You Can Do Business In The Easy Zone

You know how to make yourself miserable?

Take on too much, take on things you think you “should” do instead of things that feel right … and then struggle to get through it all.

This comes directly from my experience as a business coach who’s worked with thousands of small business owners.

And yet, it’s so easy to get caught in that trap, especially for us “high achiever” types.

Sure, sometimes your best self comes out under pressure and you do things you didn’t know you were capable of.

But much of the time, there’s a price to be paid in terms of energy expended, peace of mind, and quality of life lost.

And the crazy thing is, often the results aren’t as good as if you’d just throttled back a little and concentrated on doing a lot more of the things you like doing and are comfortable doing vs. the things you think you should do … the things you push yourself to do.

So, ask yourself … are you making things harder than they have to be?

And what could you change to make your work life easier?

For example, in my case, I’ve learned not to overload my day. Six coaching calls in a day feels easy. Seven is pushing it. An eight-person day causes me to really draw on my reserves to do a good job, and it takes some of the fun out of it. It just feels harder.

Do you simply take on too much … saying yes too often … biting off more than you can comfortably chew? Do you push things forward even if it doesn’t feel right?

If so, try giving yourself some breathing room and see how much better it feels.

But it’s not just over-committing and overdoing it that makes life harder than it has to be.

Swimming upstream against your natural inclinations can make things feel much more difficult as well.

For example, do you feel compelled to market yourself in ways that don’t feel comfortable and natural … like feeling as if you have to engage in social media when you don’t understand it, don’t like it, and don’t want to learn how to do it?

That’s where many of my business coaching clients are. And when they get that they don’t have to go there … that they can make connections and build relationships via other, more personal means … the sense of relief is palpable.

Ask yourself … Does my marketing strategy reflect who I really am and what I like to do?

You know what else has made a big difference for me?

I’m more choosy about who I take on as a client. I make life easier by taking on the highly motivated, easy to work with, high- achieving, and fun clients … people I resonate with immediately.

I think long and hard about taking on those folks I sense will be more problematic or just not a good fit, even though they’re good people and I’d like to help.

But I get why people take on clients they suspect aren’t ideal. Often, it’s out of a strong desire to serve. I certainly understand. But often, it’s because they don’t want to walk away from the money.

That is NEVER a good reason to override your instincts. In fact, I’ll be bold enough to say that you’ll actually block the right people from coming to you if you do that. You have to be a vibrational match for your ideal clients or they have a way of not showing up.

The bottom line: Look for ways to live your work life in the easy zone.

Don’t think it has to be hard. Don’t tell yourself, as so many of my clients do, that it’s gonna be hard.

Intend that it’ll be easy. Allow it to be easy. And take actual, concrete steps to make it easier.

So, here’s my challenge to you as a business coach.

What specific things can you do to make your work life easier right now, starting today?