When doing it all, means doing nothing.
As I type this on my laptop, I watch the roses sway drunkenly in the breeze. Perched in a shady spot in the garden, I'm tapping away, sunglasses on, ice cubes clinking in my glass. The air is scented with honeysuckles and lavender, and the nectar that is freshly mown grass wafts in warm waves over my keyboard. It's a serene scene, made even better because I'm officially in recharge mode.
Productivity and time are the nemesis arch-duo of an entrepreneur. It's topics that I write about frequently as they're subjects that affect us all. Whilst I help to take tasks off the shoulders of other entrepreneurs, even I'm still figuring out how to work with time and productivity rather than against them. There always seems not enough time to think, pause, or get all the jobs on the to-do list done.
It's a never-ending cycle.
It's easy to feel like you need to do everything to get ahead, but at what cost? And is it worth it?
Business has evolved
I've been around the business block since I was 16, which was quite a few years ago (I know, I know, I only look 25. 😂). I've witnessed first-hand how the landscape has evolved. From mail order to the dot com boom to social media and the crescendo of noise from millions of voices online, the challenges have only grown over the decades, with pressure to juggle more balls at an all-time high.
The gurus say to be on every social media platform to increase your visibility. The experts say you must use a funnel/webinar combo to be a millionaire overnight. The tech pioneers say to embrace A.I and let it write everything for you.
The avalanche of advice and the pressure to do it all is exhausting and overwhelming, not to mention disorientating. How do you know what advice is right
This question is coupled with the unwritten rule (or belief) that stopping or pausing to gain clarity means failure. Stop, and you wither and die.
But who made up those rules?
Making my own rules... in the garden
For example, who said you had to be on every social media platform? (well, other than the SM companies, for obvious reasons. And for an added #bonus, it's predicted that in 2025, most businesses will only have 1-2 social media accounts rather than all of them)
Who said that you actually need a webinar, funnel, and to use A.I at every turn?
The pressure to conform, to fit in and not miss out comes from many sources, and in our hyper-connected world, it's often hard to silence these suggestions, especially when they are often packaged in a helpful way and pop up in feeds on devices we use daily.
Whilst it's not a black-and-white situation, not every piece of advice, nugget of wisdom, and helpful information applies to you.
Some things will work, and others won't. Some you'll like, others you'll loathe.
The secret to keeping an anchor to yourself as a person and the brand you're building is to figure out what you want and what works for you, and then do that.
You do you
Making your own rules and setting your own pace is such a rebellious move. It's liberating.
Choosing how fast or slow you move and what you use and don't, can be a game-changer. When you create the combination that works for you and your values, it balances your workload, brings you joy, and fulfils a purpose all at once.
For instance, I only post on two social media platforms (LinkedIn and Instagram), find funnels completely soulless, and A.I is not my friend. When it comes to content and copy, I prefer my fingers to do the typing and my brain to do the work.
This is what works for me.
For you, it might be something completely different. It could be choosing to be best friends with A.I and using funnels to automate your client acquisition- and that's okay.
As business owners, we have the freedom to choose what we incorporate into our businesses and how we operate them. Liberating yourself from the tools, strategies or beliefs that don't align with you, frees up time for what truly matters.
But I hear you ask - how does that relate to branding, your area of expertise, and this blog post's "need to do it all" topic?
Because fabulous founder, you can only have a successful brand (and business) if there is fuel in the tank to make it happen. If you burn yourself out trying to do it all, to use, be and do everything, then all your power, imagination and creativity disappears.
Like a candle that is extinguished when smothered, you need air, space, and energy to burn brightly. Entrepreneurs need room to explore, to be curious, and to follow their passion(s), however many or few.
Trying to do it all means doing nothing. As you become so stretched trying to stay on top of everything, you get lulled into a false sense of security, treading water without gain.
And so, fellow reader, we come full circle, back to the beginning. I've chosen to do what works for me. I've stripped away the things that don't and chosen those that do. By doing less, I'm actually doing more.
As I take a sip of my G&T (at lunchtime, no less, such a rebel 😈) and watch the blackbirds hop over the lawn in readiness to gobble the last few cherries on the tree greedily, I know that taking time to recharge is precisely what I need- although I make it sound like I'm a solar panel that needs sunshine to charge! Slowing down and taking stock is the right call for me, rather than adding more tasks to my list, like creating funnels and sequences, even though 'everyone' is doing it.
I'm doing me, and this post is a prompt for you to do you.
Please look after yourself. Listen to what you want and what feels right to you. Please don't burn yourself out trying to do it all. Embrace your priorities and forget the rest.
That's what makes your brand unique afterall, unlike all the millions of other brands out there.
It's you.
