Feeling Wobbly in Business? Part 2

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At the end of January, I wrote about what to do when feeling wobbly in business.

If you missed what I shared in part 1, please read this first. 

Today, I want to write about HOW to get out of feeling wobbly in business. 

First, it helps to know when you're entering the wobblies. 

It sounds like this in your head: 

  • I'm not sure if... 

  • I don't know if... 

  • I need X, Y and Z before I can move forward... 

  • Maaaaybe it will work, but maybe I'm wrong...

  • What if what worked last time was just a fluke!?

  • I can't do the way I did in the past (exhausting), and I don't know how to do it differently... 
     

Here's why you need to pay attention:

Living in "I Don't Know Land" will sink your business. 

Yep, strong words, I know. 

I Don't Know Land keeps you in your head and repeating old familiar patterns that don't really serve you or your business. 

I've been there! 

In fact, I have visited it many times and it's a crazy-making place. 

It can show up like this in your workday: 

  • Avoiding the ESSENTIAL work that moves your business forward 

  • Running the same ideas over and over and over in your head and staying in indecision 

  • Getting into research mode (looking for validation) instead of doing your marketing

  • Looking for certainty somewhere OUT THERE (more certifications, anyone?)


Certainty and validation must come from within. 

I know! Tricky, right?!



Here's what works MUCH BETTER and FEELS MUCH BETTER.

First, put together a super simple plan to help your mind leave you alone.

1) Just decide on something (ANYTHING, even a tiny goal.)

The goal is not the point here.

The goal is to get out of I Don't Know Land where all coaching business dreams die. 

Once you're out of I Don't Know Land, you can pick better and better goals, but fussing with the perfect goal is not where to start. 

2) Clarify what accomplishing that tiny but mighty goal will feel like IN YOUR BODY when you achieve it. 

Will you feel proud? Relieved?

Would you feel clear and confident? 

Or perhaps, quietly capable?

Or one seriously bad b*tch who should never ever be underestimated? (Haha! Gotta slip in a little humor!)

Doesn't matter what. Identify it.

So, jot down a tiny, but mighty goal (ANYTHING) + your desired feelings from this goal. (Psst... I teach you how to do this in the Club.) 

3) Set a short deadline and get yourself a timer.

The deadline (30 days max) is for when you want to complete this. 

This is to give you focus (like blinders on a jittery horse) in a world full of a gazillion distractions that human brains are not set up to handle.

Set a timer for 60 minutes, once a day, to do one thing that serves your goal AND that also moves you in the direction of those desired feelings. 

So, you're going to practice feeling your desired feelings ON THE WAY TO YOUR GOAL vs waiting until the end and this will provide you with energy and enthusiasm. 

4) Important Ninja Level Step DO NOT SKIP: Decide ahead of time how you will think about your goal. 

This is the make or breaker. 

If you don't, the wobblies will get you. 

Turn "I don't know if this will work"

INTO

I don't know if this will work, and that's normal in entrepreneurship. This is me going for it. 

OR 

I may not know for sure if this will work, but this is me going for it. 

5) Create a short-list of marketing actions you can do in about an hour per workday. 

This can be one thing - I will offer my signature talk to places that host talks.

Or it can be a few things - I will talk to a human about my services once per day, go to a networking meeting once per week to meet new humans and post on my favorite social media 3x per week. 

It can be fancy (the more experienced marketer you are) or ultra simple. 

This super simple plan is like giving your brain a bone to chew on so it will leave you alone.

It's half the work. 

Here's the other half... 

How to handle the wobblies when going for it:

In addition to a super simple plan like I outlined above, I'll lean into all of my resources like this:

  • Most days, I do a brain dump in my journal, and consciously choose my response to my worries and anxieties about whether or not I can accomplish my goal. (I have an exercise for this in the Happy Little Practice Club that you can borrow called the Golden Hour Primer.)

  • Since any bold goal tends to get me a little wobbly, right after lunch I will do a 10-minute guided meditation on creating abundance in my business. This will reset my nervous system, feels pleasurable and luxurious to do and makes me feel calm and clear for the rest of the work day. (Find one on Youtube, InsightTimer or Mindvalley)

  • I will listen to high frequency instrumental music while doing my work, especially my marketing work-which tends to make me feel some things. I like ZenLifeRelax on Youtube.

  • I will leverage my nutrition know-how and make sure I eat three meals a day and watch out for skipping meals to help me feel grounded, clear and focused. 

  • I will move my body at least 15 minutes per day, on most days, to release nervous tension and send a signal of safety and well-being to my brain and body. Less body tension = less fear. A gentle stroll will do. 

  • I will turn to podcasts about mindset that I know and love and remind myself that I'm only one thought away from creating the results I'm going for. 

  • I will read a paragraph now and again from a favorite book about creating the impossible and that will shore up my mind as new beliefs are being born. 

  • I will create an evening ritual to make sure I sleep and get to bed at a reasonable hour because it impacts my business mood. 

  • I will give myself little pockets of rest and quiet to hear myself think and feel and listen for my intuitive guidance. (See The Nap Ministry)

  • Oh, and I'll use all the potions, essential oils and whatever else I can think of to help me feel bright and capable while creating new things. 

  • Most of all, I will remember what I've chosen to think about this experiment - This is me going for it.


I will, for sure, get off track and my thinking will stink from time to time, and I'll get wobbly.

But there are enough things in here to keep me on the rails. 

As you can tell, it's a very proactive process that forces me to stay awake and engaged in my life. 

Most of the time, no one can tell I'm doing these things.

If I were to summarize handling the wobblies in business, I would say here's how I do this:

DO - I create a super simple plan and menu of actions to choose from each day and do the things on my plan imperfectly. Wildly imperfectly! This reduces the pressure of thinking on the fly or trying to figure out what to do on any given day, which is stressful for me.  

STRUCTURE - I give myself a set time each workday to work on this. I will get in and then get out, and this will provide peace of mind and something to track vs. letting myself fret about it all day. (Hello timer!) 

ENERGY - I work with my nervous system vs. letting it stop me. The energetic, physical, spiritual, intuitive, nutritional whatever I've got in my toolkit. Use whatever healing and nervous system tools you have IN YOUR BUSINESS.

THINK - I leverage the entrepreneurial mindset and decide ahead of time what I'll think about this 30-day goal and allow myself to do this imperfectly.

ENVIRONMENT - I set up an environment to pull me forward vs. relying only on myself.  From podcasts, music, community, coaching, art, film and more, that will remind me what is possible, even if no one in my immediate environment gets it. 

That's what it takes. 

While it is proactive, it FEELS SO MUCH BETTER and is WAY MORE EFFECTIVE than staying in your head and succumbing to wobblies.

And no, you don't have to deploy all these things at all times.

Just when you're feeling wobbly in business. 


Would you like a regular dose of this?

I hand it out on the regular. 

Here are two ways: 

1) Become a member of the Happy Little Practice Club

2) Or apply to become a private client here, and we'll have a chat and see if it makes sense to work together. 


"Within 6 months, I was able to leave my massively stressful medical practice, and start my own boutique practice on my own terms." - Libby Wilson, MD, Best Life Functional Medicine  Learn more about Libby's work and other Happy Little Practice Grads here. 
 


Thanks for reading!

In this with you,

Karin