#34: What if We Made Well-Being the Goal?

What if well-being was the #1 priority in your business and your life? And yes, I am talking about putting it ahead of making money... because what's the point of financial success if you're unhappy in your work, miserable in your business, or so stressed out that your health is in jeopardy? 

It's possible to have success in all aspects, and when you put well-being at the top of the priority list, and truly use that as the thing against which you weigh your decision-making. Because when you do, expansiveness is the result. In every area. 

You feel happier, your business lights you up more, you're able to be more present, you have better relationships, your business supports you, it is sustainable, and your energy level and your energy itself improves. Who doesn't want all of that?

If you like what I am sharing here, then I have a special invitation for you. It's my new membership, called BE*INWARD. We're growing a unique community that’s redefining what it means to be a successful entrepreneur. Where we ask ourselves:  What if we made well-being the goal?  If you're tired of the constant hustle and feeling like you’re never fully present in any aspect of your life, then check out BE*INWARD - it might be exactly what you've been searching for.  I invite y

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hey there, my name is Corinne O'Flynn and you're listening to the Calm Entrepreneur podcast. I am a USA Today bestselling author, non-profit executive and organizing nerd with over 20 years experience running my own small businesses. I teach entrepreneurs, solar preneurs and small business owners like you how to organize your business, find more time and deepen your alignment practice to experience more calm and confidence every single day. If you're looking for that intersection between practical business advice and spiritual goodness, then you're in the right place. So sit back, relax and let's dive into this week's episode of the Calm Entrepreneur podcast. Welcome, welcome to the Calm Entrepreneur podcast. I'm your host, corinne O'Flynn, and this is episode 34.

Speaker 1: 0:50

So I have a question for you, and it's something that I ask everyone that I work with and everyone who I ever meet who is an entrepreneur, and it's what if? What if? Well-being was the goal? I think that it's really easy as entrepreneurs to get really caught up in chasing the money and we get into business. You know, we get into business because we want to work for ourselves and we want to support ourselves, and supporting ourselves means, you know, paying our bills, and that requires money and a successful business, and that's not up for debate. But what if we focused on our well-being and made that the primary goal, so that we could sustain ourselves and find something that is lucrative and allows us to be fully ourselves and attract our customers right? And I think that as entrepreneurs, we get really stuck in this feeling that we can't pivot, and I'm learning that more and more people are finding that it's hard to make the shift, because I truly do believe the Calm Entrepreneur. My business came about you know, if you've heard me talk about this at any point in the past as a result of a super deep burnout that I went through and it lasted a couple of years and it was years in the making, and then it was years in the healing and I'm still on my out ramp. You know, I'm still on the exit ramp out of a burnout.

Speaker 1: 2:24

I think it's a terrible place to be and I think that it's so easy to lose sight of the deeper why, beyond paying the bills and beyond, you know, keeping the roof over our heads and keeping the lights on, you know, I think, that a lot of entrepreneurs, in particular, you know, small business owners you know we stay in misery when the opposite is what we need, because leaving or pivoting is what's going to open those next doors for us? Right, it's so easy to stay in the trap of a stressful, unhealthy business situation because it's generating money. You know, and I know this firsthand. And I wonder you know, have you ever been in a job where you hate it, where the work is just this soul-sucking thing and you go to bed each day hating that. You have to get up the next day and go back to that work and you vow that you will never do this kind of work again?

Speaker 1: 3:34

Or have you ever been in a situation where you had a client who you know, if you're a consultant, and you're making, you know, a nice hourly wage or a nice project by project income? But the client is such a pain and this person is making you bend over backward and do more than you bargained for, or they're really difficult to work with. And you come to the realization that you know, oh my gosh, like I can't keep working for this person, no matter, no matter what, it doesn't make a difference how much they're paying me Like I need to fire this client. And that's something that comes up a lot in a lot of the business groups that I'm in. In fact, people come into the group, one group in particular, and they ask advice and they're like well, here's the situation. I am working with this client and this is you know, I'm making five figures off of this client for this, you know, six months project, and this is not my only client, but it's my largest client. Let's say, and these are the terms of the agreement, and now it's become this, this, this, this, this, and it's killing me, I don't know what to do. And nine times out of ten, like in the dozens and dozens of responses that come through, you know, and my response as well to those kinds of pleas for advice is fire the client, like, wash your hands of it, hand them off to someone else, tell them that this is no longer what the deal was.

Speaker 1: 5:02

And I think that sometimes people hear that and they think that that's unprofessional. But I think that we're conditioned as business people to put up with it because we're being paid and I think that there's the line, you know, there's a line between being abused and, you know, being treated poorly in business. But there's also this shift I think that we need to make as entrepreneurs, where we get to choose what we do, we get to choose who we work with. We get to choose everything about our business and I think that we forget that and I think that there are lots of reasons why entrepreneurs in particular stay in losing situations or these soul-sucking situations and we rationalize why we can't leave. You know, and that's what I wanted to talk about today because I think that we forget the importance of our heart in our business. We forget the importance of our soul in our business. We forget how it feels to be a whole human, living a life and running a business that we love. You know, do you remember the last time you sat down and said I love what I do and I love every piece of what I do and I get to choose who I work with and I get to decide the value of what I'm providing?

Speaker 1: 6:32

I think that we forget and one of the biggest reasons why I, when I talk to the people that I work with, why won't you pivot? What's going on? Why are you still doing this thing that you hate or that's sucking you dry or whatever you know, fill in the blank and the number one reason is fear of failure. You know, I don't want to give up and I think that that causes us to cling to a dysfunctional business or a dysfunctional aspect of a business out of fear of being seen as a failure or being judged as a quitter if they walk away. You know, admitting defeat can feel so devastating in that way, and I think that even when, moving on is the thing that's going to open the next door. And I'm speaking to you as somebody who has gone through that. Like I have pivoted, I've done a 180 in my business, a 180.

Speaker 1: 7:27

And one of the first things that I wrote about in my journal was like I feel like I'm going to appear flaky. It took a bit and it took me talking to my mastermind group and they were all like Corinne appear flaky to who. Like it doesn't matter. Like you need to love what you do You're the one sleeping with you at the end of the day. Like you need to be able to be at peace in your brain, in your heart, in your body at the end of each day. You need to Wake up the next morning and be like on fire for the next thing that you're gonna be doing.

Speaker 1: 8:06

And I think that we get so caught up in this, this fear of being judged and also this conditioning that says, you know, only losers quit. And I think it's possible to, you know, shift and stop thinking about letting things go and, you know, pruning the, the things that you don't want out of your business. Stop, stop framing that as failure, stop calling that quitting. If quitting is a negative word for you, you know, the quitting is no longer a negative word for me. It is like liberation let's talk about, let's talk about freedom, right, when it comes back down to like the core essence of why are you in business for yourself, why are you running your own business?

Speaker 1: 8:49

And I think that you know, when asked, most of the top three answers will be freedom. One of those answers is gonna be freedom, right, it's it's time freedom, it's work freedom. It's location freedom, it's freedom to do whatever it is that you actually want to do with your life. You know, and if your business is the work piece that is funding your life, that's wonderful. If your business is actually this integrated part of your everyday, that's wonderful. You know you get to choose.

Speaker 1: 9:26

So I would argue, or I'd like to, you know, offer you the alternative. You know, stop framing quit as failure. And you know I we hear it so often you know you're only. You only fail if you quit. And that's true, like I'm not talking about giving up on your business, I'm not talking about shutting it all down and saying that you can't do it because you can't you can't hack it, you can't make it work. I'm talking about sitting down and taking an inventory of your business and identifying what about it is working and what about it isn't working.

Speaker 1: 9:55

And when I say what is and isn't working, I'm not talking about what's making money. I'm talking about what's lighting your fire, what's filling you up, what is speaking to you? You're like your whole essence. What is it about your business? What pieces in your business allow you to show up fully? And I like this is something that Everybody deals with. I'm dealing with this. I deal with the daily basis. I'm like where is it that I want to be and who? Who do I have to be to show up the way that I want in my business? And it's a, it's a, it's a, it's a practice, it's the work, right, it's every day. This is the part of showing up that that matters, right.

Speaker 1: 10:37

So my number one thing that came up when I talked to other people, and also something that I have dealt with in the past Is fear of looking like a failure, fear, a feeling like a failure, and I would like to, I'd like to offer that like let's, let's, let's shift that, let's change the language, let's reframe that, and and grab on to the freedom and the beauty of we do have the freedom to change our minds, we have the freedom to pivot. Let's, let's take advantage of that. Let's do it right. So, if nothing else, I hope that Out of this entire you know conversation that I'm having with shifting the thoughts to well-being, like any time you start assessing your business and I hope that you do I hope that you take whether that be on a weekly, month, like quarterly, yearly, whatever basis.

Speaker 1: 11:28

Ask yourself, you know, do I love this? Do I still love this? Do I love all of this? What parts don't I love? Can I change those things? What if Well-being was the number one goal? What if well-being was the goal like? I ask myself that all the time, and I share that with every one of my clients and all the people that I talk to all the time, because I think that we need to shift and I think that we we must for our health, if nothing else but mental health, physical health, you know. But go back to the why. Why did you choose To get into business for yourself and why did you choose this as your business? And I think that when you answer those questions for yourself, it's gonna go back to passion, it's gonna go back to love and fire and all of those things. And I think that you know what if we kept those things as the goals.

Speaker 1: 12:24

And number two thing that comes up all the time is finances. Right, we're worried about making ends meet, we're worried about feeling trapped financially in our business and it's so tempting to stick with a steady income stream from your existing business rather than facing that unknown that's going to come if you pivot and I'm in that right now Like I pivoted from a lucrative author business you know doing really well. I have three pen names. I still write fiction, but it's definitely taking a slower pace from me because I have gotten back to the joy of why I became a writer and you know the reasons why. That fills my cup. And I got caught up in chasing the money and like really losing sight of why was I doing what I'm doing? And you know, and I love the work that I did, I love the stories that I wrote. I'm still selling all of those titles, but I can't. That's not a sustainable model for me anymore.

Speaker 1: 13:30

And I'm not saying that if you find that the thing that you're doing is no longer letting your fire, that you have to totally do 180, you don't. But you know, if you took the pie chart of your business and decided that you know these wedges are doing great, but these two wedges over here, I'd like to really contemplate what it would look like if those things changed. That's what I'm talking about, and I think that we're so afraid and like we are trapped in the financial piece of it and it's difficult, it is really difficult to make a shift and know that it's gonna cost you because it will. It has to because you're giving something up in your business. But it's expensive, like compared to what? Because if your health is at stake, you know if you get sick because of the stress of your business, it doesn't matter how much money your business is making if you can't, if you're not here to enjoy it right, and I think that we all have heard so many stories about that. So if we're worried about making ends meet without the income, then don't necessarily pivot and do a 180 tomorrow, but maybe have a different strategy.

Speaker 1: 14:40

Like, talk about your business in terms of all the different things that you do and you know, off ramping some things and make that a ramp that you ramp down. Because when we're working and we're really focused on the work and the day-to-day and we're, you know, not really thinking about the expansive view of the horizon, we forget that by keeping all of our energy trapped in this place we're actually keeping those doors closed, like those other doors don't open, because we're holding them shut with both hands because we're like nope, everything has to stay right where it is, because I have to get all this stuff done. If you feel like you're stuck in that hamster wheel kind of a feeling and I'm not saying I'm not calling it a hamster wheel to judge this is not a value judgment. If you feel like you're spinning because you can't stop because the bills, that's legit and you are 100% not alone and you're not wrong, there's nothing wrong with that feeling. But if you are not happy with the way that that feels, start making an assessment about all the different pieces that make up your business and see where you can start to off ramp old things to on ramp new things and see what that feels like, see where you do have wiggle room and freedom of time and space in your business, and explore that and contemplate that.

Speaker 1: 16:09

The number one, the number three reason, the next thing that is on my list of things that came up when I talked to my people about this was I don't wanna waste the time that I have already invested in this endeavor, right After pouring months and years and long hours into building this business. It's really hard to acknowledge that time as a sunk cost right and that sunk cost fallacy. I think that it's. We believe that if we just keep at it a little bit longer, then we're gonna get the ROI. Oh, and then we're gonna get the ROI and then we're gonna get the ROI. It doesn't work like that. It does for some, but for most people it doesn't, and I think that we can wish and hope all we like, but the reality is that we have to make real choices about yeah, I spent a lot of time and energy. Yeah, I spent a lot of money. I did those things and I learned valuable, valuable lessons, and I also learned that it isn't working the way that I needed to work. So I'm gonna pivot. You have permission to do that and I want you to give yourself that permission.

Speaker 1: 17:24

And again, if you're working in a business and you don't know where to pivot, don't pivot yet. Start exploring it. Like do a mind map, bring in people, create a mastermind around this. Like bring in trusted people who can advise you on the pros and cons. Somebody who's not invested in your business can see things that you can't see. Right and don't be precious about things. Like be able to hear hard truths and not take them personally. Like take yourself out of that equation for a moment and look at your business and listen to what other people are saying about what they see from what you're sharing and see where the truth is right. It's just an exercise, an exploration, but I think it's a really valuable one and I think that we get wrapped up in this again.

Speaker 1: 18:13

This is kind of like quitting. Like we feel like there's this label where we're calling ourselves names because we're quitting. We're calling ourselves names because we're calling throwing in the towel and crying uncle. Right, we've already invested so much time. We can't give up now and I just I don't subscribe to that anymore. I did and I don't anymore. We in my family have had that experience where we've walked away from without getting into any details, because it doesn't really matter. We have walked away from bonuses because it's just too much, it's not worth it. It doesn't matter what they're paying me. I'm losing my mind. It doesn't matter what they're paying me, I'm gonna die of a heart attack. It doesn't matter what they're paying me. I wanna be home with my family.

Speaker 1: 19:06

Like we have to make a value on our own wellbeing, and when wellbeing is the primary goal, when wellbeing is the priority, it can't help but shift everything else into its place and wellbeing again wellbeing is not. We're gonna go off and live in the forest and in forage and sing songs by the fire and live off the land. Well-being incorporates making money. Well-being is about being sustainable right, it's about filling your cup and having enough that spills over into the saucer and the saucer is where you give from. But you can't do that if you're stressed out and stuck and you feel like you're running in a loop. You just it just doesn't work.

Speaker 1: 19:55

And I am trying to bring more people into this discussion of making wellbeing the primary goal, because I think that we are in a crisis mode as entrepreneurs, because if you spend any time online looking around at the things online, if you spend any time on social media, we are inundated with go, go, go and you have to do this next thing. And here's the next strategy and here's the next psychology of selling and all these different things. And yeah, you know what? We need to be savvy business people, but we're allowed to put stuff on the back burner. We're allowed to slow it down if we need to.

Speaker 1: 20:40

You know, I talk about the crazy push marketing, the really heightened energy of the and people call it bro marketing, and I don't wanna disparage men in this, but I call it cocaine and red bull. It's like you're sitting there watching somebody who has just taken like speed and they're like and you have to, and yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, and we're gonna go to go to go to go to go to go to, and that's wonderful, like they might have fantastic strategies. But what comes with that push is all of these things like I can't quit, I've already sunk cost. Everyone else is having success and I'm not. And you know, we judge ourselves and we assign value to things that aren't necessarily ours. We don't necessarily want all those things. We don't necessarily feel like those things are what we would count as successful, right?

Speaker 1: 21:36

So, all of those things aside, it comes back to it doesn't make a difference how much time you have invested in your business. It doesn't make a difference how much money you have already invested into business. It doesn't make a difference how much planning you've done. If you're miserable doing your work, it doesn't matter. I would say it doesn't matter how much money your business is making. If you're miserable in your business, that's not success. And for me, anyway and I would like to hand over this cup of Kool-Aid to you to drink the Kool-Aid with me and come over to the light side, come over to the place where we're focusing on our energy and we're focusing on meditation and tapping in and looking in and really connecting not just with ourselves but with our business, like if you treat your business as an extension of you and you look at your business as this thing that is going to help you build a sustainable life or maintain a sustainable life, while also bringing well-being to you and yours. That like what is that worth? Right? One of the next things and I have a list of the top 10 things that came up when I asked this question was doubt. I doubt that I can secede again. I don't have the confidence to start fresh and I'm going to tell you like this is something that, again, this is one of the things that I am currently living through.

Speaker 1: 23:22

In pivoting my business, I went from author fiction author, full-time fiction author. I'm now a part-time fiction author and it's wonderful. But I shifted over to coaching and now I have been coaching people for a really long time and I've been doing lots of iterations of the kind of coaching that I'm doing now with the calm entrepreneur I have recently brought in human design and things like that. But I did not have a business doing those things. I was doing it on the side, as a thing that I was really good at that people sought me out for, because they saw it in me and said, hey, you know what, can you help me with that? And so now I've pivoted and I realized that I really want to do this full-time. I want to make this the three-quarter pie and authoring a smaller piece of the pie, and that has been such a humbling experience, you guys, because I have a marketing background, I have the tools and the skills and the understanding of how all of these things are supposed to go.

Speaker 1: 24:25

But I'm starting from zero. Like I have an audience of 20 people who I've served in this capacity, but I don't have an audience of 25,000. Like I do on my author lists. I don't have a following for people who are looking to me as a coach, so I'm having to start that completely from scratch and it's been hard and it's humbling in all the ways. But doubt is a big part of that. Do I have what it takes? Will I succeed? But I'll tell you I'm already winning at this because, yes, it's slow, but I don't think I've ever been happier and coming out of a burnout, coming back into the on ramp of life and living a full, lit up life. I am so aware of how much joy my business brings. I'm so aware of how still I feel inside, how right it all feels, and I'm trusting that it's going to continue to build and all of those things are going to happen.

Speaker 1: 25:40

But the doubt piece is really insidious. There's this well, I don't know like, do I have the wherewithal to hang in there long enough to keep on chugging on this thing? That's really tiny right now, but I love it. It's tiny and it's fun and I'm growing my confidence to do this in a professional capacity where I was doing it in an unofficial way in the past. So it's interesting because I think that a lot of people and I was surprised that this came up doubt, they doubt that they can succeed again.

Speaker 1: 26:18

And especially when you've poured everything into a business that's not feeding you, that's not feeding your soul and it's not filling you up in the way that you wanted it to. And I'm not talking again, not talking about financially, like it might be doing great financially but you just don't love it. It's not something that you can see yourself doing forever. Doubt is a big piece of well. I launched a business and it brought me here how do I know the next one's not going to be the same thing. Like it's kind of like imposter syndrome, right, it creeps in and it makes that taking on of a new risk even scarier, because it's like you know we're stuck in the devil, that we know, right, we're comfortable with the thing that we know. And that's the next point on my list.

Speaker 1: 27:07

Number five was being comfortable with the pain. Like change is scary, change is stress-provoking, it causes anxiety, right, and very often, in fact, a surprising percentage of people feel like it's actually better to stay in this negative or toxic or whatever situation. That's unpleasant because it's familiar and you know the certainty of the known thing, the certainty of that. You know misery, because that's what it is. It feels safer than the ambiguity of change. Like that, nebulousness is scary and you know fear of the unknown keeps us stuck. And I actually was really surprised with that one because I think that of all the things on this list, that's one that I don't necessarily struggle with personally, like I am not averse to making a different decision and stepping off into the darkness of the abyss and like let's see, let's see where we land and you know, maybe that is a privilege to be able to do that, I guess. But I was surprised that this came up as number five on a list of 10. I thought if it would show, I thought it would be lowered down.

Speaker 1: 28:32

The next one that came up was feeling an obligation to the people that we work with, people, that we work for, the people who have invested in the business for us, the people that are supporting us as we started out in the business. Or maybe you have employees or contractors that you hire and we don't want to let people down, right, walking away from a business means, potentially, people are losing jobs, right, or investors are losing money, and we wrestle with the feelings of guilt, right, and shame. And this responsibility that we have given ourselves to those who have counted on this venture is succeeding. But you know and again this is not to say that you know you need to shut everything down if you're not happy, like I think, that there's degrees of this and there's a way to. You know, offload the things that aren't working and in-road new things that could possibly work because they light you up. And you know there's, I think, a way to. If we picture it like a big, gigantic cruise ship, you know that's not going to turn around on a dime, like that's not a little drone that you get to spin the air and turn around the other way. This is something that needs to turn by degrees and it needs a huge amount of space, right, we need a ton of real estate to be able to turn that ship. And so think about it like that, like what one needle-moving thing can I change to move us on a different trajectory by one degree, five degrees, ten degrees, and not throw everything out, because there's some things that are working in your business, there are some things that are lighting you up in your business, and I think that we also do get lost in, we get bogged down in the one thing that's not working and it feels so heavy and it's like ugh. So I think that the obligation that we give ourselves and this is something that we're putting on ourselves this responsibility to the business, this responsibility to outside forces, you know how long are you going to continue beating the thing until you decide that it's dead, you know. So, again, this is one of those things that demands attention and you know it can be easy to do Just take inventory and see what's happening.

Speaker 1: 30:49

There's another one that was mentioned again more often than I thought, and it was kind of like the addiction to the adrenaline rush of it, like the thriving on the intensity and the drama of it all, like, for some people, the non-stopness of their business being on the brink, like, if I don't get this done, everything. It's like dumpster fire that we get addicted to that. That rush right and it makes for an aliveness feeling where we kind of like burn out or burn up everything in the day and then go to bed like exhausted and wake up the next day like all right, let's do it again, and I think that that's a recipe for disaster. That is like you've hooked your fishing line in the mouth of burnout and you're just reeling it in, reeling it in, and the harder you go, the faster the reel goes and the quicker that thing is coming at you because you're going to catch it, and that's not well-being, that's the opposite of well-being. And so I would love to.

Speaker 1: 31:57

If you are feeling like you're addicted to the adrenaline rush of the chaos and the drama and that intensity of your business, I would love to hear from you if you made the switch, because I was in there in that place when I finally hit a wall in my business with my fiction. I was writing like a machine, and I'm not a machine and some people are. You know, some people can sustain that. I, corinne, cannot do that and it was a rude awakening for me personally. And so if you feel like that's you, where you know you don't love it, but you do it because you don't know any other way than you know, maybe you're the one who's you know.

Speaker 1: 32:44

I don't know who needs to hear this, but here's my, here's my podcast for today. Maybe, maybe you're the one who needs to hear this today, because we don't realize the physical and mental toll that all of this brings on us, right? We're caught up in the day-to-day and the doing and the busyness of our business that we don't spend enough time recognizing the damage that we're inflicting on ourselves, on our relationships, on our health, on our physical health and our mental health, but on our happiness and our well-being. Like it's going to keep coming back to well-being, because, like that's, that's the new thing for me, like the I, we are moving forward into a new paradigm in the world and I think that there are many more voices joining the chorus of this.

Speaker 1: 33:34

Well-being is, it has to be, the priority and it's the well-being of us and all of us. You know, you and yours, me and mine all of our well-being and doing business in a way that you know is sustainable, not just to us and ours and you and yours and me and mine, but to the world, right To be of service in a way that is more than just filling our own cup and feeling our own wallets Like there's another way to do it. I, I believe, I, I know, I know that there's another way to do it and I believe that there's a shift coming in in, like the zeitgeist of entrepreneur land. I think that we're shifting and I think that I want everybody to just start thinking about well-being, because when you're working in a business that is sustainable sustainable in the way that it is filling you up, it is lighting you up, it is filling your cup and filling your wallet you then become a vessel for philanthropy, like giving back, and that giving back looks in all the different facets. It's actually charitable. Giving. It is being available to your people in a more sustainable way, wholly arriving and being present in all of your moments. That sustainability is what I'm talking about.

Speaker 1: 35:01

So the next thing on my list was not realizing the toll, right? I just talked about that, but I didn't enumerate it for you. That was number eight. Number nine is the being overwhelmed by the thought of uprooting everything. Right? Like leaving a dysfunctional business or letting go of a dysfunctional piece of your business can feel exhausting because it's going to cause upheaval, and I think that when you're on the precipice and the idea of changing just one thing is enough to break you, that's a red flag, right? That means that's like one of those things where, if someone says, oh, I don't have, you know, meditate for 20 minutes, I don't have 20 minutes to meditate, and the answer is, well, then you need to meditate for an hour.

Speaker 1: 35:51

Right, if you don't have the capacity to shift things in your business, because just the idea of making shifts in your business is overwhelming, then I'm going to say, then you need to shift more than one thing in your business. So take a look at that and try to do it without judgment. Like all of these things I offer to you, I would like you to take them on without judgment. Like take an objective, look as objective as possible. Like we can't really be truly objective, but be as objective as we possibly can and don't be precious and don't let your ego tell you that things are what they aren't or that they aren't what they are. Try to look at it, you know, as if it were someone else's business, and see what you see.

Speaker 1: 36:34

Right, where can you make a change? Because the rewards for making these changes are like bounty. Bounty and like passion and energy and increased capacity for new things. Right, opening more doors, letting go of things. Like if you're in the hot air balloon and you've got too much stuff, you let go of the ballast and you float up higher. There's more available to you, but you can't see it because you're stuck right. So if that feels like you, then I you know. Then this again what if you shifted and made well being the priority right now, like what's one thing that you could change today that would make that happen?

Speaker 1: 37:16

And the last thing is, again, that's holding on for that ROI piece. It's hoping that the situation is going to improve by believing that we can turn things around. And I think that there's there's a point at which that becomes an irrational thing. Like you're instead of, you know, prolonging the life of your business, or prolonging the life of this aspect of your business, or this, the life of this project, or whatever it is, there's a line that you cross where you're now just prolonging the death of it. Right, and I think that we know when we get to those places, but it's also really hard to admit it. So that's that's what I've got for you on my list of things, because when we, when we really listen to our bodies and we listen to our spirit and we listen to the words that we're saying to ourselves about our business, and then we look at them in the frame of well-being, you know.

Speaker 1: 38:15

We then start to see, I think, the benefits of embracing the change. We start to reduce unhealthy stress and anxiety by ending unsustainable business things. Right, the relief that comes is immediate. Right, we can focus our energy on new passions, because when we leave behind what isn't working, we create space to rediscover purpose and joy and new passions. And like again, that's the cliche like one door closes, one door opens. You can't open anything if you're holding on with both hands to the things that are there. It strengthens our relationships because when we release the pressure valve we come back into our body and we are more present, and that will enhance every relationship that we have. It also then starts to open our minds to the possibilities. Right, it takes away the fear of change because we are already making change.

Speaker 1: 39:17

And if we make itty-bitty incremental changes, right, the one degree trajectory change, the two degree trajectory change. And we start to see that, oh look, I made this shift and I didn't die and I made this shift and oh my God, I'm so happy and I made this shift and this has been so fantastic for my business. The more we do it, the more we realize that we can do it, and then it becomes exciting, because then we start to look for the opportunities like where can I do this some more? So I think that when we move the priority list and we put well-being at the top of the list, it's a game changer and it's a no-brainer. I think that it will help us improve everything creativity, decision-making, productivity. It helps with your business culture, like if you do have employees. It changes the vocabulary. It changes the language that you're using to speak with each other.

Speaker 1: 40:13

It makes it a people-first business as opposed to a business-first business, and that sounds counterintuitive, but I know that that works. That's a business model that works. It brings in satisfaction for you and it's customer satisfaction. The energy is then in alignment and you attract different kinds of customers, but then the customers that work with you, they're having a whole experience and they're feeling seen and served and I think that it's win, win, win, win in every direction as far as that goes. And it's sustainable, which means that you can do it longer, which means that it's all the things that we want it to be, it's all the things that entrepreneurship promised, it's all the things that it can be, because then you get to choose. The more aware you are, the more you get to choose, and so that's what I have for you today the benefits of taking well-being and putting that first over everything else. It brings clarity and I think that it causes a shift that will then bring in all the other things that your business needs to bring in for you. So I'm living that myself, albeit on a.

Speaker 1: 41:37

As I said, I restarted my business and, yeah, it's slow and it's tiny and it's working and it's wonderful.

Speaker 1: 41:47

And I think that when you, if I was doing a video and you were able to see me doing my YouTube blog which I haven't had the courage yet to do to record myself, recording my blogs, my podcasts but if you could see me right now, I am grinning from ear to ear I have this huge smile on my face because I'm thinking about where I was two years ago, where I was a year ago, and how much has changed in my life, in my day to day, in my home, in my business, and just how good it feels.

Speaker 1: 42:22

So that's my offer for you guys If there's a way for you to make a change today, I offer you shift the priority to make well-being the number one goal and everything else can stay in the order that it's in. Just move it down one notch and put well-being at the top and start using well-being as the driver for all the decisions that are going to be coming your way. See what happens. You know. See what happens. Let me know, because I'm super, super curious. But that's what I have for you today. Thank you so much for listening and I'll see you online. And remember, part of being a calm entrepreneur is developing the systems, habits and know-how that lets you know that you are the one in the driver's seat for your business. You get to choose how you think and you get to choose how you work. So you got this, my friends. Thank you for listening.