What helps you build capacity?
Because you can't just keep going....
Hi you,
You think you should have endless capacity and energy for what you do and that you can just tap into that to keep you motivated in your business.
You read those ‘inspiring’ stories about entrepreneurs who sleep 4 hours a night, and basically have no life, and you think you should be like that to be a successful entrepreneur. (Actually, they always have huge support and infrastructure behind them, which is why they can do what they do, but they always omit that part… Read about why women are especially at a disadvantage here in The Double X Economy by Linda Scott)
But your energy and motivation are not steady and constant. They wax and wane depending on many, many variables; how you slept, the weather and time of year, how many clients you might be seeing 1:1, your cycle, your health, what is going on in your family and relationships, your domestic set up.
So, when your energy and capacity is lower for whatever reason, you do a number on yourself. Judging yourself for being lazy or not motivated enough. You get into comparison-it is with others (which is the death of joy and creativity) and spiral into “I’m just not cut out for this entrepreneur lark.”
You forget that you are a human being, not a machine. You are a thinking, feeling, individual with ‘stuff’ and that stuff gets triggered and affects your capacity to get s**t done. It also affects your capacity to do your best work.
This is going to happen again and again, so instead of getting all judgy on yourself, making it even harder to build capacity, you need a strategy.
Build your capacity, sustainably
Your strategy starts with two simple questions. “What expands my capacity? What contracts my capacity?”
Here’s my answers – What expands my capacity is alone time, meditation, sleep, nature, my network and mastermind group, one-on-one time with friends, nutrition, naps, boundaries. Sometimes I even find that bingeing on Netflix expands my capacity (don’t judge me).
What contracts my capacity is when my daughters or husband are unhappy/stressed, too much time with others, too many clients, anxiety, poor sleep, lack of exercise, domestic duties, triggers, lack of play/fun, physical pain from menopause. You get the picture.
Your strategy to manage your capacity is to build emotional and physical scaffolding for your business by answering the final question, “What do I need?”
This could be things like, going for a walk in nature every day, a good lunch, no emails after 5pm, a cap on client-facing time, a cleaner, a support network of like-minded business owners, a VA, or even a business coach 😉.
Whatever you need, you need a business and business model that has capacity built in because you are not a machine. You can’t and shouldn’t just keep going all the time.
Building a sustainable business, starts with being realistic about what you can achieve, and what capacity you have. It starts with building in the support you need to get you where you want to be.
I can show you how.