Not-So Kind Regards

5 Things We're Not Doing in 2025 to Succeed

• Maddy Birdcage & Caroline Moss • Season 5 • Episode 10

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Welcome to the first episode of 2025! In today’s episode, we're starting the year with bold decisions and intentional shifts. Join us as we reflect on habits and mindsets we're leaving behind, and explore the impactful changes we're making to align our lives and businesses with growth, authenticity, and joy.  

Episode Highlights: 

  • The mindset shift that can break the cycle of unrealistic expectations. 
  • Why prioritizing play might just be your secret weapon for success. 
  • A candid discussion about what truly drives results (hint: it's not busy work). 
  • How to step away from "doing it all" and embrace smarter support systems. 
  • The role of AI and tools in working smarter, not harder. 


Take the Next Step: 

Ready to supercharge your 2025? Whether you’re looking for mindset support, impactful marketing strategies, or tools to accelerate your success, Birdcage Marketing has you covered: 

 

Connect with us:   

 

To work with us, book your discovery call at https://www.birdcagemarketing.com.au/start-here

To discover the school, visit https://birdcagemarketing.com.au/

Speaker 1:

One of the principles of mindfulness is a beginner's mind. You have to step into a beginner's mind every single day. You have to be in the present. You have to go well, just because that didn't work doesn't mean it's not going to work today Like. I'm taking those experiences and learning from them, but I'm not letting them dictate my future.

Speaker 2:

This is the action that we teach. We only teach impactful strategies. We don't just teach fluff shit. Don't do the other shit, that's just feel good. Make you feel like you're doing stuff. Focus on impactful action. Welcome to the Not so Kind Regards podcast. I'm Maddie Birdcage.

Speaker 1:

And I'm Caroline Moss. We are done with the digital fluff and pleasantries and we're here to talk straight about brand building, digital marketing and personal growth. Feeling stuck on the content treadmill, overwhelmed by endless marketing advice that just doesn't deliver, time to flip the script and step into Express Mode, the game-changing program built for entrepreneurs who are done playing small, brought to you by Birdcage School, the online training destination, teaching thousands of marketers and entrepreneurs who know they're meant for more. Launching the 29th of January, express Mode gives you lifetime access to fast, bold strategies designed for today's fast-paced, ai-driven world. Whether you're juggling multiple responsibilities or striving to stand out in a crowded market, this on-demand program is your ticket to authentic, results-driven marketing. With actionable templates, ai, optimized chat, gpt prompts and strategies tailored for your brand. You'll achieve more in days, not months, and with this launch pricing, you will save big while transforming your business. Join our waitlist now at birdcageschoolcom.

Speaker 1:

All right, happy new year, everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Not so Kind Regards. So happy for you to be here, so excited to talk about this topic too, because I know we would have had some big feelings over the holidays about our business, about family things, about all the things. So, maddie, what are we going to talk about today?

Speaker 2:

I would love, after doing a lot of self-reflection, I would love to talk about the things that me personally and what I think everyone else should not do in 2025.

Speaker 1:

Do you feel like they're things that just come up as a business owner?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I feel like at the end of 2024, I had quite a few one-on-one coaching sessions for various reasons. I was coaching students, but then I also we recorded that episode with my very first business coach and that kind of led to an impromptu coaching session of me, very kind of her. And then also just, I guess, the regular coaching of my team of me. I mean like they coach me and I coach them, but also like over the break, like speaking with my mother, who probably is my most triggering coach figure that I have, but also her brain is so different to mine that it provides such incredible perspective.

Speaker 1:

So it's eye-opening.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, but in a way that you don't want to open your eyes.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's tough.

Speaker 2:

Which I guess is one of the things that we're not going to do this year.

Speaker 1:

Let's get into them. Number one what is your big, big number one that you want to start with?

Speaker 2:

So, it's really about releasing expectations. At the end of last year, I was speaking to a lot of business owners who may have started their business in 2024. They joined the school and things were not going the way that they wanted them to. And whenever that happens and I know that they've been doing the work and the frameworks and they've been taking our advice whenever they don't get the results that they want, I know it's not their marketing, because I know the frameworks are solid, but this is why we have the mindset element to the school as well, because when the marketing's not working, it's because following the frameworks, it's because there's something amiss in the mindset.

Speaker 2:

And one thing that I found it was this really weird combination, and I'm guilty of it too, but it was this I have these expectations and I feel like I should be here. Then, when I don't get there because it's actually an unrealistic expectation and who actually said that that's what the timeline has to be or the goal needs to be it's then they feel shit and they feel like they've failed. But then they're not acknowledging that they feel shit and fail because they've been told by someone that you can't feel sad, and so it's like this emotional bypass, it's just like I'm so disappointed in myself but everything's fine. Like that's the energy.

Speaker 1:

Where do you think for you setting such high expectations come from, because I've worked with you for now for five years and, girl, do you put some high expectations out there? But it's like me as like the open cynic is like why the fuck are we aiming that high? Let's like go a lot lower, but then, Maddie's like you're always like, I know this is extreme, but it's going to motivate us to get even halfway there.

Speaker 2:

I don't know why. I know that I am capable of incredibly big things. I've also oh actually you know what Nice question, caroline Because I do have a limiting belief of mine that you have to kill yourself to be successful. You have to work extremely hard and you have to like work very hard, and so maybe it's if I'm setting these huge goals for myself, I'm like fuck, I've got to really push myself now, and then I feel worthy of the success because I've had to like work myself into the ground to get there.

Speaker 1:

I think that was a light bulb moment.

Speaker 2:

Can you?

Speaker 1:

give us some examples, because I've got two. One it's I don't know if you want to talk about the super yacht, and two it's like very tight deadlines. You like a good tight deadline that is self-imposed. There's balloons releasing on my team.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so we had. I set a goal halfway through last year where I was like if we sell a certain amount of paying fools of our full library program per day, that I would go and lease a super yacht and would spend a day or a night on a super yacht.

Speaker 1:

Can you tell everyone what the cost of a super yacht is per day?

Speaker 2:

Well, I think it was like $30,000. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I think it was 30 or 40 grand per night.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean I'm a yacht girly, like that's my end material goal is the yacht and so, like that kind of I really wanted to go on a super yacht. I think what that made me realize is that setting really big expectations for a lot of my team is actually detrimental and actually has the opposite effect where it feels too far away.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, that's a really good point. And something I've been hearing a little bit about is, like, when you're trying to manifest something as a team, like that, everybody has to have the same you know mindset, as, like, everyone has to believe that they're going to actually get that, whereas, like you don't know all the self-limiting beliefs in everybody's minds or all the money mindset things of like 10 people you know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

I think it's hard too, because you're such a like I'm going to set this big goal and if I don't achieve it, that's okay, but you still, you still get upset. But I think some of us it's like, oh, we're going to disappoint Maddie, and then that's where it comes from us as a team. We're like yeah holy shit, this is a huge expectation, and are we going to disappoint her?

Speaker 2:

It's hard when your team likes you. Yeah, they care for you. Yeah, I mean something that I've kind of I used to really struggle with and I actually, in the episode coming out next week with Claire, who was my original business coach, we talk about how in the beginning, when I started working with her, I used to, for the first time, set financial goals, revenue goals, and if I didn't hit those goals I'd spiral into like a well of self-pity and low self-worth. And she was like, why it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't matter. And I'm like but it does, because it means I'm a failure. Like I didn't realize that that's what my inner dialogue was saying, but it was.

Speaker 2:

But now I've gotten to such a point and this is what comes through personal development, work and finding your worth outside of your goals and your money and your career and all this stuff which was hard for me to detach.

Speaker 2:

But now I'm like, fuck, yeah, I'm a badass, regardless of what happens. I'm actually in this space right now where I'm navigating this brave new world, where I'm like maybe I won't work, maybe I'll just pack it all in and just be a stay-at-home mom. Nothing wrong with that. I'll believe it when I see it, I know, but I'm literally at this point where I'm like my lack of self-worth used to drive me to work so hard my entire career and I'm now in this place where I'm like I'm happy with who I am, external to my work and my achievements that I feel like I need to find a new fuel to motivate the work Because for the first time in my life I get to find a new fuel to motivate the work. Because for the first time in my life I get to like one o'clock and I'm like maybe I'll go home, but I never do.

Speaker 1:

You're in your soft girl era. Soft girl CEO. Yeah, you need to follow a few soft girl accounts and just figure out. Are you going to start making sourdough?

Speaker 2:

My mom does. No, my mom makes the best bread in the world. And even when we're in, oh, start making sourdough. My mum does. No, my mum makes the best bread in the world. And when? Even when we're in, oh, it's incredible Even when we're in France and we're going down to the patisserie every morning, forrest and I because he is a fancy boy connoisseur the eight-year-old boy he was even eating the baguettes there and he was like well, all means is better. And I'm like Whoa big call bro.

Speaker 2:

So point one, we're not setting the doodaloo expectations if you want to, but we're not going to get upset when we don't hit them but then pretend that we're not upset. So either be upset and be like, have your pity party, like in December. Our billings were not where I wanted them to be and I had some pretty lofty goals, but it's like it just it kind of didn't work out and I let myself have like actually almost like a day of just being like just kind of, oh, this sucks. And I felt that because I did feel sad that I didn't get what I wanted. But it's okay, yeah, that's okay. You're not going to. You're not going to attract bad things if you feel bad.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, it's okay to not be okay, but then you're responsible to get yourself back into the headspace of achieving again, going for something. Today's a fresh start. We're not going to let the stories of the past dictate how we act today. We've got to let them go.

Speaker 2:

And that like, just because I didn't get this goal doesn't mean like, stop creating stories that aren't real. You know, just because you didn't get that goal doesn't mean you're a failure, doesn't mean you're shit, doesn't mean it's always going to be like this. It doesn't mean any. It's just a thing that happened, so move on.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, Something I wrote down actually when I was thinking about this episode topic was if a client came to me and was like I've had all these bad experiences and all these failed launches and all these things, and they were telling me all this stuff, they're like how do I start again? How do I start fresh? And I thought it's literally that. It's one of the principles of mindfulness is a beginner's mind. It's you have to step into a beginner's mind every single day.

Speaker 1:

You have to be in the present. You have to go well, just because that didn't work doesn't mean it's not going to work today. Like I'm taking those experiences and learning from them, but I'm not letting them dictate my future. That is a really hard mindset to be in, though Like that's not easy.

Speaker 2:

Oh, it's not easy, but I believe it is easy when you figure out how to detach your self-worth from the outcome, this law of detachment, which basically dictates that set the goal, want it, but then don't let it define who you are. Which leads into the second thing that I wanted to talk about. We're going to stop being so serious, not even just being serious, because some people are serious people and they like to be serious. We're going to stop ignoring play, and I, again, this is probably my big theme for this year. Well, actually, maybe it's not, I'm not sure yet, but I know play. Play is important and what I see play is. It doesn't mean literally like playing with toys, because for me, to play with my children, I'm like, oh I hate this, like I hate that, but for me, play is like creating new programs, creating, or like creating vision boards on Pinterest, or going in my garden and building a garden, like getting all Martha Stewart and playing that little role and like creating content is play for me as well. It's like fulfillment and joy. I say it's the things. If you're struggling to find joy and fulfillment.

Speaker 2:

What did you used to love doing as a child? Do that? Yeah, it's why I went and bought a sewing machine, did you A few months ago? Yeah, wait, you haven't seen the skirts that I've been making, oh my god. So they're terrible, but like it's, it's like. You know me, I'm not a perfectionist, so I'm like I get it done quickly. So nothing's measured, nothing's cut straight, nothing's pins, it's just like, well, throw the fucking machine, but like I, just I love. I used to sew a lot when I was in high school and it's just like, well, forward the fucking machine, but like I, just I love. I used to sew a lot when I was in high school and it's this creativity, it's just creating.

Speaker 1:

I love to create, yeah yeah, that's what I've been tapping into lately. It's like, how do I be more creative every single day? Because that's what really lights me up. And like my son he's only two he's been asking me to like tell him nighttime stories, but not not like from the books. I'm like making up stories about him being an astronaut, and I'm like this is actually so fun because I'm a creative writer. That's one of my degrees and I'm like, oh, like it is play. It's like seeing the world through your kid's eyes and like, how do you slow down and just play in our adult brains? Like I got to achieve, I got to do things, I got to take things off the list.

Speaker 1:

I'd love to give an example of how I coached a client through this recently. So she had a power session with me. She's been a client for about 18 months of ours. She had some really big launches when she started working with us. They're amazing things that started going downhill, like she's still very much in charge of all of our marketing. Things have started going downhill, like she's still very much in charge of all of our marketing.

Speaker 1:

And so I I've just asked her and I'm going to say the word energetics and people kind of shit on this word, but this is how I, as someone who's like sciencey, I need evidence, I need proof. This is how I see it. And it's what were you doing during those launches that you're not doing now? And she's like oh, I was going to um, like raves and music festivals, because that's part of her brand. And she was like I was doing this and I was doing this fun thing and I was making content here and I was like having community and I was, you know, meeting up with other people and I was like are you doing that now? Oh, no, she was going swimming every day. She was like not touching her phone, like she was. No, I'm not doing that now.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my gosh, it was like a light bulb moment and it's like okay, so let's get you back there 100% and that's something like when things are going good, write your day down in your journal. That's another vote for journaling which I mean. I need to take that advice. We are going to journal in 2025 every day. Guys, write down what you're doing, because the brain, our brains, lie to us. They tell us I'm not doing anything differently. And then when you facts not feelings, facts not feelings you look oh fuck, I was actually getting up early, going for a swim, going out in nature, getting in the sunlight, eating, drinking green smoothies, meditating, doing all this. Now what am I doing? I'm eating junk food. I drinking green smoothies, meditating, doing all this. Now what am I doing? I'm eating junk food. I'm sleeping in, I'm going to bed late, I'm drinking more wine Cause like yeah, if I'm honest, I went through a period like that at the end of 2024, where I was, I definitely was drinking more than I was, when things were like fucking firing.

Speaker 1:

And you think that was kind of bringing the vibes down a little bit.

Speaker 2:

I don't know, because it's still in a healthy place. It's not like the old days where I drink a bottle of red wine every single night to myself. It's, but it's just a couple it's. I'm just like I get home and I have the glass of wine instead of like, like when things were really firing, I was literally like not drinking at all. So I don't know Finding the balance. It is the balance and it's the intention.

Speaker 2:

Like I've got a good friend who's a dietician. She basically said because I was saying I feel really bad that my kids don't have the perfect diet. Like, compared to a lot of people, they eat pretty well, but I'm just like perfectionist about the food. Thanks, mom. But she was like it's not so much what they're eating, maddie, it's actually the intention with which it's being eaten. So like I mean, it is what they're being like. You can't have good intentions every time you feed the mcdonald's, but it's like, for example, because I'm like every thursday after swimming, we used to go and get happy meals and I started feeling really guilty about that and she goes no hold up. They're eating well throughout the rest of the week. It's a celebration that you're almost at the end of the week You've done three days of sports in the afternoon Like it's a fun thing. Make it a fun thing instead of feeling crap about it and saying to them like you shouldn't. You know, this isn't good food to eat. This is junk food.

Speaker 1:

They're going to remember that as, oh my gosh, like that was a little ritual in our family and I felt so connected to my mom then and I felt so connected to my brother and my sister then and like that was such a special time and a little ritual that we had. Like I still remember our Saturday night frozen pizzas and just like watching movies and like like I just it just felt good.

Speaker 2:

Exactly that's the thing. It's like. It's not so much and and like I'm even going to say it about smoking right now, which I'm not advocating people start smoking, but no, I'm not, I'm definitely not. But it's no secret that I don't mind myself a little euro cigarette, as I like to call it. Now, stop judging me. There is a very big difference between don't judge, no.

Speaker 2:

So my mom actually made this, because mom was like why are you smoking? Of course, and I go, because I actually can stop at any stage that I want to and I can. Then she's like, oh you, you smoke like my father used to, which was you actually don't smoke when you, when you're stressed, you're having a smoke, when you're relaxing or when you're celebrating or when you're like it's a special occasion type thing, and I'm like, yeah, whereas if you are smoking because you're stressed, like fuck, of course it's going to cause cancer, like stress plus cigarettes, of course. But if you're having an odd, well, I'm not saying people do this, but it's like if you have an odd vice not too frequently when you're in a high energy state, and it's a fucking vice, like it's a little guilty pleasure I actually don't say anything wrong with that.

Speaker 1:

I'm not going to comment on the smoking, but I will say like, yeah, having some way of celebrating, for sure, whether it's you celebrate, like people will shit on, like celebrating with food, but I think that's a beautiful thing. But some people are like, oh, that's not a great mindset to have. You know, celebrating with the champagne, like that just feels nice. Celebrating with dancing, celebrate. You know, there's so many different ways you can celebrate celebrating with purchasing, your purchasing, a little treat for yourself maybe a little outfit or something when you've been working really hard.

Speaker 2:

That's the thing. It's like spending. I used to be a very compulsive spender because I would self-soothe through the buying. If I was feeling shit, I'd go and buy something to make myself feel better. Retail therapy Not a good thing, not good for your bank account, not good for your energy. But if you set yourself a goal and you're like, I'm going to buy this when I achieve this thing, or I'm going to buy this because I fucking deserve it, yeah, rewards.

Speaker 1:

That's different.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, treat yourself. Okay, treat yourself.

Speaker 1:

What was number three? Okay, we're going to dive into social media because it's part of all of our lives. If you're a brand owner, if you're a marketer, you're on social media, and it's so easy to spiral when something, when you like, put your heart and soul to a piece of content and it doesn't perform the way you wanted it to. So we're going to stop chasing the views or comparing ourselves online. So, maddie, do you feel like you've done this recently?

Speaker 2:

Oh, absolutely, max and I both like yeah, max and I, we are. So she knows, when I'm going through this, I mean, we've got a sister telepathic connection, obviously, but because we, we are the ones that are so like we, we drive the content for all the brands that we right. It's very well, it's very easy for you to get your self-worth caught up in. How well do those views go? Yeah, and I'm saying that from a place of I'm very self-aware, and so is Max. And yet we still need to, at times, pull each other out of. Don't fucking worry about the views, like that's the but what I basically want, like use the analytics to make decisions, but don't use it to decide if you're worth anything or not. And obviously, at the end of the day, how is the revenue in the business that is actually like? That should be more of an indicator of how your content is performing than some numbers. How?

Speaker 1:

many DMs are you getting and how many conversations are you starting and how many people are coming into your world, regardless?

Speaker 1:

of how one piece of content is performing, and if you posted that piece of content across several different platforms, you need to add up all that reach and views, because that's the reality. It's not how it performed on one platform, it's how many people you reach that week. Even If you posted five pieces of content, or 10 pieces of content that week, that added up to 10,000 views, well then you got yourself 10,000 views, whether it's on one piece of content or not. Yeah, exactly, can we talk a little bit about like comparing ourselves online, though, because I'm sure everybody feels this 're not innate to it. You know they say curate your feeds, do this, but also jealousy can be a sign for you that that's what you need to go for. Like that might be a bit of motivation for you for sure, I've definitely re-angled.

Speaker 2:

I've never been an overly jealous person because I've always actually been a high achiever and so, out of like you know, I got married earlier, I had, like, I've never been jealous because I'm like I'm the best, but there are a few creators out there who you're like.

Speaker 1:

I can't follow them because they trigger me.

Speaker 2:

They do. And actually I have become more triggered in recent times when I look back and see, like Brookie for example, brookie Bakehouse right, we started our journey very closely together and she doesn't trigger me, I love her. But we started our journey very, at a very similar time and we used to chat a lot and same with Brittany Saunders, like on TikTok. We used to chat a lot and it was like I felt like I was like on their level right and they completely blitz past me, like Brookie's got a freaking pop-up shop at Brisbane airport. She's in Abu Dhabi. Brittany Saunders, she's literally like the queen and I'm like why am I not there? Like that. And I had a time at the end of last year where I was really like what the fuck did you do wrong? Like why aren't you at this level if you started in the same place? And it's like hang on, we're playing a different game. I was gonna say what?

Speaker 1:

what is that level that you don't have? Is it an online level, whereas you actually have very solid programs and a business? And not saying that they don't have great businesses too, but like if we're not just comparing revenue and we're not just comparing numbers on a screen, like we're actually comparing about assets in a business, like I would say you're on their level, different products, that's.

Speaker 2:

I think that's the thing. It's like I feel like on an energetic perspective, or like I feel like I walk into a room and you know, honestly, if everyone was together in a room and we'd walk in there a hundred percent, like it's not even who's better than anyone else, but it's like I could hold my own, absolutely no problem, you know, and I've given advice to both of them about digital marketing before you know but it's like it's very easy to judge when you see someone else has got a million followers and you're stuck at 60 K and you can't get views. You're like what am I doing wrong? But it's like you're on your own journey. Look at where they're at and go okay, I really want that. I actually now I mean, don't get me wrong, if my account got a million followers on it tomorrow, I'd be like cool. But I actually now I mean, don't get me wrong, if my account got a million followers on it tomorrow, I'd be like cool. But I actually like that's that didn't go on my vision board for this year, how many followers I want on TikTok. The last two years it has been not this year Because I don't care.

Speaker 2:

I care more about impact. I actually for me what was on my vision board. Similar to that was how many DMs am I getting from people saying I helped change their life? It's impact. It's impact. I care more about the impact. I care more about the individual lives that I get to change because of the work that we're doing.

Speaker 1:

Because none of us are immune to jealousy, though do you have some like tactical advice on either how to harness jealousy for something good or how to you can't avoid it, but how to kind of like not spiral out about it? I think it's. I had a therapist say to me one time like the feeling is okay, but the like duration and length and like height of reaction. Do you think that was okay?

Speaker 2:

So the best way that I would say to do it is if you're jealous or if you feel envy, see it as a sign from the universe or whatever, or a sign from your brain. If you're a science or a witchy galley, it doesn't matter. That is something that you want. That is something that will decide. Hang matter, that is something that you want. That is something that will decide. Hang on, Is this something? Is this something that I want? Do I want a million followers on TikTok? Why do I want a million followers? Is it ego or is it because it's going to make my life better, make other people's lives better? Is it like a soul driven thing? Right?

Speaker 1:

That's number one. Something else that you're seeing that person doing like Brittany Saunders. Like the way she presents herself. It looks like she's having so much fun in her business every day. It doesn't look like she's stuck behind a computer screen, like she probably is, but yeah, cause there's a little bit of hard work in business, no matter what, but it looks like she's having so much fun, fun.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, like, what is it? Yeah, exactly Like. Really try and pinpoint what is it that that person has that you may want, and then, rather than looking at it as a oh well, they've got it, there's no room for me, look at it as a if they've got it, I can too, there's room for me too. Yeah, like she did it, I can do it too. Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Yeah. I got chills. Yay, all right, we're up to number four, so we are going to stop doing busy work.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, okay, this, this will be a quick one. We're going to stop just doing actions and I talk about this a lot last year as well in our live workshops. We're going to stop doing actions that just give us a dopamine hit because we ticked a box. We're going to stop doing that. We're going to focus on needle moving things. We're going to focus on the things that may feel icky and we might be scared to do and may be hard and messy and new and different and out of our comfort zone, but that actually make the difference in what we do.

Speaker 2:

It's that 80-20 principle 20% of what you do results in 80% of your results. 80% of what you do results in 20% of your results. And I got obsessed with this at the start of 2024, probably to my detriment, actually, but it's like we need to focus in on that. It's like for me, it's like being in my inbox. That doesn't grow my business. Being in front of the camera, doing my self-care work and following up sales calls they're the three things that I've identified that moves the needle in my business.

Speaker 1:

So I'm going to focus on doing that, even though I don't like sales and I think this stems from speaking to a few people recently, both like in webinars and coaching students and stuff who are like I feel so busy every day, I'm working so much but nothing's happening. And it's it's. Are you focusing and prioritizing the right tasks? And is your brain just busy as well and this is in the full library.

Speaker 2:

This is the action that we teach. We only teach impactful strategies. We don't just teach fluff shit that's like oh yeah, maybe you send some. No, get these automation set up, send this many edms per month, per week, whatever it is. Or like use these platforms specifically, don't do the other shit. That's just feel good, make you feel like you're doing stuff. Focus on impactful action.

Speaker 1:

And I think it goes the same. Like people are like oh, but I'm posting three times a day and I'm doing this and doing that, but it's like you need to take the time to sit down and go. Is my message cutting through? Is it aligned with the strategy? What are the analytics telling me? Like you have to take the time to audit and don't go. I'm trying everything. Because if you're trying everything, then and it's still not working, then it's time to audit what you're actually trying. Yeah, All right. And number five we're going to stop trying to do everything ourselves.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so this kind of leads in from the one before. But it's like I think, especially women, they feel very validated when they are busy and so they load up their plate and then it's very difficult for them to seek help external I mean, men are like this as well but like it's very difficult for them to ask for help right, because they feel like they, maybe their success is not purely theirs, they don't deserve the success or they don't want to bother someone else with their needs, their goals.

Speaker 1:

Sometimes it's. I don't want to take the time to teach somebody how to do it.

Speaker 2:

Yep, a lot of my team have that problem and I fight them on it every day because I used to have that problem too and I can still I do. My superpower is doing things that take people a week. I do it in 10 minutes, not a hundred percent perfect, but well enough. So like I could be tempted to be like I'm just going to work on my own and do everything myself. But I've been there, I've been there and I've done that and I'm like.

Speaker 2:

First of all, success is not as sweet if it's on your own. It's always really nice to do something with a team. I think that is community, whether it's your own team, whether it's a mentoring community, that you're in friends, family, whatever. To do something with other people is very fulfilling. But, number two, you will burn the fuck out and you can't sustain it. You might be able to, in the short time, get the results, but in the long term you will not. Now this is also when it comes to knowledge and skills and frameworks. And yes, I'm going to say, if you do one of our programs, you will get success in your marketing and your mindset a shitload faster than you ever will, trying to figure it out on your own right.

Speaker 1:

Right, I was going to say actually, like do we think this is contradictory to the fact that so much of what we do now is to teach entrepreneurs how to do it themselves?

Speaker 2:

first and do everything.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's a really good point.

Speaker 1:

I don't think it's contradictory, because I think you need knowledge. I think you need knowledge to then be able to teach other. Like you should know how to do every single part of your business, but you should not do it forever. Yeah, like you need to know about your money. You can't just outsource that because that's how people get screwed over. You need to know how to do your ads, even if it's just basic, so you can log into your ads account and not go oh my God, this is so overwhelming and shut it and not know how people are spending your money.

Speaker 2:

I can't remember who I was speaking to, but it was like the other day and they basically said I can't believe all of the shitty like lies that I believed from my old agency when I worked in corporate and it was like they just lied. And it's like a lot of brands have bad experiences with agencies because agencies just lie, they do, they do. I used to work at one that fucking lied. I wonder why I'm not there anymore. But if you at least are knowledgeable about it, you don't have to do it.

Speaker 1:

but if you know about it, then you can manage a whole lot better and if you you're knowledgeable about it, you can fix what's going wrong quicker than waiting for them to tell you what's to do. Go well, I think.

Speaker 2:

I think it's this, let's go test this, and like you're driving the direction I mean I would say that's where AI and express mode comes into play, though, like we are teaching you technically how to do it, but we're teaching you how to use a tool that speeds everything up so you can do things a lot quicker.

Speaker 1:

And if you don't know what express mode is, make sure you join our wait list. The link is in our show notes. We can do a little elevator pitch about express.

Speaker 2:

I mean yes, so express mode. We have just opened this month the wait list to save big when we launch express mode to the public. We have had a few beta rounds happen. At the end of last year we had people fly through it, getting 90 97 of the way done in like four days, which I'm pretty sure they would have finished it. There would have just been some tick boxes that weren't ticked right in, like the template section. That's usually how it goes, but people are finishing the program in four days. We've seen some incredible, incredible results coming through because they've been able to use our psychological frameworks but not have to actually learn themselves, because they're using ai and what we give them, our resources and our prompts and the things, the right things to upload to spit out strategies. That literally writes your content yourself, creates your funnel, it's. If you want to sign up to Save Thousands, be one of the first people to, after our betas, to do this program, then yes, the link will be in the show notes.

Speaker 1:

Make sure you reach out to us and ask us any questions you have about that too.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

So learning to do things yourself using tools like AI, learning the strategies and the tactics first and then getting the support you need. Whether that's coaching, whether that's outsourcing outsourcing, yeah Whether that's using technology, because people always forget that technology especially as AI gets better, like, I had a client who started using AI to help edit her photos. She was a photographer and she's like it gets it 90% of the way there saves four hours, four to ten hours, something crazy like that per client.

Speaker 2:

When can AI clean my house? Yeah, I mean, like I have a robotic vacuum, right? Yeah, I've bought one each year for the last three years because I they seem to die after 12 months. I don't know what I do, but that is helpful for me in my with multiple pets and children. You know, and that's you know, I had to spend two grand to buy a decent robotic vacuum, but I've definitely made that money back in the time I haven't spent vacuuming.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, exactly so it's. It's like kind of, do a life audit of and work audit of, everywhere that you're wasting time, even using like a time tracking tool not forever, but in your own business to go like, okay, I'm starting a task, let me see how long it's taken me to do this, and then going maybe that's something I need to outsource, whether it's editing videos, whether it's doing Canva templates, whether it's checking your inbox and only flagging the things that are priority for you.

Speaker 2:

Maybe we should add some AI prompts into the favorite self, which is our mindset membership program, which we have been keeping on the DL. But we'll make some fuss about it very soon, I'm sure. But maybe we should add some like, like life audit prompts in there as well to get people to like you know again need support. Yeah, yeah and see where they could be getting more support in their life. That's such a good idea.

Speaker 1:

It's not something you think about, because you just go through the tasks and you're like get it done, get it done, get it done. And then you're like, until someone points it out to you, like, hey, maybe you don't have to do it all. Yeah, Like some people wear burnout as a badge of honor, and it's not a great vibe.

Speaker 2:

I know it's quite terrible actually I've gone through it a couple times now At the end of 2024, I was definitely like steering towards burnout. Not so much like physically I don't think. I think I was feeling quite good physically, but mentally I was like I could tell that's where I was at, because I was like I want to run away and live in a forest cottage.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, and you just want to hide.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and you're like I just I want to walk, I want to run away from any problems that I've got. Okay, so we're very excited for the energy that 2025 is bringing. It's five years on, since 2019. And we all know what happened then 2020. Oh shit, this is why I'm not in charge of numbers. Anyway, we are well and truly past COVID, even though that completely derailed our entire lives. I do feel like there is a big turning point, and a lot of people are like I'm sick of my own shit. This is the fucking year I'm doing it.

Speaker 1:

This is the year I feel like people are getting more self-aware, Like it's crazy and they're like holding people accountable, brands accountable, becoming more self-aware. So it's like let's all level up together.

Speaker 2:

Yes, and if you want to enroll in express mode or get on the wait list to save thousands when we launch on the 29th of January, please do. If you are interested in the favorite self, we will also include little links into there as well. That's our mindset membership, but that's kind of yeah, we haven't made too much noise about it yet, but podcast listeners you get it. And if you're a marketer and you want to be in the full library, don't forget that is also still available for you with the marketers bundle as well, the MBA bundle. So lots of ways. Oh, and of course, we have our agency.

Speaker 2:

How can I forget? If you're a brand and you want to work with us this year, we are booked out for a couple of months already, but we may have spots available for specific jobs. So the best thing to do is just book that discovery call with us, because we are we're going to be on fire this year and if you want to come with us, you're invited. Yay, all right, have a great start to the year, guys. Make sure you DM us if you liked this episode, if you have any questions. Make sure you leave a review if you enjoyed it. We thrive on positive feedback, thanks.

Speaker 1:

Excited Thanks guys.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for listening to this episode of the Not so Kind Regards podcast. We hope you enjoyed it. If you did, we would really appreciate if you left a review on whatever streaming platform you are using. It helps us to grow as a brand new podcast and to help many more business owners and content creators reach their goals, just like we hope this brought you one step closer to your member. Connect with us on tiktok, at maddie birdcage and at birdcage marketing, and the same handles on instagram again, and if you really want to learn how to work with us, make sure you head to our website and book a call. We would love to speak with you.