E95 – Feeling stuck Here’s what to do next

[00:00:00] Welcome to the 100 degrees of Entrepreneurship podcast, the show for purpose driven entrepreneurs who wanna get inspired to step outside of your comfort zone, expand it to your purpose, and grow your business in a big way. I’m your host Stephanie Kowski, a globe TRO cfo, whose mission is to empower leaders to better understand their numbers, to grow their impact and their income.

Let’s dive in.

Hey everybody. Welcome back to the show. This is Stephanie GSKi on 100 degrees of Entrepreneurship. You’re gonna be listening to this likely in the midst of the holiday season, and I don’t know about you, but starting really in September for me, with back to school through October, November, December, and really even into January.

Just feels like such a busy, busy time. Me for my family, for [00:01:00] my company. It’s just really busy. And so I wanna know, how are you doing this week? Like really, how are you? Are you tired, nervous, relaxed, bored, anxious, energized content? Little bit of all of this. A lot of, bit of many of these. I hear you. I feel like I go through this whole range of feelings all day, every day, but especially during the holidays, there’s a lot of pressure on us when it comes to our business and closing Q4 really strong and that’s great.

And there’s also pressure from family with holidays and events and so many things going on right now. First of all, there’s no right answer to how you are feeling right now. There’s no way that you should be feeling right now. So if you’re feeling just overwhelmed and over it and kind of burnt out, that’s fine.

Like that’s fine. If you are feeling [00:02:00] energized, that’s amazing too. But what I wanted to share today was three different things that I do when I am feeling kind of stuck, or, you know, whether it’s stuck creatively in my business or just kind of like, ugh, I’m, I’m just stuck in the same place doing the same thing and I wanna feel refreshed and I want something new and I don’t know what it is and I don’t know what to do.

Like, I get myself into that spiral like a lot. So yeah, I wanted to share three different things that really helped me. When I’m just feeling kind of blah. So the first thing that helps me is forward thinking, right? Like, what I mean by this is that we know that the, the sort of busyness of the holidays or whatever season you’re in right now, it’s not going to last forever, right?

Maybe the end doesn’t seem like it’s in sight, but we do know that it will be over and. Thinking about, you know, in particular in your business, what is next in your [00:03:00] business or what could be next, is a really great way to kind of. Clear your brain of all the junk that’s happening in there right now and think about the future.

And so I love doing like end of year slash beginning of year activities. It really help me think about all that is possible in my life and in my business. And one thing I’ve used in the past is power sheets. By cultivate what matters, that really helps you sort of get clear on your focus and your goals for the next year, but you don’t need any sort of formal system.

I think even just like brain dumping everything that’s possible in your business or in your life is a really great way to get started and then. Sort of start to organize that brain dump and really see what you are feeling as you’re sort of dumping everything out of your head onto paper. And that will usually give you a direction in which to go.

You’re gonna find yourself getting particularly [00:04:00] excited about one or two things on there in that brain dump. And you just wanna like keep pushing forward with those. And so that could give you a new direction, a fresh perspective. You know what’s always also really helpful for me in terms of forward thinking is getting into.

A room, a group, whatever, with other people, whether it’s a virtual room or a real room in terms of thinking of what’s possible, getting into a room with other people. So I’m in a mastermind. I’ve spent all of 2022 in a mastermind with Rachel Rogers and her company. Hello, seven. And so being in the room, Or even just in Slack with the other amazing women in there.

It really helps me do some more forward thinking. So, so forward thinking is the first thing that I do when I’m starting to feel just kind of blah, like what’s possible. And we don’t have to figure out the plan right now. We don’t have to do the step by step. We don’t have to have a budget. We don’t have to do any of the like boring, logistical stuff that some of us.

Love and [00:05:00] others of us do not just think about what’s possible. So that’s the first thing I do when I am just feeling kind of overwhelmed and, and over it, and anxious and energized, or not energized, but sort of de-energize and tired and all that stuff. So the second thing I do is to create space in my calendar, in my life for.

Innovation because I have found that I don’t think of any good ideas whatsoever. Maybe not whatsoever. I don’t get my best ideas when I’m like running from one thing to the next, or in those 30 minute chunks in between Zoom meetings, like that’s not where I am feeling my best. So, I like to create space for innovation.

I try and find at least a few hour chunks of white space in my calendar. And when I think about innovation, I’m not necessarily thinking about creating [00:06:00] something new. Not sure of like the Webster’s dictionary definition of innovation, but if it says creating something new, that’s not what I’m talking about at all.

Although it could be. What I think of when I think of innovating is maybe creating something new, but also like really understanding what our most profitable activity in our business is and how to then, you know, double down on that and how to. Our current people in a new way. And so sometimes when we are doing this, like I said, the first thing where we’re doing a lot of forward thinking and planning and dreaming and thinking about what’s possible, a lot of times it’s like all the new activities.

Um, but sometimes what we really need to do is after we’ve created that white space in our calendars, innovate on our existing work, that’s probably gonna be a lot easier. It’s probably gonna be a lot less expensive and it’s probably gonna. Faster to generate some momentum when you are thinking about innovating on what you’re already doing.

And so again, a fresh perspective [00:07:00] on, you know, sort of what you’re already doing in that day in, day out, it can start to feel kind of stale. But when we think about innovating and creating space to really think about, um, how can we do things differently? How can we do things a little bit better? How can we maybe add a little bit to what we’re already doing?

That’s gonna get the ball rolling faster and maybe help get you out of that funk, out of that feeling stuck. Um, so that’s my second thing is really innovating on what you’re already doing.

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Revenue expenses, cash flow, just like a crystal ball. It is a huge resource that will [00:08:00] absolutely help you create a roadmap to reach your goals and your business. It is for free over at 100 degrees consulting.com/.

And my third, my third thing is gratitude . Um, this might seem a little trite, especially now we’re, you know, I’m recording this. We’re going into Thanksgiving and then into the, you know, Christmas holiday season, if that’s what you celebrate. And, uh, Huh. It’s a lot right now, and you may not even have the brain capacity to think beyond what you’re eating for dinner tonight, let alone innovating and doing any forward thinking, right?

So maybe just maybe the littlest thing you can do today is just come into a place of gratitude and every day think of at least one good. Just one good thing that made you happy. Um, because I feel like we’ve all got at least that one little thing, even on the most overwhelming of days [00:09:00] where everybody wants your attention and you, your to-do list is just growing and you don’t feel like you’re, you know, not even treading water.

You’re thinking below the water, come into a place of gratitude and I, I just feel. Sometimes it can feel like everything just kind of sucks. We feel stuck and feels terrible. Um, but taking five seconds to think about or even better writing down something that you’re grateful for is gonna immediately put you in a better brain space.

I have found myself, you know, in a, you know, not necessarily dark place, but I’m just kind of grumpy and it’s gray outside and I feel stuck and I don’t have any momentum. Projects that I wanna do in my business and I just feel kind of blo and I don’t feel like doing anything. If I literally pause for five seconds, I promise you just five seconds, and think about something that made me smile that day or something that makes me happy or something I’m grateful for.

It’s like a quick breath of fresh air. It’s not gonna solve all your problems. [00:10:00] Like I’m not gonna pretend that gratitude journaling every morning is going to make things immediately better. And you know, your anxiety and your feeling of overwhelmed is gonna go away cuz it’s not. Right? It’s not, but it’s a little.

Trick that can help. So at the end of the day, there’s no right or wrong way to feel or to act, especially during this really, really busy time of year for all of us, for so many reasons. But if you’re feeling stuck one day and you just need like. I don’t know. You feel like you need a refresh? Those are three things that I do.

And just to recap, the first is forward thinking. Really sitting back and dreaming about what’s possible. Doing a brainstorm session, you’re going to find some inspiration there. Your, your gut or your intuition is going to lead you towards something that you write down, and you’ll get excited to. Really start building momentum on that thing.

So forward thinking. The second one is innovating on what you’re already doing. Cuz sometimes we get all these amazing ideas, but [00:11:00] it’s really hard to build traction on something new in order to kind of like keep us excited and motivated. Right? So thinking about doubling down on your most profitable revenue stream or your, your best idea or the best part of your business right now and serving your people in a new way, that will help.

Right? And. Because you’re already like moving in that right direction. It’s gonna be very easy to gain momentum and to really get excited about, um, about making progress. So innovating on what you’re already doing. And then finally, gratitude when all else fails. Taking five seconds, and I literally mean five seconds.

This doesn’t have to be a 20 minute journaling session. Taking five seconds to just like close your eyes or pause or stop what you’re doing and think about something that made you smile that day or something that you are grateful for. I feel like is just a quick little refresh into your day. So I hope that’s helpful.

I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season, by the way. Maybe, maybe you’re not feeling down or overwhelmed or grumpy right [00:12:00] now. Um, maybe you’re feeling fantastic and this is your favorite time of year, and that’s amazing. You can still do what I just talked about today, right? You can still really get into the head space of future planning and innovating and gratitude, right?

You can still get into all of that, so. Wishing you a lovely rest of your day, and I will catch you soon, my friends. Thanks for listening to the 100 degrees of Entrepreneurship podcast. To access our show notes and bonus content, visit 100 degrees consulting.com/podcast. Make sure to snap a screenshot on your phone of this episode and tag me on Instagram.

At Stephanie dot s k r y, and I’ll be sure to share. Thanks for being here, friends, and I’ll see you next time.