Episode 76. Getting Out of a Slump or Burnout in Your Business

I’ve recently navigated a slump in my business and I could feel myself nearing a burnout. I was able to work around it so we didn’t actually burn out and shut down the business. Because that’s what happened back in 2019 and this is something I’ve shared quite a bit on previous podcast episodes.

But this time, with the awareness of what burnout felt like and with the awareness of how it could potentially pan out, I did things a lot differently, compared to 2019.

I will share how I navigated the past few months, and took the time to slow down, so that now, I am once again ready to speed the hell up in my business.

In This Episode:

My most recent experience with nearing burnout

Just 4 or 5 months after starting my business in March 2019, I felt so burnt out that I ultimately decided to close down the business and left social media for nearly seven months.

I restarted and rebuilt my business from scratch around March 2020. Since restarting the business I’ve operated my business very, very differently compared to what I was doing in 2019.

Now, I’m happily doing the bare minimum number of things in my business, but I strive to do each thing really, really well. This is how I’m able to build my business on part-time hours, even when I was supposedly a side hustler and was working on a more traditional career.

This is why I was honestly surprised to see how the past few months panned out and was lowkey surprised that I was experiencing the same feelings that I previously felt in 2019 which ultimately led to my burnout.

Being a human being while building your business

Let’s face it. We’re human beings and we will experience human life events, oftentimes unexpected ones and they can feel difficult. We will inevitably experience human emotions. That’s expected, if not, required to be a human being.

Whether it’s experiencing feelings of stress and frustration or overwhelm, or you’re suddenly hit with a major life event that you didn’t anticipate at all, or anything else in between and at any perceived intensity, it’s gonna happen.

A lot of times, it can feel like you have no capacity to create content, to show up online and talk about your work.

That was how I felt in the past few months, because of a mix of different events in my personal life that, to me, felt quite big in scale. Some felt very challenging, and because they were all happening at once, I found myself struggling to manage my thoughts, emotions and physical energy.

As a result, I found it really difficult to find the capacity to create content, develop new curriculum for our clients and for our private client portal.

Quite frankly, for the months of March and April, all I really did was do the bare minimum, which in this particular season of my life and business, bare minimum means working with clients.

That was all I did for March and April. I coached our clients quietly behind the scenes, and didn’t do much front facing things such as content or marketing.

Why I decided to slow down my business on the front-facing side for a few months

I think some of you might now be thinking ok, Cheryl, that’s easy for you, but I’m in the early stages of my business and there’s no way I can afford to not show up for my business or create content.

During this specific period of my life, I honestly did not have the capacity to make offers or sell my program. I fully acknowledge that I wasn’t in a place to accept new 1:1 clients, and I could see that I needed major rest.

I knew that there was no point in pressuring myself to keep making offers or creating new content for Instagram or the podcast. This just wasn’t what my body, mental wellbeing, or even business needs from me right now.

The most important thing I had to coach myself on was that I had to trust that this period of my life and business does not define the overall long-term trajectory of my business.

I had to be very aware of where my brain wanted to generalize and catastrophize the current phase to the overall lifespan of my business.

Generally, I’ve been able to keep creating, keep selling and keep showing up because during these times, the most profound belief for me is knowing that the skills I use inside my business are not dependent on how I feel in my personal life.

Even if I am going through a particular personal life event, it literally does not have anything to do with the skill sets or mindsets that I need to use in my business.

That said, I’m allowed to be human.

I could be a potato for an hour before a client call, then I will give myself the space to do that where possible. Then as soon as I hop on the Zoom call, I’m able to put on my coach hat and coach the hell out of the client.

Because what I’ve realized is that all versions of me can co-exist, and they don’t have to “interfere” with each other doing their own thing.

Content creator Cheryl, making offers Cheryl, coach Cheryl, human being Cheryl – They can all exist at once and stay in their own lanes simultaneously!

This is how for this particular slump in my business in Q1 2022, I was able to allow myself to slow down and take massive steps back from the business, without quitting or stopping operations, which was what happened in 2019.

Back then, I did not have the awareness that I have today. I also did not yet have the skillset of learning how to manage my thoughts, emotions and energy when life events come up, while being a budding entrepreneur.

Since then, I’ve spent the past few years working on the skills of “mindset”, “self coaching” and “taking care of myself”.

Even resting is a skill!

Do you know how hard it is to rest when you’re someone who identifies as a high achiever or someone with a strong work ethic?

I would argue it takes skill to be able to create time and space to really rest, especially when you actually enjoy being someone who works hard and you care about doing well in what you do.

What I focused on during this period of rest

Here’s the thing, throughout most of 2021, I more or less prided myself as someone who was able to create content prolifically and “consistently” because I saw myself as someone who was disciplined with managing her thoughts and energy.

But for the past few months, due to a combination of new events, big decisions, life transitions, and also challenges, the best way I could describe my feelings towards “working on my business” during the past few weeks and months was friction. I just felt so much resistance towards even opening up my laptop to type things and create.

It got to a point around March where I realized that there’s literally no point trying to push myself to create or sell or show up on the front facing end of my business.

Yes, the mind drama of OMG MY BUSINESS IS GONNA FLOP was 100% on my mind. One hundred percent.

But it’s like, okay, option 1: I could still try to push and not take the time to work on the multiple things happening in my life. Then keep feeling extremely drained because of everything going on, and hence that impacts my mental health and also, the quality of my work.

Or, option 2: Do the bare minimum I need in the business, which in this case, was simply continue working with our clients, and then take the time to focus on the things going on outside the business. And rest as much as I need and recharge, so that when I’m ready, I can come back stronger than ever on the front facing side of the business.

Let’s be honest. Both option 1 and option 2 aren’t easy. I had resistance towards both. But at this point it was like, well, if both aren’t exactly easy, then which one would I rather choose?

For me, I chose option 2. It was what I really needed for the past month or two. So, I rested a lot. I continued to coach our awesome clients quietly behind the scenes, and I gave full attention to the moving pieces in my personal life.

Eventually, I started to feel these mini bursts of energy to create content. I felt like I had things to say. I felt like I had things to share that would be helpful to people. I felt like YES I CAN CREATE AGAIN… and then I’d crash again.

I knew maybe in spite of the mini bursts of I WANT TO CREATE AGAIN, I still wasn’t necessarily ready to create at the same frequency or capacity as usual. And that’s ok. No pressure. And this went on for a short while.

Should you be sharing new content during your period of rest or through a “slump” or only when you have everything figured out?

Eventually, I started to observe a new thought creep up, which was that I started to feel like I’m not supposed to share any new content until I have things processed and life things figured out.

Right now, if I want to share some of my recent lessons or takeaways, then I’m sharing too much because I’m still navigating a lot of new decisions, transitions, events and challenges. I guess I should wait till I have it “all together”.

I started to wonder, maybe there is a certain professional image I’m supposed to maintain, since I am a business after all. I have a reputation to protect.

That led to a rabbit hole of oh my goodness is my image too immature? Do people look at my website or social media or content and think that it’s cute, but that’s too cute?!

Well, for my business specifically, since day one, I’ve built traction pretty quickly because I was sharing honestly and genuinely.

Since day one, in fact, the most common thing I hear on my application forms and sales calls with clients is, “One reason why I wanted to work with you specifically, Cheryl, is because I like your energy / I resonate with your story / I appreciate your authenticity online.”

I have literally three years of evidence to show that one of my strengths as an entrepreneur is my ability to build connections with my audience and community. But right now, am I sharing too much? That was definitely a thought that was lingering for a bit.

However, my views on content still remain the same, which is: I’ve consumed content online that has changed my life. I’ve also received coaching that has changed my life.

I honestly cannot unsee how the right content for me has changed me. I cannot unsee how honest and genuine storytelling can help people, at the right place and at the right time. And I deeply believe this for my own work.

So, I started to look at this from a new perspective, “Okay, Cheryl, so you really believe that content can help someone, especially if it’s something they need to see or hear during a particular time in their life or journey. Okay. Then, is it possible to overshare when I believe that my work can help someone?”

That’s when I realized if I truly believe this, I can never share enough of it. I can never share enough content that I really believe in and that I fully mean. Because I never know who will need to see or hear it, at the right place and at the right time for themselves.

But my brain still wasn’t ready to let me off the hook yet. Because I started thinking, “OKAY COOL. But what will my existing clients think? What if they’re thinking, “How is Cheryl gonna coach me if she’s currently not able to show up for her own business and she’s going through things in her life?”

In a nutshell, I was worried whether I’ll lose my client’s trust in my ability to coach them or be an example for them, especially as a “business coach”.

However, I realized, when I’m at the consumer end, I’m someone who genuinely appreciates other coaches who are successful but are sharing what they’re honestly going through.

Have I been transformed by content where the coach talks about how easy their launch was? Sometimes, maybe, but not always.

However, for me, I know I’m someone who most resonates with a piece of content where the creator probably wants to delete it after they post. The content where they are being extremely honest and vulnerable, but they are sharing it anyway because they feel like their learnings and lessons can help someone else.

Right now, I may not know which one of my content is what someone needs the most right now, but it will be there for them when they need it. People will find it at the right place and at the right time.

Rather than trying to predict that your content is gonna convert people into paying clients or because it’s trending so you should talk about it, focus on creating content that you genuinely and honestly believe in. Because I trust that it will help someone. Whether it’s now or later, it doesn’t matter.

Also, the value and impact of my content is constantly compounding. From a business strategy perspective, someone who finds my work, let’s say, a year from now, they’ll have YEARS of content to consume and digest, and that can help them make a decisions about working with me even quicker than someone who discovered my work back in 2019 or 2020, when I produced less content.

Also, the quality and depth of my own content and thought leadership is constantly getting better. I’m constantly developing more of my own insights in this space.

So, it all works together and compounds together. That’s why I trust that my business can only go up from here.

Now, going back to the idea of seeing specific content at the right place at the right time. Sometimes, we need to know that the person we look up to is also going through tough times in their life. Sometimes, we just need the reassurance that it is okay to be working on growing your business but still experience human life and human emotions.

But here’s the key realization for me: Experiencing tough life events, transitions, or human emotions doesn’t mean anything about my ability to coach our awesome clients.

If anything, it shows that if I can build a business and share super helpful things online and make an impact through my work AND still be a human being at the same time, you can do it too.

Myself included, many of us want to know that it is possible to “get the results in your business”, even when life happens. And for those who are looking for a coach, in whatever niche or speciality, we want to know that the coach is capable of creating results (whether it be for themselves or for their clients) even when life happens.

My clients are not expecting my life to be perfect. I don’t think that’s the message or vibe I give off anyway. Rather, they’re looking at me to go through life and still be able to create value and help people. That’s something I trust that I am capable of doing and that’s exactly what I am committed to doing.

Even if I may be “going through a slump” and I’m intentionally taking steps back to rest and recharge, that is not an excuse for me to call it quits just because things feel hard right now.

If I say that this is the work I’m meant to do, then I will make decisions accordingly that will allow me to continue serving in this way.

And for the past few months, the decision I made was to intentionally slow things down, especially in the front facing side of my business, so I can do the bare minimum aka work with our existing clients while putting my attention on my personal life. And now, we are ready to create amazingness via our content and am ready to serve even more people.

And side note. If someone has a certain expectation of me, for example, I expect Cheryl to always be put together if I hire her… And let’s say they decide to work with me with that expectation in mind, but then they realize that’s not who I am aka my life isn’t the idealized image that they have in their mind, then it’s a disservice to them.

That’s why my brand isn’t centered around portraying myself to be a perfect human being with a perfect life and that everything goes swimmingly well. That’s’ simply not part of my brand or what I want to be known for.

Going back to the “I’ve got nothing to lose” energy

This is exactly why the way I approach my own business and especially my own marketing and personal brand is that I’m not in the business of trying to impress people just to get them to work with me. It’s simply not how I personally want to build my brand, my lifestyle or my business.

When I think back to 2019 and try to reverse engineer why I was able to quickly “build momentum” in my business and start working with paying clients since the first month of launching my paid offer, it was because I showed up as myself online since the very beginning.

That said, along the way, I did start to question whether it was okay to “be myself” online, and there were times in the early parts of my business where I tried to look or sound like other successful people online.

That ultimately didn’t work for me and quite honestly was one of the contributors to why I burnt out in 2019. Because trying to portray a certain image of myself just to sign clients is HARD. It’s actually kind of really hard. LOL. That was not sustainable at all for me.

That’s one of the reasons why I’m a strong proponent of creating content, marketing and building a business by being the most honest and genuine version of yourself, rather than trying to portray a certain image just because you think that’s what’s gonna make you successful.

Right now, as I’m pretty much transitioning out of this particular season of my business, now that I’ve spent a lot of time in the past few weeks and months doing a lot of personal life things and now as I’m turning most of my attention back onto the business, here’s what I’m thinking:

I have nothing to lose. Literally. I have nothing to lose.

So what do I want to be known for? How do I want to help people? How do I want to lead?

What decision do I have to make so I can create an even bigger impact or amplify my message and work more?

I love being in the state of mind where I feel like I have nothing to lose. Because that’s when I free my mind from any constraints I impose on myself.

This is when I can be the most creative. It’s a very, very exciting time for me and I cannot wait to see what amazingness we will create moving forward.

What I learnt from this period of “down time” and rest

As we start to round up today’s conversation, I want to summarize the biggest takeaways I’ve learned during the past few weeks and the past few months as I was going through a slump in my own business.

First, my skills can never be taken away from me. Specifically: My skills of being able to create amazing content, being able to coach my clients, being able to make offers and sell coaching spots.

These are skills that I will forever hold, and they can only get sharper with practice and with time.

Even if I am taking a pause on the front end for however long, these skills are not going anywhere. This is why I trust that my business will be just fine even if I rest.

Second, a slow month or slow months in business and life literally means nothing about my skills or my business or me. It means NOTHING. My business is here for the rest of my life.

The past few months in 2022 are simply a little blip on the entire lifetime of my life and business. Also, 2022 is not even halfway over!

Third and finally, everything is a tool for me to create whatever result I want. I can use these tools whenever I want to, and there’s no way I can use these tools “the wrong way”. There’s nothing I can “do wrong” in my own business.

If today’s conversation resonated with you, and you would also like to keep growing your business even while being a literal human being, come join me inside the 1:1 program.

This is for those of you if you want to sign clients for your coaching business by becoming known for your unique thought leadership and you also want to build your business on part-time hours so you can ultimately make time for the other areas of your life that matter most to you.

My approach is all about helping you show up as the most honest and genuine version of yourself to captivate your audience and ultimately draw in ideal clients into your coaching programs, rather than trying to impress strangers on the Internet just to get them to want to work with you.

So if this sounds super fun and super exciting and it’s also how you’d like to grow your coaching business, please head on over to cherytheory.com/program, submit a short application form, and let’s book a discovery call to chat more about how we can make this happen.

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