach and observe this from the outside.
What do you notice is happening right now? Is everything aligned with what you truly want? Do you feel happy?
Are you getting enough balance? Are you working too much or too little?
What works well, and what is missing?
Giving an honest observation may be challenging, so try to observe without judgment.
Create
What would you create if you could wave a magic wand to have your ideal life and business?
Permit yourself to dream here without limits.
What type of freedom and flexibility would you have if anything were possible?
Maybe you want to work four days a week or close shop during certain seasons so that you can travel (#vanlife). Perhaps you would only want to work mornings to have the afternoon to connect with your family. Maybe you want to work only half of the month each month.
How would you create a life and business that you love?
It can be easy to reject the possibility at first so stay in the “what” versus the “how.” You can figure out the how later.
Next, reflecting on what you don’t want can also help to highlight what works.
Maybe you don’t want to work at all in the summer, or perhaps you don’t want to feel tied to a schedule of meetings.
You could prefer working whenever and wherever you want. Or maybe you do want more structure because that is how you work best.
Paint a clear picture of what you would create by tapping into whatever is suitable for your unique lifestyle. There are no correct answers other than what you desire.
Step 3: Identify opportunities
Observe the gap between where you are right now and what you would like to have.
Make a list of what is missing.
Remember that this is your first step forward, so try to stay in the space of possibility.
Brainstorming
Brainstorm anything that pops into your head. There are no bad ideas, so keep an open mind. Thoughts that feel intangible or unmanageable may spark new, better ideas that can work.
What can you do to build a new strategy that best fits your life?
Look at both external tangible and internal intangible opportunities.
For each item on your list, ask, “How might I shape a life and business to create this new reality?”
Example: How might I …
- Do less with more impact?
- Save more time?
- Make more money?
- Create consistent revenue?
- Create an offer that fits the lifestyle I want?
- Have more energy?
- Run my business more efficiently?
- Have more support?
At first, objections may come up for you, so this may feel like a struggle. Keep an open mind and know that the solution is there. Dive deeper and tackle areas from many angles by continuing to ask how you might do this.
Example: I want to take one month off every summer.
How might you do this?
- Change your offer: What else could your services or business be?
- Hire support to help with your load.
- Ask what do I need to stop doing to make space for this?
Objection: But I won’t have enough income in the summer.
- Can create a passive income stream.
- Compromise: I can work VIP days or week-long retreats for a cash injection.
- How else you can stop exchanging time for money?
Keep writing until you have exhausted all possibilities.
Pro Tip: To get the most out of brainstorming, make sure you are in the flow state.
Before your brainstorm, meditate, go for a walk, turn on some music, or move your body to get your juices flowing.
Step 4: Step forward into a better future
Now that you have outlined what you want, and possible solutions, what do you need to make this happen?
As with anything new, this may feel overwhelming and scary, so your goal is to take small steps toward what you ultimately want so you can move in the right direction.
How can you take one step in that direction?
Mindset
If you feel resistance in your body when reflecting on your opportunities, consider what may be coming up for you.
It’s essential to tackle your feelings and fears head-on.
What may be holding you back? What may get in your way of moving forward in the future?
Do you need first to permit yourself to do this?
What fears do you have, and what is one thing that you can do to feel safer?
What do you need to feel good here?
Example:
Are you afraid to delegate? What would make you feel better about this?
Are you afraid to take a break because you won’t make enough money? What can you do to address this differently, so you feel secure?
Slow and Steady
Take time to make the necessary adjustments. Take it slow. It is not a rush.
Pro Tip: It may be helpful to get support through a coach, mentor, therapist, or friend to help you to move forward.
Recap:
Becoming an entrepreneur gives you an enormous opportunity to create the life and business you deserve. First, tap into the natural cycles to capitalize on your productive energy and focus. Next, ask yourself what you would like to create, what the gap is, and what opportunities exist from there.
Step 1: Maximize your cycles
Step 2: Create your ideal life and business
Step 3: Identify opportunities
Step 4: Step forward into a better future
And remember to take it one step at a time!
If you need help building your vision and creating an aligned business action plan so you can start seeing results, email me the word PROGRAM.
I look forward to you creating a life and business you truly love!
Michele x
