Here is one of the inescapable truths of leading a business and being an entrepreneur: There are going to be ups and there are going to be downs.
When you lead a business, there are going to be glorious, triumphant moments. Moments where you bring on new ideal clients, moments where you fill your group programming, moments where you receive glowing testimonials, moments where you land a speaking gig you really wanted, moments where you feel deeply on purpose and like you’re making a difference.
And, when you lead a business, there are also going to be tough moments where things absolutely don’t go the way you wanted them to. Moments where the prospect you really wanted to work with decides not to invest, moments where your last three marketing emails got crickets for response, moments where it seems like everyone else you see on social media is killing it while you feel like you’re getting nowhere.
I have not yet observed a business that doesn’t have its ups and its downs.
My business included – I could tell you stories!
The first and most important thing here is to normalize this so that you don’t have shame when this phenomena happens in your business.
Too many “marketing experts” out there are talking about how “if-you-just-follow-‘these’-marketing-tips-then-you-will-always-get-what-you-want”.
I can tell you without hesitation that this simply isn’t true.
It is absolutely normal – and should be expected – that any business will have its fair share of disappointments along the way. And…it might take a moment to let this next thing sink in: I want to suggest that successful businesses need to have disappointments along the way. Because if you don’t have some disappointments it means you’re not evolving, growing, innovating or experimenting!
Ok, let me get to the next most important piece about this that I want to share:
Just because your business moves through high moments and low moments doesn’t mean that you need to ride the emotional roller coaster of the highs and lows.
I wish I could star, circle, and underline the above statement because it is key to being able to sustain your energy through the marathon of running a long term business! (It’s also a key to being able to sustain your energy through the marathon of life!).
It’s one thing for certain things to not work out the way you want them to as you move your business, but it doesn’t have to lead to you feeling totally gutted or upset or like it’s the end each time things don’t work out.
Instead, when your business is moving through a low moment, remember that it is only a moment.
All of life – including business – goes in cycles, and there is always a Spring/Summer (excitement! growth!) and always a Winter phase (slowing down, not everything working out)…but the Spring does always come.
When we are able to see our business from the higher perspective of the highs and the lows, then we don’t have to get stuck in the emotional roller coaster of it, and have our energy drained when things aren’t working the way we want.
Imagine what might be different for you, for your energy and mood, for your ability to motivate and be inspired…and ultimately for your business…if you were to simply take as fact that some things will work out and some things won’t…and in moments when something hasn’t worked out, if you were able to feel the disappointment and sadness, but also simply see it as a moment – one moment among many in a business – in time.
And then…what if, because you were not on the emotional roller coaster, and able to see a low moment as just a moment…you were able to better assess the situation – to understand what parts of your efforts were effective, what parts weren’t so effective and what you could do differently moving forward?
This is how I strive to move through and navigate my own business.
Of course, there are definitely times where I get hooked by the disappointment or the perceived failure and all of the sudden I notice that I’m on the roller coaster! (I’m human, it happens!).
In those moments, I catch myself, I remind myself that I’ve got a choice in the moment around how I feel and I remind myself of the cycles…and I come back to my center.
