6 Easy Tweaks That Will Make Your Business Run Smoother

I’ve officially been a business owner for 4 years now. To some people that may seem not that long, to others that may seem like a huge milestone… but either way you look at it 4 years is 4 years and that’s a lot of opportunity to learn. Some of my biggest ah-has and takeaways have been about things I could pretty easily adjust or tweak to make my business run even smoother, be even more sustainable and in flow, and just… work. We spend so much time learning this and trying that and all the things that we forget to check in and make sure our business is working, y’know? Like that it’s bringing us joy and money and serving that purpose we originally set out for. 

So anyway, here’s my list of simple tweaks and adjustments that I’ve brought into my own business over the last 4 years that have made a significant impact on the ease and flow of things. These aren’t the only things you can do, and you don’t have to use all of them — just wanted to share with you a little glimpse into my business (in NLP we practice modeling, so I like to make it easy for people to model me, if they so choose!)

Believe That Business Gets To Be Fun + Exciting + Easy

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At some point in your journey you were excited about the idea of starting this business. You were gung-ho and taking action! But over time, things got to be harder — maybe your clients started frustrating you, and your inbox got a bit unmanageable, and thinking of good Instagram captions became daunting…

And then, somewhere in there, you made a decision. You decided, “this is hard.”

And so it became harder, and harder, and even harder… and validated that belief. If this feels accurate for you, I want to invite you to change that belief now. To make a new decision that business gets to be fun and exciting and easy.

The trick here is to choose that thought every day. To start to notice when you are going down a rabbit hole of thinking it’s hard and consciously choose to allow it to be easy. To decide it gets to be fun. To only accept that it’s exciting. And in time, that will begin to be your new reality, I promise.

The way limiting beliefs work is that at one point it was just a decision. You made the decision for the first time, and then your Reticular Activating System (RAS) became attuned to finding proof of that. See your subconscious won’t make you a liar, so you said ‘this is hard’ and it showed you that time and time again and took that decision and formed it into a belief. Like Abraham Hicks says a belief is a thought you keep on thinking.

So by intentionally choosing a new decision (that business is fun and easy and exciting) and tasking your RAS to help you believe it (and doing the work of choosing to believe it as often as you can), this will, in time, become your new belief. And then, your new reality.

Do A Digital Detox / Stop Consuming So Much

Another easy tweak that has had a huge impact on my business (and sanity, honestly) is deciding to stop consuming so many other business owners’ content and even to occasionally do complete digital detoxes. So reading, listening, watching stories, etc. of people you like to follow, or even look up to, is great. In moderation.

But doing that for hours a day (especially under the guise of “learning” when in reality you are procrastinating) is a dangerous path. Here’s what you risk happening: you’ll become more susceptible to imposter syndrome, comparisonitis, and shiny object syndrome. You’ll start to absorb their ideas and think they are rules or facts, when in reality YOU create your own rules and facts. You’ll also constrict your own abilities to create and innovate, which is, in my opinion, essential to being an entrepreneur.

What I do and invite you to consider is create over consume. So if I consume — let’s say I listen to an hour of someone else’s podcast — I spend at least 2 hours creating to compensate. Now that might mean working on my podcast, writing a blog post, or writing a newsletter. But it also could mean journaling or brainstorming through my own concepts and ideas. Just something to tap back into MY thoughts versus everyone else’s.

Stop Multitasking

This is a big one! A lot of us like to think we are good at multitasking, but the fact is… we aren’t. We’re not built that way. One time in a peer mastermind I used to be in, my friend Katherine told me this idea once and it blew my mind: 10% of 10 things is NOT 100% of anything. Powerful, right? Stop switching your energy and your focus all the time, flipping between emails and Instagram and Messenger and oh, your laundry is done, and where was I in writing that blog post again…?

Feel accurate? Give it up! One priority at a time. Just one! As I discuss in this episode, priority is a singular word! If you devote your energy in a more focused manner you will get tasks done quicker and overall feel less stress and anxiety around your to do list. There’s no tips or hacks here, just make a decision to stop multitasking today.

Audit Regularly + Time Track

Okay so here’s another big one that a lot of business owners learn the hard way — audit your business regularly and time track to see where you are spending your days. Do you know what you are spending your time doing? Do you know what tasks and activities are actually serving your business and bringing in money and clients? This is a huge deal in working to make sustainable, scalable, lasting businesses.

You can use a free program called Toggl to track your time. It’s so valuable. You may already be doing this with client work, but I invite you to also do it for when you are working on your biz. And be diligent! See if something like writing a blog post is taking you three hours because you start and stop and start and stop. And then bring that info into an audit and assess — okay, if blog posts take me three hours and no clients have ever said they found me originally from a blog post… is that a good way to spend time? And why is it taking so long in the first place? Why am I avoiding doing it and letting myself get distracted?

I don’t know the answers for you in regards to those questions, but it’s worth exploring what comes up for you and making sure that your business is aligned to what you do well and love doing, so that you continue to do it and grow! 

Don’t Be Afraid To Say No

You’ll inevitably end up learning a lot through time tracking and auditing your business and there may be times that deciding to remove something from your business comes up. Open yourself up to the idea of saying “no” to things for your business. NO isn’t a bad word. In fact, saying NO to things gives you the opportunity to say YES to more valuable, impactful, and important things.

There’s not a right or wrong here, but I just want to encourage you to explore the rules you’ve made for yourself and your business and be open to those rules changing or adjusting. Maybe you’ve always just thought you had to write blog posts to be an online business owner and that’s become a bit of a rule for you, but you’ve also began to notice that it’s not really doing anything for your business. Be open to that rule changing and saying no to writing blog posts, if it’s just not right for you anymore.

In the same regard, be okay with saying NO to potential clients that are not good fits, to opportunities like summits, podcasts, guest blogging that don’t feel in alignment or right to you, or to another free coffee chat where someone just picks your brain for free (and doesn’t follow the “rules” of a coffee chat). The more we get confident in our abilities to say “no” and to establish our boundaries and protect our energy the overall better and smoother things will run in our business. 

Get Clear On Where You Are Going

The last thing is perhaps not an “easy” tweak but makes a huge difference in the day to day. Understanding where you are going in your business is essential for your days actually… being worthwhile, honestly. So many business owners are just going through the motions that they think they’re supposed to do and really have no bigger picture understanding of why any of it matters.

I’ve shared before my own fears around not having a big vision for my business when I got started. I want to point out that I think it’s okay to develop that vision over time AND also you can still know where you are going in the meantime. For example, maybe you don’t see the 5 year or life plan yet, that’s okay. You can still set a goal in the future, like 3 or 6 months or even a year, and give yourself that clarity for now of where you are going. THEN on a day-to-day basis you know the tasks to be working on, the things that move you closer to that, etc. versus just randomly deciding to write this, or offer that, or share whatever on Instagram, right?

If this is something you need support with, let’s connect about working together. I can help you understand not only where you are right now, but where you want to be in the future. This is perfect for the business owner who feels unclear about their vision, goals, or plan moving forward and need help uncovering the next steps (and working through the inevitable blocks that come up around taking action).

Share with me in a comment or on Instagram what tweaks you are going to make for your business! I believe in you and your power!

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