How to run a business, without running yourself into the ground- Part 1

Have you heard of the “toxic hustle culture?” It’s the idea that you can only run a successful business if you’re doing everything yourself, all of the time.

Of course, it’s simply not sustainable and it’s also not true.

I know this from my own experience of burning out, quite spectacularly in fact, and I wanted to share that with you, as well as the many tips and tricks that I’ve picked up on the way.

So I think it’s pretty important to explain just who I was, professionally, before the burnout came along. I was a star performer, habitual overachiever and I gave my soul to the various roles I had before and after having my children. Unfortunately, in one of my roles, my husband and I went through the process of separating.

Suddenly becoming financially responsible for my very young children made me work even harder and I went from sales and recruitment to managing large teams of coaches, trainers and team leaders. It was the constant juggling of commuting, long days at work and caring for my two little people that led me to one place.

Burnout.

And it was spectacular. So spectacular that I took myself to A&E because I thought I was having a stroke.

Thankfully, it wasn’t! But as I drove home in the middle of the night, messaging my boss to explain what had happened and being surprised that he told me to take the day off, I realised that things were getting out of control. I couldn’t get my brain to stop, I couldn’t switch off and I was making bad decisions. I had put everything and everyone ahead of myself, and I knew that it needed to change.

So I stepped back from my career and worked for a small, local, family wine business. It allowed me the freedom to take my girls to school, do some work, and then collect them. Taking my foot off of things for a while allowed me to re-evaluate where things were heading. I had thought that I’d destroyed my professional career, but I actually found that those corporate skills could be really effective in a smaller business. It was that which led me to setting up my own business, as a VA. Three weeks in, we went into lockdown and the girls were being home schooled.

I learnt quite quickly that despite being really successful at bringing in new business, I wasn’t actually a very good virtual assistant. I could do the admin, no problem, but I found myself questioning their strategy and offering alternatives. NOT something I was being paid to do! So I chose a certification as an online business manager, hoping that this would help me to pivot my business. Again, however, I found myself being asked to do things that I would then question because it didn’t actually seem to be what the business really needed. 

I found this all really challenging because it just didn’t seem to fit my skill set, and I still wanted to level up in what I was able to offer. So I turned to another certification, this time as a Director of Operations. 9 months later, I still wasn’t happy and shortly after that, another lockdown sent the girls home again. It wasn’t long before I burnt out again, thankfully not as bad as I had before. I found myself putting everyone else ahead of myself again. I was working when I should have been with my girls and I wasn’t quite functioning. So I did what lots of people threaten to do when they’re struggling - I closed my business and got a job.

On my first day, I realised that that was a HUGE mistake. Although it was a brilliant organisation, I felt trapped. I had no freedom with my time, my personal development or my income. It was time that I turned back to running a business. This time, however, I wanted to work out what I was actually good at, as well as what I actually wanted to do. It took me 3 months to decide!

Starting with the basics, I figured out my purpose, my mission and my values. In January last year, I reset up my business and tried out different services and different ways of delivering those services to my new clients. It led me to offering full strategy days. Unfortunately, something wasn’t quite right and I hit rock bottom. I took 2 weeks off from social media and gave myself the mental space to work out what needed to change. 

I knew that I really wanted to make these strategy days work because I could see that my clients were getting really good results from working with me on their business. But I didn’t want to just offer a “sticky plaster” solution. I needed to do things properly and in depth. I also realised that I really liked working with people face to face because it allowed me to pick up on their energy and body language, something you can’t really do over a video call. So, I bucked the trend, decided to play to my strengths and that’s how I came up with the business I’m doing today. 

Being able to work the way I do gives me the freedom to change my schedule depending on my mood or energy levels. Most importantly though, it allows me to be more present for my family, which is really important because I don’t get to see them all the time. 

So how am I going to prevent myself from slipping back into bad habits, and how can you take value from my experience? I’m going to share this with you in next month’s blog, but if you can’t wait, please do get in touch or catch up with the recording here.

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