Ep 131: Toni Everard - How To Stay On Track When Your Business Is Growing Fast

Business doesn’t grow in a straight line.

And when your business is growing fast, it can feel like things are starting to slip… routines change, capacity gets stretched, and what used to work no longer feels sustainable.

In this episode, Toni Everard shares what to do when things feel off track during a growth phase, and why this is often a sign that your business and your life, are expanding beyond your current structure.

Drawing from her own experience of a full, high-growth season, Toni unpacks how to navigate these periods without losing momentum, burning out, or making it mean something has gone wrong.

This episode is for coaches, practitioners and service providers who are growing their business, increasing their visibility or income, and want to feel supported as they step into the next level.

In this episode, you will learn:

• Why business growth is never linear and what “off track” actually means
• How to recognise when you’ve outgrown your current structure
• The difference between losing control and leading yourself through change
• Practical ways to stay grounded and regulated during busy growth periods
• How to prioritise what truly moves your business forward
• Why self-trust is more powerful than trying to keep everything perfect

Growth doesn’t require you to hold everything together.

It requires you to evolve your structure so it can support where you are now.

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Transcript

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You are listening to the Coaching Circle with Tony Everard, business and Mindset coach and your strategic thinking partner. This podcast is for those who want to step out of the hustle and glow in the flow. We'll talk about all things mindset, energy, and structure so you can evolve from the inside out and build a business that supports the life you want to live. Let's dive in. How to stay on track when your business and life, for that matter, is growing fast. That is the topic for this episode, and I wanna just reframe this a little bit and say that things don't ever actually go off track. They just move. Into a new track that your current structure can't support yet. And so I wanna talk a bit about what I mean about that exactly. And that is that business never grows in a straight line. As much as we would love to plot it all out and a graph and draw a straight line between A and B, it just doesn't work like that. And there's always adjustments along the way where things. Push outside the, let's say boundaries of where we feel comfortable. And this could be, uh, you know, one of the ways that I see that this happens for people is, for example, when people are transitioning from a job into a business and they've got their job, uh, or their business on the side, and there's gonna be a transition time where you are either. Most likely working a lot more hours than you want to be, or receiving less money than you want to be in that transition period. Because it's very hard to get it in just like a perfect straight line where everything marries up. Exactly. And the moment that things start to feel a bit messy or inconsistent is usually the moment that something is expanding. So. Just as I explained around that transition between a job and a business, this can happen in different levels of growth in your business as well and different levels of growth in your life. And, uh, this month, uh, or the last month or two really has been a really good example of that for me. And, uh, March has been a big month already. We're not even at the end of March yet. Uh, but it's been a big month. For sure for me and for a lot of reasons. And one is that revenue is up, right? My business is growing and expanding and you know, I have more clients and more offers and you know, revenue is growing, which is amazing because that's what I intended to do this year and that's what's happening. And uh, but also. I've been more social than usual, especially you'll know if you are in Adelaide and we have the Adelaide Fringe and we have Mad March. And uh, I've been to seven fringe shows in the last month, which is, uh, more than what I usually see over the fringe, but it's also been my birthday. Yay. So I love my birthday and I always find all kinds of reasons to celebrate my birthday and I like to. Split up my celebrations. I've had family things, I've had friends, things I've had, you know, going out to different shows, different people, and uh, and that's been a lot of fun. Uh, my partner is FIFO, so fly in, fly out. So he's been home for a little bit longer over my birthday as well, which means we do more things together, catching up with his friends and family and, uh, and also I've been learning new things in my business. I'm always learning, like I, I am consistently in. Higher level, uh, business coaching program so that I continue to learn and grow and understand what is happening in marketing and AI and different types of business models and things that work and get really great results. I'm forever learning new things and. When I'm in new programs and, and new networking groups and things like that, I'm meeting new people as well. And so every day for the last few weeks has been pretty full with either work or networking or social events, new clients, all those kinds of things. And not only that, but I haven't had a VA supporting me for the last few weeks, and I'm in the process of onboarding a new VA team now. However, I'm struggling to find the time to get that happening as fast as I would like it because. You know, you can't just think a VA's gonna solve all your problems. You have to be really clear about what it is that you're asking them to do and have all that set up nicely. And, uh, not only that, but my book is about to go to print. So I've been doing a lot of checking on my book, uh, of checking off the final print proofs and covers and all those sorts of things. Ready for that to, uh, get printed. And so I'm, there's probably more things than that as well. Oh, well there is actually, because I've gone back to doing classes at the gym,'cause my daughter's joined my gym, so we've been going to classes together, which means I'm doing more gym. But at the same time, my usual rhythm of things has shifted and. As an example of some of the things that's happened is that, uh, last week I went five days in a row without going on my daily walk, which is very unlike me. My daily walk is usually a non-negotiable, and that dropped off for five days in a row and I felt it. I really felt, I really noticed that shift. And, uh, and there's other things that I feel like I haven't been getting back to people, uh, in as quick a time as I'd like. There's other projects that I'm wanting to be working on that I haven't, you know, got moving. And so there's a few things that I've been aware of that aren't where I thought they would be. And that also is impacting, uh, my eating hasn't been regular either, and you know, just all those things happening. I've just turned 51, so I've got all the stuff of a normal 51-year-old woman as well. And uh, so there's a lot, right? There's a lot. But what I want to really talk about is reframing this feeling like you're off track because. A lot of people, and I've definitely been there before and I've, I hear it from my clients, is that they'll feel like, oh, I'm off track, or I need to get back into routine, or, I've dropped the ball, or, you know, I'm not, you know, doing things as well as I should be and all these kinds of. Self-talk and feelings that can lead to feeling less than calm, less than peace, peaceful, and maybe even frustrated or angry or annoyed, or short tempered. Uh, but we've gotta realize that it's not happening like that. You are not off track. What is happening is that you are growing and when your business expands, your life generally expands with it. Because if your business expands, it means that you are interacting with more people because your business will be solving problems for some people, and you'll be interacting with more people, and your life then expands with that as well. So the structure that worked before doesn't always hold at the next level. So instead of making it mean that something is wrong, I see it as a sign that I've outgrown. My old structure. Okay. I've outgrown my old structure. It's a bit like when you think about the, uh, the hermit crab or any other crustacean that outgrows their shell, or animals that outgrow their skin, there's a point where, you know, the old shell will start feeling a bit tight and that, you know, this feels like something's not quite right and you might have to ditch that shell. Before you find a new shell, and that can make you feel very vulnerable as well. And so I don't think about structure as a bit like this. So what I always do for myself is I ground myself back into reality, right? So I look at actually what's been happening and I get clear about what's been happening and not the details of what's been happening, but a higher level view. Right. I zoom out a bit. I look at the bigger picture, and so when I look at what's actually happening, I go, okay, my business has grown. That's fantastic. That's exactly what I intended it to do. I've created more revenue, which is fantastic. That is a byproduct of my business growing. Uh, I've built new relationships, which is amazing because that's what I intended to do as well. I've had more fun, I've done more social things because. That's my intention as well, and I've definitely been more visible and out in the world and having more opportunities come my way. And so that's what's actually happening, right? Those are the things, things that are actually happening. And what I've got to, I remind myself of is that. These are all things that have expanded me, which means I need to create a new structure and a new way of holding these new things. And so there's a lot of these good things happening, but I also then look at, okay, what did I do right during this time as well? And even though my daily walks dropped off for five days in a row, and they're important to me because. I get outside, I spend a lot of time inside sitting down at my, uh, laptop, at my microphone. I do a lot of talking and uh, and so going for a daily walk is really important for me'cause it gets me outside having fresh air, having my, uh, sight focused or de-focused, not on a screen. Like when you walk outside you use more of your peripheral vi vision, which is really important because of that. Brings your, uh, nervous system out of a stress state using your peripheral vision. And of course, a lot of people, uh, a lot of the time in their foveal vision, right when you're on screens on your phone, like focusing on things, it keeps your nervous system in more of a stressed or alert state. So during things like walking outside is very good for using your peripheral vision. Uh, I've also moved forward with onboarding a new VA team. Even if it's not perfect yet, even if it's not there yet, I have consistently moved forward on it. So I always make sure that I notice the progress and. Like I said, even though I didn't walk all of the days like I usually intend to, I still went to the gym and did gym classes twice, so I was still doing things for my health and wellbeing, which is good. Um, I noticed that I've moved my book forward really well, even though it might be feeling like it's a couple weeks or so, a little bit behind. It's amazing. Like I started writing this book in October and it's now March and it's pretty much ready done. Uh, I've also kept up with my weekly podcast and newsletter, even though I've been editing the newsletter myself. Well, I have been editing, um, editing the newsletter and the podcast myself. So that is a win because, uh, I've managed to keep that going. It hasn't fallen over just because I haven't had a VA there to do it for me, so that is really good. And so I realized that nothing is actually off track. It's just that the structure hasn't caught up yet with where I'm at, and so this is really where self-leadership comes in because the goal isn't to keep everything perfectly balanced all the time. The whole idea of balance is a little bit unhelpful, to be honest. The goal is to lead yourself through seasons of growth and change. That is the thing that you wanna aim for is that you can lead yourself through whatever's happening. So there are gonna be times where you are expanding. There are gonna be times where things feel like they're not in a smooth flowing kind of way. There may be times where you don't feel like you have as much space as you would like, but things will stabilize again. And there's a model I often refer to called the Universal Model of Change, and there's a period of time between when you are living in a life where everything just runs and you know exactly how it runs and everything is how you want it, and then you decide that you want something else, some kind of growth to learn to grow, whatever that might be. There is usually a dip in between those two points where you're not quite sure how it all fits yet. Okay, and that point in time. Can feel extremely painful if you don't recognize this as a pattern and if you don't lead yourself through it. And in fact, most of the time when I'm working with clients, and clients come to me, they're usually in the dip point where they feel like I'm trying to move forward and I dunno how to get there. And everything feels hard and I don't feel like I'm managing and there's other stuff going on. And it's, uh, it's getting aligned with that new reality. And a lot of that is structure, not just structure around your time and you know, the boundaries and your energy and things like that, but it's actually structure in how you feel about yourself and how you back yourself and how you are able to say no and how, how you're able to change things and how you feel. You are able to influence things and people in the way that you need to, and importantly. Right is being okay with yourself and allowing yourself to get to another level where there is gonna be more ease and grace. Now, this is really important as well because I want you to think about this. If you are thinking about growing your business and creating more revenue for yourself. Ideally that's because you think you're gonna feel some certain kind of way when you create that revenue for yourself, and that might be relief, it might be ease, it might be feeling more powerful, it might be feeling more happy. But if you don't feel like you are allowed to feel like that, chances are you'll make it harder. You might get the new revenue, but you might be working yourself. Really hard to get it because that's what you think is required for it. So you really wouldn't think about that, right? So otherwise, you're gonna just feel like you are always doing something wrong, and that's not helpful, right? And that will cause you more stress, because it's the meaning that you make of anything that will determine how you feel about it. Okay. The meaning that you make will determine how you feel about it. And that's something that takes a lot of self-awareness to catch, what am I making this situation mean? So if you are making it mean that you're failing or you're doing something wrong, it'll feel bad. If you make it mean that you are really, uh, backing yourself and you recognize that it's growth that you've asked for and you're, that you are navigating it and that you are leading yourself well, it will feel a lot better. So. These are some things I wanna share with you now that what I do that really helps me move through these times of growth without hating my life or thinking anything's wrong. Okay? So when things feel a bit stretched or a bit off. These, these are the things that I actually focus on. So number one, I zoom out, right? I zoom out, I zoom out of what's happening because I can very much get to a point where my calendar's very full, that all I can manage to look at is what's in my calendar today. What do I have to do today? What time do I have to start work? What do I have to get done by the end of the day? Right? And maybe I'll look at the next day's calendar to see what's happening there. And that will only work for a very short amount of time before that feels overwhelming, so I really need to zoom out and I need to look ahead in my calendar. To remind myself that this isn't permanent and see where there's space in my calendar, because my calendar might be full right now, and I might not be able to change a lot about that, but there's gonna be space in my ca, my calendar in the future, and I need to make myself aware that I've got control over how full I make the rest of that. Calendar and that what I mean currently is a season and I look at what is, what are the things that are happening that's causing that in that season? And maybe there's some things I need to learn from that. Maybe there's, uh, something that I haven't, I've taken on that I didn't think would be a problem that has stretched me more than I thought and I might learn, okay, I need more time for that. Um, these are all the things that we need to do. The second thing that I do is that I acknowledge what is working, and so instead of focusing on any of the things that might have dropped off, I look at what's actually happening. So I'm still showing up, I'm still moving forward. My business is growing, I'm creating results. I've had, I'm having great conversations with people, right? I look up all those things. I also, the third thing I do is I stay connected to how I want to feel. And this is something that is a game changer. Okay? And there's something like, I've always known this, that people who succeed and do well and have a good life, choose how they want to feel. Right. And if you've not heard of that before, it's really worth considering because, uh, and even more recently, I heard a great way of thinking about this, and this is when I went to India in December to an abundance festival. And the gurus there talk about that. Uh, you can either be in a beautiful state or you can be in a suffering state. And having challenge in your life does not mean you have to be in a suffering state. Right, and that's really important. It doesn't matter what's going on in your life, it none of it means that you have to be in a suffering state. Okay? And so the moment I start getting myself, feeling myself, feel sure, or whatever else, I really think about that. What is the meaning that I'm making here? And how do I choose to feel? And in that moment, I, it brings me back. I can change whatever, meaning, I can decide that I don't want to feel bad or stressed or anything else. So I bring myself back and I think, how do I wanna feel in my business? How do I wanna feel in my life? And I lead from that place. And now number four thing that I do is that I regulate my body. And my nervous system. This is a big one and it's a non-negotiable. I prioritize my sleep. I a hundred percent prioritize my sleep. Uh, I'm always in bed by 10 o'clock at the latest, unless there's a rare thing that I'm at, and maybe I'm home a little bit later, but pretty much guarantee I'm asleep by 11 o'clock at the latest every night, and I don't get up before six. So I always have. At least seven or eight hours in bed. And even if I don't sleep, like I'll generally sleep, sleep seven hours, no problem. But even if I don't sleep the full time, I always make sure I'm resting for that full seven to eight hours. That is a non-negotiable. And so I know that I end my day in a way that I'm resting and I start my day in a way that I'm resting. That's really important to me. Uh, I was speaking to someone regularly who said, uh, recently who said, um, oh, you know, when things get really busy and like, you know, you pull an all-nighter working, have you ever done that? And I'm like, no, never. I just would not do that to myself. You know, like the worst I've ever done. And I think this was when I was, uh, you know, back in 2016 when I was running my first training and I was freaking out'cause I wasn't prepared enough. Um. I would get up at four o'clock in the morning to start preparing for the day of training ahead, uh, or get further prepared for the day of training ahead, but I still would've been in bed by nine, 10 o'clock at night. Uh, because I just won't push myself later. I will always rest and choose to get up earlier than push myself further to exhaustion and think I'm gonna catch up with it later. Like I just will not do that. Sleep is a non-negotiable. Uh, also, I stay hydrated. It's very important to me that I stay hydrated and. I always will, like, it's just I, I just don't get dehydrated. I'm always, I've always got water or some kind of drink. Uh, with me. I also take supplements that support my cognitive function and nervous system. Okay, so adaptogens and neurotropics. Um, things that, uh, I know. They're important for my wellbeing. Uh, I'm also, I'm, I will always make sure that I'm laughing. I don't enjoy life if I'm not laughing, so I make sure that I'm laughing. So that could be, uh, either I'm talking with people that, uh, make me laugh or are fun to talk with, or I, I play with my cats. Right, even in between clients and things, I'll play with my cat because my cat is hilarious. Um, or I watch something funny, like I will if I get onto, um, I know if I get onto YouTube, there will be in the shorts, all of my favorite comedians, and I can sit and watch some of my favorite comedians on shorts for a little while that make me laugh. Right. And because I love comedy, I love comedy because comedy people that are great comedians are, are, are great at reframing things. They're great at looking at different ways of thinking and different meaning, and uh, that's ultimately what you need to do to enjoy your life. Right. And so I know that if my body is supported, I can handle a lot more and I always make sure I've got some form of exercise in. So even, you know, during the week when I wasn't, uh. I didn't get all my walks in, I would still make sure that at couple of times during the week, I would just start doing some squats and things like that. So always make sure that I'm supporting my body with some kind of movement and, um, hydration and sleep and, you know, in supplements that really help in that way away. Now the fifth thing I do is that I focus on what actually matters. I focus on what actually matters. So I get really clear on things like what actually moves my life forward, and I don't stress about the things that aren't going to make a big difference if they're not perfect or not done straight away. I, I, what else matters to me is that my close relationships aren't suffering because of the state that I'm in. So I will not. Start an argument or a fight with someone in my family, right? If there's a lot going on, even if they're really annoying me, I will have the self-awareness to either ask them to do something to support me or just choose to put, put it aside and decide that it's more important that I'm having good, uh, a good way of relating to the people in my family than making them. Feel like that they have to look out for me or not upset me because I've got stress. I tell people if I'm stressed, right. And this is number six. I use support. Uh, I'll have sessions with my own coaches as well. Every good coach should have their own coach. I have my own coaches, so if I feel like I'm at a limit where I'm not able to sort things out on my own, I'll book a session with my coach. I make sure I get that support, uh, and I asked for help. Right. I'll ask for help. I'll let my partner know if I need things taken off my plate, or ask my daughter if I need things taken off my plate, and I appreciate them for doing it right. I don't get entitled, I don't get resentful. I don't get, you know, all uppity that everybody should know what I need without me telling them what I need. Right? I get support. Uh, and number seven is I don't beat myself up and this is a non-negotiable. I refuse to beat myself up ever, right? I refuse to beat myself up ever because the moment that you start doing that, you're just adding pressure to a situation that actually needs leadership and. Beating yourself up is not leadership, and it's not taking responsibility. It's being at effect. If you start blaming yourself, oh, why do I always do this to myself, and Oh, I'm so silly, or I'm so stupid, or I'm an idiot, or da, da, da, da, whatever else, any of that rubbish, it's not helping you or anybody. Right. And that's not taking ownership. It's not taking responsibility. It's just blaming yourself. So taking ownership and taking responsibility means that you acknowledge where you are at and you take responsibility for how you feel about it, and you support yourself in moving through it in a positive way. Okay? So, um, so yeah, I never beat myself up. I wanna be, I like, I think about it. I wanna be my own best friend, right? I wanna be a good boss to myself, and I'm gonna sit here and like, talk crap to myself. Um, and I don't think anyone should. Okay, so they're, they're, they're the key seven things that I do when I'm moving through these spaces. And they're definitely the things that I've been doing over the last few week. And this is the deeper truth. It's, it's the identity shift that you are going through and the version of you that grows. Your business is not the one who keeps everything perfect, right? It's perfectionism is not a sign of growth. The identity shift is that you are the one who can hold change, right? That you can hold yourself steady when there's a lot of uncertainty, and that you can make adjustments and that you can keep moving forward without making it mean something. About who you are in a negative way. Okay? So you back yourself, you get the support you, you take responsibility for keeping yourself in a space of where, even if it feels like you are a bit at your limits, you are doing the things that need to be do, done to make sure you keep moving through in a supportive way. Okay? So. If things are feeling a bit off track right now for you, or you are in some growth and expansion and you know, that could be showing up in all kinds of ways. It can show up sometimes in clients challenging you. It can show up sometimes in. Relationships challenging you. Uh, but we always gotta have a look at what's actually happening. Where have you grown? What's changed? What are you now holding that you weren't holding before? And instead of trying to go backwards to how things used to be, you know, that's, you know, something I hear people say like, oh, I just wanna get back to how it used to be. I just wanna get back to how I used to, used to be able to deal with things. There was no going back. There's no going back. We are not time travelers. Um, you are not going back anywhere. You're moving forward, and nothing that happened in the past is what you're gonna create in the future because too much has changed. You are gonna create a new version of what's good for you in the future, and that's what you've gotta focus on. Right. How does this look moving forward? How do you want it to look moving forward? How do you want it to feel moving forward with what you have now and, uh, that requires you building a structure that supports you in where you are now? And if you are in that space where you are like, okay, this is really good, and it's okay for you, Tony, because you've got 10 years experience and you're an expert in communication and behavior and uh, you know, emotional freedom and all those kinds of things. Yes, I am, and that's why I help other people as well. And so if you are feeling like it, it's uh, all a bit of a stretch and you've got big goals and you know you wanna keep moving and you want some accountability and some support and some guidance to get you through. Reach out. This is exactly what I do, and you can find all the ways to contact me in the show notes. You can email me, you can find me on the socials, you can go to my website, all of those things. And, uh, the time is now. Things are moving fast. You are not behind. You're just growing into a new, improved version that requires some steadier structures. Have a fabulous week. See you next time. If you love this episode, you can help me get the message out to more people. Simply leave a review and share this episode with someone who'd love to hear it. Thanks for tuning into the Coaching Circle. I'll catch you in the next episode.