E83: Build With Intention: How to Stop Running Your Business on Autopilot

In this episode of Dream Business, Dream Life, we explore the power of intentional action and why so many entrepreneurs stay stuck in “good” when they’re dreaming of “best.” I share a personal story about realising I was running my business on autopilot...busy, overwhelmed, and no closer to the life I truly wanted.

You’ll learn a simple clarity building framework: Good, Better, Best.

Instead of chasing what others are doing, this approach helps you reconnect with what you actually want, make decisions with purpose, and take aligned action that moves you forward.

We talk about:

• Why busyness keeps you stuck in place
• How “good, better, best” brings clarity to your goals
• The difference between intentional and unintentional “yeses”
• How to stop chasing noise and start choosing what truly matters
• A simple daily question to keep you aligned with your dream life

You’ll leave this episode with a reflective challenge to define your own good, better, and best and begin building your dream on purpose, not by accident.

Want to connect? Find me here:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamemmahine

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emma-hine

Website: https://www.emmahine.co.uk

You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/@EmmaHineStrategy

Transcript

Hello and welcome to today's episode of Dream Business, Dream Life. I'm really excited about today's episode because it's one of those topics that sits right at the heart of building a business and a life that actually feels aligned with who you really are. And that is my kind of conversation. I want to talk about being intentional with our actions. And I don't mean in a strict, rigid, planners at dawn type of way. but in a much softer, more grounded, I know why I'm doing what I'm doing kind of way. And to start us off, I want to tell you a little story. A moment that I genuinely believe started to shift things for me. So it was a few years ago. I remember sitting at my desk one evening. I was always sat at my desk in the evening, but I remember this one day really clearly. It was one of those evenings when you're working, but your brain is barely attached. You're clicking around, answering things, tidying up all of those loose ends and telling yourself that just one more thing is all I need to do. But actually, you're not getting anywhere. So I was having one of those days. If I'm honest, I had quite a lot of those days back then. But this particular day really sticks in my mind. because I was there staring at my to-do list that seemed to multiply every time I blinked, and I stopped. And I literally stopped in my tracks. Don't ask me why, don't ask me what made that happen, but this little thought popped up in my head. And it was something along the lines of, is any of this actually taking me to where I want to go? And the answer came really quickly, really clearly, and it was no. No, it's not. So why the hell am I doing it? Day after day, month after month, year after year. I was basically running the business on autopilot and hoping that one day, magically, it would lead me to the dream life that I pictured all those years ago. But what also hit me is the dream life I had pictured all of those years ago. I'd forgotten. I no longer knew what it was. And that was the moment that I really realized that I don't know what the dream is. And I mean, in terms of real practical terms, what is the dream? How am I ever supposed to build it? So. A little while later, it didn't happen straight away. I'll be honest, even though I remember that moment, I didn't react straight away. But a little bit further down the line, I started to play with this idea of good, better, best. Now I'm sure you've heard good, better, best when you're looking at things like setting goals, financial targets and all of that type of stuff. But this wasn't in a sort of corporate KPI type of way. This was more in an honest human, what do I actually want type of way. So God became things like what actually feels stable, what feels supportive, what's enough to run life and business without constantly feeling stretched, pressured, exhausted, burnt out, all of the things that I was feeling at that moment in time. Better became what would growth feel like? Now I'm not talking huge, massive, scary, crazy growth here. I'm just talking an evolution, just a little bit more than good, a little bit more than stable. What would make life feel a little easier? What would make life feel more abundant in ways beyond money? And then best, best became This is where I allow myself to dream, I suppose. This is where I allow myself to have that big, crazy dream. And I don't mean in a pressured go big or go home type way. I meant in a, if I wasn't scared or unsure how I'd ever get there or lacking belief that was ever meant for me, what would I actually want? And I realised that both in my life and now, when I look at people I work with, that most of us think in terms of best, but we act in terms of good. We hold this beautiful dream in our head, but the choices we make day-to-day only keep us exactly where we already are. And that's what I was doing. There was this best in my head, but I was constantly doing what I needed to do to be good, just to get through life, just to keep going. Or maybe we say we want better, but then we fill our day with things that drain us, things that keep us busy, but not actually moving forwards. And better, remember, is about growth. And this isn't because we're not capable or because we're not committed, but because when good, better, best starts to feel blurry, everything starts to feel like it's important. Everything starts to feel like it's a priority. So we default to familiar. We repeat what others are doing. We follow noise instead of following clarity. We continue to do what we're already doing. And we know what happens when we do that. If we keep doing what we're already doing, we're going to keep getting the same results, whether they're good or bad. But once we start to... to get clarity on this good, better, best, like real, written down, honest clarity, something can shift. You're going to start making choices. You're going to start making decisions based from a different place. They might not be perfect decisions every single time, but they're going to be intentional. And you're going to meet them with that kind of confidence that comes from finally knowing what actually matters to you. I'm constantly asking myself, why am I doing this? And I'm constantly asking my clients that exact same thing. I had a client who was doing all of the things in a launch. She was trying to be everywhere at once. She was trying to follow every single strategy she's seen others do. And she was absolutely exhausted. When I asked her why she was doing it that way, after she paused for a moment, because she was surprised I'd asked her why, her answer was she hadn't got a clue. I guess everybody else is doing it, she said. And then she realised that she was trying to succeed by copying noise instead of following clarity. Instead of doing what she wanted to do, she was doing what everybody else was doing because that is what she thought she needed to do. Because we do things like habit. We do things out of comparison or because we've seen it work for somebody else. We don't do it because it actually moves us towards our version of good, better or best. But when you come back to your why, that's when things start to simplify and become clearer. Decisions are going to feel easier and you're going to stop chasing things and start choosing things instead. You absolutely can do and be anything you want to. You can build whatever kind of business you want. You can create whatever lifestyle you dream of, but you can't do everything at once. And that's not failure. That's just being human. But what intention is going to do is help you to pick the things that matter right now, the things that get you closer to better or best. And yes, of course, life happens. Kids get sick, unexpected things crop up, plans need to change. We're not robots, and thank goodness we're not, because how boring would life be if we all did exactly the same thing in exactly the same way? But outside of those moments that are out of your control, we are in control of way more than we realise. We can decide where our time goes. We can decide where our energy goes. We get to choose what we're building and we actually get to say yes to what we want to say yes to. Because if you're saying yes to things you don't want to say yes to, that has a cost. So an intentional yes is going to help you to make sure you're spending your time and energy where it matters most. An unintentional yes, just agreeing to everything, is going to drain your energy. It's going to drain your time. It's not going to get you to where you want to get to. So having that clarity, that real clarity, even chaotic moments aren't going to knock you off track. Yes, it might slow you down for a while. Yes, it might give you a little bit of a judder, but it's not going to confuse you or derail you because you actually know where you're headed. So you can give yourself a moment to sit back, reflect and put yourself back on track really quite easily. So you need to get to know what your good, better and best is. So my little challenge for you today is to just spend a little time thinking back. What is your good? What is stable for you? What is enough to run your business and life without being burnt out? That's your good. What is your better? What would a little bit of growth feel like? What's going to make life or business a little bit easier, a little bit a little bit more abundant for you in one way or another, but that's time, energy, money. And then think about your best. This is your dream. This is what would big look like to you? What would you really, really want to do? So I want you to spend a few minutes really thinking about that. So what does good look like for you financially? What does better look like for you in terms of time and energy? What does best look like in terms of your lifestyle, your impact and your freedom? Get clear on that. And then I want you to start asking yourself all of the time, every decision you have to make, every time you are approached with a do I need to do this or not, every time something doesn't quite feel right, I want you to ask yourself this one simple question. Is what I'm doing right now getting me closer to any of those things? As in your good, better and best. I don't mean perfectly, just intentionally isn't moving you in the right direction. Because when you actually choose your actions on purpose with intention, you stop chasing someone else's version of a dream. And you know what? You start building your own. And that is what we want. to build our own version. Go and do those tasks. Do let me know how you get on. I'd love to know what your good, better and best looks like. Thank you for listening. I will see you next time.