1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,080 But I didn't feel like working. I felt lazy. I was like, 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:05,280 why everyone else around me is working so hard, why can't I just do 3 00:00:05,360 --> 00:00:08,800 the thing. But I'm learning that some seasons i will want to work on 4 00:00:08,839 --> 00:00:12,400 my business and I'll be super productive, and then other seasons I'm not as 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,720 productive and I will try and just do the bare minimum, And both of 6 00:00:15,759 --> 00:00:19,559 these are okay, though I am still working toward that end goal of just 7 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,239 as much balance as possible. Welcome to Imperfect Action. I'm Steph Taylor. 8 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:27,960 For years, I read all the books, downloaded all the freebies, and 9 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:32,840 did all the courses, but it wasn't until I started taking imperfect action that 10 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:38,399 my business had its first million dollar year. Imperfect action is about doing things 11 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:44,960 before you're ready, prioritizing consistent action over perfect action, and moving forward even 12 00:00:44,960 --> 00:00:48,719 when you're not sure you're doing it right. On this show, you can 13 00:00:48,759 --> 00:00:53,560 expect mindset advice, actionable marketing tips, and strategies to build a business that 14 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:59,479 brings you more profit, more freedom, and even more joy. Are you 15 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:02,799 on the list to get my daily businesses? Every day, I'll send you 16 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:06,799 a bite sized prompt designed to help you grow your business in a more Intentional 17 00:01:06,920 --> 00:01:11,040 Way. Sign up at Steph taylor dot Co, forward slash DBB, or 18 00:01:11,079 --> 00:01:15,439 at the link in the show notes. Hey, welcome back to In Perfect 19 00:01:15,439 --> 00:01:21,599 Action. This is episode seven hundred and forty one. Today I'm reflecting a 20 00:01:21,599 --> 00:01:25,560 little bit on twenty twenty three. I know we've still got a couple of 21 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,959 weeks left of the year, but I I guess this is the kind of 22 00:01:30,079 --> 00:01:33,159 the time of the year when I start to take my foot off the pedal 23 00:01:33,200 --> 00:01:36,680 a bit everyone else does as well. And then going into the next couple 24 00:01:36,719 --> 00:01:40,120 of weeks, we'll be sharing some best of twenty twenty three episodes, so 25 00:01:40,200 --> 00:01:42,840 if you missed them the first time around, you can go back and listen 26 00:01:42,879 --> 00:01:46,560 to them when they pop up again in your feed. But today I'm sharing 27 00:01:46,599 --> 00:01:49,079 a couple of lessons that I learned this year so that you don't have to. 28 00:01:49,239 --> 00:01:53,400 And I know that when I say that, it's like I can tell 29 00:01:53,439 --> 00:01:57,000 you the lessons, but a lot of the time when you when you hear 30 00:01:57,040 --> 00:02:04,359 them, it's not quite the same thing as when you actually learn them yourself 31 00:02:04,519 --> 00:02:07,159 the hard way. There've been so many times when I've heard the lesson, 32 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,000 I've read the lesson, and I'm like yeah, yeah, yeah, of 33 00:02:10,080 --> 00:02:14,759 course, and then the situation appears in front of you and I go to 34 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:19,039 apply the lesson and it's almost as if I didn't know it. So sometimes 35 00:02:19,039 --> 00:02:21,159 you do have to learn them the hard way. But today I'm going to 36 00:02:21,199 --> 00:02:24,000 share a couple of them in the hopes that it helps for you as well. 37 00:02:24,080 --> 00:02:29,560 So lesson number one, Your business operates within an ecosystem, and you 38 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:32,960 can't control everything, so you just need to focus on what is within your 39 00:02:34,000 --> 00:02:39,400 control instead. So we recently launched a group strategy Intensive which was going to 40 00:02:39,479 --> 00:02:45,199 run through December, and a lot of people showed interest, but only one 41 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:50,319 person signed up, and I obviously reached out. I wanted to know why 42 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:53,199 were you interested but you're not signing up? And the feedback from that was, 43 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:55,719 well, there's just too much else going on right now. I can't 44 00:02:55,719 --> 00:03:00,919 come to the live calls. And here's the thing. I can't control what 45 00:03:00,039 --> 00:03:04,759 is going on in everyone's lives right now and in their businesses right now. 46 00:03:04,960 --> 00:03:08,319 But I can control where I put my time, my energy, my focus, 47 00:03:08,680 --> 00:03:12,919 and I could focus on freaking out about the fact that nobody bought and 48 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,919 I could be like, ugh, this means my business is doomed everything's going 49 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,520 to fail, or I could accept Okay, great, this is where they 50 00:03:19,520 --> 00:03:22,680 are choosing to spend their time right now, or this is what their other 51 00:03:22,719 --> 00:03:25,000 priorities are right now. I can't control that, so I'm going to instead 52 00:03:25,080 --> 00:03:30,960 put my time and energy and attention on the launch of our membership that's happening 53 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:34,879 next year. Right So, I have this post it note on my computer 54 00:03:34,919 --> 00:03:38,639 screen that says what is in my control, and it's a nice little reminder 55 00:03:38,680 --> 00:03:44,319 whenever you get into that stressing about something that you can't control, instead just 56 00:03:44,439 --> 00:03:46,240 shift it back to the things that are in your control, because it's a 57 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:50,520 waste of time to focus on things that are out of your control. We 58 00:03:50,560 --> 00:03:53,520 can spend so much time and energy trying to control things that were never within 59 00:03:53,599 --> 00:03:58,199 our control. Anyway, especially in our businesses, there is so much that 60 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,199 is not within our control. For example, the Instagram algorithm, whether somebody 61 00:04:02,199 --> 00:04:08,080 buys from us, how much your Facebook ads are costing, because sometimes they 62 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:11,000 go up and they go down. Right, There's so much that is outside 63 00:04:11,159 --> 00:04:15,199 of our control, and it's just exhausting and demotivating to focus on the things 64 00:04:15,240 --> 00:04:19,439 that we can't actually influence. Number two lesson number two, The only certainty 65 00:04:19,639 --> 00:04:25,519 is uncertainty. So learned to embrace the unfolding of your business and your life 66 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:30,399 as an adventure. This one's been a big one for me and realizing you 67 00:04:30,399 --> 00:04:33,839 don't always have to know how everything turns out. There's a beautiful quote that 68 00:04:33,879 --> 00:04:38,079 I love that I also have stuck on my computer screen, and that is 69 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,600 what are what grows without needing to know what it will bloom into. And 70 00:04:41,639 --> 00:04:45,439 we want to know what's going to happen because we are attached to certainty. 71 00:04:45,439 --> 00:04:47,519 We're attached to it being a certain way, and if it's not that certain 72 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:49,360 way that we want it to be, then we think we're going to be 73 00:04:49,439 --> 00:04:55,240 unhappy, or we end up making ourselves feel unhappy, make ourselves selfer unnecessarily 74 00:04:55,279 --> 00:04:59,560 because it's not what we wanted. Whereas the concept of non attachment is being 75 00:04:59,680 --> 00:05:02,639 okay with it not going the way that you want it to and just trusting 76 00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:06,920 that it's going to unfold as it should. There's never really any certainty anyway, 77 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:10,800 right, We never can be certain about anything. And if we did 78 00:05:10,879 --> 00:05:13,639 know exactly how life would turn out, then how boring would everything be? 79 00:05:14,199 --> 00:05:16,879 It wouldn't be very fun, Okay, less than number three. The reason 80 00:05:16,879 --> 00:05:20,199 you are overthinking is because you are trying to solve a problem without the facts. 81 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,480 So either you need to go and get the fact or you need to 82 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:27,600 shift to focus. Most problems, especially in your business, cannot be solved 83 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:30,439 by overthinking, But yet we try so hard to. We think that if 84 00:05:30,439 --> 00:05:32,920 we can just think about it some more, then the answer will come to 85 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,040 us. But most of the time we need a little more information before we 86 00:05:36,040 --> 00:05:40,480 can get that answer, and thinking more and more and more probably around the 87 00:05:40,519 --> 00:05:44,040 same thought loop, the same spiral that's not going to give us the information 88 00:05:44,079 --> 00:05:46,040 that we are missing. For example, one that comes up a lot with 89 00:05:46,199 --> 00:05:49,160 my students is they'll say, well, I want to create an online course, 90 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,639 but I need to think a little bit more about how best to structure 91 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:57,160 it for my students. But you're missing information in this case, like where 92 00:05:57,199 --> 00:06:00,199 your students might get stuck, or where they might need extra support, or 93 00:06:00,199 --> 00:06:02,600 what questions they might have, And you're only going to get this information by 94 00:06:02,639 --> 00:06:06,560 actually starting to teach it the first time. A way to get those facts 95 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:12,199 would be to teach it live and then get feedback from the students, watch 96 00:06:12,439 --> 00:06:15,399 what questions they ask and tweak the content before you then go and spend all 97 00:06:15,439 --> 00:06:20,480 of this time recording all of the lessons and the modules. Lesson number four. 98 00:06:21,120 --> 00:06:26,639 The solution probably isn't to do more or add more. And look, 99 00:06:26,680 --> 00:06:30,600 this is a lesson that I keep continually having to learn. I'm not sure 100 00:06:30,639 --> 00:06:33,199 if I've completely learned this one yet, because it is just so easy to 101 00:06:33,279 --> 00:06:36,959 keep piling more things on, adding new things, doing more things in your 102 00:06:36,959 --> 00:06:41,399 business, and then you wonder why there is just so much on your plate 103 00:06:41,759 --> 00:06:45,920 and you're feeling exhausted. So instead of always adding more, sometimes we can 104 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:48,959 do a little bit less, less but better. And some of the best 105 00:06:48,959 --> 00:06:54,040 businesses that I've seen are the ones that do a couple of things, sometimes 106 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:59,120 even just one thing really really really well, so less but better. Number 107 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,600 five. If you can keep doing more, you will probably burn out. 108 00:07:01,839 --> 00:07:05,360 So I've been very guilty of doing the same thing that I see many of 109 00:07:05,399 --> 00:07:08,720 my students doing, which is, you know, you have this period of 110 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:12,439 motivation where you're just wanting to work on your business day and night. Everything's 111 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:14,879 going well. You're doing more, more, more and more more, and 112 00:07:14,959 --> 00:07:17,120 then you get a little bit exhausted, and that's followed by period of demotivation 113 00:07:17,439 --> 00:07:20,839 and you don't want to do anything, And I think the goal here is 114 00:07:20,879 --> 00:07:26,439 to balance those ebbs and flows as much as possible. But this also does 115 00:07:26,519 --> 00:07:29,800 lead me into less than number six, which is roll with the seasons of 116 00:07:29,839 --> 00:07:32,800 your business and your energy. You're not always going to have those seasons where 117 00:07:32,839 --> 00:07:35,399 you have so much energy and you want to work really hard on everything, 118 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:40,000 and likewise, you're gonna have seasons when you just don't want to work, 119 00:07:40,040 --> 00:07:43,519 and those will pass naturally. I used to feel so much guilt and shame 120 00:07:43,560 --> 00:07:45,759 when I didn't want to work on my business, when I didn't feel like 121 00:07:45,800 --> 00:07:47,519 working, I felt lazy. I was like, why everyone else around me 122 00:07:47,560 --> 00:07:50,600 is working so hard, why can't I just do the thing? But I'm 123 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:55,000 learning that some seasons I will want to work on my business and I will 124 00:07:55,000 --> 00:07:58,759 be super productive, and then other seasons I'm not as productive and I will 125 00:07:58,759 --> 00:08:01,639 try and just do the bare minimum, and both of these are okay, 126 00:08:01,319 --> 00:08:05,680 though I am still working toward that end goal of just as much balance as 127 00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:09,959 possible. And then lesson number seven. There is always a lesson in the 128 00:08:09,000 --> 00:08:13,639 things that you want to avoid. It's really easy to look for the lesson 129 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,879 that confirms the things we already know, because that feels really comfortable. But 130 00:08:16,959 --> 00:08:20,639 it's not quite as easy to look for the lesson in the things that we 131 00:08:20,680 --> 00:08:24,040 don't want to face. And I'm starting to learn that the lessons or the 132 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:26,120 things I want to avoid are the things that I need to lean into the 133 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:30,879 most. And even just asking the question why am I trying to avoid this? 134 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:33,279 What am I really avoiding? What is this here to teach me? 135 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:37,600 Is a huge, huge question to reflect on, because avoiding things doesn't make 136 00:08:37,639 --> 00:08:41,000 them go away, And in my experience, the problems just get bigger and 137 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:45,559 bigger and bigger until you can't avoid them anymore. So the sooner that you 138 00:08:45,600 --> 00:08:48,919 can learn that lesson face the thing that you are avoiding, the easier it's 139 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:52,399 going to be, and then hopefully it won't show up again. So there 140 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:54,559 you have it. Seven little lessons that I learned in twenty twenty three. 141 00:08:56,080 --> 00:08:58,360 If you have learned anything from this show so far, please take thirty seconds 142 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:01,559 to leave a quick writing and a review. I read every single one of 143 00:09:01,600 --> 00:09:05,159 them. It means a lot to me when you do. Thank you so 144 00:09:05,279 --> 00:09:05,759 much for listening. Catch you next time.