138. Leveraging simplicity to grow your business

Brooke Monaghan29min

Brooke Monaghan

00:00

Self sacrifice for the sake of business success has long been a common theme in the business development world. However, the belief that your well being and integrity are a liability to success is likely the very thing that is hindering your results. This Friday, August 12, I am hosting a free community training. And I'm going to be breaking down how shifting this narrative first internally can open up the door to more sustainable growth, maximize your impacts on your clients and contribute to a ripple effect impact as you participate in changing this narrative. If you want to get registered for that training, head to bit.li/t y d live, and you can get yourself a spot, this is actually going to be the last free community training that I host this year. So if you've been telling yourself, you're going to join the next one, this is the one for you. You're listening to transcend your dichotomy, the podcast where we break the rules that say we have to leave ourselves behind in pursuit of success. I'm Brooke Monaghan and I created the show for purpose driven business owners. Together, we'll talk about how to go for your goals have an impact, all while honoring yourself, your desires and your values.

Brooke Monaghan

01:15

Today, we are talking about leveraging simplicity, and simplification to start making traction, there is no shortage of strategies and to do items out there, everybody has their thoughts on things that you should start doing things that you should add to your list things that you should start incorporating into your straight into your strategies and into your approach. The problem though, is that it is so overwhelming that for a lot of us, and maybe this describes you, it's like you're just trying to figure out how to even execute on all of it and aren't actually spending that time executing, right? The question becomes how do I get all of this done? Like how am I supposed to execute on all of this. And the fact is you aren't supposed to, and you can't, we oftentimes talk about not doing at all in terms of marketing and niching or offers right? focusing on one specific client and one specific problem that you want to solve for that client. But many people don't understand that if they're trying to execute on a million strategies, you're actually making the same mistake, right? You only have a limited capacity. And if you try to create a mile long to do list, based on what everyone is saying you're supposed to do, you are not going to be able to give any one of those strategies, your full attention, focus or effort, it leaves you stretched thin, and usually with subpar results, because you're not actually able to channel energy into executing on it. Well, you're not able to really be curious about, okay, what's working here? How do I want to approach this differently next time. And it's also just unsustainable, right. So you're typically not able to be consistent with all of those strategies if you just dive into trying to do it all at once. Now, of course, as you grow, you might grow your team, and you might slowly layer more things on. But I think that one of the problems that faces people who are trying to learn how to grow their businesses online, is it becomes incredibly overwhelming to try to execute on all the things that you've decided you're supposed to do. And so today, I want to talk about how you can maybe take some things off of your plate, make your strategy a little bit simpler, make your approach a little bit more simple, so that you can have a really clear way forward, you know what to focus your energy on. And you can focus on executing the few things that you are focusing on focus on executing those Well, rather than having your energy spread across, you know, doing a whole bunch of things, kind of half ass. This is why when I talk about seeking savior, right, so if you have been in my trainings before, then you know that I have there's five stages that I talk about as moving through that I watch folks move through as they are building a more sustainable and values aligned to business and are breaking the rules of how business is quote unquote, supposed to be done right challenging the status quo. The first, the first stage, the place where most people start a seeking savior. This is if I just get it right then things will be easy. If I can just figure out how to do this one next thing then on the other side of that things will be easy. So I'm going to hustle and hustle and hustle until it gets to that point because on the other side of it, things will be easy things will suddenly work and if I just get it right, then great then like success will just be gracefully delivered. When I talk about seeking savior. I'm not just talking about being stretched thin and mirroring burnout. I'm also talking about not really getting results, at least not consistently and this is usually why because it is too much, especially if you are a one In a person show, it's usually too much to try to do all of the things that you've learned your quote unquote supposed to do. So in this episode, I want to talk you through step by step, what to do if you're feeling stuck, or stagnant or frustrated and or spread thin, and

Brooke Monaghan

05:15

give you a couple of examples of what this could look like in application. So first of all, firing on all cylinders, cylinders, and being completely stalled actually are not that distant from each other. So that's the first thing to understand here. When you consume so much information and start to get a million ideas for what you should be doing or what you think that you might want to try doing what you think you should be implementing, it's actually not uncommon at all to then just kind of shut down. Some people are constantly on the move. And some people stay stuck and do nothing, it that's just a difference in the way that people work. But they usually or very often actually stem from the same kind of root cause, which is you're trying to do too much. And there's a third option in here too, which is starting off as the person who's firing on all cylinders, hyper fixating and then crashing, especially those of us who are neurodivergent. That is a very common pattern, the shutting down, or the hyper fixating and then shutting down. But it doesn't really matter what the actual behavior is, what matters is that if you can simplify your plan, it can help you bring back a healthy and sustainable kind of pace, whether that means taking action, if you're stuck or slowing down, if you are maybe in that hyper fixating, like, you know, moving too quickly at an unsustainable pace. So that's the first thing to understand. Now, the first thing that you need to do if you're feeling stuck, stagnant, frustrated, is to ease up, you're gonna want to amp up the intensity. And that will actually make it worse. I think about dogs and their natural response to resist. So dogs have a reflex. Some people don't know this, but if you pull on a dog's leash, there, they actually have a reflex that they will, like, lean back against it. So a lot of dogs are like, trained to know that like, that's what their owner wants from them. When they pull on the leash, it means like calm. But a lot of times when people are Leash training dogs, they get really frustrated, because they don't realize that there's like this reflex there that if you pull the dog's natural reflex is to resist in the other direction. And I actually think that there's a similar thing that happens with us, when we are feeling like really, yeah, like we're nearing burnout. So you're going to want to pull harder, push harder. But actually, if you ease up a little bit that can kind of give you the space to move forward in a bit more of a bit more of a sustainable pace. Things that you can try to do this are like get a change of scenery, like go and work somewhere else or go outside, or like do something like get up from your desk, if you work at a desk, wherever it is that you work, get out of that space and go somewhere else. So that you can physically move out of that kind of like energy. Take a day off, if you can take just give yourself some space to rest. Sometimes when you're feeling really stuck. The best thing that you can do is stop and ask yourself like what do you actually need right now, sometimes that is rest. Sometimes that is food. Sometimes it's like going outside. But pushing harder is not going to alleviate those things. And you're not going to be motivated, or have the energy to like think creatively, and actually, like move forward if those needs are not being met. So rest or snack, like something like that, to allow yourself to ease up a little bit. Do you spot something like spontaneous or like just for fun. And what I mean by this is like maybe there's a thing that you've been wanting to do in your business or otherwise. And you're not sure if it's going to, quote work out or not. Maybe you do it just because it's fun. This is something that can kind of shift that energy as well get off of your phone, it's about helps. I know it helps me a lot. One of the first things that I need to do when I'm in this place is Get off of my phone because that it there's just so many messages coming at you reinforcing that you need to do more. It's not going to be an immediate shift. But these are examples of things that you can try to kind of shift that energy and like ease up a little bit. Stop trying to push harder and give yourself a little bit of slack. And those are some things that you can try to do that. Now the third thing that you want to do is once you have actually shifted out Have that try harder and force it kind of energy,

Brooke Monaghan

10:04

you can start to be a bit more imaginative and creative. And I want you to use that imagination and creativity to establish your vision. Now, I want to reiterate here have to do step, you have to do the first step first. So you can't just go straight from Oh my God, I need to figure this out being super frustrated into this step, it doesn't really work that way, you actually need to ease up on yourself a little bit first. So do those first pieces, first, get outside, give yourself a little bit of space. And then when you're feeling a little bit fresh, come back and use your imagination and establish this vision. So get clear on what you actually want. Start to imagine, like what does that look like? What do you see in that version of success? What do you see in that future vision of your business? What does that future version of you who has achieved these things that you're working so hard on? What is that future version of you? Like? What are they doing? What is present in their day to day and I really want you to practice being in your like in the zone of kind of this expansive and creative and imaginative energy when you do this. And that is a Paratus. Our nervous systems, as people who have been telling ourselves for a long time that we needed to be more disciplined and try harder and do more are going to kind of freak out a little bit when you give yourself a little bit of space and allow things to just be creative and free flowing and imaginative and fun. And that is an intentional practice, I want you to continue to practice being in that place. And when you notice that these that this resistance is coming up to that or there are these voices coming up saying that you can't spend time there because it's not serious enough work, or what is this really doing, I want you to just notice it, and see if you can kind of table it for later and come back to this imagination and establishing this vision for the future. Because it is so fucking important that you learn how to hone this creative and imaginative kind of like mind space in order to be able to create the business that you want. Now the goal is to get away from all the things that you think you need to do simply because it's what you've been doing. Or it's what you've always done, or because you're just in the momentum or the habit of it, I want you to re approach it, like in a fresh way. It's almost like wiping the slate clean and creating a plan rather than trying to force a plan that you've already created. So the first thing to do is kind of step away, create a little bit of space, and then come back to it in a bit more of an easy free flowing, creative, imaginative place. Now, once you're feeling clear, remember that it might take some time, we take weeks just getting to this point in transcend your dichotomy training camp, I want you to put your creative hat on and play with planning. So let me give you an example of what I mean by playing with planning. And this is something that I did recently, that actually led to me, my plan to launch this bonus round of transcend your dichotomy training camp that's coming up. So

Brooke Monaghan

13:48

I decided that I was going to launch this after doing a planning session with myself. And really what this started as was I knew that I needed to revisit my editorial calendar, my content planning, and I knew that I needed to revisit my that that content planning because this is this podcast and my emails are what drives sales. And so I needed to look at that for the second half of the year. If you didn't listen to my last episode, go back and listen to it because I talked all about my mid year review my findings during that time and then what I decided to do from there, so I decided to like put on some music. I grabbed some post it and I just kind of asked myself like, Okay, what do I need to figure out in order to figure out this editorial calendar and I realized like, okay, there's a whole bunch of things going on here that are bouncing around in my head. So I just let my my self kind of go out this in a very freeform way and I started just writing everything down on post that's that I knew. So I wrote down a post that that was like this is the money that I want to make each month and then this is the money that I've already locked in each month. This is what's leftover that I need to secure each month. I wrote a post it out for each of my offers with the rates for those. And I kind of like I just put these all up on a wall, I'm listening to music, I'm just kind of like allowing this stuff to flow out of my brain. And whichever way it wants to. These are things that are like tapping and calling for my attention. And so I'm just allowing them to come out. And I'm looking at them in a visual way that feels a little bit more creative and free flowing. And I looked at each of the offers after I put them up on the wall, and I asked myself, like, which of these would be the simplest thing to invite people into right now. And I ended up landing on training camp. So then I started to write down everything that I knew about training camp, and I wrote down like, when would it need to begin? And when would the enrollment need to close? In order for it to start at that time? How many people would I want to have in it? What marketing avenues would I want to explore? What would the rate for it be? What would the bonuses be? And then? What are all of the things that people who would be great for this program? What do they really want to learn from me? For me, personally, this is there's something about having it all laid out visually on post, it's where I can reorganize things and move things around into groups and kind of visually categorize things and actually see connections, it's so helpful for me, and it might look different for you. But what this did for me is it allowed me to say okay, I know that I need to figure out my content planning for the next like six months. And I know that I need to figure that out because it relates to sales. But I was still feeling so jumbled. And so I just allowed myself to let it flow out of me in whatever way it needed to flow out of me. And I kind of played with it in this way. Now, it might look different for you. But whatever plan you choose, I actually want you to just choose the most creative and fun way into creating the plan. And that means listening to yourself, right? Is it a whiteboard and some markers? Is it like a favorite planner, and a notebook is it you know, a board that you want to create on like Mila note or mirror board or something like that. And I want you to notice any stories that start playing while you're doing this and just notice them and try to reserve judgment. Act like I am your coach, maybe I am your coach, maybe I'm not your coach. But if even if I'm not for right now act like I am, and tell yourself when those stories come up and start to kind of bark at you saying that, like, this isn't like, you know, this isn't real work. And you're not actually coming up with a good plan here. You're just fucking around, like, notice those and hear me telling you it is your job right now to let them go and to keep going with this creative, fun, playful version of planning. Why is this so important? Well, we are practicing being in this playful place. And it's for the same reason that we practice being in our zone of genius, which is something that I teach in training camp, it's the same reason that I said to practice being in that imaginative place when you are establishing your vision. And the reason for it is because this is where you are tapped into your creativity. And what we are talking about when we talk about simplifying the plan, and we're going to be getting here is getting rid of all of the shit that you're doing just because you think you're supposed to be doing it and focusing in on the things that you were doing. Because there are things that are at that you actually want to do. They're things that you're creatively engaged in, they're things that you're interested in, because you're engaged in the learning and growth process. And you're getting curious about, okay, how

Brooke Monaghan

18:47

can this work? And how can this work for my people? And maybe I'll try this, right? You're establishing that plan. When we talk about letting go of what you think you should be doing? We have to replace that with Okay, well, what are we going to do, the things that you are going to do are going to come from your creativity. And so it's so important to practice being in this playful and creative place. Now, after you've played with some ideas, I want you to take a look and ask yourself, honestly, what elements of this plan that you have come up with, based on however it is that you started letting this kind of flow out of you and started making these connections and started generating ideas? What elements of it do you currently have the tools to execute on? So that's the first thing, what is it that you can act on now? What do you have the capacity for? And by that? I mean, what is it that you can really execute on and you won't have to push yourself to the limit or just fly through the motions in order to like get to the end? What do you actually feel excited about? And what do you notice is actually aligned with your vision. See what comes through and pick that like you don't need to execute on every single thing that you came up with. You want to pick the one that you can knocked on right now that you already have the tools to execute on. It's simple, you have the capacity for it, it is aligned with your vision, and you're excited about it. And here's where the practice of doing this comes into play. The urge to complicate things is not going to end here. Right, so you're gonna pick the thing, and then when you go to start to execute that thing, that urge to start making this more complicated. And to start fixating on all the things that could go wrong is going to creep back in that urge to think about, well, what are all the things that other people are saying that I should do, and I could do this, I could do that. Right? What you could do, and what you actually have the capacity for and is aligned for you are two very different things, right? So remind yourself, simplicity, is sustainable. And this is an intentional choice to keep things very, very simple. Right? Now, you might just be strengthening that muscle to not start draining energy in all directions. And when you're building a new habit, or strengthening the muscle you don't usually use it's typically a challenge. And that's okay, this might be your work right now, your work might be to allow things to be simple. So let me recap what I just went through. So the first thing is, I want you to ease up. So do whatever it is that you need to do, maybe it's a change of scenery, getting outside, asking yourself what you really need right now, taking

Brooke Monaghan

21:32

a break, taking a rest, Bill, create some space and allow yourself a little bit of time to do this, this is not going to be five minutes, this might be a few hours, it might be an afternoon, it might be a few days, depending on how long you've allowed yourself to go and continue to get deeper into this rut, it might be a week, and people want to fight me on this. And hey, I mean, I just don't know any other way than to give yourself some fucking space. So yeah, it's gonna be uncomfortable. Now, once you've allowed yourself that space, start to use your imagination to establish that vision, start to get clear on what you do know about your future vision and your version of success. And then once you're feeling clear, you're going to put your creative hat on and start playing with planning what feels like a fun way or natural way to just get these ideas out of your head. And to start just playing with them just tinkering with them a little bit. And from there, you're going to start to generate some ideas, you're going to allow yourself to move through these motions. And then I want you to look at what do you have the tools to, to execute on right now? What do you have the capacity for? What are you excited about and what is actually aligned with your vision. So let me give you some examples of what this might look like. What you might come to at the end of this, it might mean that you focus on one main marketing effort to reach people that you don't know yet. And one main marketing effort to stay connected with folks that you do now. So it might be like, you're gonna focus on writing your emails for people who already know you, and you're going to focus on pitching to podcasts to reach people who don't know you and get them on that email list. Right? This is one example. Rather than trying to be on every platform you pick to and you just focus on being really great at those two things. It might mean that you simplify your offers, or you focus on selling one thing, or advertising only one thing, like promoting only one thing and allowing the other things to be there. But you're not trying to drive sales to those things all the time. It might be not trying to talk to everyone and focusing on creating content for one person. This is something that I teach in the messaging and marketing section of transcend your dichotomy training camp, how powerful it is to pick a person that you are talking to like a real actual real life person, and speak directly to them. And then give that message as like a gift to everybody on your email list or everybody who is following you. It is so much more simple, it is so much more clear. And you're going to be writing in a way that really connects it might mean that you're you narrow things down to having one Octan rather than talking about all these different ways that people can join your email list or follow along with you. It might mean that you focus on just one way of helping of letting people connect with you in that way. It might mean doing one thing for free, right like we're or one like free event or or paid event. So a lot of times folks are teaching all kinds of different workshops and they have all kinds of free events. It might mean that you say you know what, I'm going to have one thing and I'm going to run the same event every quarter. Something like that. And that's going to be it, I'm not going to keep creating content for this. And yeah, people might not want to continue to come back for the same thing over and over again, maybe they do. But if they don't, then cool, they can go into one of your paid offers, right.

Brooke Monaghan

25:13

Or it might mean having one entry point for people to begin working with you and focusing on just driving people to that one entry point offer. These are just examples, right of how you can simplify how you can choose to focus on fewer things and, and getting curious about how you can improve those things, rather than trying to do everything. And when you when the thing that you decide that you're going to focus on are things that you already have the skills for, you already have the tools for your little excited about it, you know, you have the capacity for it, that is even better. Now, when you can put the capacity that you do have toward a really simple strategy, especially one that is clearly linked to the vision of what you want to create, and thus tied to what really matters to you. That is when you will start making traction. So many business owners think that they're doing something wrong, because they know that they quote should be doing XY and Z but can't execute on it. But really, there is no one person who can execute on everything. And even when you look at big companies, the ones that establish a very specific lien and strategy are typically the ones that find great success, they focus on one strategy, one lane, one thing that they are great at, rather than trying to do everything. So I want you to challenge yourself to let things be a little bit simpler, I want you to challenge that voice in your head, that's telling you that doing more means you're gonna get better results. Because what we have, what you've probably seen is that that is not true, you don't have evidence for that. So that's just a story. And let's see if we can challenge that a little bit, go into this real place of play, and creativity and see how we can create a plan and let all of that other extraneous shit kind of fall by the wayside, and execute on that plan from a place of curiosity and growth. You don't need to force yourself to do more, you will actually go further faster. If you allow yourself to focus the energy you do have on doing less, if you want to dive deeper into this topic. And you also want to learn about some of the techniques that I teach and transcend your dichotomy training camp to help you do this, then go to bit.li/tyt LIVE, the free training that I am teaching this Friday on August 12 is going to go deeper into this topic it is called transcend your dichotomy. And if you miss it, not to worry, because if you go to that link, you're actually going to be redirected to another free training that will walk you through some of that same content. And I'm also going to be opening the doors to a special bonus round of transcendence economy training camp on August 22. doors will be open for a week. So make sure that you are on my email list. If you want to hear about that and you are not going to be keeping up on the podcast, you can just go to Brooke dash monaghan.com That's MONAGH a n and get on my email list at the bottom of the page or if you register for the training on Friday or any of my free trainings, you'll automatically be on that list and you will be the first to know transcend your dichotomy is production of passion and process collaborative LLC. The show is produced by me Brooke Monaghan with production and marketing support from Alex Henderson. If you want to support me in the show, the best way to do that is to leave a rating and review on Apple podcasts and share the show with someone who you know needs to hear it for free trainings my weekly newsletter or to join us in the Rule Breakers crew. Go to Brooke dash monaghan.com That's mon a Ghan love y'all. See you next week.

00:0000:00