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You are listening to episode number 13 of the Grace-Filled CEO podcast. Have you ever wondered how to balance all the things? And not just keep all of the plates spinning in the air but actually doing it all well to where you feel like you can sleep well at the end of the day. I wish this were more common and it wasn't. But we can feel a lot of pressure being the decision-makers in our businesses. Today's episode is going to walk you through how to do business on your terms and do it well. I think this is going to offer a lot of value to you and teach you how to operate your business from your personal and professional values. Buckle up and let's get to work!
This episode is brought to you by a service that I offer that I think could be so beneficial for you and your business. I offer one on one strategy sessions. There is no further commitment if you just feel like you need that one-on-one time to break through something in your business. In this call, we will dig into where your business stands today and where you want it to go. We will really dig into conflict areas, and places where you feel stuck or have concerns and work through some creative ways to overcome those obstacles. We will also think through the next steps for your business. You will leave the call with a recording, and an activation plan to get moving toward your goals!
If you and I have never done a one-on-one call together, I may just have a special code for you for this month only that will save you $150 on your strategy session! If you are interested, email me at hello@jilliandolberry.com and I can send you the exclusive code. Now let's dive into the show!
It's no surprise that we can't do it all. As women business owners who are family-focused, we have a lot on our plates. In addition to what we currently have going on, we also desire to continue to grow as women and as business owners. The pressure and the heaviness of that can sometimes feel overwhelming. Balancing everything feels like a myth and feels like an impossible task. In fact, I hate the word “balance” because I feel like it just doesn't accurately communicate the behind-the-scenes of what it's like to not just check off the boxes of things we have to do but to do them well and to live our life well.
So how do we balance life and business well?
It starts with only allowing the right people to have a say.
One thing I absolutely love about the online community is that there are so many places to be in community with other online business owners. I think that we actually do that really well. There are Facebook groups, we connect over Instagram or messenger, or we get connected by working with different people and being introduced to them virtually. The online world has its advantages, but on the flip side of that, these voices can be loud. And that's really it, it can get really loud and noisy. Everyone is doing something whether it be similar or different, but it can feel overwhelming when we compare it to our own situation and what we are doing in our business. We spectate what others are doing and think that if it's working well for them maybe it should be what we do. I get sucked into that trap more often than I would like to admit. But something that I've learned very quickly in online business is that while there is a strong community of people who are willing to offer advice and help to you, and I do mean that there is a huge support group of women who rally around each other to support one another, but we need to be selective on who we allow to speak into our business.
Who we allow to speak into our business can really guide us and how we balance business and life. For example, if you were listening to two different people who have two different sets of values, you are going to get mixed feedback on how to make decisions that will affect the trajectory of your business.
Let's play that out a little bit. Let's say you have someone message you in a Facebook group who believes that hustling is the answer to finding more clients. They may recommend that you continue to do more in your business and make more noise to get more attention so that you can potentially get more clients. On the other hand, say that someone else messaged you who has a competing view that “less is more”. Maybe they think that you should be more intentional and simplify your efforts instead of making them more robust and frequent. Neither of those people are wrong in their own right. They are speaking to their experience on the topic. Where it becomes troublesome for you is if the person that you listen to it does not have the same values that you have.
If you listen to the advice of someone who doesn't value the same things that you do, then they are going to instruct you to do things that you're probably not comfortable doing and things that compromise what means the most to you.
I posted a reel on this the other day. I explained it this way: Would you give your keys to a terrible driver? Would you be asking your friend who is deep in debt advice on your finances? If you're anything like me the answer to both of those questions is absolutely not. The people who get a say in our business are the people who are living out our same values.
So how exactly do you know if your people are the right people? The only people that have a say in my business personally are my business Coach Amanda and my VA Beth. Both of them have the success of my business in mind and I know that they are professional and have personal values aligned with mine.
I learned this by…
- Asking them the right questions to see if they “got me” – I knew very quickly that Beth and Amanda were people I could trust. Could I have misread their values and intentions? Of course, I could have. But based on the conversations I had with them and the questions that I asked them, I could tell very quickly that we all valued the same things.
- Watching them – now I know that sounds creepy but what I mean by that is watching them and see how they handle certain situations. Watch how they handle themselves in certain situations. Watch how they treat other people. These are all things that will inform you of their values.
- Asking God to send me the right people – there are just some things we cannot know. But I know for myself I'm constantly asking God for protection in my business to not waste my time with things but also to keep me in alignment with where he wants me to go. This includes surrounding me with the right people. I believe wholeheartedly that He honors that request and blesses it.
Your values have to lead the next steps in your business.
Because if the next steps in your business do not support your values you are constantly going to feel like you're in conflict between the things that you care about.
Lastly, I want to leave you with this: Balancing life and business is not easy. You know this, and me even saying it is redundant. BUT when balancing the two in real time we must ask ourselves the question, “what is right, right now?” The answer to that question will always lead us in the right direction. Is it always the direction that makes our business the most successful or profitable? No. BUT, is the answer to that always going to make us feel good about how much time we were able to spend with our family? Absolutely. Is the answer to that question going to help you build a sustainable business moving forward that not only serves you and your family well but your clients as well? 100%. Will the answer to that question make your business successful by your own personal standards that are developed from your values? Yes!
Sometimes we think the more information we have, the more educated we can be moving forward in our business – and in some cases that is completely true. But when it comes to making important decisions on what to do in tough situations, which direction to go in your business, how to manage or lead people well, even down to where you spend your hard-earned dollars in your business… find the right voices. Find the right people to give feedback. And always ask yourself “what is right, right now?”
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