061: The August CEO Reset: 7 Questions to Finish Your Year Strong

Are you growing your business...or just staying busy?

August is a unique season for many business owners and professionals. For some, business slows down just enough to create something incredibly valuable: space. Instead of filling that space with more busy work, what if you used it to step back and evaluate what's really working?

In this episode of Limitless Living, Fredricka Davis walks you through the same business review questions she uses in coaching sessions with entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders. Whether you own a business, lead a team, or are serious about advancing your career, these seven questions will help you stop guessing, identify what deserves your attention, and create a focused plan to finish the year strong.

This isn't another goal-setting episode. It's a practical CEO reset designed to help you make smarter decisions, eliminate distractions, and build sustainable success over the next five months.

In This Episode You'll Learn:

•  Why August is the perfect time to pause and evaluate your business 
•  The difference between what you think is working and what your data actually proves 
•  How to identify hidden business leaks that drain your time, energy, and profitability 
•  Why avoiding certain tasks often points to your next breakthrough 
•  The powerful question that helps eliminate "shiny object syndrome" 
•  How to determine which one area of your business deserves your full attention 
•  Why success isn't always measured by revenue alone 
•  How to reverse engineer your goals from December back to today 
•  A simple CEO review process you can repeat throughout the year 

Reflection Question

If it were December 31st and you were looking back on this year with pride, what would have happened for you to genuinely call this year a success?

This Week's CEO Reset

Schedule 30 uninterrupted minutes on your calendar this week.

Work through the seven questions from this episode without trying to solve everything immediately.

Instead, focus on creating awareness.

Then identify one action you'll take tomorrow morning that moves your business or career forward.

Remember:

Awareness comes before improvement.

Improvement comes before sustainable success.

If this episode encouraged you, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another entrepreneur, business owner, or professional who could benefit from an August reset.

For coaching, speaking, retreats, and additional resources, visit FrederickaDavis.com and join the free Limitless Living Community.

Until next time...

Be rooted. Be resilient. And be limitless.

Grab Your Free Reset Guide and more at www.fredrickadavis.com

Continue the conversation inside the here: Limitless Living community.

If this episode resonated with you, you can also send Fredricka a message through the Fan Mail link in the show notes. Your questions may be featured in a future episode.

And if you know someone who needs to hear this conversation, please share the episode with them.

Your reviews mean the world to Fredricka and help other women discover the show.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:32

Welcome back to the Sustainable Success Tuesday. I'm Frederica Davis, creator of the Limitless Reset Method. And here every Tuesday we focus on practical strategies that help you build sustainable success in your business, your career, and your life without burning yourself out while you're doing it. So hard to believe, but we are already into August. And I don't know about you, but the time just feels like it flies. I know when I was a child and we'd be at the end of the summer, I'd tell my mom I was bored and she'd say, Oh, you better enjoy it now because when you get older, time goes faster. And we'd have these great debates on how time never changes and it is what it is. And wasn't she right? Did you have a parent say those things to you? Because doesn't it feel like the older we get, time really does go faster? But here we are. And this is that time of year maybe you are squeezing in your one last vacation before school starts, or your kids go back to college, or even if you don't have kids at home, maybe your business has slowed down a little bit, or your schedule looks different than it did back in, say, April or May. Or maybe you are the person who's just working as hard as you have ever worked, but feeling like everyone else is mentally checked out around you. You know, it's summertime, it just happens. I see it every single year. I've seen it, felt it, experienced it in my own business for more than 30 years, and with my coaching clients who own everything from salons to retail stores and auto-detailing companies and uh consulting businesses, you name it, doesn't matter. August has a rhythm all its own. You can feel and notice the lengths of the days and the time the sun comes down changing a little bit. There's just that feeling of the seasons coming and changing. And then everybody gets that feeling, like, oh, I better squeeze all these different things in. So it has its own rhythm. And for some businesses, it can be incredibly busy. Other businesses, it slows down. And it's just enough to create something we rarely have the rest of the year. And that's actually space. Now, if you're an entrepreneur and you're feeling like your business is slowing down, depending on where your business is at, you might be feeling a little bit of panic. But when you look at this as an opportunity more than something that's scary, it can make all the world of difference. Now, I know what some of you are probably thinking, like, oh my gosh, if business is slower, I just need to market more. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. Sometimes what your business needs is not necessarily more activity. Sometimes what it needs is actually more awareness. Because if you've never stopped long enough, or it's been maybe too long since you stopped long enough to really look at and evaluate what's happening, you're still shooting in the dark. Today, what I want to talk about and what I want to talk you through are the exact questions that I'd ask you if we were sitting down together in one of my coaching sessions with you. Whether you own a business or not, whether you lead a team or you work for someone else, or you simply are serious about growing your career, these are the questions that I believe every CEO, and I mean every CEO of your business or CEO of your own career, should be asking right now when you have probably a little bit more time. So grab a notebook, pull out a journal, open a blank document on your computer, if that's how you like to work, because today isn't just another podcast episode. It this is actually a working session. We're gonna actually be doing. Pages and pages of things that she wanted to create: ideas for new menu items, ideas for reworking her logo, ideas for creating a new offer, and then another new offer and a new event and a sale for this. And every week she had this idea for what was going to be next. She had also signed up for two brand new certifications that were business management marketing certifications and a mindset program. So she had these two different programs that she was trying to go through at the same time, each giving her a whole bunch of new ideas. Does any of this sound familiar? Because I know it does for me, honestly. I have completely been there too. And especially if you are a creative entrepreneur like I am, ideas are usually not your problem. I can come up with ideas all day long. The problem is deciding which ideas actually deserve your attention. After about 20 minutes together, going through everything she had to show me and tell me, I finally asked her one simple question to start. And that was, what does your data actually say is working? She looked at me and then she laughed because she realized she had no clue. She knew what she hoped was working, what she thought was working. She knew what she really enjoyed creating, and she knew what she wanted to work, but she hadn't actually stopped to measure what was producing real tangible results. So this is when the conversation completely shifted. Sometimes the biggest breakthrough in your business is not creating something new, especially over and over and over again. Sometimes it's finally seeing what you already have there that's working, just as much as it's important to know it's not working. So I'm going to give you some questions today. And I want you to take the time with these, answer them with what comes to mind if you're able to while you're listening to this first right away. And then I want you to go back again because then you can go a little deeper into these. So question number one is gonna be what does your data actually say is working? Now notice that I did not say, what do you think is working? Or what do you hope is working? I asked you, what does the data actually tell you? Now, if you own a business, do you know which service produces the greatest profit? Or which service creates the greatest transformation? How about which marketing effort is actually bringing people through your door? Or which referral source sends you your best clients? Which email gets opened? Which social media posts generate actual conversations, not just likes, but comments, shares, saves. Which relationships have produced opportunities for you? Which networking groups have actually created a business? And what does your data say? And if you're listening today and you're not a business owner, I want you to ask yourself these similar questions. What projects have earned you recognition? What skills do people consistently come to you for? Where have you made the biggest impact this year? What responsibilities energize you instead of draining you? The point is this don't build the next five months of your year based on assumptions, build them based on evidence. Because evidence tells a much clearer story than emotion ever will. And we're just past that halfway point. Five months is a substantial amount of time to create some amazing results. So, question number two What are the hidden business leaks? Now, if you listened last week on Thursday, we talked about hidden energy leaks in our personal lives: the unfinished tasks, the clutter, the constant decisions, or the little things that quietly drain our energy. Today I want to talk about hidden business leaks. What's quietly stealing your time or your focus? How about what's stealing your creativity or your profitability? Maybe it's a service that you've outgrown. Maybe it's a product that no longer makes sense. Maybe it's a client relationship that's taking 10 times more energy than it's worth. Now let me pause there. I love my clients. I can honest to God say I love my coaching clients, I love my business clients, I love my clients at Massage, Wellness, and Beyond. We often say our clients become family. They are client family to me. And I genuinely mean that. But after more than 30 years of business, I can also tell you something else. Every once in a while, there's a client who simply isn't the right fit. It doesn't make them a bad person, just means they're not your person. And when one relationship consistently drains your energy, it's worth paying attention to. Now, maybe it's technology that drains your energy. Maybe it's a software system you've been fighting with for two years. Maybe it's meetings that you don't need to happen anymore. Maybe it's trying to do everything yourself because you haven't been willing to delegate. Whatever it is, find the leaks. Because plugging even just one leak often will create more momentum than adding three new marketing ideas. Okay, so let's keep going here. You've identified what's working, you've identified where your business might be leaking time, energy, or money. Now we're going to go a little deeper because here's what I've learned after more than three decades in business. The things we avoid usually tell us something very important. So, question number three is what have you been avoiding? Now, this question is not about guilt. It this isn't about beating yourself up because there are things on your to-do list that haven't gotten done. This is about curiosity and it's data that you need. What is it that you've been avoiding? Is it raising your prices? Or is it hiring someone else? Is it delegating? How about having a difficult conversation with an employee or client? Is it making a phone call that you've been putting off for weeks? Or that attempt to reconnect with clients that you haven't followed up with properly? How about updating your website? Maybe you do need the updated website so that it converts better. Or is it that you have been avoiding looking at your bookkeeping? If you're anything like me, there have absolutely been seasons where any one of these things cannot be your favorite thing and you'll avoid it. I mean, I know I would much rather be creating or teaching or coaching and helping clients and coming up with ideas and researching, dreaming, and oh, all the things. But here's the problem: if you don't know your numbers, you can't make informed business decisions. You're guessing, and guessing is exhausting. Sometimes what we're avoiding isn't actually difficult, it's just uncomfortable because we've built it up in our minds to be uncomfortable for so long. And other times what we're avoiding really does point us to something bigger. Maybe you're avoiding that service because deep down you've outgrown it, you don't like doing it anymore, and you're ready for something new. Maybe you're avoiding hiring because you're afraid of the responsibility. Maybe you are avoiding marketing because you're afraid people won't respond, or you'll waste your money, or you don't know what you're doing, or whatever your things are. I want you to write down what you're avoiding because awareness always comes before change. Now, question number four: if you could not add anything new between now and December, what would you improve? Now I want you to write this question down. This is worth writing in big letters. If you couldn't add anything new between now and December, what would you improve? And I mean no new offers, no new certifications, no new shiny objects, no brand new business ideas, no completely reinventing everything. You can only improve what already exists. What would you choose? Would you improve your customer experience? How about your follow-up? Would you improve your email marketing and your systems? Would you improve communication or your website? How about your referral process? Would you improve onboarding or your scheduling process? You know, sometimes we think that growth requires something brand new. But often growth comes from making something that's already there, that's maybe good, incredibly excellent. I know this one personally. I love learning. I love taking courses, I love researching, I love creating. I could spend all day dreaming up the next idea. But there comes a point where another course, another mastermind, another book, another whatever, certification, program, whatever it is, isn't what moves your business forward. It's execution that moves it forward. Refinement moves it forward. Consistency moves it forward. So before you chase something new, ask yourself: have I truly maximized what I already have? Question number five: if one thing doubled, what's the one thing that would make the biggest difference? So imagine one thing doubled between now and the end of the year. Not everything, just one. Would it be your referrals? Would that be what makes the biggest difference? Would it be your highest value service if that doubled in bookings? Would it be your speaking opportunities or your email list? How about appointments, your consultation bookings, maybe? Would it be your networking? Would that make the biggest difference for you? How about a relationship that you have, a working relationship? What is it that would make the biggest difference? Or one marketing strategy if you could double it, or even a daily habit that you have, if that one thing doubled, would it significantly change your business? And is it the one thing that will change your business in the biggest way? Now, if the answer is yes, that's probably where your attention needs to be right now, because we often spread ourselves across 20 different projects when one focused effort would have produced far greater results. Question number six, what needs to stop? This may be the question we ask the least. What needs to stop? Maybe you need to stop redesigning your marketing materials every six months. Maybe you need to stop tweaking your logo. Maybe you need to stop waiting until everything is perfect before putting it into the world. Maybe you need to stop saying yes to every opportunity that you see. Or maybe you need to stop trying to serve everyone and pick who you really want to serve. Or you need to stop signing up for courses before you've implemented what you've already learned. Ouch, right? Did you feel that? Even I felt that a little bit. Here's something I know. I've witnessed this with myself as well as my clients. Progress does not usually come from adding more, it comes from removing what no longer belongs. And something to remember. What got you here may not get you where you want to go, but don't assume right away that it won't until you've actually measured it. Because sometimes we abandon strategies that actually were working really well, beautifully, but we abandon them because we get distracted or because something newer and shinier comes along, or we have another idea. And what we really need to do is go back to them and double down. Now, the flip side of that, other times we can keep doing things that did stop working years ago because they became comfortable. And when we keep doing them, we don't get the results we want. So this is why it's important for you to measure first and then decide. Now, question number seven: what would make December, this December, December 2026, when you get there, what would make December feel like success? Notice I did not ask, what are your goals? I asked, what would success actually feel like to you? And if you're able to, while you're listening to this, close your eyes for just a minute. Of course, not if you're driving. Imagine it's December 31st. The holidays are winding down, you've got a warm drink in your hand, you're looking back over the year. What happened that makes you smile? Maybe you increased your revenue by 20%. Maybe you finally hired that person you were looking for or finished writing your book. Maybe you launched your first retreat, or you asked for the promotion, or you simplified your business instead of expanding it. Maybe you worked fewer hours and made more money. Maybe you finally feel peaceful. Success doesn't always have a dollar sign attached to it. Sometimes success is building a business that actually supports the life that you want to live. Now I want you to write down one to three things, not 10, not 20, just one to three max. Because clarity creates focus and focus creates momentum. And now that you know where you want to be at the end of the year, you're gonna work backwards. If December is your destination, what has to happen in November? What has to happen in October? How about September? And now in August, what has to happen? If writing a book is your goal, you don't start by worrying about publishing. You start by creating an outline, then a writing schedule, and then one chapter, and then the next. Big dreams are almost always accomplished through very small, consistent steps. So I've got one final question for you today before we finish. I want to leave you with this. Not question number eight necessarily, just a question to carry with you. What's the very first thing you're going to do tomorrow morning? Not someday, tomorrow. Because if you leave this episode inspired, but nothing changes tomorrow, then nothing changes. Your momentum begins with action. Even if it's a 15-minute action, even if it's just one phone call or email or spreadsheet, whatever it is, a conversation, decision, doesn't matter. It must be one first step, one action. So here is this week's CEO reset challenge. Schedule 30 uninterrupted minutes this week. Actually, put it on your calendar, treat it like a meeting with your most important client, because it is. And answer all seven questions. Don't worry about solving everything. Don't try to build a perfect plan from this. Just answer them honestly. Because awareness always comes before improvement. And improvement always comes before sustainable success. So, you know, so many of us we get to that halfway point in the year, and then a little bit beyond it where we're at right now and beyond, and we just start thinking so much about next year. You know, we start planning next year, dreaming about it, and too often forget something really important that this year is not over. You have five months. That is long enough to make meaningful changes. You have five months to simplify or to grow or to strengthen what's already working. You have five months to become more intentional. Don't waste those months waiting for January. Start now. And if today's episode helped you step back and look at your business or career differently, I would really love to hear from you. Come find me on social media or join us inside the Free Limitless Living community and tell me which of the seven questions challenged you the most. And be sure to come back this Thursday because we're going to shift from resetting your business to resetting your body. We're going to talk about where your energy really comes from and how the food you eat either fuels your cells or quietly works against them. Which foods and why? Until next time, be rooted, be resilient, and be limitless.