Your Business Is Growing. So Why Does It Feel Like This? | EP 592

The pace of change right now is unlike anything we've navigated before, and even the most experienced founders are feeling it. This episode names what's actually happening when growth feels more like pressure than momentum, and offers a reframe that changes everything. Full show notes, transcript, and chapters at sheilabotelho.com/592

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Transcript

A Dip In Confidence Gets Named

Sheila 0:01

Even the most experienced business owners are feeling a dip in confidence right now. And it's disorienting because you've handled hard things before. And this feels different in a way that's hard to name. This episode gives you language for what's actually happening, drawn from years of working with people inside seasons of change. And I'm sharing a specific reframe, what it is, why it shows up, and why it's worth understanding before you decide what it means about you or your next move. Stay with me to the end because that reframe has a way of making the whole season feel a lot more workable. Hi, welcome to the podcast. I'm Sheila Botelho, and I believe true success is built from the inside out. This mini sode is designed to help you live into what lights you up this week. I was looking for a specific photo recently. I needed to check the date it was taken. And of course, the way these things go, I ended up going down a full memory lane visit. Photos of my kids when they were little, the pace of those days, like how present everything felt, how slow time moved. Even when it was full and messy and beautiful all at once. And if you're parents, you know what I'm talking about. And I noticed something sitting there in those images. There was a spaciousness to that season that I hadn't thought about in a while. Not that it was easier because it wasn't, but it was slower. And there's something about slower that lets you actually feel what's happening. I've been thinking about that a lot lately in the context of what founders are moving through right now. Because what I'm seeing is this people know intellectually that building a business means things will change. You signed up for that, but nobody fully prepares you for the pace of change that we're in right now. It's unlike anything we've navigated before. And that is producing a lot of brilliant, experienced people's emotions getting all mixed up, right? They're feeling a little overwhelmed, a dip in confidence that feels familiar because you've handled hard things before. And sometimes something that feels a lot like grief comes up for the way that things used to work. That last one is worth actually spending some time with because it's real and it doesn't get named enough. When the strategies that build your business start shifting, when the landscape changes faster than you can recalibrate, it's natural to feel some loss in that. This is simply a transition. And here's what I keep coming back to: everything happens in cycles. This one is just moving much faster than any we've ever seen. And two things are true at the same time. One is you've built more capacity than you're giving yourself credit for. The version of you from five or 10 years ago could not have handled this pace. You've grown into it, even when it doesn't feel that way. And two, there will be a leveling off eventually. A new rhythm will emerge. It always does. But right now, we're in what I call the constriction of the new. And it's important to understand what that actually is because it can feel like a signal that something's wrong, that this next step isn't for you, and that maybe you've made a mistake. And I want to offer you a different question to sit with. Is this new? The answer is yes, of course. Because the constriction of the new is its own specific experience. Think about your first real job, all the lingo, all the policies and procedures, all the things to hold in your head at once. You came home exhausted, wondering how you'd ever find a rhythm. And then a few weeks passed, a month, time moved on, and you were moving with ease through things that had at one point felt completely impossible for you. That is the constriction of the new. It's not a stop sign. It actually is a growth edge for you. So if you're feeling a little unsteady right now, you're in good company. Most of us are at some level as we navigate this together, even if it looks different from the outside. It's okay to miss the slower pace. It's okay to feel the weight of how fast everything is moving. And it's also okay to trust that what you're building is the capacity to meet this season right now in real time. Speaking of expansion season, I have something coming that's designed specifically to support you through exactly this. And I'll be sharing details in Sheila's notes first. So if you're not already there, come join us. The link is in the show notes or in the description below. So this week, I invite you to think about this. When the pace feels like too much, ask yourself one question. Is this new? Then give yourself the grace that comes with an honest answer. You'll find your balance in this season. It may feel a little unsteady right now, and that's okay. Most of us are somewhere in that experience, and we're all in it together. Thanks for listening, and I'll see you on the next episode.