Latest / The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business / EP135 - Business Burnout Is Real: How to Spot It and Fix It Before It’s Too Late

Transcript

EP135 - Business Burnout Is Real: How to Spot It and Fix It Before It’s Too Late · The 3Bz Podcast - Building Better Business

• 0:01
  Hi there business owner and welcome to the three BS podcast,
• 0:04
  the place where we go beyond the numbers and dive into strategies
• 0:07
  to help you build a Better Business one step at a time.
• 0:11
  I'm your host, Stephanie, a multi awarding entrepreneur with
• 0:13
  over a decade of experience in the bookkeeping and currency
• 0:16
  world. If you're a business owner
• 0:17
  looking to streamline, grow, and get back the time that you
• 0:20
  deserve, you're in the. Right place.
• 0:22
  Tackling real world problems, answering tough questions and
• 0:25
  digging deep into business building secrets in just 15
• 0:28
  minutes each week. So Are you ready to build a
• 0:31
  better? Business with confidence and
• 0:32
  clarity. Then let's go.
• 0:35
  Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Three BS
• 0:38
  Podcast. Your go to your place for 15
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  minutes of CPD certified motivation, inspiration and
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  education each week. Now today I want to talk to you
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  about something I've seen way too often lately, including in
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  myself. It's kind of ironic that today's
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  the topic and that is business burnout.
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  You know that creeping feeling of exhaustion that isn't solved
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  by an early night? That moment when the things you
• 1:00
  built with love start to feel like a little bit of a burden?
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  When your calendar is so full but your energy levels are just
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  empty? If that sounds familiar, then
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  you are not alone. Whether you're on the edge of
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  burnout or knee deep in it, this episode is here to be honest,
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  helpful, and hopefully a bit of a reset.
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  Let's start with the signs, because burnout doesn't always
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  look like collapse. Sometimes it's quiet.
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  Here's some things that you need to watch for.
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  You're always tired, even after resting.
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  Your usual work feels heavier or harder, you're snapping at
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  people even if you don't mean to, and now that can be at work
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  or at home. My poor fiance gets it in the
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  neck when I am definitely approaching burnout.
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  I am starting to realise you've stopped caring about things that
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  used to matter and you're stuck in a cycle of I just need to get
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  through this week, but then the next week comes and then it
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  happens again and it happens again and again every week.
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  But that's not the only ways that it can look.
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  It can also look like overworking, not
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  underperforming. So if you're still smashing your
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  To Do List but feeling hollow behind the scenes, that still
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  counts too. I definitely am more of the
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  overworking kind of business burnout in that I will say yes
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  to too much and I will do too much and never ever take a
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  break. And then what happens is what's
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  just happened to me is I pick up a virus and I pick up, I've got
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  kids, you know, we get sick, but I pick up a virus and it flaws
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  you. I have been in bed for almost a
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  week. Today's the first day I feel
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  almost human, still not quite there, but I think it's
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  important to be honest and transparent with you all and and
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  say, look, it's not always perfect.
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  It's not always rosy. And I had this topic of burnout
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  that I wanted to cover for quite some time.
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  So now feels like a really good time to talk to you about it as
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  I'm getting over it myself. Let's be honest, running your
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  own business is rewarding, but it's a lot, especially if, and
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  I'm seriously calling myself out here, you're a perfectionist.
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  You say yes to everything. You don't have systems or
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  support in place. You've tied yourself worth to
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  your productivity. God, my therapist will be happy
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  that I'm sharing that with you all because it's definitely
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  something that I did for a long time.
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  Or even if you just feel responsible for keeping
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  everything afloat 24/7. And The thing is, if you're a
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  solopreneur and it is just you in your business, you are
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  technically responsible for everything in your business, but
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  you can't do it 24/7. It's not humanly possible, so
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  when you love your business, it can be hard to see that it's
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  also hurting you. I love what I do.
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  I love having all the different arms to the business.
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  I love being busy all of the time.
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  I love making a difference to people.
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  So whenever the diary is full, I'm packed out.
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  It means I'm helping lots of people and I love that and it's
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  really fulfilling for me and a part of why why I do what I do.
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  However, I need to start putting myself in that bracket too.
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  I think it's really important that those people you are
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  helping, you have to look after yourself.
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  So I was scrolling on Instagram the other day.
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  Again, another key sign of burnout is productively
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  procrastinating and guilty over here.
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  And an episode came up or a clip from an episode came up from the
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  Diary of Aceo podcast with Stephen Bartlett.
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  And it might be an old one, but it's the first time I'd seen it.
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  And it really hit home. And as a parent, I think it
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  really hits home too. And it was all about looking
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  after your human. And we as parents, even when
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  we're on desk door and we're incredibly sick, we will still
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  get up and make sure our kids are fed, make sure our kids are
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  ward, make sure our kids have got to school, that they've done
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  their homework, that they've brushed their teeth.
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  As parents, we will put aside our own illnesses, our own
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  weaknesses to make sure that those humans that we have
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  created are looked after or that we are responsible for are
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  looked after to the best of our abilities.
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  But we need to start seeing ourselves as that human too.
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  If I look at the way I treat my human as me, I wouldn't dare to
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  treat another human that way with the negative self talk,
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  with the skipping meals, with the not exercising enough,
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  holding myself up at home and not leaving the house for days.
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  Like I wouldn't let my children do it.
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  So why am I doing that to my human?
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  And that really hit home to me as as something that was a bit
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  of a light bulb. And I was like, I gotta look
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  after my human too, as if I were looking after a child because
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  you put every, you put them first for everything as a
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  parent. So if you're a parent, even if
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  you're not a parent and you're interested in like looking after
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  humans, send me Adm and I'll send you the link to, to the the
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  part that I was watching because I actually saved it into my
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  notes because I was like, I need to go.
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  I can watch this another time because that makes a lot of
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  sense to me. Going back to burnout, what's
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  really causing burnout? Because burnout usually isn't
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  about doing too much. It's normally doing too much of
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  the wrong thing or doing the right things without support.
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  So there's three questions I want to ask yourself if you are
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  experiencing or a close to burnout.
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  One, where am I pouring my energy with no return?
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  Is there a a part of your life, part of a business right now
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  where you're putting so much energy into it with absolutely
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  no return? So for a long time for me, that
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  was actually the podcast because I don't receive any income from
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  it. It's it's a lead generation tool
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  in effect, but I don't receive an income from it.
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  It's my way of giving free advice to those who can't afford
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  our services at the practice at ABCSUK.
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  Question 2 is what would I drop tomorrow if I didn't feel
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  guilty? Now this one is a big one
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  because you say yes to so many things and sometimes you say yes
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  to too many things and saying no feels like you're letting the
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  other person down and you don't want to do that.
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  So whether that's a webinar, whether that's an opportunity to
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  go and give your time for free to help somebody else, what
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  would you drop tomorrow if it didn't make you feel guilty?
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  And three, what's actually moving the needle right now in
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  your business? It's important to note what will
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  move the needle further down and put those baby steps in place to
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  get there. But right now, what is actually
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  moving the needle forward in your business?
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  It's not always about working less.
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  It's about working smarter on your terms and not everyone
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  else's. And I say this so much, is that
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  your business is your business and you get to build that your
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  way, however that looks. You get to build your business
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  your way. Whether it's only working the
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  school hours, whether it's not working in August like we do at
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  the practice, whether it's working weekends only, evenings
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  and weekends only. I know a lot of business owners
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  specifically like hairdressers and things and beauty therapists
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  that only work evenings and weekends.
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  If that's your business, you build it your way and you have
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  to be brave enough to do that and make sure that you're not
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  saying yes to all the things that are causing you to do extra
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  work that are leaving you unfulfilled, that a lot of the
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  time don't actually give you a financial return whatsoever.
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  All right, So what do you do if you're already in that burnout
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  zone? Here are three steps that have
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  helped me and my clients get back from burnout.
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  And I hate to say it, but multiple times I haven't learnt
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  my lesson. Number one, strip it back.
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  What is essential right now? What is essential in your
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  business? What can wait and what can be
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  paused or binned altogether? So quite often there'll be
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  either a product launch or a new service you want to add or a new
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  software you want to look at that doesn't need to be done
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  right now. If it's not essential to your
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  business, push it down the line. It can wait.
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  Give yourself permission to do less, not necessarily forever,
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  but just for now, until we get back to that healthy balance
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  again #2 say no more often. And it goes against what most of
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  the business gurus will tell you on the Internet.
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  Say yes to all the opportunities because you never know where
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  they're going to lead. And they are correct.
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  However, if you're in bed sick for a week, you can't do
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  anything and I'm living proof of that.
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  Burnout thrives in businesses with no boundaries, whether
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  that's opportunities, client work, scope creep.
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  If you don't set those boundaries, you're just going to
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  keep building and building on that workload until you reach
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  burnout. Start small, say no to things
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  that drain you. Say yes to rest without earning
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  it. Something I talk about quite
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  often with my community is being an introvert and the four types
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  of introverts. And for me, if I've got anything
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  big, a big event, then I have to take the next day off to recoup
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  and recharge. Now when I say take the day off,
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  I don't mean sitting at home in my pyjamas, although I would
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  love that. What I mean is by taking the day
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  off is doing all the back end stuff, doing the things that
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  one, I really enjoy, 2, I find fairly easy so I'm not doing
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  anything that's too challenging for me, and three, the things
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  that make me feel good about the business because sales is not my
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  strength as a business owner. I don't book in sales calls a
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  day after a big event, a day after I've used a lot of energy.
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  Wouldn't do that because I wouldn't be at my best and it's
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  not worth doing it for that and #3 asking for help.
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  It's my biggest tip in business, whatever that looks like for
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  you, asking for help, whether that's looking at other people
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  in your industry and asking them for support on what would they
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  do. Whether that's looking to
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  outsource areas of your business that you just don't like doing,
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  whether it's automating processes to reduce the admin
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  burden or just talking to someone.
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  Getting on a Zoom call, getting on a a Teams meeting and just
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  having a conversation with someone sometimes makes the
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  world feel so much better. I do some outsourcing for
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  another bookkeeper in our industry.
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  I help them out with some of their annual accounts,
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  bookkeeping and tax returns. The clients I look after, the
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  clients I look after for them. However, we get on a Zoom once a
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  week, we talk about the work, but sometimes it's just for a
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  chat. If you're a solopreneur, if
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  you're working on your own or working from home remotely, it's
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  no different than having an office.
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  If you were sat next to somebody in the office, you'd be like,
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  oh, how's your weekend been? How's your kids?
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  Oh my God, did you see? I feel on the telly last night.
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  It's no different. And if you can, if you can find
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  someone that you click with in your jail with that also can
• 11:03
  help you with tips and ideas and brainstorming.
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  It makes you feel a little less alone and you're not carrying
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  the burden yourself necessarily. And they will also help flag to
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  you when things are getting too much because there's been many a
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  times that they've said to me, Are you sure you should do that?
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  Are you sure you should do that? Are you really happy doing that
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  and this? Do you still have time for this
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  as well? Which I'm incredibly grateful
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  for. And they know who they are.
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  When it comes to building a business that doesn't burn you
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  out, the goal isn't just recovery.
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  So I'm talking a lot about how to recover after these things,
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  but once we've recovered, after this, prevention is more
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  important. So that means building systems
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  that can take the pressure off you, creating services and
• 11:44
  products that are profitable and sustainable, pricing yourself
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  properly. Go back and listen to last
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  week's episode about raising a price if you haven't yet.
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  And you know you need to. And remembering that you're
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  allowed to rest without guilt because you didn't start this
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  business to become your own worst boss.
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  The reason you probably started your business is because you
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  didn't like being under another boss.
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  You wanted to be the boss. So how about you be the best
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  boss there is? And if you saw an employee
• 12:09
  struggling with burnout, what would you do?
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  If you're listening to this and thinking, Oh my God, that's me,
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  that's me. Just know you're not lazy,
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  you're not broken, you're just tired.
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  And trust me, I get it. Take the pressure off, reconnect
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  with why you started the business in the 1st place, and
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  let's rebuild it in a way that doesn't cost your health, your
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  energy, or more importantly, your sanity.
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  I think it's important to note that you're also you're not
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  alone in this. Like I say, I'm currently going
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  through it myself. I'm still recovering.
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  And you don't have to figure this all out in one go either.
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  Like I say, it's not the first time and it's probably not going
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  to be the last time. As long as I try not to get to
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  this point every time, then I feel like I'm doing better, 1%
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  better every time. But you'd have to figure all out
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  in one go. But if you're in the thick of it
• 12:56
  right now, just focus on that recovery and how can we prevent
• 12:59
  it or lessen the impact of it if it comes again in the future.
• 13:04
  And that's it for this week's episode of the Three BS Podcast.
• 13:07
  If you do need help getting back on track, streamlining your
• 13:09
  business, or just figuring out what needs to go, head to the
• 13:12
  ABCSU k.com and book in a free 15 minute discovery call where
• 13:16
  we can look to see what is the best fit on how I can help you.
• 13:20
  It may just be the discovery call.
• 13:21
  It may be a power hour, a group of 1 to one sessions or monthly
• 13:25
  recurring support. And if it's episode resonated
• 13:29
  with you or you know someone that you're like, Oh my God,
• 13:31
  that's them. When I'm listing on all these
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  symptoms of burnout, share it with someone else who might need
• 13:36
  to hear it. Next week.
• 13:39
  We've got a guest episode 136 and you're going to love it.
• 13:43
  It's amazing. Until then, be kind to yourself
• 13:46
  and remember you don't have to do everything all the time.
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  And I will see you next week for the next episode.
• 13:52
  Bye. And that brings us to the end of
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  another. Episode of the.
• 13:56
  Three Bees podcast. I hope you found it useful and
• 13:59
  that you're walking away with some motivation, inspiration, or
• 14:01
  education. To help you build a better.
• 14:04
  Business Don't forget to subscribe, leave a review and of
• 14:07
  course, connect with us on social media for more insights,
• 14:09
  tips and behind the scenes content.
• 14:11
  Your next step in building a Better Business is just a click
• 14:14
  away. I can't wait to connect with you
• 14:15
  and I'll see you on the next episode.
• 14:17
  Bye.