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My Weekly Marketing
Join conversations about marketing, business, and life-in-between with marketing strategist Janice Hostager and a variety of world-class entrepreneurs! We will fill you with step-by-step training, marketing strategy, and life experiences from where life and business intersect. We'd love to have you join the fun!
My Weekly Marketing
How to Make Decisions Like a CEO
If your to-do list feels never-ending and you're constantly second-guessing what to focus on, this episode is for you. We’re talking about how to make decisions that aren’t just reactive, but rooted in clarity, purpose, and what actually moves your business forward.
Whether you're solo or scaling, you'll walk away with a practical, mindset-shifting approach to prioritizing your time, energy, and effort as a business owner. Plus, there's a free resource to help you put it into action when you're ready to lead with more intention.
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I'm Janice Hostager. After three decades in the marketing business and many years of being an entrepreneur, I've learned a thing or two about marketing. Join me as we talk about marketing, small business and life in between. Welcome to My Weekly Marketing. Hey friend, welcome to another episode of My Weekly Marketing.
Janice Hostager:If your to-do list looks more like a junk drawer than a strategy, or if everything feels really urgent and important and loud, then today's episode is for you. Today, we're talking about how to make decisions. Like the CEO that you are, it can be hard to make big decisions, especially when your brain is full and your calendar is booked. This is about more than just productivity hacks. It's about shifting from being reactive to being intentional. So in this episode, we're going to look at how to make big decisions with clarity and confidence. First of all, you are the CEO, even when you're a team of one, but in the early days, you're also the CFO, CMO and the employee too, and I get it. You end up burnt out at the end of the day. So a decision as simple as what's for dinner can cause you to stare at the void. I've got a super simple tool to help you cut through the noise, so stick around to the end. So first off, let's name it.
Janice Hostager:Most of us didn't start a business to become a CEO. We started to become a coach or to create something or to help other people. But when you're running the show, you're not just the talent, you're the visionary, you're the manager, you're the janitor and you're the intern. Sometimes, and when you wear all the hats, everything feels important your inbox, your client requests, your blog, that new opt-in you've been meaning to get done. Suddenly, you're making decisions from a place of panic or pressure, not purpose. But good CEOs don't do that. They make aligned, data-informed and long-term decisions, not from urgency, but from clarity. And you can too. Here's how to start thinking like a CEO when making decisions.
Janice Hostager:First of all, ask yourself, does this move me closer to the business in life that I'm building, or does it distract me from it? This is kind of your compass. It's easy to get pulled into ideas that are shiny and exciting or even profitable, but if they don't align with your long-term vision, they can actually slow your momentum. Think of it as asking this: is this in line with what I say I want? Will this help me build the business that supports the lifestyle I'm designing, or is it steering me off course? The second question, will this bring a result I actually want, whether it's money, momentum or meaning?
Janice Hostager:We usually hear ROI and think of dollars, but in small business life, especially when you're wearing all the hats, the return on your intention matters just as much. Is this task, offer or opportunity likely to give me meaningful progress toward my actual goals? Will it generate income, help me grow my audience or build credibility or fuel me creatively? If it's not something valuable, even if it looks productive, it's worth pausing and taking another look at it. Number three, ask yourself do I realistically have the time, energy and space to do this well right now? This is where we bring it back to real life. You may want to say yes, it may even fit the vision and promise of a great return. But if you're maxed out, if saying yes means overcommitting, burning out or delivering less than your best, then the kindest and most strategic answer is no or not yet. This is where boundaries protect your bandwidth. The bottom line is this, if it's not a clear yes, at least to two of these three things your vision, your ROI, your capacity, then it's probably a no, or at least not right now.
Janice Hostager:That's not failure, that's discernment. There's a time for everything. Those three simple questions will help you get closer to a decision that will not only be right for your business, but also right for you and for your sanity and for your future. But we still have those days where we're running around like crazy and wondering what to work on first, when everything seems urgent. So here's a quick priority tip. First, work on what's closest to cash or clarity. So what that means is selling your current offer before building a new one. I get it. We all have great ideas of what to do next, what to build next, next month or where you can see yourself in a year from now. But focus is the issue. Stay head down on that one thing that will be a needle mover for your business. Do you need another free download? Do you need to post that reel that takes you an hour to create? Focus on what moves the needle. Another idea would be to email your list before creating new freebies. Your best audience is sitting in your email list. The ones that you've sent your weekly updates to that have brought from you in the past. They're warm leads because they've showed that they're not only interested in what you're offering, but they've also raised their hands and said, yes, email me, and that's a golden opportunity.
Janice Hostager:Fixing a broken system just before starting a shiny new project is one of the most overlooked things in our business system. Now here's something most of us overlook. You can't make CEO-level decisions if your brain is in constant go mode. You need white space, some margin, time to zoom out and think, and that doesn't require a fancy retreat or a week off in Bali, but if that's an option for you, you go girl. Even an hour a week laptop closed, planner, open, mind, clear can be a game changer. It's always been my goal to get up early and spend that first hour with a cup of coffee and a journal to think and pray. But truthfully, over the last few months, as I've been launching a new product, that time has slipped away and I can so feel it. I cannot wait to start putting margin back into my life. That's where strategic thinking happens. That's where you remember oh right, I'm building a business, not just crossing things off my to-do list. And let's be real. One of the most powerful CEO decisions you can make is this one.
Janice Hostager:Stop trying to do everything yourself. You don't get a gold star for burnout. Burnout is truly a fast track to lose everything that you've worked so hard to build, whether it's hiring a VA, automating your social posts or finally letting someone else manage your inbox. Letting go is leadership. Do you see Jeff Bezos out there delivering packages for Amazon? Howard Schultz making your oat milk espresso at Starbucks? No, because they need to do the things that only they can do. Your time is too valuable to waste on things that drain your energy and keep you stuck in the weeds.
Janice Hostager:Say it with me delegating is a CEO move, not a luxury, not a someday, a right now, revenue protecting decision. I've had a few VAs and I'll tell you that they are so vital and you'll never regret having one. On my wall is a whiteboard, and on it I have written these words who, not how. What does that mean? It's the title of a book by author Dan Sullivan. It means that, instead of asking myself how will I do that thing. Now I ask who can I hire to do that thing?
Janice Hostager:We've all spent hours trying to figure out how to do something that a person skilled in that thing could do in 10 minutes, computer issues, anyone? We don't need to figure out how to do everything, just the things we do best. And if hiring isn't in your budget, maybe the answer is barding with another business owner for something that's not in your wheelhouse. So here's the truth, the thing that I want you to remember. You are the CEO, even if your office is your kitchen table and your team is your dog. The sooner you give yourself permission to start thinking like a leader, build in margin and stop doing everything alone, the faster things will click and the faster your business will grow and those decisions will become clearer, because you'll be able to think more clearly and stop relying on your own power to do the things that others can do and they can do it often better than you or me.
Janice Hostager:I'm giving away my free CEO Decision Filter worksheet. It'll help you work through your next big decision with clarity. You can find a link to that at myweeklymarketingcom, forward slash 119, along with the links for anything else we talked about today. So thanks for joining me today. Until next time, lead like the boss you are. See you next time. Bye for now.
