Ep 62 - Your Energy is Your Most Valuable Business Asset

What if protecting your energy wasn't a wellness habit but your 
most powerful business strategy?

In this episode, Emma introduces the concept of "Energetic ROI"  the idea that how you spend your energy is just as important as how you spend your money. If you've been running on empty and wondering why growth feels so hard, this one's for you.

You'll learn:
- What Energetic ROI actually means and why it matters more than 
  financial ROI right now
- The 3 filters Emma uses before saying yes to anything in her 
  business (and her life)
- How to identify the energy drains quietly killing your momentum
- Why your nervous system regulation is directly connected to your 
  revenue
- A practical calendar audit you can do this week to start working 
  in flow

This episode will shift the way you see your time, your capacity, 
and your business, for good.

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🎁 TAKE THE NEXT STEP:

Join the FREE Freedom & Flow Challenge and start building a 
business that energises you instead of depleting you:
→ [https://tinyurl.com/3tre8sve]

Ready for deeper support? Book a Soulful Strategy Session with Emma:
→ [https://tinyurl.com/398wh7ur]

——

📱 CONNECT WITH EMMA:
Instagram → @emmamaidment_
Website → flowstatescollective.com

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Flow on friends, 
Em x

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

A boundary isn't a rule for other people, it's actually a promise to yourself. It's a moment of self-respect, of self-honouring, of actually being able to say, you know what? I am at this point, this is where I'm at today. Welcome to the Flow Lane with me, Emma Mapon. This podcast is for the female entrepreneurs who want the both end big goals and a life that you can actually enjoy. We're talking sustainable scaling, working in flow, and creating a business that supports your energy, not drains it. Let's dive in. The most expensive thing in your business is a drained founder. Drained founders make really reactive decisions. They will discount, they will over-deliver, there'll be scope creep, depending on the industry that you're in. If you're drained, you're reacting, not responding. And so then you're not thinking strategically. You are in pure survival mode. This is where then your marketing gets really inconsistent because you feel so drained and like you just can't be bothered doing more. And then you start to become resentful of clients, of DMs, then your connection with your audience starts to drop, then your conversion rate starts to drop. And you can see how this whole thing becomes a domino effect from essentially one person, you, the founder in your business. So it's all good and well to say you need to look after yourself or put yourself first. And you're like, yeah, but me showing up in my business is my family's livelihood, is my team's livelihood, depending what scale of business you're at. You maybe you're responsible for a lot of other people's livelihoods as well. So yes, there's that. But we also need to expand our capacity to be able to hold more and prioritize the founder's health and well-being so that you can actually scale sustainably. Otherwise, you'll lose creative range and everything will just feel hard. It will feel kind of like a bummer. This is when your business actually becomes a nervous system problem that is just designed as a strategy problem. You'll think it's a strategy problem, but it's actually a nervous system one. So the energetic ROI is the energy that you gain or preserve from an action versus what it actually costs you. So an example of this or something that comes up for me a lot, and maybe it does for you too. Have you ever had someone reach out to you and say, hey, could I just pick your brain? Can we just go for a coffee and I'll just pick your brain? This used to happen to me all of the time. So I would go, I would sit, I would have the coffee with someone that I'd never met before, just someone randomly from the internet, but I would feel this sense of, oh, I don't want to let them down, I want to people please. So there I am having this meeting with them, and I'm giving them gold. I'm like, yeah, you should do this, your business is at this stage, you need to do this, da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. They leave being like, that was amazing, and I never hear from them again. And they go off and run their business and live their life, and I'm like, wow, I just spent an hour with that person. I feel really drained. I should have protected my boundaries. So, firstly, never ask someone to pick their brain. Always like, at least offer to buy them dinner and a drink or something. I mean, come on. It's not that people don't want to help you, it's not that that isn't okay to do. It's that you actually need boundaries. You actually need to understand when you can or cannot do those things. Nowadays, I charge for that. And that's what kind of started for me, essentially part of the business model that I have now. People would say, Hey, you're doing so well in your wellness business. I'm like, can I pick your brains? And I would give them my whole retreat playbook and everything that they needed. And I started going, you know what? I'm gonna, I'm gonna say, yeah, you can, but we're not friends. We're not even friends of friends. So you this is how much it costs. And if you want that information, you'll pay for it. And people started paying for it. And that's how my one of my signature offerings soulful strategy was born because I realized that, oh, people actually value these high-end conversations where they can just collapse timelines around their business by speaking to someone who's done what they want to do, but it wasn't coming at the expense of me. I feel like felt like there was an exchange in there. It wasn't pulling me away. Boundaries aren't walls, they are leadership. And I think this is something, particularly in the female entrepreneur space, that we need to get around because we have this tendency to want to overgive, to want to see other people succeed. Yes, yes, yes, I'm all for being a cheerleader for other women. I'm all for helping other business owners, but it can't come at the expense of you. If you are the founder, if you are responsible for guiding the ship of your business, you have to be really mindful of your energetic ROI. Are you gaining energy or are you actually preserving energy from that action? What does it cost you? If you spend all day in coffee meetings giving away free advice from people, what is the cost of that? What is the energetic cost of that? And so a boundary isn't a rule for other people, it's actually a promise to yourself. It's a moment of self-respect, of self-honoring, of actually being able to say, you know what? I am at this point, this is where I'm at today. So a couple of things that you can say, right? If people come to you and they want to pull you in a million different directions and you are so focused on one thing for that season of life that you're in, is that that's, you know, that that's not really available for me, but but here's what is. Or I don't like pick your brain, but you can book a paid session with me here. Or I'm at capacity this week, could we meet next Tuesday? Or I'll get back to you within 48 hours, meaning you are training people how to treat you. This comes across everything, right? If you're, for example, in a business where you're working with clients directly and you set a behavior of getting back to them on weekends, of constantly being on, of constantly replying, you're training them that it's okay to message you at 2 a.m. and that you'll get back to them because they don't know any different. It's kind of like a toddler, and the mums out there will feel me on this. We're training our children what is acceptable behavior and where the boundary is. It's the same in business. Whether it be your team, whether it be your clients, whether it be your community online, you're setting the tone in the way in which you communicate as to how you want them to communicate and to treat you. Where is the boundaries? Now, knowing where that boundary is and what that looks like for you all starts with your values. And the values are your North Star for actually getting this energetic ROI on all the decisions that you make. So a little activity for you to do. If you haven't done this, what have you been doing? But I propose a slightly different way of doing this is literally write down your top three values. Do this quarterly because whilst your core values might not change, what feels important for that season of business that you're in, for that cycle that you're working for, might. So you can have like your 10 core company values, we value integrity, we value, blah, blah, blah, that you just look out on the wall and whatever. I'm talking about let's make it really tangible for what is relevant for you right now in this season. So your top three values, write them down and then write down your own definition. Don't Google what does freedom mean? What does it mean for you? And then what are the actions? This is the part that people often miss. It's all like good and well to have this lofty thing on your wall, but what are the actions associated with living and embodying those values? Is it in the way in which you communicate? Is it in how you hold yourself? You know, if you value self-care as part of your business, right, how is that, how are you embodying that through your actions? So those three things then give you these core values to actually run your decision making as a lens through. You can always come back to them. They become this North Star. So when you're presented with an opportunity and you're going, I kind of want to say yes, it's kind of a bit of a stretch of my boundary because I did say this month I was focusing on, you know, my own, my family or my time outside of that, is it in alignment with my values in this season right now? Yes or no? Decision made. You're not agonizing over it again and again and again. So before you say yes to any opportunity, I want you to run it through these essentially these four filters. Number one, core value alignment. Does it actually align with the core values? Number two, does it move the needle on your biggest priority? This is a big one because just because an opportunity might sound great or make you look good or feel good in the moment doesn't mean that it's actually in alignment with what your goals and aspirations are, with what you're working towards. So is it actually going to move the needle on your biggest priority right now, or is it gonna pull your energetic focus away? Is it gonna put you into a bit of an energy deficit in order to fulfill upon? And then number three, does it feel energetically right in the moment? Now there is a difference between fear and intuition that is important to understand for this number three point. Because sometimes in the moment, say the ex say you're invited to speak on a stage, right? You might feel that in your body, in your gut, as like, oh, that feels really nervous and big, and I feel scared and I don't want to. And so you say no out of fear because you don't want to put yourself out there because you feel scared and it's new to you when really it would actually contribute to your bigger priority of maybe your priority is visibility and you want to get out there more. Maybe it does align with your core values and that the audience that you'd be speaking to are aligned. So but the fear is what's making you say no, as opposed to a very similar feeling. Fear and intuition often feel very similar. We feel them in the gut center of this I can't put my finger on why I don't feel aligned to this, but I just don't. And actually having a moment of stillness to decide: is this fear or is this my intuition? Sometimes it takes no. Sometimes it takes, can I get back to you in 48 hours? Right? To actually have the stillness to get clarity on that. And then number four, and this is the big one, will future me thank me? So does this actually create more ease later on? This is great for say like systems and automations, right? If you know I need to spend some time setting up my funnels and setting up my back end, and I don't really want to do that, it does not light me up. My core value is fun, and it is not fun, but it's gonna move the needle on us scaling more sustainably, then FutureMe is gonna thank me for allowing the time to sit down and build this thing and do the stuff that I don't really want to do right now to get us to that next stage of business, right? So it's it's nuanced, and this is where you have to kind of deeply know yourself to fully understand this. Um, it also helps you say no to the urgent but kind of not super important right now things. So you can say, hey, could we visit, could we revisit this next quarter? Or could you keep me in mind for the next event? I would love to be a part of what you're doing, but right now, if I do that, I'm sacrificing time with my family or whatever else it is. What are you saying yes to? What are you saying no to? And so I like to then put this into your like energy PL. We all use the PLs like profit and loss statements for our revenue, but what is your energetic revenue? So over the next seven days, I want you to track what drains you. People, tasks, platforms, times of day, start to develop this awareness around what are the drainers on my energy? And then the flip side of that, what are the gainers? What are the things that you're actually gaining energy from? The work that you do, the clients that you love, the environments that you love being in. You know, often in the let's scale a business, we hear people say you need to just outsource anything. It's a$30 an hour task. But you might really love doing that$30 an hour task. It might light you up to be on the customer service email or to be the person making the Instagram post or whatever it is. You might love that, right? So just because some man on the internet told you that you have to do it this way, it doesn't mean that it's right for you. So it's this internal check-in. What actually gives me energy? How can I do more of that? And then how can I actually then create a system around the stuff that I feel drains my energy so that I'm actually in a place of surplus, not in a place of depletion? So that you're kind of managing this energy leaking versus energy investments. A leak is this reoccurring and avoidable. It's like an investment that is a clear return on money. So like money, impact, having this calm capacity. And then we bring this into this energy budget concept. So every week, like when you're looking at your budgets, you have your fixed costs from your energy perspective, that is your kids, your family, your life admin, your logistics of getting to and from, right? They're the fixed costs of things that take energy from you. Then you have growth costs. So visibility, sales, creation, the things that you know you're out there doing. And then rest cost, non-negotiable regulation, time in your calendar for blank space, time to actually recalibrate, time to have clarity. If you overspend, like with any budget, you go into energetic debt. And that is where burnout starts to compound. And if you listened to the previous episode where we spoke about this end-of-hustle culture concept and creating businesses that scale sustainably, this is a big part of that. Because if you get to that point where there's nothing left, where you're in debt, what do you do if you're in debt? You file for bankruptcy. What do you do when you're in energetic debt? You burn out, right? And you have to rebuild yourself from the ground up, which is not impossible to do, but is a lot harder to do than if you had just been mindful of your energy budget along the way. So I want you to then think about okay, how can I design my week to be in flow? Now, women, female entrepreneurs, we have this superpower, right? I'm not all for like everything having to be rigidly attached to your cycle that, oh no, I'm in this phase and I couldn't possibly step outside of that because I'm synced with my cycle. That's not my vibe. I'm not super rigid in that way. I know it works for a lot of people, but I like to look at it more from a big picture. So you're creating your week inflow. You're actually separating days for creation and connection and admin days. So, for example, in my business, I have days where I'm on delivery, I'm coaching with my clients. I might also do some content creation on that day, but that is kind of that's what I'm doing on that day. I'm not also responding to emails or jumping onto admin or getting back to any Slack chats or anything like that. I'm compartmentalizing this is what I'm doing on that day. It helps with the kind of brain overwhelm. And then on those days that I don't feel super creative or I don't really want to put on makeup and brush my hair, I am going to make that my admin day. I'm gonna make that the day that I'm just getting back to things or getting back on track in certain other areas. You need to then protect your peak energy window. So you will know when is the time of day that you are most creative, that you are just most on, that ideas are flowing to you. And it might look different. For some people, that is when you're on your morning walk. You go for a walk and you're like, I am just having these ideas. And people tell you, no, you can't have your iPod on. You can't walk while you're your iPod. What century are we in? Your iPhone, your ear pods, that's the word I was looking for. What century are we in? Wow. And so just because someone told you you can't go on a walk and you have to be understimulated or overstimulated, it doesn't matter. I want you to forget all the noise and come back to you. Think about when do I feel most creative? For me, it's I am at the most creative often when I'm at the gym. I have the best ideas when I am exercising because I'm moving my body, right? So I'm physically moving any stagnation and I'm like, boom, it's that or it's often when I'm in the shower that I'm like, oh, idea, idea, idea, idea, idea, right? So it's knowing when are you in these like peak energy windows and when are you not. Now I've had to pivot this a lot having kids. I used to be a morning person hands down. I would get up at the 5 a.m., I would do my thing, I would want to work first thing. When you have children, when you're breastfeeding, that isn't always an option, right? You're on somebody else's schedule. So I actually had to adapt. And for certain seasons of my life, whilst my preference would have been that peak energy window in the morning, I've shifted that to the evening and I've done certain little rituals to get me back into that flow so that I actually have that same creative energy flow in the evening for that season of life. The point is to not be rigid, the point is to actually just create the space for it. So put in your calendar right now your CEO hour. This is your hour every week where you make decisions, where you reprioritize, where you look at boundaries, where you have or haven't been holding them, where you're able to have this big picture vision of your business. This is where you can see, hang on, I thought I was most creative in the mornings, but I'm pushing the morning thing and it's causing the family stress. So maybe I need to pivot. You don't know that unless you actually sit down and zoom out. So put it in your calendar, your CEO hour. I do this every week and I look at my life. I look at the business, I look at all the things from this higher level and perspective, and I'm not doing anything else in that time. I'm not also trying to quickly create content or quickly respond to a client. I am there for that purpose. That gives you so much freedom long term to actually make decisions that move the needle and actually help you create sustainability in your business. I really want to see you actually protect your energy so that you're not sacrificing yourself for the growth of your business because that only gets you so far. That only gets you so far before you start resenting your business, before you start resenting everything in your life, and you feel trapped and like you can't get out. Let's nip that in the bud and let's start to really lean into boosting our energetic ROI. So I hope you got something from this episode. I would actually love to hear from you. If you want to drop me a comment below or leave a review for the show, it really helps me to hear what episodes that you're loving, what you're getting out of it, and helps me to continue to shape this so that it can be of the most value to you. So thank you so much in advance for sharing your feedback, and I'll be back again with you really soon.