Donna Hann
I have some exciting news, and running a series of supercharged workshops, some in person and some online designed to help you focus on the things that will fast track you towards your vision of success in 2023. And get you working on the things that will have the biggest impact on creating a business and the lifestyle you desire. And there's something really special and dynamic about being in the room, in person together, working on your business. So let me tell you what the workshop will cover a comprehensive business and lifestyle health check your review the core pillars of your business, and the areas of life that interplay to form your ideal work life land. With my help, we're going to assess the top three wins for 2022. And identify the top three areas of improvement for 2023. We're going to reflect on the year that was identify experiences that may be caused you stress and challenges and find the lessons in those experiences and let go. We're also going to drill down on what needs to be done in 2023 to help you future proof yourself and your business to be happier, healthier, and in harmony with your inner knowing passionate purpose. And through this process. You'll draw focus on the things that will help you to grow your business in the direction of your vision. And you'll learn the importance of setting new boundaries for 2023. And finally, you're going to finish with setting your intention for 2023 with crystal clear goals and a one page plan. So if you'd like to check out the locations of where are we holding the personal workshops, head to done a hand up comm forward slash events. And if you can't make it in person, then I'm holding a virtual online workshop to which can be accessed from anywhere. So come join me Donna hann.com forward slash events. There you'll find the information about all the upcoming events.
I'm a big believer in reflection and goal setting, reflecting on the way that I run my business, including reviewing the successes and the failures, and also looking at the bigger picture of holistically integrating business, family and self care into all of my goals. But there was a time when I never did this. And it was the biggest mistake I've made in my business journey thus far. So in this episode, I'm going to share with you my method for creating my ideal work life blend, and how to avoid making big mistakes like I've made in the past.
Hello, I'm Donna Hann, a business coach and online course creator and this is the shoes in business podcast. You can think of me as your business bestie, who is a few steps ahead of where you are right now. As a mum with young kids fueled with ambition and determination. I know what it's like to work when they sleep. After creating and selling three businesses. I've learned the lessons made mistakes, and I understand the daily juggle and the hustle. I also know what it's like when the wheels start to wobble relationships fray and burnout taps you on the shoulder. That was my world until I reshaped and transformed the way I ran my six figure business. Today I helped women transform their businesses and go from being the overwhelmed entrepreneur, feeling exhausted and on the road to burnout to becoming the thriving entrepreneur, feeling energized, empowered and fulfilled within their chosen business lifestyle. If you love the creativity, the challenge and the buzz of building and growing your own business, but you wish there was a way to somehow find a beautiful balance to avoid the path of burnout, then you're right where you need to be. This podcast is designed to inspire your business journey and help you to stop spinning your wheels be more present with your family. And take the time to pause, rest and rejuvenate because I want you to burn bright instead of burning out. So I'll share my practical strategies to inspire you to create a lifestyle that you love. And I'll invite other entrepreneurs to share their real life stories too. Because I want you to know that you are not alone. You can be the savvy entrepreneur that you were born to be and enjoy the freedom to do the things and be present with the people that mean the most to you. So if you're ready to rise to the next level and build a business by design, this is the she's in business podcast for moms who are made for more.
Donna Hann
So I'm gonna discuss today a topic that's pretty close to my heart. It's something that I have learned a lot from and I see this happen so much and affect so many other business owners.
What I'm going to be talking about today is how to get really confident and really clear and ready at the end of a new at the end of a year in preparation for the new year. And it's something I never used to do, there was a period of time where I just was felt so busy all the time and racing along, that I never took the time to actually stop, allow myself a couple of hours to really reflect on the year that had been or that I was kind of coming to the end of. And really imagine what it could be like, in the year ahead, set some really clear goals, and then be in the position where over the summer break, I could actually unplug properly from my business, but also allow my mind to have the space to recharge over that time to re energize to, you know, really reconnect to myself during that summer break. And of course, like be really connected to my family and friends and that kind of stuff. So that when I, you know, hit the new year, and we started, you know, back into the business, that I actually felt ready for it, rather than still feeling exhausted from the year that had been. So I'm going to share with you how this kind of process I guess now that I do each and every year. In fact, I do a mini version of it every quarter, but I do a big version of it. Towards the end of every year, I'm going to reflect and share with you how that kind of came to be, and why it is so impactful, and how it's really helped me to level up my business, and how in the way that I've shared it with other clients of mine, that it's really helped them as well. Because as you guys know, what I really stand for what I'm super passionate about, is really helping and sharing with other business owners how to go from feeling really overwhelmed and exhausted. And on that path to burnout to thriving to feeling energized. And feeling like you're on a path of success rather than just spinning your wheels and not really feeling like all of the energy and all of the effort that you're putting into your business isn't really getting you anywhere. And there was a time when I used to feel like that. And I'm going to share more with you about the journey that I've been on over the last couple of years and how I've gone from, I guess where I was to where I am being that now I feel like I've got essentially my ideal of a work life blend.
Donna Hann
And one of the things that I guess I has led me to being in this space is that I know and I'm sure that you know, and perhaps you've experienced it too at some point that continually operating from a place of stress and overwhelm is really unhealthy. And so the goal of sharing this with you today is that I want to help you to feel confident. And I want you to be clear. And I want you to be ready to power into 2023. Without going deeper into burnout, or without bringing negative experiences from this year into the next year or without really having the opportunity to review your business, get really deep into the detail and review your business as to what's working, and what's not what to continue doing and what to stop doing as you move into the new year. And the other reason why I'm why I'm speaking about this, and why it's sort of front of mind for me at the moment is because recently I presented at a conference on the Gold Coast of Australia. And I presented on a topic which was called reflect, reimagine and recharge, and it was a 90 minute presentation where I shared essentially my method, my framework for doing this each and every year. And I want to share this with as many people as possible because it was so impactful for me, and made a considerable difference not just to my mental health, but also to the success of my business, and also to the connectedness that I now feel with my family and friends. And I want to share this with you in a workshop that I'm going to deliver online, because I have delivered it as I said recently on the Gold Coast, and it went really, really well. I'm also going to be delivering it in person if you're in the Gladstone region of Queensland and Australia. But for those people who maybe can't travel to Queensland or not so close by that you can come to Gladstone and, you know, be with me in person to work on this stuff. I'm actually going to be delivering it online as well. And so if you want more information and you want to come along and join me for this workshop, then go to Donna hann.com forward slash reflect and you can find all of the information there. But what I'm going to be doing is essentially not just sharing the theory, but also the practical ideas that you can utilize I'm within your process at the end of every year, so that you can put these concepts into practice and utilize them because it really has made a dramatic difference not just to what I do, but also to what my clients are doing when they use this method. And it's definitely now transformed my work life blends so that I'm constantly feeling like I'm being filled up by the work that I do rather than it wearing me down. And it has taken me from that brink of burnout to living a more heart centered and energized lifestyle. And if I, you know, rewind back to,
Donna Hann
when I first started my dance studio, much, maybe I guess, like, you know, the beginning of any business, I remember feeling super excited, like really motivated, I had all these big ideas. And I couldn't wait to jump in and get going. At the time, when I first started my dance studio. It was April 2016. And I had a three year old and a six month old in tow. And I explicitly remember this experience of having my photograph taken by the local newspaper, to spread the word about the opening of this fabulous dance studio that you know was happening. And so, you know, I often look at this photograph, which I have in my office, I'm lying on the floor with my two kids. And I've got a lollipop in my hand, because that was bribery to help sit still, you know, to keep everybody in one place. And you know, the smile on my face, it just screams enthusiasm. And, you know, I was just so ready to open the doors. But in 2018, a few years on from that moment, the story was very different. It was a few months before my annual dance concert. And I remember lying in bed awake at 2am, with my brain racing, my heart thumping, and I had so much tightness in my chest that, you know, it was on the verge of panic attack. And I felt like I was sinking in all the things that I had to do for my business. Plus sinking in the mum guilt of feeling like I was never in the moment with my kids. And I don't know if that sounds familiar for you. But it was certainly, you know, a regular occurrence for me waking up in the middle of the night and sometimes not even being able to get to sleep. Because my head was just so full of everything. You know, everything I needed to do, but also all the guilt that I was shouldering. And, you know, this was two years into my business, I was feeling completely overwhelmed, I was overtired, I was majorly doubting myself if I could be a great mom and a successful business owner. But I also had this really burning desire to serve people. And to do it really, really well. And because of that I was so dedicated to my business. It was growing super fast. But it felt like I was on that ride that never slowed down. I had no downtime. And the vision that I had was really morphing and becoming something that I didn't want it to be. And I was burning out big time. It was high stress and super low sleep. And, you know, maybe you're listening to this now going, Yeah, that sounds pretty familiar. That's where I'm at right now. Or maybe you've had experiences like this. But what I decided to do on that night, which I remember so explicitly was I was like, right, fuck this, I'm not putting up with this anymore, I need to make a decision, I need to change the way that I do business. I knew I wanted it to be super successful. But I also knew that I needed to change the way that my business operated, so that I could enjoy it. And also enjoy time with my family rather than being flooded by guilt and overwhelm at 2am.
So I got up, and I started to get really clear. And I dug really deep into my purpose and my vision. And I stripped back my fears because so much of the overwhelm that I was experiencing was all the fears that were rattling around in my head. And I also set some really clear goals for myself. And over time, I began to develop kind of like a process, I guess, for really reflecting on and assessing where my business was at. And I began to plan for productivity. I started to really look at my processes and figure out what was working and what wasn't and I built systems around those processes so I could delegate and I could automate as much of those processes as possible. And I started to pay regular attention to my numbers. As which, you know, for me was a really big block for a long time because as a young child, I didn't do very well at maths in the classroom. And so paying attention to the figures in my business was just something that I used to stick my head in the sand with, because, you know, I, in my head, the, you know, the story that I was telling myself was that I wasn't good at numbers. I wasn't good at math. But once I actually started to pay attention to my numbers, as part of my review process that I'll share with you, in a moment, my profit began to rise, because what you pay attention to what you focus on, will improve over time. And the other thing that started to happen, because I was doing this so regularly was that I started to carve out time for myself, and for my family. And over time, what began to happen was that overwhelm began to disappear. And the reason that I'm sharing this with you is because I want you to know, if you're in that position right now, that there is a better way of doing business, there is a better way to do it well, without burning out, which is really about creating a business and a life by design. And I don't know where you are right now. But in learning how to reshape your business, not only do you position yourself to serve more people, and to make more money, but you also unlock that beautiful, healthy work life blend, which is so rewarding on so many different levels. So the workshop that I presented down on the Gold Coast, and the workshop that I'll be presenting online, and also in person in the Gladstone region, is really the starting block for this transformation, which is going to prevent you from burning out. And I'm walking proof that it can absolutely be done, which is why I'm so passionate about sharing it and, you know, giving away I guess, my method for doing it.
And so what we do, I'll just give you an overview of what we do when we actually go through the workshop, if you're going to come along and join me is so that you can show up stronger with better work life blend, we need to really identify where we can make some positive changes within your business. And a really important part of my method that I'll share is looking at integrating the three sides of your life. So work in business, family, and friends, and you and your self care. And we do this by
Donna Hann
working through a really comprehensive business health check, which looks at six different areas of our business. I'll talk more about that in a second. And we also look at and we review the eight areas of life, which is also known as the wheel of life. From doing those two activities and really reviewing and reflecting on where we're at within our business and where we're that we're at within our general life, we can then look at the top three wins that we've had in 2022. And we can also look at the top three areas of improvement that we can start making in 2023. What we also do as part of that process is really dig into the events and the challenges that have maybe occurred this year for you that have perhaps bought feelings of unrest or anxiety, or maybe even stress. And what we do is we strip back those. Those events are those challenges. And we identify the lesson within that because often when we have big challenges, you know, emotional events that happen, mistakes that we make within our business, there are great lessons within that if we can allow ourselves to really look at it from the perspective of searching for ways for improvement, rather than sitting in the negativity and framing it as a failure. So we do that together, we unwire ourselves from those negative experiences so that we don't drag that negativity into the new year. And we begin the process of future focusing for 2023 and creating the kind of change that you want to see when it comes to developing and you know, incorporating your ideal work life blend.
And I say that with emphasis because it really is about identifying what's right for you. What's right for me could not be you know, could be the opposite of what you want in your life. But it's about identifying what's your ideal work life blend, what's the vision that you have in your mind, that you want to create for your life. And then together what we'll do to wrap up is we'll create a one page plan that you can use to maintain In the vision that you've just created for yourself for 2023, and carve out a business that has you feeling really successful and confident, whilst also being aligned to having that connected time to the people who mean the most to you. And also prioritizing time for yourself to rest, reflect, and rejuvenate. Because we need to make sure we're doing all of those things, not just one of those things to make sure we've got that beautiful work life blend. So, in a nutshell, that's kind of what we're going to be doing. The thing about this, though, is this workshop that I'm going to be prevent presenting, and you're more than welcome to jump, jump in and join me and I hope that you do is be prepared to be vulnerable.
Donna Hann
I talk a lot about courage. And you may have already listened to the podcast that I did with the dean champion, which was called the 10 seconds of courage. And we talk about how vulnerability and courage are two sides of the same coin, where one goes, the other will follow. And in order for you to be courageous in jumping in and leading the life that you want, creating the life that you want, we also need to be really vulnerable, and understand where we currently are, challenge ourselves to look at and reflect upon what's not working, and what needs to change. And within this workshop, we do a lot of that. So if you're not ready to be vulnerable, and if you're not ready to be courageous and chasing after the life that you want, by really understanding the life that you currently have and what's not working, then it's maybe not the right thing for you to come along and do. However, if you're happy to be vulnerable with yourself, because that's the other thing is it's just, you know, really, it's just you. It's about literally reflecting and looking at yourself in the mirror, although we're looking at our business, and we're looking at our life. And if you're not prepared to be vulnerable, then like I said, it's not for you. But if you're ready to do that, if you're open to do that. And it's not something that you need to openly share with anyone else who's doing the workshop alongside us. It is private, it can be kept just for yourself. But you do need to be able to be vulnerable, so that then we can be courageous. So one of the things that really inspired me to do this as well is because a couple of years ago, I was working with a client privately. And she came to me feeling completely drained and unsure of the direction that she wanted to take her business. She used the word lost to really explain how she was feeling. And she was on the brink of closing her business. And the interesting thing about this is the client that I'm thinking of is super similar to a lot of other clients that I work with as well.
So if you're feeling this, then chances are you're not alone. But our starting point was actually to work through a detailed business health check. And not only did it help me as her business coach to understand where I could help her. But it also helped her to see clearly that the things that were causing her stress and overwhelm were that those things were. And then it enabled us to work through a series of coaching sessions, where we mapped out her vision, which aligned to her core values, which is what we do within the workshop. And then she took action on the areas that were maybe lacking in structure. And we were able to, you know, together with me guiding her make some really positive changes. And now she's thriving within her business. She's loving the work life blend that is now her new normal. And the reason that I share this with you is because one of the biggest mistakes that business owners make is not taking the time to review their business. And this was certainly my biggest mistake that I made as well when I was first starting out. In fact, when I look back at the early days of my dance studio, in particular, I was like a captain without a map or without a telescope. And I was steering this great big ship that was traveling faster than I could really manage. And although I had a rough idea of what I was trying to create, I didn't have a really clear vision or a map to guide me to my destination. However, once I started to really, as I explained previously reflect, take the time to assess where my business was at, be honest with myself be vulnerable with myself to where I was compared to where I wanted to be and to do that on a really regular basis. Within 12 months. I had a multi six figure business that ran without me micromanaging my team that was set up in a way that allowed me to unplug when I needed to. And I was able to sell that business at the beginning of 2022, despite the effects of COVID, for a really great profit. And I did all of that, through reflecting on where I was planning where I wanted to go, setting really clear goals, and doing it on a regular basis.
So the other thing that inspired me to put this workshop together for you, and the reason why I feel like it's important to do at this time of the year,is because I found a survey that was actually conducted in 2019. And the survey results really alarmed me. The survey was essentially a study that surveyed small business owners from across the nation from all sectors of business to identify the impact of running a small business on mental health. And the top stresses, were managing business finances. And that was mine, right? If you think back to what my story at the beginning, managing business finances, juggling multiple responsibilities be that within the business itself, we wear so many hats, right as a business owner, but also we're juggling family responsibilities as well. And the other top stressor was no work life blend, or no work life balance. Half of the people surveyed said that they worked more than nine hours per day, which is significantly higher than the daily average of 7.6 working hours. And one in five said that not only did their productivity take a hit as a result of their anxiety from work, but also that they felt that the brunt of that landed on their personal relationships. And that's not okay.
The other interesting theme was that this survey, which was conducted by a company called Yellow, in October 2019, framed it as the new normal for business owners. Again, not okay. And if you think that that was 2019. And so much has happened since then, that has added more pressure to Australian business owners. And I don't need to spell out what those things were, we know what those things are, and still continue to have an effect to us today, in 2023. And I think that the effects of COVID and the you know, the state of our global economy, we're going to see more of that in the next few years. And so it's really alarming. And this is why it's so important that we take stock of where we are on a regular basis. And we review the six core pillars of business that ultimately shape your success. And what I'm talking about there is looking at business planning and professional development, looking at your finances, reviewing your products and programs and services, looking at your sales and marketing strategies, what's working what's not.
Donna Hann
And also, you know, looking at operations and how things are executed within your business. And then finally, the last piece of the puzzle is looking at your team, and how you are a leader within that team, but also how you lead yourself because as a business owner, there is a lot of self leadership that we need to do that perhaps you almost like take for granted don't even realize that you're doing it. But self leadership is massive as a business owner, which we need to pay attention to. So the idea here being that if we review those six core pillars of business on a regular basis, it'll give you a strong overview of which ones need improvement as we move into the new year. That'll give you clarity on what are you going to work on one of the things, what are the top three things that you're going to do to really lift your business to the next level. And when we combine that with their eight areas of life activity. it infuses together the big picture of what's going on on your business and what's going on within your lifestyle so that you can then get the I guess you can reflect on that and reimagine how you want your life to be in the new year. And bring together that heart centered work life blend. And in a nutshell, that's what we do in the workshop. So I'm sharing you sharing with you this little bit of an overview today. Because as I said, it's like the biggest mistake that I made when I was you know, not just starting out in business, like my dance studio was my third business. But it was a business that had high growth. And it kind of took me by Surprise. And, you know, really, it was my first real big business that took off. And I needed to become business savvy. And this process is something that helped me so much to become more business savvy. And so that's why I want to share it with you because I believe that sometimes we can have so much potential as a business owner. But if we're not business savvy, then unfortunately, we never reached that potential. So if you're interested in coming along, and joining me for either in person, if you're around the Gladstone region of Queensland in Australia, or if you want to jump in and join me online, then go to Donna hann.com, forward slash reflect, check out the different options that are available, the different time slots that I've got there for you. It is, there is a fee to come along, depending on whether you're coming along in person, or whether you're joining online, there's two different price points there. So go check those out. I'd love to have your loan to, you know, step up to the next level of your business, but also, to really establish what your ideal work life blend is going to be for the new year, put a plan together, we're going to put a one page plan together so that you can have that up somewhere in your office or somewhere in your home that you can see going into 2023 That's going to keep you on track, keep you focused, and have you moving towards the ideal work life blend that you want to have. I hope this has been really helpful for you today. And I look forward to seeing your your registration coming through and having you join me either in person or online. Have a great day. Bye.
Thank you for listening to this episode of The She's in Business podcast. If you enjoyed it, please share it on Instagram and Facebook and I'd be so grateful if you could leave me a review on iTunes. Be sure to include your business name and Insta handle so I can give you a shout out to if you want to know more about what I do the programs that I offer, then head over to www dot Donna hann.com and follow me on Instagram at Donna underscore Hann underscore s IB. I hope this podcast inspires you to be courageous and take action in carving out your very own business by design where you can avoid burnout and shine like the universe is yours.
