When you’re aiming for that $1M+ mark, there are a couple of paths you can take to reach that pinnacle of success. You can either bust your ass 24-7, hustling and grinding to bring in more business, or you can focus on steady, sustainable growth that doesn’t kill you in the process.
Like most entrepreneurs, I’ve done the rise and grind thing. I bought wholeheartedly into the hustle culture, and I truly believed that if I wasn’t working or hustling every waking moment, I was letting my business down. In reality, I was letting myself down.
I was missing out on EVERYTHING. Time with my family, travel, freedom to do the things I love – it all had to take a backseat to my relentless quest for success – then I had my big Oprah “AHA moment”!
Maybe it is possible to grow your business without hustling and grinding every minute of every day???
The message from the universe was clear – it’s time to do things differently…
I didn’t change my business overnight. I am a huge proponent of building a strong foundation of strategies and systems before making any major moves, so my first task was to figure out a new business model.
I wanted a business that redefined success. I wanted it to be about more than clients and revenue. I wanted my happiness and my time to matter as much as my profits, so I adopted my new motto – ease and grace, time and space.
Sounds nice, right? But what did that really mean for my business? It works like this:
- Ease
No more rise and grind. No more sending out emails at 1 or 2 am. No more giving up everything I love in the hopes of making a few more dollars. If the stress of building a business is leaving you completely overwhelmed, frustrated, and facing total burnout, IT’S NOT WORKING FOR YOU! This is your one and only life, and if you’re spending most of it at your desk, you’re missing out on everything that matters.
- Grace
I have high expectations of myself and my team, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But when those expectations become rigid and inflexible, problems occur…
We all have days, weeks, or even months that don’t go according to plan. Instead of beating ourselves up or dragging around some heavy guilt burden, why don’t we lighten up, show ourselves some grace, and remember that it’s okay to be imperfect? When you can give yourself grace, you can also extend it to others (including your team) and let me assure you – that makes for a MUCH happier company culture!
- Time
Astronomical growth does not happen overnight and anyone who tells you differently is lying. Hustle culture tells us that the harder we work, the faster we reach the success we so desperately want to obtain. Also lies.
Sustainable success takes time. You have to create SOPs so that your team can keep things running without a hitch when those aforementioned surprises pop up. You have to create systems that allow you to rinse and repeat so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time a new project comes along. And you have to test different tactics and stay on top of your metrics to know what’s working in your business. All of this takes time! If you try to skip ahead, you’re missing the solid foundation that supports your business for years to come.
- Space
You have to have some breathing room. You need space to think about what YOU want from your business. You need room to consider where you want to lead your business in a year, 5 years, or 10 years down the road.
Your happiness and your satisfaction matter A LOT! You started your company because you wanted to have a business that worked for YOU, not the other way around. When you give yourself space, you give yourself the opportunity to take a cold, hard look at your business to decide what’s working for you and what you want to change to make your business AND your life better.
Okay, so I know it all sounds good, but the real question is, does it work??
ABSOLUTELY.
My business is better than ever before. I’m hand-selecting clients that are a good fit rather than grasping at every lead that crosses my path, and my revenue has grown substantially. My business is growing every day, and nobody is freaking out! My team and I have the systems and SOPs in place that make onboarding new clients a breeze and allow us to take on a higher volume of work without overwhelm. I finally have the time to take care of myself and do the things I love with the people I love, and that is TRULY the definition of success.
So, if you’re ready to grow your business, I encourage you to step away from hustle culture and embrace ease and grace, time and space. You’ll get to where you want to be AND you’ll enjoy the ride!
