What happens when you stop acting like the CEO

...and merely churn within the business

Original image by Iurii Laimin via pexels. Modified by Author.

I feared the worst…

I had a good guess as to how bad it’s gotten.

I stepped on the scale and was shocked by the number I saw.

I… was… the heaviest… I’ve ever been… EVER!!

Admittedly, I’ve been a workaholic for the past few months and have been taking horrible care of myself.

(If it weren’t for my boyfriend, I probably would’ve worked over the weekends, too.)

It starkly contrasted my triathlon-training boyfriend, who was most likely in the best shape of his life.

And me… standing there… looking at the mirror going… “What the hell did I do to myself?”

I let my work dominate my life…

My activity level dropped to barely anything in the past few months.

My sleep quality hasn’t been great.

I’ve been stress eating… and might have indulged a bit too much.

But the worst of them all was working super long hours… every weekday.

My body would naturally wake me up between 5-6am, mind running with ideas.

Sometimes, I’d try to go back to sleep or just get up and start working until dinnertime.

Oftentimes, I’d have a second wind at night and work right up to a forced bedtime because it was near or past midnight.

Time felt like it was just disappearing in a blink of an eye.

Hours flew by, and weekends seemed to come around again so quickly.

But all that time working didn’t diminish the number of tasks on my evergrowing to do list.

I was doing this continuously for nearly 5 months.

In month 3, I already knew this wasn’t sustainable in the long run.

In month 5, I was feeling the damaging consequences of my workaholic choices.

In this month 6, things HAD to change.

I can’t keep going like this.

This ISN’T the business I wanted

I didn’t leave a highly paid, stable corporate job, working 8-12 hours a day, to work those same hours or more for my own business for less ROI.

I convinced myself that it’s because I’m rebuilding a new foundation for my business, so it will take more time, intentional effort, and lots of learning and experimenting to get it done “right” in the beginning.

I convinced myself that all this hard work would pay off and that I would “eventually” get to a phase where the business was a smoothly running machine, at which point I wouldn’t have to work this hard.

…but that was a “white” lie I used to comfort myself.

Every stage of business has its own challenges.

That work won’t just magically let up.

I have to intentionally CHOOSE to show up and structure it differently.

I knew I had to put in place what I wanted NOW, so I’m already living aspects of my desired business model at this moment, not some undefined “maybe” future.

Yes, as a solopreneur, I can’t function as if I have a whole team behind me.

I can only juggle all those different roles to a certain point.

But no matter what, I am the CEO and I am dictating the vision and path of where my business is heading.

If I merely perform as an individual contributor or an employee, then of course, I’m running on this neverending hamster wheel of work.

These are the 5 ways I reclaimed the helm of my drifting ship:

1. Clearly defined what I wanted for my business.

   This is the pivotal starting point.
   

   I had to remind myself and recreate a clear direction and path forward for myself. I rewrote my business vision and defined what success looked like to me.

   I reflected and evaluated all the things I’ve learned and experimented with so far to figure out what best aligned with my personality and my business vision.
   
   This allows me to set better goals, make better decisions, and create better strategic plans.
   

2. Recommit to my business.

   I had to honestly ask myself: Is this what I really wanted?
   

   I had to face my shortcomings thus far. I had to look at the areas of my business that I had been ignoring. I had to define and establish what habits or routines are nonnegotiable for my business.

   
   This allows me to strengthen my resolve and pivot where needed.
   

3. Set better work hours for myself.

   If I wanted to work 3-4 hours max per day, then I can’t operate with 10-12 hours as my norm. I don’t want my life to revolve around my business. I want my business to fit into my desired lifestyle.
   

   And that means creating more time for other things in my life, too.
   Yes to more self care. Yes to being more physically active. Yes to doing more things that bring me joy. Plus, I wanted to be an involved and integral part of my children’s lives when I’m a mom, too.
   

   I can’t have any of that if I’m working that many hours. I can’t even imagine having extended time off if I needed to catch up on that many hours of work either. *shuddering at that horrific thought*
   

   This allows me to be more effective and enjoy life more.
   

4. Reduce the number of projects I’m tackling at once.

   Simply, I’m trying to do too much all at once, doing too much of it myself, and putting too much perfectionism in my work. All that needs to let up.
   

   It’s remembering that I am ONE human being.

   • I don’t need to do it all… I can get help.

   • I don’t need to do everything all at once… Focus on what actually moves the needle.

   • It doesn’t need to be perfect before it’s live… Getting it done is better than perfect or none at all.

   • I put projects on pause, uncommitted to other engagements, and eliminated tasks that I wasn’t really enjoying.
     

     For example, I stopped posting on Instagram and focused on X. Instagram took up too much of my time finding photos, creating graphics, writing captions, figuring out hashtags, creating stories, etc. I just wrote on X, which I surprisingly enjoyed more. I also socialized more on X than I ever did on Instagram, too.
     

   I had to let go of FOMO and trust that I am never missing out on the right opportunities. Even though some might sound like great ideas, it doesn’t all have to be done right now, and is it REALLY what I need to focus on at this moment?

   
   Saying no is one of the most important things you can do as an entrepreneur. It protects your time, energy, and focus.
   

5. Honor how I am and my pace.

   Honoring doesn’t mean giving up and not changing. Honoring creates acceptance of where you’re at now so you can strategize how to move closer to your best self.
   

   Because if I don’t accept who and how I am at my core, then I’m constantly fighting an internal battle. And that got really (unnecessarily) exhausting.
   

   I had to understand myself better and recognize my success patterns, procrastination tendencies, fluctuating energy and motivation levels, ideal work modes, and many more.
   

   Armed with that knowledge, I could set better routines and systems to be more efficient with my time and energy. This also gave me more compassion, acceptance, and patience for myself.
   

   Having less time to work can mean slower progress. However, even though this is a highly probable correlation, it isn’t always the case.
   
   And if that’s the case, so what?! You can be slow and steady, creating a strong, solid foundation for scaling sustainably in the future. Rushing things doesn’t always equal long term success.
   

   Comparisonitis can be quite a stress-inducing condition, where you constantly feel like you’re not doing enough or successful enough compared to your “peers”.

   All that stress and anxious energy is just making your life more miserable and complicated. It’s not worth it to put yourself down.

   
   Subside those drowning levels of cortisol in your body by letting all that go, focusing on yourself, comparing to your past self only, and trusting your own path.

   
   Do it for your own mental and emotional wellbeing.

You chose to be an entrepreneur for your own reasons, so own what you want and create the freedom, prosperity, and lifestyle you desire. Don’t let others or your old patterns dictate your future. Do what feels right to you.

…even if that means reinventing (or modifying) the wheel.

USEFUL JOURNAL PROMPTS

Look back and celebrate: What is one thing you’ve done that has helped you refocus on your business? How can you implement that strategy in other ways, too?

P.S. Give this a 🧡 if this post made you pause and rethink how you’ve been working lately. Share or restack this to help others believe and find a better way forward, too.