This matters more than Netflix
Plus 5 things actually working in my business right now
[This ⬆️⬆️, is reason Jungle Juice skipped a beat last week. I was in Ramsgate for a wonderfully long family birthday weekend. I really switched off from work and enjoyed the company, food and a freezing cold sea swim on Saturday morning]
I’d love to dwell on everything that isn’t working in my business right now.
It’s so much easier.
Our brains are wired to seek threats and risks at a million miles an hour.
Whether the danger is real or not is completely irrelevant to the amygdala.
My danger brain is currently triggered when I see, read or listen to someone doing something I would love to do.
I’m past the whole ‘What is this telling you?’ or ‘Why do you feel triggered?’
I am quite aware of what I want. But I only have about 16 hours of parenting-free time per week to do it in.
I’m spiralling. We’re back to the negative.
Let’s not succumb.
Five things that are working well in my business right now:
Sticking to my own lane. This involves momentous efforts NOT to scroll social media and specifically Instagram. This also means I haven’t posted on Instagram since Labour came to power (give or take). In all honesty the less I look, the better I feel (and the less books I sell 😆…yet to find my win/win strategy). Besides, I cannot realistically post across all channels. Current marketing channel strategy is LinkedIn and Substack (weekly for both which is not nothing).
Client work. I’ve gotten myself into a really great position in terms of client work. I have been working with the same company more or less part-time for over four years. I’m sick of spinning this negatively (small client list, no shiny new logos to slap on my website footer, over reliance on one contract etc.) I’m choosing to say: ‘Well done Katie for maintaining such a great relationship with a well established company through divestment and big team changes. That is testament to your work ethic, expertise, impact and generally being a good egg.’ I’ll take that.
A clear future plan. Thanks to my new AI assistant (yes, ChatGPT. To read more about how I use it check out my How to get everything done post⬇️ below), I have documented all the wonderful things I want to achieve in my business over the next 6-12 months.
It’s more likely to take 24-36 months as things always take longer but I finally have a mini roadmap of things to plough through. Patience is the mot du jour
Co-working space - I will give up Netflix, Disney + and Amazon Prime before I give up on my co-working space membership. I pay £156/month to come and sit in peace for two days a week. Having a place outside the home to work has saved my sanity. I use Clockwise.
Micro-moves: No more sitting on things endlessly. Small, casual (tricks my brain that this is really no big deal) moves to diversify my business offer. Over the past few months I’ve rebuilt my 1:1 offer on my website (yet to do a proper launch), enabled direct book purchases from my website (come get a signed copy and extra bonuses🐧🍑📗) and I am turning on paid subscriptions on Substack in September (if I get my act together fast enough). More on that soon.
Thanks for being here. Hope you enjoyed this week’s business musings. Spotted something you relate to? Let me know. Or just send a heart 💓 I’ll take that too.
I can't tell you how good reading this made me feel. As someone trying to get an idea off the ground, I have had a meltdown to my daughter this morning about how this all feels like a 2,000 piece jigsaw, where everyday more pieces get added to the picture than I can put together each day, and it is currently at 15,000 pieces. Whilst I have the corners and the edges done, the picture itself is a single colour block (most likely black based on how I am feeling) and I am just moving these pieces about with no plan at all to get them connected. This post has given me some inspiration and made me realise I am not alone, weird or a freak. I need a plan - and today I am going to create my own safe space and start to work out what tomorrow looks like - and not what the next 5 years looks like. Thank you Katie!
i think that concentrating on things that are going well is a brilliant strategy for a) positive mental health; b) moving forward; c) feeling grateful for small things. I spent half an hour at lunch time looking at all the beautiful roses in my garden and getting some much needed "me" time.
And having a plan helps you to feel in control (even if the plan changes all the time, like mine does!!)