Episode 07: Why “Doing More” Isn’t a Standard I Embody in My Business
Kaitlyn Kessler
July 6, 2026
What does it actually mean to run an embodied business?
A few weeks ago, I had posts going up over the weekend. Not a big deal on paper—I’d scheduled them, they were good content, nothing was wrong with them. But something about it felt off, because “do more” isn’t a standard I embody in my business. It’s not that more is bad, but it’s not one of my standards.
That small, easy-to-miss moment is the starting point for this episode—a conversation about the loudest message in business right now (do more, faster, better, cheaper) and what it actually means to run an embodied business instead of simply an optimized one. The real question isn’t “does it work,” it’s whether I’d still want to be doing it in five years, and is it something I want to model to others?
What We Cover:
- Why the weekend posts felt wrong even though nothing about them was actually wrong
- The difference between asking “does this work” and asking “is this a standard I actually embody”
- Goodhart’s Law, and what happens when a number stops measuring something and starts being the goal
- Why the pressure to constantly produce is often working against the exact thing most people actually want
- What I actually hear people say they want, versus what the “more” narrative assumes they want
- Why relentless output is often a way to avoid a harder, more honest question
- What it actually looks like to run an embodied business
Standards & An Embodied Business
I want to be clear: weekend posting isn’t inherently a problem (this isn’t a right-or-wrong-way-to-run-your-business conversation.) It’s a question of what I embody in my business—whether or not anyone else would ever notice the difference. The things I choose to do or not do represent something. I had noticed this action felt out of congruence with what I stand for and want to represent.
That’s what I really want to talk about. Not your posting schedule, but the pressure sitting underneath it. The cultural noise that says do more, create more, optimize more, faster, cheaper, constantly. To be fair, more output can work—I’m not going to pretend that’s untrue. But “does it work” and “is this something I want to embody” are two completely different questions. A business built on pressure and urgency can absolutely function, for a while. But I’m more curious about if I’d be proud of that foundation in five or ten years? And if I could actually maintain that level of output for the long haul.
Goodhart’s Law
There’s a concept called Goodhart’s Law that essentially says: once a measure becomes the target, it stops being a good measure. Here’s how I’ve come to understand it: a number like “how many pieces of content I posted this week” starts out as a symbol for something else: growth, connection, building thought leadership, etc. But in time the number becomes the goal itself (and we lose site of the original desire).
It’s sneaky because it looks like ambition or discipline or productivity-maxxing. But without the standard helping guide you, and keep you aligned to what you actually care about, you might not even notice ‘losing sight of the original desire’.
What People Actually Want
When I sit across from clients, peers, friends and ask what they actually want, it’s almost never “I want to produce more.” It’s time, presence. Not checking a phone during dinner, or taking a real vacation without working through it. It’s watching your kid’s soccer game without drafting a caption in your head. A slower morning. A business that funds your life instead of becoming your whole life.
Nobody is lying awake dreaming about cramming more hours of output into a day. But if the thing almost everyone actually wants is more space, and the thing almost everyone is being told to chase is more output, it seems like there’s a mismatch in intention and action.
Reflection Prompts
- Where in your business have you been asking “how can I make this work” instead of “is this something I actually want”?
- If your actions this week were a vote for what you stand for, what message are you sending?
I’ve spent over a decade in this online business space, built two multi-six-figure businesses, and coached hundreds of clients—
And I know exactly what it's like to be building something, doing the work, investing in yourself—and still feel like you're not really living up to your own potential. Like there's a version of you and your business that's juuuust there, but something keeps getting in the way.
That's the work I do. At the intersection of identity, embodiment, neuroscience, and money—I help the people who are so good at being in motion actually move more intentionally and sustainably toward what they deeply desire.
If you're curious about how I got here…
I’ve spent over a decade in this online business space, built two multi-six-figure businesses, and coached hundreds of clients—
And I know exactly what it's like to be building something, doing the work, investing in yourself—and still feel like you're not really living up to your own potential. Like there's a version of you and your business that's juuuust there, but something keeps getting in the way.
That's the work I do. At the intersection of identity, embodiment, neuroscience, and money—I help the people who are so good at being in motion actually move more intentionally and sustainably toward what they deeply desire.
If you're curious about how I got here…
