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Three Things I Do When In A Time Crunch

Three Things I Do When In A Time Crunch

by | Feb 11, 2025 | Mindset, Uncategorized

 “You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.”
~ Timber Hawkeye

 

I want to share with you three things I do when I have more things to do than time available to do them in.

I know that in crunch times, it’s all too easy to fall into a state of overwhelm but I learned long ago that overwhelm is a choice and so staying out of overwhelm is also, therefore, a choice. Here’s what I do instead.

 

I reject overwhelm

I’ve written about overwhelm as it effects business owners several times over the years and I always talk about my belief that overwhelm is a choice.

If you think about it, it makes sense. If it weren’t a choice, how is it that some people can feel overwhelmed having far less to do than other people who don’t feel overwhelmed with far more to do.

It’s a bit like rain, one person can look out of the window see rain and feel down, whilst another person (me!) can look out of the window, see rain and feel uplifted. It all depends on how we think about rain (or overwhelm!) I learned many years ago that if I succumb to feelings of overwhelm, they paralyzed me and make it certain that I will in fact get far less done than if I choose to think about things differently.

So rather than collapse into thoughts of “this is impossible, I’ll never get everything done!!” instead, I get strategic and practical and I breakdown my list into priorities and start to take focused and sustained action.

 

I manage my energy

When feelings of overwhelm and stress are circling, I know that the easy route is to try and bury those feelings in food, netflix and doom scrolling. Believe me when I tell you that I am in no way perfect and have taken the easy route more times than I care to mention. It’s precisely because I’ve been down that road and know where it takes me, that when push really comes to shove I know that I need to do everything I can to protect my mindset and my energy. Something neither of those easy options do.

So instead of checking my phone first thing in the morning, listening to the news while I make breakfast, and then rushing around trying to do a million things (all while feeling heartbroken at the state of the world), I actually seriously slow the f*ck down.

The busier I am the more likely it is that I’ll take the time to write in my gratitude journal first thing, then when I get to my office, I’ll burn some incense, savour my cup of coffee and listen to calming music, usually from either Satnam Kaur or Beautiful Chorus before I even think about work.

The impact this has on my ability to stay calm, centered and focused is huge. Only then will I allow myself to tackle my workload.

 

I bend time

Years ago when working with my first Business Coach, I was working on a email course for my audience and in a session, when my coach asked me why I hadn’t done all of my homework, I complained that the lessons for my email course were taking forever to create. I was at that point taking nearly a whole week to create each lesson’s email.

My coach, who was fond of giving me meaty challenges, invited me to create the next week’s lesson in just 90 minutes. As you might imagine, I laughed in response. “not possible” I argued but he persisted. He told me to put aside 90 minutes the following day and use my phone to set a timer, the goal was to complete the email lesson before the 90 minute timer went off. I agreed to try but I couldn’t help feeling like he was setting me up to fail.

The next morning, I did as he told me and something miraculous happened. I did it. I finished the lesson in 90 minutes. I was amazed, it felt like magic and I haven’t looked back since.

I later learned that this is a tool called time-blocking and I’ve been a convert ever since.

My time-blocking game has advanced over the decade since that first experience with it and I now follow the 52/17 rule.

This means using a timer, I spend 52 minutes working on a specific task followed by a 17 minute break.

When I am working I am 100% focused on the task at hand and if I feel tempted to do something else, like check my email or scroll on social media, I only need to look up at my timer and know that soon I’ll have a 17 minute break in which I can do anything I want.

When I’m lucky enough to get a whole day to work on things I’ll plan out my whole day like this using a time calculator. It’s a full day but with plenty of breaks.

And there you have it, 3 things I do to stop me falling apart when I have more work than I can possibly handle! Is there anything you would add to this list? Or anything on this list you would love to try, hot reply and let me know.

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY

 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.

Is This Stopping You From Taking Action?

Is This Stopping You From Taking Action?

by | Oct 13, 2024 | Mindset, Uncategorized

“Being detached allows us to stay balanced and free from the anxieties that arise from success or failure.”
~ Pundarika Vidyanidhi Das

 

I want to talk to you about something that comes up in my client calls all the time. The struggle to take action on important business activities. In today’s letter, I’d like to share one reason that I think that might be.

Take a moment now to bring to mind something that you want to do in your business but that, for whatever reason, you struggle to take action on.

It could be getting your content marketing up and running, launching a new product or service, reaching out to someone who you know could be a great collaborator or any other thing that you know will move your business forward, but, for whatever reason, you’re stalling on.

Now ask yourself this?

 

What outcome are you attached to?

Is it that the content you write is well received and impactful? Is that your launch goes really well and you get a certain number of sign-ups? Is it that the person you reach out responds enthusiastically?

Now take that outcome and consider the fear behind it.

Is it that people won’t like your content or that they’ll criticize it? Is it that no one will buy your new offering and it will look like you don’t know what you’re doing? Is it that you won’t get a response from the person you reach out to and worse still, they’ll be annoyed that you did?

Can you relate? Do you have these sorts of thoughts running through your head? Perhaps you’re conscious of them or maybe this is the first time you’re giving them attention.

The key is that many of us become attached to a certain outcome and the fear of not getting the outcome we desire then gets in the way of taking action.

I get it, I used to do this all the time and I can still fall into this same trap but I want to share something that really helped me.

Years ago, when Joan and I left our home in Mexico (where we’d been housesitting for a year) and moved to Valencia, Spain, we were both excitedly working on our businesses. Joan had, since meeting me, really got into personal growth and was keen to start his own coaching business.

In typical Joan style, he dived right in and decided to run an in-person workshop on stress. He found a venue, found a partner to help him promote it and set a date. On the morning of his workshop, I couldn’t believe how calm he was. “Aren’t you worried that nobody will show up?” I asked him. Well aware that if it were my workshop, that would be my greatest fear.

“Not at all” he replied and went on to explain that his only goal was to become a person who had run a workshop on stress in Valencia. Essentially, to have gone through the process of finding a venue, getting all the equipment, marketing the event, creating his slides, delivering the workshop and gaining all the knowledge that doing so would bring. “I’ll do the workshop even if nobody shows up.” he said with a smile.

I’m not going to lie, I was stunned by this and being who I am, I wanted to understand how he could be so calm, when I might be a nervous wreck. The more I thought about it, the more I realised that my stress in similar situations came from my attachment to a certain outcome. I realised that whenever I wanted to try something new in my business, I wanted to be sure that I would succeed and my fear of failure was often enough to stop me even trying.

Since then (that was 9 years ago!), I’ve largely got over this habit of getting attached to outcome. I’m much better at spotting the desire for success and feeling the fear of failure and going for it anyway. Knowing that who I will be on the other side of just doing the thing will give me more knowledge, confidence and true feeling of accomplishment (regardless of the results).

When we start to do things for the sake of doing them, rather than as a means to an end, we get to enjoy them a whole lot more.

Let’s go back to my earlier examples.

What if, instead of attaching to the outcome of people like our content, we created content because we enjoyed the process of creating? What if, Instead of worrying about what people might say, we focused on expressing our ideas and point of view through content, knowing that over time our content marketing skills would improve?

What if, instead of obsessing over how many people might sign up to our new thing or not, we focused on the skills we’ll deepen as we lean into launching and selling our gifts. One of the things I always tell myself when I’m launching is that nobody knows if it fails. I don’t have to announce that I didn’t get any sign ups and my efforts will likely have got some people ready to buy next time.

What if, instead of not reaching out to people for fear of rejection, we told ourselves that rejection is an inevitable part of the journey. Some of the greatest success stories in life have come about after countless rejections. I’m currently starting the Harry Potter series with my son and so it feels apt to share how the first Harry Potter book was rejected by 12 different publishers before an obscure literary agent took it on.

The truth is, if we adopt an attitude of play, experimentation and exploration in our work, we enjoy it a whole lot more and actually achieve success all the much faster.

Another truth is that while we’re worried about what other people will think, they’re not actually watching us and waiting for us to trip or fail because they are too busy worrying about their own potential missteps.

And let’s just say for argument’s sake, that we do fail spectacularly. What’s the worst that can happen? If you publish that piece and no one comments or someone writes something rude? In a few days you’ll have forgotten all about it — trust me I’ve been there. Or if you try and launch a new offer and no one buys, who is even going to notice?

The worst that can happen in my opinion letting our hopes and fears about what might happen stop us from even trying. So please, ditch your attachment to outcome and consider what might be possible, if you just did the thing for the sake of doing the thing.

Care to share with me the one thing you’ve been procrastinating about moving forward with? I’d love to know so feel free to hit reply and let me know.

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY

 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.

Who Do You Need To Become In 2024?

Who Do You Need To Become In 2024?

by | Feb 14, 2024 | Mindset, Uncategorized

“Success is not so much what we have, as it is what we are.”
~ Jim Rohnn

Sometimes our inability to achieve our goals comes from a lack of skills or knowledge but often, we actually know what it is that we need to do but for some reason, we simply don’t do it.

Why is that? And how can we become the kind of person that does the very things that will bring us the success we so dearly crave?

I’m going to give you my best answer to these questions.

As I see it, there are 3 main reasons we don’t do what we know we need to do or what we say we want to do.

1. Lack of desire — We don’t actually want to do it. It’s not something we enjoy or have any true desire to do.
2. Lack of knowledge — We don’t know how to do it. The desire is there but the knowhow is not.
3. Presence of fear — We want to do it, maybe even know how to do it but there is some level of fear about what will happen if we do it.

Take a moment now to think about something you set out to achieve this year in your business but failed to do so. Do any of these three reasons apply?

What all of these three have in common for me is they relate to how we’re thinking about the task at hand and how we think about something directly affects how we show up to that thing.

One woman in my business planning workshop shared this comment and it felt so apt:

“I thought I really hated doing administration, marketing, planning, and all of that, for my business. And that I was bad at it. And I have to admit, with my ADD, HSP and possibly autism, it’s a big challenge. But if I take my time, stay in touch with my gut feeling, stay true to my values, accept that I have my own pace, my own way of doing these things, I actually kind of enjoy it. And I feel proud when I’m doing these things. I really do get better at it.”

Can you see how by changing how she showed up to those very tasks she thought she hated, how she felt actually changed?

Consider now something you want to do, know how to do and feel excited to do. I’d guess that nothing would stop you from doing something you feel this way about.

Now consider something you know you should do but have zero desire to do, have no idea how to do and/or feel some level of fear around doing it. My best guess is that it would be nothing short of a miracle if you managed to do this thing.

So let me ask you this. Where in your world do you need to change how are you are thinking about things to change how you are showing up to them?

I’d like to share with you something that’s coming up for me around this question of who I need to become.

Over the past few years I have had a financial target I’d like to hit, which, after several years of stable and steady financial growth, would be a stretch for me. And whilst I have increased my income year on year, I’ve yet to hit this particular stretch goal, which has been frustrating to say the least.

As I’ve been working on my business plan for next year, I’ve done just about as much thinking as I can about what I’ll need to do and how I’ll need to change my business model in order to achieve this goal but if I’m honest with myself, I’ve been feeling anything but excited about the prospect. Instead, there’s been a serious lack of desire or motivation to tackle these things head on.

As I contemplated my word of the year, which is what I suggest speaks to how you want to feel in your life and business, my mind kept going to a desire to feel more motivated or inspired. For a while, I thought INSPIRED might be my word of the year, but as I sat with it, I also couldn’t see how I was going to magically feel more inspired in 2024.

Then, this word dropped in.

BRAVE.

And I couldn’t shake it, it felt scary (in a good way) and big (also in a good way) and that’s when it dawned on me…

In order to do what needs to be done to hit my stretchy financial goal, I need to feel excited, inspired and motivated and in order to feel those things I need to be brave.

I need to push the edges of my comfort zone, challenge myself, do new things and be bolder and braver.

So my answer to who I need to become in 2024 in order to achieve my goals?

I need to become brave.

Now I’m here, it feels so obvious, some of my best life moments have come from leaning into being brave and I realise now that once I achieved a level of success in my business, I got scared of doing anything that might rock the boat. I now see that becoming brave again is exactly what is needed to take my business to the next level and, more importantly, feel inspired and excited in the process.

Shifting my thinking from what I need to do to who I need to become is such a simple shift but one that has the power to change everything.

It’s oh so easy to tell ourselves that we’ll never be able to do something, that we’ll never be able to be something but I’ve experienced and witnessed myself and others achieving what felt like the impossible time and time again.

So, my lovely, as you consider all that you would like to bring forth in your life and business in 2024. Who is it that you need to become?

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY

 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.

The Fear Is Real

The Fear Is Real

by | Jan 17, 2024 | Mindset, Uncategorized

“Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. The fearful are caught as often as teh bold”
~ Helen Keller

There are a number of ways and places that fear shows up for solo business owners. As micro business owners, we’re not just responsible for the creation and delivery of products and services but we’re also the face of the business, the marketing team, the message bearer and the sales team.

For anyone this would be a daunting affair and yet, what I’ve noticed lately is that many business owners (the kind, thoughtful and sensitive types I work with) aren’t fully acknowledging that this is a very real and totally natural fear.

I’m hearing talented, accomplished women describe their fear as silly or stupid. I’ve heard them express how vulnerable it feels to even admit that there is fear or anxiety and as you might imagine, I have something to say about this.

First though let’s look at two of the most common situations where fear might come up for solopreneurs.

Sharing your point of view or opinion on the internet

Let’s take my business as an example. When I first started to understand that there was a more ethical way of doing business, in order to share that point of view, it meant saying things that go against much of the mainstream marketing advice out there in the online business world.

When everyone was shouting about using opt-ins and freebies to get subscribers, I was encouraging my audience to ditch them. When most business coaches tell their clients to raise their prices, it’s not uncommon for me to tell my clients and audience to lower their prices.

When everyone is telling you to focus on closing the sale, I’m teaching people to slow down the sale and put people first.

I’ve been going against the grain long enough in my business not to feel fearful anymore about sharing my opinion but back when I hadn’t done it before, I still remember the fear well. A very real fear of judgement, criticism, ridicule or rejection.

In fact, when feeling the need to speak out about war crimes in Gaza, I once again, felt a very real fear of being judged, attacked and misunderstood for sharing my thoughts and have witnessed many people being criticised for sharing theirs.

Sharing your point of view (especially as women) has always been hard, but in these times where people don’t think twice about bullying and attacking others online, the fear is even more present.

The problem, however is that sharing your point of view is precisely how your ideal clients find you. It’s how you stand out from the crowd without using pushy and manipulative sales tactics. Learning to overcome the fear of sharing your opinion is, therefore, extremely important.

Fear of launching

Another area where fear is often present and equally as unacknowledged is when we are launching a new product or service. For me launching carries with it a particular flavour of fear. We’ve created something, more than likely put our heart and soul into it. We want to let the world know it exists and invite people to buy it.

For many of my clients this looks like a workshop or a group program, something with a set number of people who need to sign up before a designated start date. Talk about pressure!

In business there’s few things more scary than putting out an offer that you can only hope will be well received.

I often hear comments from clients like “what if nobody signs up??” or “I’ve only got 1 person signed up, what if nobody else does? What will I tell the person who already paid?” or “what will people think about me and my business if I have a failed launch?” Totally understandable worries and fears to have, right?

Yet so many of the people I work with beat themselves up for having these fears or worse still, avoid launching new things because these fears feel too big to face.

What I want to share here is what I said in one of my group programs recently.

First and foremost the fear is real.

It’s not silly or stupid. It doesn’t make you less than or incapable. It says nothing about your level in business. People with 10 years in business still have failed launches. Fact.

It’s absolutely to be expected and therefore should be acknowledged and seen.

Second of all.

You, who are already out in the world forging your own path, building and growing your own business and living and breathing your calling are the brave minority.

Before I stepped out of my former life to create my own business, I lived in a world where I spent my days wishing for Friday to arrive, my weekday evenings numbing out with crap TV, my Friday nights drinking to release the stress of not living my purpose, my Saturdays nursing a hangover, my Sundays dreading Monday mornings and my Monday’s starting the whole sorry cycle over again.

Sounds crazy right? But this is the mainstream. This is what the vast majority of people in the Western world do.

But not you.

You are the brave and courageous. You’ve stepped out and decided to do something to make this world a better place.

You feel fear because you are out in the arena. You are putting yourself out there and risking it all to make a difference.

So, here’s the thing. I want you to honour the fear you feel. I want you to know that you feel the fear, not because you are silly or flawed.

You feel that fear because you are going against the grain. Stepping out of the comfort zone most people live in and your fear is merely a testament to that fact.

Finally, if you deny, supress or downplay your fear, it wins. It stops you from taking bold action. So, for today, acknowledge and celebrate your fear and know that she’s here because you’re ready to show up and shine.

SIGN UP FOR MY SOULFUL STRATEGIES WEEKLY

 

Once a week, in the form of an e-letter, I share the best of what I know about building a business with integrity for conscious business owners.

The intention behind these letters is to be a voice for integrity within your (undoubtedly) cluttered inbox. To be the one email you can count on to contain strategic and soulful advice for building a business without selling your soul.

If you want to receive the Soulful Strategies Weekly, simply share with me your name and email address below and you’ll start recieving emails right away.

Getting Back On Track

Getting Back On Track

by | Nov 22, 2023 | Mindset, Uncategorized

“You never fail until you stop trying.”
~ Albert Einstein

It’s my firm belief that there are certain things in business that require a certain level of consistency in order to support your business growth. Creating valuable content for your audience on the regular is just one of those things. Others might include regular outreach, sticking to a sustainable work schedule and other business growth activities.

That said, we all struggle with consistency some of the time. Why? Because we’re not machines. We are human, who have a life to live beyond our work that can include ups and downs, personal challenges, emotional upheaval and rough patches. We all know what it’s like to set yourself a goal or commit to a habit only to fall off the horse at some point down the line.

I used to let falling off the horse derail me, it would impact my confidence and mental fortitude and I would find myself giving up on whatever it was I had set out to achieve. Thankfully, I managed to change that many years ago and now firmly believe in the age old idiom that it doesn’t matter how many times you fall off the horse, what matters is how many times you get back on. Easier said than done, I know.

So, I thought I would share with you the process I have followed to get back on track with my content creation habit.

1. Getting honest with ourselves

With all that we have to deal with in life and business, it’s pretty easy to let ourselves off the hook with certain things. If we are busy with other work, parenting, life challenges etc, then it makes sense that certain things slip by the wayside. But we always have a choice. I could make every excuse in the book for not being consistent with my weekly newsletter but if I’m really honest with myself, I know that I’ve allowed a really important business activity to fall by the wayside, which, if left unaddressed, is only going to cause me more headaches down the line.

When I have no new content to repurpose my entire marketing strategy dries up, which will lead to reduced visibility of my business, which in turn will lead to less clients and less income. Not a good look for a business coach!

Being honest with myself and acknowledging that there is a problem I need to address has been the first step in taking action to resolve it. It has also helped to share what’s going on with others. I recently shared my content struggle with my group mastermind and one of the women said that my honesty around my own struggle, is precisely why she likes being in my group. I also know when I hide these things from others, it’s easier to hide them from myself.

2. Understanding why the problem exists

It’s easy to let excuses come into play here, it’s been the summer holidays, I’ve had children at home, I’ve been away, I’ve been sick, my 3 year old isn’t sleeping well, so I’m not sleeping well and so on and so on and whilst many of these are valid reasons for reduced output, I also know this isn’t the full story when it comes to why I haven’t been creating content. The time has been there but I’ve been choosing to do other things instead, some productive and others not productive.

As I sought to really understand why I’ve been struggling to write my weekly newsletter, a few things came up.

  • I’ve made it in my mind that every newsletter I write has to read like a blog post that I can later repurpose. That’s my content strategy after all, but sometimes I don’t want to write an article style letter, sometimes I want to write whatever and however I want to write. Recognising that I’m putting this pressure on my creativity is important.
  • Because of all of the life, parenting and work responsibilities I have going on, I’ve been feeling overwhelmed, exhausted and feeling the need to disconnect and retreat. This has meant that on my content Mondays (I have much of the day blocked off for content creation) rather than get up and work on my newsletter, I have instead been going back to bed or numbing out with TV or social media. Recognising why this is going on has been huge.
  • And on top of this, I’ve long been a believer that the longer we go without practicing a habit, the harder it is to get back into it. This has definitely been a factor for me over the last few months. I know that when I am showing up consistently with my content creation, it feels a lot easier to be consistent. Getting back on the horse requires substantial effort which can be hard to muster when you’re feeling depleted.

3. Giving yourself permission

Once I identified the real reasons behind my lack of action on content, I didn’t give myself a good talking to and force myself back into action — if you’ve tried this, you’ll know it doesn’t work! Instead, I gave myself permission to lean into my need to disconnect, rest and sleep more. But I did these activities consciously. I wasn’t unconsciously avoiding my schedule and my commitment to weekly content, I was allowing myself to take the time I needed to feel better. I still held the intention to do my tasks but when I didn’t, instead of beating myself, I got curious, I noticed how I was feeling in my mind and my body. If I decided to disconnect by scrolling on social media, I did so knowingly and noticed how it felt as I did. I was actively raising my awareness of the resistance I was feeling and loving myself through it. The effect of this felt nourishing and kind and also was eased any feelings of guilt.

4. Prioritising well-being

As well as allowing myself to be unproductive, I also started to focus on feeling better. To this end, I’ve been going to regular yoga classes for the past few weeks as well as taking part in a 21-day breathwork programme. I’ve restarted my daily gratitude journaling, committed to being in bed by 10.30pm and I’ve been working on being more present with myself, my family and my work. All of this has worked to help me feel more energised, nourished and present. All key ingredients for increased levels of creativity. Unlike shame, self-criticism and guilt which are creativity killers, to say the least!

4. Getting organised

With time, I began to feel the energy and desire to create coming back, so the next thing I did was to get organised. I wrote out my full to do list so I could get out of my head and onto paper all the niggly things that were getting in the way of me focusing on content. I tidied and cleaned my office, which had started to reflect my busy mind and I made a plan.

5. Finding accountability

To execute that plan, I joined my favourite co-working group, I’m actually sat writing this piece in a co-working session with several other lovely people, also working on their own personal and professional goals. I find that this added element of accountability super useful when it comes to being focused during a working session. Without it, the temptation to give in to distractions can be too much.

It’s important to note that I couldn’t have skipped straight to this step, without doing all of the other work I’ve done to get back on track. For sure if I had attended a session like this a month ago, I would have wasted it and left feeling even more disheartened.

So there you have it, the exact steps I’ve taken to go from not getting a weekly piece of content created to creating my first one in a good while.

Do you have something business-related or personal that you deeply desire to be doing on a consistent basis but try as you might you just can’t get back to it? If so, my hope is that you find the steps I’ve outlined above helpful. Feel free to let me know.

Conscious Business Mastermind

If you are looking for more accountability, direction and support for your business in 2024, you might want to look at my yearlong group program for conscious business owners. I’m now enrolling for the 2024 cohort of the Conscious Business Mastermind at www.carolineleon.com/mastermind

Finishing The Year Strong

Finishing The Year Strong

by | Oct 18, 2023 | Mindset, Uncategorized

“It’s not where you start — It’s where you finish that counts.”

~ Zig Ziglar

I don’t know about you but it’s around this time of year that I start to get excited about the promise that the next year holds. It would be oh so easy for me to write this year off already, but I know that I need to finish this year strong if there’s any chance of starting the next one feeling prepared. In this blog I detail everything I’m doing to begin my wrap up of the year and lay the foundations for a really positive new year. 

1. Review my 2023 business plan

The first thing I do around this time of year is go back to the business plan I made at the end of last year. I know before I even go there that there will be many things I haven’t done but I like to review the goals I originally set and assess where I am in relation to them.

There are always things that are underway but not yet complete and others that never even got started, it’s almost like my brain forgot about them as soon as the proverbial ink had dried on the paper. And that’s okay. Revisiting my plan helps me to decide what I’m going to focus on for the rest of the year. 

2. Let go of things  

I don’t hesitate to tweak my plan throughout the year and course correct as I go. And the final months of the year are no exception. In fact it’s probably when I am the most ruthless. I know that in order to have a positive and productive final quarter, I need to focus and streamline how I spend my time. With holidays thrown in, the last few months of the year always go by faster than expected.

I’m also really mindful not to beat myself up for what I haven’t achieved. I know only too well that no good comes from this. Instead, I consider what I put on my initial plan that no longer feels like a priority and I simply cross it off the list.

The last thing I want as I enter into quarter 4 is to have a list of things I haven’t done nor will I get done before year end. If there are things I wanted to do but didn’t, I do spend time trying to figure out what got in the way. Was it a mindset or a time issue or something else? If I’m going to carry something forward into the next year, I like to ask myself what I will do to ensure success the next time around? 

3. I make a Q4 plan 

In my business, Q4 is BUSY. I have the launch for my annual business planning workshop and my Conscious Business Mastermind, as well as getting everything ready for a January start for the latter. With so much going on, I have to be on it with my schedule and it’s also the last chance I get to tick things of my annual plan so it’s crucial that I get organised. I always write a quarterly plan but for quarter 4 it’s much more detailed. 

4. Start big picture thinking for 2024

This is one of my favourite parts. After years of tweaking and trying out lots of things, my business model is pretty much nailed down these days. I have several recurring offerings like my group mastermind and my 1:1 coaching so there’s a fair amount of stuff that is already known and accounted for.

But there are also things like my workshop schedule that is somewhat up for grabs, I love to start making notes on what workshops I might run next year and any other things I might do. That said, every year that passes as a business owner. I have become more mindful of not putting too much on my plan. Like most people, the temptation to overestimate what’s possible in 12 months is ever present but I do believe that, from experience, I’m much more realistic these days. 

5. Start laying the foundations for my business planning process

 Every year I facilitate a detailed business planning process, I go through this process for myself, with my 1:1 clients, with my group program participants AND I host a public workshop. It’s a pretty thorough process and doing it means I have a robust plan for the year ahead.

Before I developed this process (many years ago), I used to jump straight in with goal-setting without doing the relevant, strategic thinking before getting to that point. This led to a heap of goals that didn’t make much strategic sense and were instead often rooted in “shoulds” and from copying what I was seeing others doing in my industry. These days it’s a different story, but before I can get strategic, there are some foundations I need to set.

Many of these are the things I’m sharing in this letter, others include allowing myself to really think into how I want to feel over the next year and what I want to accomplish. I like to journal on and envision what an ideal year would look like for me, before I get deep into planning mode.

Writing out my business wish list without restraint is one of the ways I do that. This is everything I could possibly hope for from my business. Even if my wishful thinking gets curtailed somewhat through the planning process, it’s important to let myself really feel into my dreams and desires for my business before getting to the realistic part. 

6. Plan in next year’s holidays

This is one of my absolute favourite end of year activities. Before I start adding in what work I will do over the year. I like to go through my next year and block out all the time I’ll take off work. That includes looking at my children’s school holidays, any local or national bank holidays plus our annual winter and summer holidays and blocking them off in my calendar. That way when it comes to doing the planning for my business later in the year, I’ll already know what time I have left to play with. This is much better than scrambling to find space for holidays after my whole year has been planned out. 

7. I write my business plan

As I mentioned above, every year, I do a full business planning process, which includes a full review of the current year and a set of strategic priorities, goals and systems for next year. I used to try and cram this process into December but these days I prefer to start earlier. That way I can guarantee to start the year in January crystal clear on what my business priorities are.

Whilst there are are several documents that make up my final business plan, what I’m left with is what I call the Planning Dashboard, which is where I can see, at a glance, my key priorities and targets for the year. It’s designed to fit on one page so that I can print it out and pin it above my desk for easy reference. 

I’m fairly certain that I am not alone when it comes to making a great plan and then letting it sit dusty on a shelf for the rest of the year. Having my dashboard allows me to see at a glance, whenever I want to, my top line business plan. 

And there you have it, what I’m currently working on to finish the year strong. I’m aware that if you are still struggling to get your business off the ground some of these things might feel like overkill but I’m a firm believer in building for growth.

That is treating your business as if it was already full and successful and putting into place now what would be necessary to organise your business around your life. I hope you’ve found this list useful and I’d love to hear what it brings up for you. Feel free to hit reply and let me know. 

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