Here Are Some Hard Things I Am Learning
In the process of scaling this business, I am learning two things the hard way.
There is such thing as redlining. 80% exertion is really what you want to stay at peak performance. Just because you can do more doesn’t mean you should.
As you encounter and manage more people, you have less control over their experience. Part of it is that by the odds, not everyone is a perfect fit for what I’m doing, and they opt out. The other part is that I can’t instantly respond to a person’s signal the way I usually do. Did I miss being there for them when they needed it?
I have to find ease and patience and—most critically—the simplicity that allows people to move at their own pace and still end up at the same place.
Two key habits will allow me to level up on both these points: structure, and self-compassion.
Increasing discipline in my routines connects me to a higher sense of flow, which is just nice, experientially. It’s like every week is part of a deep breath.
More concretely, I am a better facilitator when I follow the Rule of 3’s (most people are). And when I commit to writing EVERYTHING down before I communicate it, I get a better sense for how it feels to look at my teachings with fresh eyes. I can offer more value to more people with less context when I hold myself to this standard of simplicity.
Structure. No-Meeting Monday Morning. Limiting myself to 6 initial consults a day. (10 is too many. Even though it’s January and I’m fresh from break. Even though it’s high season. Even though it’s opportunity for crazy impact. Even though the inbound volume feels *amazing*.)
The wheels start to come off at some point (if you happened to bear witness to some rattling, thank you for being my witness).
Ah, then the self-compassion. Do I a) allow myself to focus on the one piece of negative feedback? Or b) do I say out loud to everyone who will listen how many lives I’ve changed? “AND I AM JUST GETTING STARTED!”
Maybe I cry for an evening to make b) possible. Whatever gets the job done. Maybe I drag myself to a crazy intense workout class, to an instructor who tells me, “It’s okay if it’s hard!”
Which is now the mantra that I’ve told myself approx. 18,000 times today.
What’s on your list of things to do when you just need to FEEL BETTER ALREADY?!
I recommend making that list today. Right now.
For me? I took my No-Meeting Monday Morning and went and got acupuncture. Now (at 8:45pm) I’m writing you as I sit solo in the candlelit corner restaurant that has delicious hummus and a never-ending deep house playlist. I wasn’t even planning on writing anything.
Changes of scenery can change everything. That’s a good one for your list.
Anyway, coming at you this week with a moderately emo mood, reminding you that whatever you’re struggling with right now, you’ve probably succeeded at something way harder in your past. Or, perhaps if not in magnitude, something that was hard in an equally fresh way.
Think about that thing, and be victorious. It's okay if it's hard.
Question for you:
How can you be of service?