I was recently reminded of Aesop's fable about the wind and the sun.
If you haven’t heard of it, here’s the paraphrased version. The wind and sun decided to have a competition to see who could get a man to take his jacket off first.
The wind went out full force and blew as hard as he could. The harder he blew, the more the man pulled his jacket on tighter. Soon, the wind was out of breath.
When the sun saw the wind catching its breath, it decided to come out and shine directly on the man. Soon, the man took his jacket off in the warmth.
This fable is directly tied to your pursuit of something greater. Too often, people don't step out and pursue a big goal because they're afraid of how hard it'll be, how much they'll have to work or give up, or how exhausting it'll be. But when I talk about discovering something greater (the name of my recently published book), I’m not talking about a greater workload. In the book myself, and my coauthors are talking about living a life that feels warm, sunny, and full of energy without strain.
Too often, we get off course because we try to do what others are doing, mimic success, think it'll work the same for others in our lives, or mold ourselves to fit what we think we "should" be doing. I know because I've done the same thing. It wasn't until recently that I burned my entire business model to the ground so that I could reinvent how I showed up without burnout and in a way that felt more aligned for myself AND the people I serve.
Knowing what that life looks like isn’t as easy as snapping your fingers and saying you’ll simplify. It takes thoughtful reflection. Today, as we head into the holiday weekend, I have five journal prompts to help you find simplicity and your something greater.
Do you know someone working too hard and ready for a simpler personal and professional life?
Step 1: Take Inventory
Before you can know what needs to be cut or shifted, you must take inventory of everything you're doing now.
Grab a piece of paper or notebook and spend some time brain dumping:
Every product you sell
Everything you do to support those products
Every marketing task you do
Every administrative task you do
Your plans to make more money or growing
Launch schedules
Time commitments
Volunteer commitments
Jot it all down on paper and note how stretched you are.
This step might feel overwhelming initially, but it'll also feel really good to get it all out on paper and honor the weight you've been carrying.
Step 2: Determine
Today's step is all about YOU. Looking at the list you created yesterday, highlight everything you can and want to do.
These things typically are areas that:
Get you out of bed each morning excited about what's ahead
Are reliant on your personality, your voice, or your talents
For me, it's writing. My written voice is unique, and I love spending time with a blank page, watching the story unfold.
For others, it's podcasting. Give them a microphone and let them talk through ideas.
Yet again, for others, it's design. Drawing, illustrating, or painting is where they feel most alive.
Where is it for you?
Step 3: Delete
Grab a red marker and review the inventory list you made in step one. Then, start crossing out the areas that:
No longer serve you
No longer serve your business
No longer feel necessary
Feel heavy (even if they do feel necessary)
This step is when I crossed off calls. As much as I loved being on Zoom with my students, I felt overwhelmed on the days when I saw calls filling my calendar. I still feel that way, so I shy far away from hosting calls when I don't need to.
I'm an introvert first with slight extrovert tendencies. That means I need to be very selective about which calls I jump on and how I fill my schedule. Perhaps you're the same?
Looking over your list, pay attention to those visceral reactions. What days feel best to you? When do you feel the most free to be creative? Delete anything that doesn't fall into those buckets or help bring you significant enough sales to grin and bear it a little.
Step 4: Delegate
Looking at the list you created on day 1, choose the tasks you know you need to continue doing, but that don't require your attention to get them done.
When they see this step, most people think that delegation requires a financial commitment, but that's not always the case. Here are a few examples of what I mean.
You know you need to spread the word about your offers, but you get exhausted talking about it all the time. Building an affiliate program can help incentivize others to share your program without you having to always be on.
You wrote a book and know you need help talking about it. Curating a launch team to help drive sales can spur the conversation around your new release.
You have a podcast but are getting burnt out creating it. Putting your season on indefinite hold and leaning into guest podcasting to spare yourself some of the tedious marketing tasks associated with growth can give you rest.
Before you get into the solutions, though, look at the areas you need to delegate out to give yourself some breathing room.
Step 5: Discernment
Look at what's left on your list. Ignore what's crossed off and look only at what's there for you and those you plan to delegate to. In this step, I want you to discern what you want your days to look like and how you can restructure your business to align with what's left on your business so you don't get burnt out.
When looking at this list, I knew I wanted to do one big thing — write.
I still wanted to teach. I still loved to teach. What I missed was the ability to sit quietly without distraction at my computer and hammer out content that felt SO good to share with others.
In my discernment step, I opted to restructure my business entirely so I could free up my calendar, give myself more space to sit at my keyboard, allow myself midday walks with my dog to clear my head, and really start to lean into what feels good.
As you're going through this same process, think through the following:
What can you systematize and automate to free up your schedule?
Who can you collaborate with to reach your growth goals?
What is ONE platform you can focus on for the next 100 days to build marketing consistency without creating burnout for yourself?
This step is the hardest, so I want to support you in these efforts. Book your Voxer session with me where we can talk simplification strategies via the free walkie-talkie app (and yes, I might chat with you while walking my dog, which is when I think the best but can't hold Zoom calls - go figure).
When you’re done, you’ll have:
Taken stock of how much you're asking of yourself right now (often that list is more than we think when we move through the daily motions)
Determined the areas that light you up the most and empower you to spread the most light with your business
Deleted the things that aren't working for your business and/or for you
Delegated (or found new approaches for) the areas that need to happen but don't fill your cup
Discerned your next steps, what you can let go of, and what you can embrace as your warm, sunshine-y activities.
Simplicity is Beautiful
Pursuing your something greater requires warmth and ease, not push and hustle. I’d love to hear how these exercises unfolded for you.
What's your something greater? Today, you're invited to share it here in the comments and/or publicly with #mysomethinggreater so I and my co-authors can cheer you on in your journey!