The other night, I was doing some coaching with my students. I noticed that every single time someone asked a question, rather than just beginning with the question, we got into a story. But before we even got deep into a story, almost every single one of them began by saying,
“I’m stuck. I’m really stuck.”
Then they’d launch into this long story about what was happening in every area of their business.
And I was like,
“Hold on… there’s something fundamentally wrong here with the way that we are approaching the problems within our businesses.”
So we’re going to dive into this idea of overwhelm. But I want you to recognize first that entrepreneurship is not easy. I’m always a little bit perplexed when some of the people who I interact with in the online space are surprised that they’re a little stressed out. Not that I think you need to be stressed out in entrepreneurship by any means, because you can find your own personal balance.
I’ve compiled a list of tasks that every entrepreneur is doing when they’re just beginning.
- Branding
2. Sales funnel strategist.
3. Sole content creator / the storyteller so they’re writing out their own personal stories and trying to craft all of these on their own without a pair of editing eyes. - Graphic designer (even though they have no background training in this
- Video and audio editor
- Video script writer
- Video talent
- Set designer
- Manager
- Copywriter
- Editor
- Wardrobe and makeup supervisor.
- Appointment and task scheduling organizer
- Community builder / social media growth coordinator.
- Photographer
- Sales call rep
- Customer service rep
- Social media strategist
- Facebook ads manager
- Facebook ads designer and copywriter
- Podcast or an interviewer
- Lighting designer
- Landing page creator
- Website builder
- Email marketing strategist
- Expert problem solver
- Course creator
- Brand spokesperson.
Now… many of my students are learning to do a lot of these pieces, because I truly believe that it is absolutely important for you as an entrepreneur to know what the landscape is of your business. It is very difficult for someone who doesn’t want to learn the backend to really know when they have a creative idea. They don’t know how to execute it and they’re not sure if it’s possible. They always have to ask someone else.
But… if you have a basic understanding of how all of these things fit together, you know immediately when you have an idea if it can be executed. So, of course you’re wasting energy saying that you’re overwhelmed… you’re doing four million different jobs!
We’ve got to simplify your process for growth.
What you’re doing right now is stressing you the heck out and is not going to work long term. Trust me: I’m speaking from experience here. It’s not the fun path and it’s amazing how much more profitable and how much more sane you can be if you just let someone else do some of the work. Are they going to do it as perfectly as you do? Well, of course not, because you’re amazing. But, you’ve got to let some of those things go. There’s not enough hours in the day. So we need to simplify and streamline.
What are the things that only you can do?
Stop beating yourself up about not being able to complete everything on your to do list. You are NOT going to be able to do 40 different jobs to perfection on a daily basis. But I will tell you that the priority for you is not living in the back end. That might be where you feel most comfortable, but I’ll tell you: whenever I’m focused on the backend, I see a drop in momentum with my audience.
My audience NEEDS to see me.
They need to see my face. I need to be getting on live video multiple times a week and engaging with people and being present. I can hire somebody else to do the backend stuff. That’s not where your energy and focus needs to be and nine times out of 10 you feel burned out doing lots of anyway because you are a creator. That’s why you wanted to be an entrepreneur in the first place. That’s why you wanted to be a coach, so that you could coach people. If you’re spending your entire life living in your inbox, responding to messages or spending your entire life creating funnels, but then you’re not even seeing sales. What the heck are you doing? Something that’s going on in your business is not working. So, you’ve got to find the solution.
What can you remove right now from your To Do list?
What do you need to outsource?
Or, maybe there’s a project that you’ve just added to your plate that totally doesn’t need to happen right now.
Do you have a game plan and a strategy?
Now, you might not be one of those people that’s into charts and systems, and that’s okay. Just friggin’ brainstorm on a clean piece of paper (or maybe, like, 10, depending on how much stuff is in your head) and just write things out. Just get an idea of what’s going on. Then, from the list that you’ve mapped out… what are the things that only you can do? Most likely, the things that only you can do are being on live video because you’re the front face talent. I would say probably content creation to some degree. You could probably outsource some of your graphic design things if that’s not your strength. And it’s not really where your time needs to be. Getting on calls, actually being that person that is doing your one-on-one coaching, being that person that is creating your course, creating your freemiums. Now, you can hire out and have someone else design your PDFs, edit video, compile your membership site…
Ultimately, the content of your course or whatever you’re creating… that’s going to come from you. But for almost everything else on your to do list, you can let go and hand off to somebody else who has that as an expertise.
The next piece of this is to look at all the things that you want to do this quarter, or this month, this year, whatever. Think of your timeline, and I want you to really ask yourself,
“What is my potential for profits?”
Let’s say you want to sell an E-book. This seems to be a popular thing right now with some of the students that I’m coaching. E-books are great and super easy to put together. I’m encouraging of it, because I think it’s great to just get that first piece of content out. However, I think that E-Books are kind of dated. I think the earning potential when you don’t have a large audience is pretty small. So, do you want to be peddling E-Books for the entire month, trying to sell 50 to hit your monthly financial goal so they could pay your bills? Or, do you want to spend your time maybe doing a higher ticket package? Maybe do some one-on-one coaching if you’re just in the early stages or maybe a mini course with a couple of videos.
Honestly, video and audio are king right now. Sure, people might buy simple PDFs. But, if I can go to a Barnes and Noble or if I can go to Amazon.com and get a New York Times best selling book for half the price of the book you’re selling…. come on now. If you’re putting in some kind of video or audio, I’m more inclined to buy that.
All I have to say is: think about your own buying habits.
Are you buying a 50 dollar e-book or 50 recipe book? No, you’re probably going to just look on Pinterest. So, really consider your strategy to make profits.
We can create and create and create until we’re blue in the face, but if it’s not profitable, it’s really not the best use of your time.
So today, I really want you to promise yourself that you’ll never use the words “stuck” or “overwhelmed.” You are absolutely, 100% capable of doing this.”
I need you to come up with a new mantra that’s more empowering than being stuck. And, the next time you want to say to yourself, “I’m burnt out” or “I’m overwhelmed.” You need to get down and do 500 burpees.
We’ve got to break the pattern and the belief in overwhelm as your reality.
You are making a choice every single time you speak those words into existence. You’re essentially creating that for yourself. You’re creating it in your physiology, and you’re solidifying those triggers and those emotions to come out. Every single time you say, “I’m stuck,” there’s a physical pattern that happens. There’s an inflection in your voice. There’s something in your gut. You feel it all over and your body will follow that. If you truly want to be successful, aside from the actual strategic pieces, you’ve got to start shifting the way that you approach your business. I’m telling you right now, if you make those changes, you’re not going to feel overwhelmed every time you say it.
Seriously. Every time you’re sitting there thinking, “I’m overwhelmed,” get up and do some jumping jacks. Do whatever you need to do to change your state.
Are you open to the possibility that you might actually sit down and really freaking enjoy your work?
Really freaking embrace things that don’t necessarily come 100% easy?
The feeling of overwhelm is simply you experiencing growth.
Instead of running away from those frustrations, run toward them and expand into a better leader.
If you are looking for more advanced strategy on how to simplify some of the processes in your business, head to SocialMediaToSales.com. I’m going to give you a free 10 minute training on how to map out and blueprint a month’s worth of content in less than 10 minutes. And I’m also going to show you how to repurpose it across social media platforms, so that you spend less time glued to your phone and more time serving your people and making money. So head over there: SocialMediaToSales.com. Check it out, and I’ll see you guys soon!
