EP225 Are you building a business you love or dread?
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Sara Mayer: [00:00:00] Welcome to the bold goal crusher podcast for anyone looking to stop letting life get in the way and start crushing bold goals. I'm your host, Sara Mayer, and I'm thrilled to navigate this journey with you because it's time to start boldly achieving without working double time. So let's dive in.
Sara Mayer: Hello bold gold crushers I'm excited to talk about this new little series I'm doing specifically for business owners or want to be business owners or side hustlers trying to start their business. I've heard from many of you that this is a goal. You've looked at your life and realized that Maybe your nine to five or what you're doing is [00:01:00] not exactly the life you've dreamed of.
Sara Mayer: And so you're dreaming of a different life. Maybe you have looked at your life and realize you don't want to work for a boss anymore, or you don't like your boss, or you don't like exactly what you're doing, or you're just going through life and you are
Sara Mayer: working to pay your bills. And if you're watching this on YouTube, I hope that you see the sign behind me, 2000 2024, the year. And you really think about how this can be the year things can be different. Now, if you already have a business, I hope that you are creating a business that you love and not creating a business that you hate.
Sara Mayer: So you may have left your nine to five. in search of freedom, in search of the ability to create something that you own, [00:02:00] maybe build a brand, a personal brand or a business brand. And I hope that you really become intentional about what you are building because it's critical that you think about this before you get in it.
Sara Mayer: I cannot tell you how many of my clients leave their nine to five and then create a business that they don't love. If that's you, if you have done that, it's okay. We can walk it back this year. My theme, I all everybody knows I set a theme for the year. My theme is back to the foundations because there's some things in my business that kind of take it on a life of their own that I don't love.
Sara Mayer: And so I'm doing this exact same exercise. So I hope that you have built a business that you love. If you haven't started building your business or you are right at the foundation, you haven't put up the walls or you're just starting to put up the walls and maybe you don't like where they are in your business going with the house theme.
Sara Mayer: I think it's important to really [00:03:00] think about your business from your personal perspective. Maybe you got into business because you didn't like the situation we were in. Maybe you want to make more money. Maybe you want to stop working for somebody else and make more money and that is okay. Ladies, that is okay.
Sara Mayer: Making money is part of owning a business. So please don't start a business just to have another hobby. You're building a business. It's time to make money. Maybe you started your business because you wanted to spend more time for your family. Whatever your reason is for starting your business, it is critical that you examine your business to make sure that what you're building fits those needs and goals and wants.
Sara Mayer: And if it's not, if it's not going in that direction, it doesn't mean burn it down and go to the ground. It means you need to critically examine your business to ensure that what you're building [00:04:00] for the future does fit what why you're actually in this business. If you find that you've strayed away.
Sara Mayer: From your original, why in the nonprofit world, we call that mission creep, like a nonprofit has a mission. And when they get away from those things, it's called mission creep. If you've strayed away from your why, if you're getting further and further away from where you want your business to be, it does not mean you need to burn it to the ground.
Sara Mayer: But what you need to do is critically examine your business and then take steps each week to get closer and closer to where you want to be. Because having the awareness is the first step, because if you are not even aware, you're going to wake up one day and you're going to say, I built this business to have more freedom to pick up my kids from school to spend more time with my family.
Sara Mayer: And that yet every night I'm falling asleep with my laptop in my bed. That's [00:05:00] not why you started your business and I do not promote the hustle culture, but building a business is hard work, but it's also very strategic work. It's something you need to think about. It is a lot easier to wake up every day to have a boss tell you what to do, whether you agree with it or not, to go with the company direction into cash or be paycheck.
Sara Mayer: It is a lot easier, but that comes at a price. And so when you choose to build a business, it's critical that you build it. Brick by brick, the way you want it, the way that makes sense for you and your lifestyle, and you really think about it as you're going along. So there's a couple of things that I'd like you to think about.
Sara Mayer: I do have a weekly reflection, I'm big on reflection from a time management perspective, really thinking about how to be productive as an individual, but as a [00:06:00] business owner, there's a different layer of. Things that you should be thinking about every week in your business. And so I do have a weekly reflection.
Sara Mayer: I'm really excited about this resource that I've put together because so many of you have talked about one of your goals being building a business, creating a business, or even creating a side hustle that allows you some of that extra. extra money so that you can do some of the things you want to do.
Sara Mayer: So if you want to grab that resource, please do. It's Saramayor. com slash business owner weekly reflection. So Saramayor. com slash business owner weekly reflection. I encourage you to grab that resource, but I want to talk through some of the things in this resource. So as we know, business ownership is very different.
Sara Mayer: Some of your friends are not going to get you and It's really important that we take some time each week to reflect on our endeavors as [00:07:00] entrepreneurs, and that's how you'll gain clarity to know if you're really marching in the right direction when you're building your business. And really through that introspection, you can Assess whether you're staying aligned with your goals, your original why and managing your time effectively maintaining that elusive work life balance.
Sara Mayer: I don't think there's ever a true balance like a teeter totter. I think sometimes work goes up family goes down and then work family goes up work goes down. And I think it's always about keeping that teeter totter moving and knowing where it's at. It allows you reflection, allows you to identify those patterns and opportunities to learn from mistakes.
Sara Mayer: And of course, to make more informed decisions towards having a more productive work schedule, having. More control over your business rather than your business controlling. So there are a few [00:08:00] things. As I love weekly reflection. I do a daily reflection. And I also do a weekly reflection, a monthly reflection, a quarterly reflection.
Sara Mayer: And for those of you who love a paper planner, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see I just picked up, I have the Clever Fox. That's my favorite thing. This is a one year planner. It's super thick. This one is like really nicely bound. I just love it. Some glitter on it. But I use it a little differently.
Sara Mayer: So on the inside, You'll see here. I hope you can see this if you're watching on YouTube. If you don't watch on YouTube channel. So check it out. But here I have the daily things and some people will put appointments here. I don't, I put my, at my end of my day, my little reflection in there about how my day went.
Sara Mayer: I encourage you to do daily reflection. It does not need to be a big thing. It needs to be like two to three questions you ask yourself daily and you [00:09:00] write about it. So was I on task? What was the thing I accomplished? What did I really enjoy? Did I focus on the things that were the most important?
Sara Mayer: Something like that. Come up with, what are those couple of questions you're going to ask yourself to really think about your day in from a place of positivity, not from a place of negativity. So don't start with what didn't I do today? What didn't I get done? That's not helpful when you're trying to build your business.
Sara Mayer: So I do daily reflection. I encourage you to do it from a lens of a business owner, rather than just general, general lens. So some of the weekly reflection, I like to do this on a Sunday, some of my clients do it on a Friday, and they don't work on the weekend. For me, I like to do it on a Sunday and then use it as a springboard for my Monday.
Sara Mayer: So some of the things you can do for business owners is. To really stay [00:10:00] aligned with your goals. These are some of the questions you can ask yourself. And again, these are in my guide. So go to Saramayer. com slash business owner weekly reflection to grab that. So one question you could ask yourself are what are the major achievements or successes this week?
Sara Mayer: How did I communicate with my team, colleagues, clients? Were there any misunderstandings or conflicts that need addressing? Did I uphold my values and integrity across my decisions? How did I manage my finances? Were there any unexpected expenses this week? Did I engage with my customers and clients? And did I embrace their experience this week?
Sara Mayer: It's a great question. I love that. Did I delegate tasks appropriately? Or did I try and do everything? Did I maintain a healthy work life balance? What adjustments can I make to ensure that balance in the future? [00:11:00] And then again, this is what I use to springboard my my week for the next week. What are my top priorities for the upcoming week?
Sara Mayer: And what specific actions can I take to achieve them? So there's a lot many more questions, but I think it's really important to think of it from a business lines rather than just in general. Did I have a good week? Did I get what I wanted to do? Was I productive? Whatever questions you may be asking yourself, it's really important to think of it From a business lens.
Sara Mayer: So these questions cover various aspects of your business, as well as some personal development, and it helps you to reflect on your performance, identify areas for improvement, and also set those actionable goals for the future. So I encourage you to customize this list as well. This isn't the end all be all.
Sara Mayer: This is a springboard for you to use. You may find that there are some questions that really get Down to the [00:12:00] nitty gritty. I almost just hit myself in the face. But they really get down to the nitty gritty and those may be the questions you want to ask each week. So I encourage you to download the guide, Saramayer.
Sara Mayer: com slash business owner weekly reflection, print it out, use that for your weekly reflection. Pick out a couple of questions. There's 15 or maybe more on the guide. Don't do all of them every day, but pick out ones that resonate with you every day and really propel your business forward through the power of reflection.
Sara Mayer: And then adjustment. That's the key. You can reflect all day long, but if you don't make the adjustments, you'll be in the same place next year that you are in this year where you may be thinking this is not the business from you, or you may be creating something that later. Honestly, I hate to use this word, you absolutely hate when you resent.
Sara Mayer: Or you dread going to. All right, bold goal [00:13:00] crushers, grab the guide. It's time to make your businesses work for you because you can crush all your goals without working double time. So let's get to it.
Sara Mayer: Thank you for tuning into the bold goal crusher podcast where we crush goals and everything that gets in the way. I always love to support my community.
Sara Mayer: I look forward to seeing you crush your goals this year.
