IS IT TIME TO SLOW DOWN?

I lie awake at night with an endless to-do list racing through my mind!

I get to the end of the day and wonder where the time went and what I actually achieved!

I’m busy all the time but business is still slow and I’m not creating any new clients!

If you’ve been nodding your head, it may be time to slow it all right down!

It’s so easy for us to get stuck on a treadmill of ‘doing’ – we spend countless hours writing content, sharing value, designing graphics, tweaking our websites, replying to comments…

But when we sit back and take stock, how many of these busy activities are actually creating new work for us?

How much of what we are doing is putting money in the bank?

I’ve found myself on this treadmill, and recognised I was running nowhere.

So I stopped.

I’ve taken my foot off the gas, taken a step back, and slowed it all right down.

It’s incredible how many wonderful opportunities we are missing right in front of us in our race to get ahead.

If you feel like you’ve been on a 100 yard sprint for months and months, and still haven’t crossed the finish line, here are some things you could try to slow your pace down and refocus your energy.

I’d love to know if you relate to this and, if so, what you’ll be doing to help you slow down.

Please feel free to share your thoughts on this post below, or wherever you’ve seen this post shared.

STOP THE BROADCAST

This was a big one for me.

As a creative marketer it’s way too easy for me to get stuck on a loop of creating content and broadcasting it out there.

In fact I have spent so many hours stuck in a creating content hole that I have loads of stuff I haven’t even shared yet!

I end up losing it, forgetting about it, and not sharing it.

What a waste of time.

Being in this broadcast mode is also very isolating, because I’m inward facing – concentrating on what I want to say – as opposed to focussing on my wider community.

I’d spend hours creating graphics on Canva and proudly sharing them on Insta, and they looked fantastic, but they didn’t lead to any new business.

So I slowed my roll.

I stopped designing graphics, I stopped batch producing content, I stopped broadcasting.

And I started listening. I started watching. I started engaging.

I’ve now moved into a very proactive engagement phase, where I post less of my own content and focus my time and energy engaging on, and sharing, other’s content.

Doing this is beneficial for so many reasons, including:

• I’m learning some very cool new stuff
• I’m getting to know loads more people really well and build wonderful relationships
• I’m finding out way more about my dream clients and this helps me connect with them properly
• It’s more rewarding to feel like I’m out there and part of the world, rather than sat in my little corner shouting for attention!

If you’re on panic-broadcast mode – sharing sharing sharing for all your worth – slow it right down.

Try only sharing once a day, or -gasp- twice a week!!!

If your content is good, and you’re giving your energy to proactive engagement, engagement on what you do share will sky rocket AND you’ll be developing rock solid relationships that will inevitably create more clients for you.

FOLLOW-UP

Another social media rat race related one!

Have you ever scrabbled through your socials trying to find that comment or question you wanted to reply to, but it just got lost in the noise?

Have you ever found someone and thought ‘I’d love to work with them and am gonna spend a bit of time getting to know them better’, only to swiftly move on and a week later remember…only to have totally forgotten who they are!?

It’s because you’re going to quickly.

You’re moving too fast.

Slow down.

Give your energy to following-up instead of flying forward.

Reply to every message and comment.

Send useful and interesting articles, quotes, references to people you want to engage with.

Start a list of prospects who you’d love to work with, and dedicate some time each day to adding value to them however you can.

Slow down to see what opportunities are right in front of you.

REST

You have permission to rest.

Spend a day in bed reading a book that’s been on your list for ages.

Go for a long walk.

Lie on the sofa for a few hours with NOTHING – no phone, no tv, no book, no distractions…just be.

Head to the gym, meet a friend for brunch, go to a movie…

Take some time away from your business.

Nothing bad will happen, in fact only good can come of this.

Spending time away gives us perspective – it allows us to see our business from different angles and identify what is, and what isn’t working.

Giving yourself space and time for free-thought gives your brain a rest, and it’s in this restful state that your most genius ideas are likely to flow (Ever had a fab idea on the loo? Same principle!).

Yes, it’s soooo easy for us to get caught up in the race of busy-ness, but in our rush to do everything; please everyone; keep on top of the algorithm…what are we missing?

Ideas. Friends. Development. Money. Mental Health…

If you feel like it’s time to slow down and would like some support and guidance to help you focus your time and energy more effectively, I can help.

Clarity Coaching is all about understanding what you really want, why you want it, and how to get it while staying true to yourself.

If you’d like to find out more, and chat about where you are right now and what you’re working towards, book a virtual cuppa and we’ll see if we’re a good fit and if I’m the one to pull you out of the rat race and back to peace and clarity.

You can book your call here.