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So it's November. And at the time of recording this podcast and releasing it out into the world, there are 30 days away from school holidays starting if you're a Queenslander. There are 46 days until Christmas, and 52 days until the end of the year. And if you're like me, there's a lot of things that we need to do before those dates roll around. So November can feel like a bit of a pressure cooker, the pressure of time, the pressure of getting everything done. And maybe for you and your business, the Christmas period is one of the busiest times of the year. So you're doing your best to prepare for the slam. Or maybe you're already experiencing the start of that run up, right. And maybe you could also be just like me, and you're wanting to tick off all of the things on your list so that you can unplug over the break and come back nice and clean and clear slate ready to start fresh in the new year. Either way, that deadline feels like it's fast approaching, and the stress is starting to bubble over. If you're nodding along with me, you may need a mindset reset. And this episode is going to help you do just that. This is the season business podcast, where every week I'll explore topics and have real conversations around what it's like to run a regional business, the advantages and the unique challenges. I'm Donna Han, a seasoned regional business owner, and certified high performance business coach. I'm here to make training and professional development easily accessible for regional business women everywhere. So join me and guest experts as we share tools and insights to elevate your business, boost your mindset and ensure that you never feel alone on this journey. No matter where you live. I'm fired up. And I'm here to educate you on what it truly takes to grow your business and your mindset beyond what you thought possible. Hi, lovely. And thank you for listening to this week's episode of the podcast. It's Dan's here as my friends and some of my clients often referred to me. And today's conversation has been sparked by a community event that I co facilitate each and every single month, here locally in the Gladstone region with the beautiful Courtney Morrison, a good dear friend of mine. It's a local event that's designed to support regional business women, we infuse networking with a mini business session and we enjoy a yummy coffee and morning tea. And we just really hold space for the local business women to connect and collaborate and share what's going on with them. And it's an event that we've been running every month for just over 12 months now. And I love it. It's like one of the things during the month that I really look forward to, it's so much fun. And this month, November, we planned to present a mini business session on increasing productivity and reducing overwhelm. And something that we always do is we tune in to the general sense of what business owners are feeling almost like a temperature check. And then we lean into that during the session in the event. And instead of our usual setup, which is tables and chairs, you know, we usually give out a handout, our handout and there's a there's a slide deck that we present. Instead of that we decided that we needed to go ground level with bolster cushions on the floor, so no tables and chairs. And instead of handouts, we we went with picture cards. We went with white sage, we went with affirmation cards and post it notes. And then we invited the beautiful women in the room to select a picture card that they visually that they connected to visually that described how they were feeling. And on the post it note, we invited them to write a few words as to what that visual meant to them. And there were lots of feelings of exhaustion, a sense of feeling rushed, a sense of urgency, and a heavy feeling and just that like oh. And I could relate to every woman in the room just as they could each relate to one another because we will all feeling that same way. And I bet that you might be feeling that same way too. So it was that event it was those moments that inspired me to record this podcast and to help you to do a mindset reset if you feel that you want and need to. So But essentially, that's what we did in the event we went, you know what, sometimes you don't just need to learn more, you actually just need to allow yourself the space to figure out what's going on in the inside, what are these feelings? What is this sense of rush and urgency? And do I want to hold on to that? Do I need to let that go and put something else in its place and the mindset reset, it's a really great way for you to do that. So I also want to let you know before I dive in, because I am going to dive in today is I've put together a free download for you. So if you're driving or you're walking, and you're listening, and you can't take notes, you don't have to, because I have put my dot points into a free download for you. And you can get it by going to done ahead.com forward slash mindset reset, it'll be in the show notes for you as well. But what I want to start with is how important it is to actually start this process of a mindset reset, by connecting to and paying attention to your thoughts, and your emotions and your reactions. And the way we do that, the way that we tune in is by asking yourself the question, How am I feeling. And I can appreciate that this might be a little bit tricky to articulate, which is why we use the picture cards, because a picture can speak 1000 words, right? Now, of course, when I'm presenting an event, there's lots of I guess, training tools that I pull from my kid, one of which is pitcher cards. But you could Google some images, right? If you're struggling to describe how you're feeling with words, you could jump on Google, don't get distracted, though, don't go down into the, the vortex. But jumble Google and just have a look at some of the images when you put in a word or you you know, if you've got a feeling that you can't like really articulate that out. It can help to go for a visual first. And then on paper, bear the post it note which is what we're used, or a journal or anything like that just a piece of paper, write down how you're feeling. Ask yourself, how am I feeling right now? Like really tune into what's going on for you. And then the next part of starting this mindset reset, is to ask yourself, How do I want to feel? How would I prefer to feel instead of what I'm feeling right now? What would I like to be feeling? And then the next part of this is, what do you need to do to to shift or to to pivot from where you are now to where you would like to be? What are the micro actions, the tiny things you can do to lift yourself to a higher, more energized state? What could that be? So one of the things that came up for the people who were at the event, the beautiful ladies that were there with us was that movement and exercise was a really big thing that came up as a key ingredient that helped them make that shift. And it's most likely due to the endorphins that get released when we exercise and when we move our body. But it's not the only thing that helps and it is different for everybody. So it's about figuring out for you, what you know works for you what makes you feel better every time you do it even in the times where you don't really want to, you know, like, I can't be doing that thing. Even I can't be bothered like even though I know it's the thing that will actually shift me out of this funk that I feel like I'm in you know what it is we have to trust our inner knowing and our about innate intelligence that each of us have inside of us to know what it is that we need to do to shift to that lighter, more energized state because it does feel heavy for a lot of people right now feels like there's a lot of responsibility, a lot of things that we need to do between now and the kids are finishing school between now and Christmas between now and the new year. Right? It can feel heavy, it can feel like there's a lot to do. But what we can do is actually shift our emotional state, we can shift our energetic state to be more light to be more positive. And that can have a tremendous effect to our productivity, right. So remember, at the beginning, you may have noticed that I said that the event was actually the topic we're supposed to be talking upon was about increasing productivity, reducing overwhelm. And the interesting thing that happens is when we move into a lighter, more energized state, our way of being it actually increases our productivity.
Speaker 1 9:59
The other thing that I Just want to mention is to build your awareness of the signs and symptoms of burnout. Because these are like we don't necessarily have to be diagnosed as clinically burnt out, because there are like 12 phases to burnout. You don't necessarily have to be diagnosed, to be feeling some of these things. But the more that we can be aware of what those things are, the better that we can adjust what we're doing, how we're doing, what we're thinking, how we're feeling, early enough so that we can prevent ourselves from going down the path of burnout diagnosis, right. So I just want to quickly run through them with you. So that you've got that awareness. So if these are things for you that you're like, Yes, that's me. Yes, that's me, it's really important that you do this mindset reset stuff. So the first one is fatigue and exhaustion. So if you're feeling tired, and drained, even after you're getting what feels like adequate, rest and sleep, chances are, you're on the path to burnout. If you have a reduced sense of motivation, if you're losing interest in enthusiasm for activities or tasks that usually you really enjoy, that can also be a sign, having a negative attitude and a negative outlook, feeling really cynical or pessimistic about life in general, or about your business, decreased productivity and massive one, if you're struggling to concentrate and focus, if it's taking you longer to complete tasks than it normally would that decrease productivity is a sign that things need a little bit of TLC. And physical symptoms. Of course, sometimes it shows up as headaches for a lot of people stress will show through his headaches, often gut problems, which sometimes, you know, you may correlate to being Ah, maybe it was that thing I ate, maybe it was a quiet, you know, was a bit funky. Or, you know, there's any any number of reasons that sometimes we put down stomach problems to could actually be instead, a signal of burnout, I was really surprised to hear that gut problems can be a symptom, right? Also emotional sensitivity, if you're feeling extra irritable or emotional, more sensitive than usual. And detachment or self isolation, so withdrawing from family and friends withdrawing from social interactions, when typically you are a social person, that can be a sign, also insomnia. So if you're failing to fall asleep easily, if you're struggling to stay asleep, if it's really disrupted and restless, it can be a sign of burnout. So if any of those for you, you're like nodding along to that you're like, yeah, that's kind of true for me right now, towards the end of the year, it is pretty common to feel one or a few of these things. So I want you to know that you're not alone. It's also especially important to understand and then do what alleviates those burnout signs for you. And most helpful is to rest to recharge and to reset, hence why today I'm here to talk about a mindset reset. But often what people will say is, but I don't have time for that stuff. Like I kind of know that I probably need to exercise. I know that I need to get more sleep. I know that probably I need to go and socialize with my friends because afterwards I feel better. But I don't have time to do that stuff right now. And I want to say that I hear I do I hear you. But here are the benefits. When you do those things. You will lift your cortisol, sorry, you'll reduce your cortisol. So the stress hormone that that comes up is called cortisol. And by reducing the cortisol, you're you will be experiencing less anxiety and stress. You will also activate your body's relaxation response through the parasympathetic sympathetic nervous system. So it will counteract and help you when you are feeling stressed to lower that stress response. When you activate your body's relaxation response, which I'm going to share with you in a minute. It will also help you with emotional regulation, meaning that you'll be able to manage and process your emotions more effectively. And that will lead to better stress management right. And also increasing your resilience. You're going to bounce back more quickly from stressful situations and events. If you have put the time to rest, recharge and reset. It's also going to help you out with your sleep. It can also help you lower your blood pressure and increase your immune response. It will also enhance your concentration and your focus and deliver a higher quality of productivity, better decision making improved memory like and like we can all use that, right? I don't know about you. But my memory is nowhere near as good as it used to be. I'm blaming 40 for that. So, now that I've explained the benefits, hopefully you're like, Okay, John's right, I get it, it's worthwhile me doing this mindset reset. So quick things you can do to activate these responses in your body to do a bit of a reset. The first one is deep, slow breathing, especially slowing down the out breath. And I always thought that the in breath was the most important, but it's actually the outbreath that signals to the brain, because it's a slow outbreak, that you are calm, you are safe. And it will stop the release. Or it will slow the release of cortisol to the brain from the brain and engage the parasympathetic SPIVA my tongue back in my head, engage their parasympathetic nervous system. The other thing you can do is you can elevate your legs. So put your legs up the wall, lie on the floor, legs up the wall, or put your legs over the back of the couch, and kind of like just sinking into it and let your head flop back. And it helps to bring more oxygenated body to your brain and your heart. So that's a nice easy one. Taking a slow stretch, really great one for the body to be like I'm cool, I'm calm. There's nothing to stress about. So when we're kind of like, changing the brains understanding of what our body's doing, if our body is like, really tense and our shoulders are up, and we're breathing shallow, and you know, we're not releasing our muscles, our body goes, Oh, my goodness, we're in danger, we're feeling stressed, I need to pump the body full of cortisol, because that's going to help me to, you know, escape from this dangerous situation. But it's not what we need. Because we don't want to be reactive. We want to be responsive when we're in a state of stress to make the right decisions and not make decisions that we're going to regret later as a business owner, right. The other one is to invigorate your sense of smell. So use a something that you really enjoy the smell off. So that's why we bought White Sage into the space for the event to kind of like take in the energy is energy clearing, right if you are into the woowoo stuff, but it's also a really beautiful scent, you could use essential oils. And what it does, it lights up the feel good feelings in our body. It supports our mental state and it can help encourage the brain to release endorphins that make us feel good, that make us feel calm, and safe and happy. So those are the quick wins that you can do for yourself. But if you're still like John's, I don't have time for this stuff. I'm really busy. Well, after the break, I'm gonna give you five tips that you can use to optimize your productivity. So you can carve out more time to support yourself and to support your mindset. So Black Friday deals are here and I have a steal for you that I want to share. It's a way that you can work one on one with me as your business coach. I've got a brand new package that I've released just in time for Black Friday deals. This is my new 12 week private coaching program designed to give you ultimate guidance, support and accountability as you grow your business. Each month you'll get a 60 minute coaching call on zoom with me, followed by a 20 minute phone call a fortnight later to check in, answer any questions you have and keep you energized and moving your business forward. This is my Kickstarter 12 week program. It's high touch point. So every fortnight you get a one on one with me either via zoom in our 60 minute session, or I'll pick up the phone and we have a 20 minute combo. I'm going to be working with you on your business goals with high touch points to keep you motivated to keep you accountable to make sure that you're getting stuff done.
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So this is an awesome deal. It's $497 If you want to do a standalone 60 minute session with me right but as a Black Friday deal, you get double the value for the same price. So this Kickstarter package inch is $1,490. But I'm splitting it over three payments for you of 497. So the package includes 360 minute zoom coaching sessions, 320 minute accountability phone calls, plus you get inbox messenger support Monday through Friday nine to three. So like I said, it's the ultimate coaching package, if you know you need me at your fingertips, with that third level of support and accountability, to grow your business and your mindset beyond what you thought was possible. I've also got some deals on mini courses and templates. So you can go check them out on a handout, comm forward slash black. Okay, so you're really busy. There's not enough hours in the day as it is, let alone making time to care for yourself and your mindset. So let me give you five tips to optimize your productivity. So you can carve out that time to support yourself and your mindset. So here are my five, maybe six tips that I'm going to offer you today. Are you doing the right work? This is about getting really clear as to whether you're running around being busy, without really achieving much in the process. Now we've all had those days, right? Where you feel like you've been on that hamster wheel and you've been doing things and you get to the end of the day, and you're like, Ah, I feel like I haven't really achieved anything today. So it's really important that you understand that the tasks that you're doing, actually achieving a result in the process. And this matters as much for our homes as it does our business, getting really clear about what really matters and what really needs to get done. So, you know, the wrong kind of work could be that you're saying yes, to anyone who wants to have a coffee with you and pick your brains, the right work would be to be like, Okay, let's let me strategically build a relationship with someone who can help me as well as I help them in return, and foster that kind of relationship and say yes to those kinds of people who want to go out for coffee. Wrong work could be sending an email to five people that creates like an email train, where everyone's throwing in their opinions. And it's kind of like, you know, back and forth thing, and it's creating like more hassle than it was worth. Instead, the right work would be to identify the decision maker, and pick up the phone and give them a call. If you are micro micromanaging your team, like wanting to be involved in every single detail, instead, hire the right smart people and trust them in doing their job. So the question I want you to ask is, Am I doing the right work? You know, going into a sales meeting, before knowing what their budget is, you're gonna be spending time trying to figure that out going backwards and forwards, instead of asking the question upfront, so you can show up to that meeting with the solution that meets their budget. Right? So thinking about ways that you can ensure that yes, you're getting stuff done, that you've got, you're doing it in a really strategic way. So asking the question, Am I doing the right work? The next one is asking, is it working or not? And if it's not, don't do it harder. So not everything you try to do inside your business is going to work, there's going to be some things that you thought were like, Yes, I'm on the money with this one, this one's going to be a fantastic idea. And then it doesn't work out the way that you thought it would. It's okay, I'm giving you permission, and you need to give yourself permission. It's okay to pivot, it's okay to sidestep, it's okay to do things differently than the way that you thought you shouldn't have first place. And this is where like having an end of month process that you can follow just a simple check in with your analytics and your results to see what's working and what's not is really vital to the success of your business. And it's vital to the way that you can plan for productivity and making sure that you're not just doing busy work. So get really clear on what's working and what's not. And if it's not working, don't do it harder to try and make it work. But give it a chance. Yes, absolutely. But if it's really if you can, if you can see by looking at your analytics and looking at your results, that all the time and energy and effort you're putting into the thing isn't working the way it should, or the way that you imagined then it's time to pivot. It's time to try and do things differently. The 8020 rule is my next one. So it's likely that 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of the activities that you're doing inside of your business. But do you know what that is? Do you know? Have you been through your numbers? Do you know your numbers well enough that you can say, and you can see where the 80% of your revenue is coming from? And can you track back through the process of the customer journey to figure out what are the actions that you're doing your marketing, your sales, all of the different things that you set up for your customer journey? What are the things that you are doing, that are actually working to bring in that revenue? And can you be doing more of those things, right. So get clear on where your revenue is coming from, what activities are generating those leads and those sales and do more of that, and drop the activities that are just busy work. That's not driving that result. And again, this goes back to having those end of month checklists that you do each and every month, or each and every fortnight to be like, right, let me just do a temperature check on where my business is that if you don't do that, if you've just like putting your head in the sand, and you're crossing your fingers, hoping that everything's gonna work out, it's an it's not a strategic way to run your business. It's not, that's not you owning your role as a business owner, when you're owning your role as a business owner, and you're stepping into your true potential, you should know the revenue coming into your business, and you should have a really clear understanding of how those leads are coming in. And what it is that's helping to turn those leads into conversions right to people paying and buying from you. The other thing here is to know when 80% is good enough. And what I'm talking about here is perfectionism. So if you identify with being a perfectionist, I want you to listen up, I want you to stop what you're doing. If you're multitasking right now I want you to tune in, because this is a really big one. Spend less time on the shiny details, right, and more time on the things that actually are going to achieve the results. Perfection steals away your opportunity of doing more elsewhere. So know that 80% is good enough. Know what that 80% is for you. And don't get lost in the perfectionism because it will only stop you from moving forward and taking action on the things that are actually going to drive more business more like a higher level of customer service, whatever it is, but don't get lost in the detail. Okay. And my last one actually is my second last one is to start to say no, and to learn to say no quickly. Not only do we waste our time, but we can waste other people's time as well. And it can lead to frustrations and roadblocks. And it can also damage relationships. So learn how to say no. And have the confidence to say no quickly if you know that it's not the right decision for you. So often, the fear in saying no happens because we're worried about offending people or, you know, we want to be seen as the nice person we don't want to be seen as the meanie as my kids would say whenever I say no to them, like so mean mom, right? So, ways that you can say no, nicely, respectfully. Here's a couple of examples for you. If you really struggle with this, if you're a people pleaser, right? Say something like thanks so much. But this is not for me right now. But feel free to send through other ideas in the future. I would love that. You could also say I like the sound of that, but it doesn't fit with my current strategy. You cannot and you will never be responsible for somebody else's happiness. And it's not up to you to manage their feelings. It's up to you to manage your boundaries, your time and your workload. So it's not on you as your responsibility to take ownership of how they're going to feel when you say no. Another way you can say no is like I'm already at capacity right now. And I can't take on another
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project. But I can think of such and such who might be able to help you would you like me to connect you two together? So although you're saying no, you're offering up an opportunity for somebody else to step in and help them with whatever it is that they need. And my last one here for you is to plan your day. Plan your week. have a pretty clear understanding of the month ahead for you and your business, it's a minimum. This is essential in being able to maximize your productivity, when you spend just five minutes planning out your day. I like to do it the day before, if not the best time that most productive weeks that I have is when on a Friday afternoon, I sit down, I look at the commitments that I have in my day for the week ahead. I look at my goals as in, like, what are the things that I need to create, like the backend of my business, one of the things I need to be working on inside of my business. And then I like clearly map out a time block each day of the week, for that week ahead. The great thing about that as a plus is on the weekend, I'm not going oh my goodness, I've got to remember to do that, I better just duck into the office and write that on my notepad. You know, I go into the weekend feeling calm and relaxed, knowing that my week has mapped out for me. And it allows me to unplug from my business, which is so important. When you need that mindset reset, it's important for you to be in the moment with your family on the weekends. And it's important for you not to be switched on and like your brain constantly working. The other beautiful thing that happens when you can do that is it creates space for you to have new inspired ideas. So you know, there's so much value in applying that one especially. So by doing those things that I just kind of outlined in those tips for you, you will see that you actually have more time than you think or more time than you feel you have right now. Because time is often a perception, we've often perceived that we don't have enough time or we're so busy. But actually when you break it down and you map out your week, it's not so much the case that you don't have enough time, it's like you've just got to prioritize, you've got to make a choice, you've got to choose to use your time wisely, and work smarter, not harder. And working smarter also includes looking after you. It includes recognizing when you need a mindset reset, and knowing that what helps you to make that shift, and then doing the things that help you to make that shift. And trust me, you will thank yourself, you will feel more confident, you will feel more energized, less stressed, less cynical, and you will prevent that pressure cooker meltdown, that right now might feel like a real possibility for you. This morning, actually, I had a coaching call with Karen. She lives in Geraldton in Western Australia, and she runs an established dance studio. And we've been working together now for over 12 months. And you know over the years, whilst building her, her dance studio, she kind of positioned herself without kind of realizing that she positioned herself as the linchpin for her business. And she was the doer of most things inside of her business. So what we did when we first started working together as we outlined her business and personal goals, and then we got really clear on what other what activities were growing the business and what activities needed to be prioritized. And one of those things was freeing up Karen. To enjoy life away from the dance studio, she felt kind of handcuffed to her business, shackled to her business. And she felt like it would all fall down without her. And we've been working really hard to change that. And we've been she's been implementing systems and processes and marketing, changing your marketing structure, working lots on her mindset and really letting go of control. And she was reflecting on how far she's come. Because she had her annual concerts this time last year. And this time last year, she was really struggling to keep her head above water. Everything was organized by her. She was the point of contact for everything. And this year, what was amazing was that she was able to sit in the audience in the auditorium and watch the full rehearsal. She had no specific job to do, because she'd effectively delegated right. And when I asked her how she was feeling, she said I just feel so calm. And when I asked her what she felt the shift or the the transformation like what was the cause of that trip because it has absolutely been a transformation for her from when I started working with her to where she is now. And she said I have spent the year prioritizing And then I've had a perspective shift that has allowed me to work on what's important. And I'm sharing that little story with you that experience that Karen has had. Because if it's possible for Karen, it's possible for you to. And I want you to know that. And so as I always do, when I'm working with my clients, I want to set some action steps for you right now. Let's start by connecting you to, and getting you to pay attention to your thoughts, and your emotions and your reactions. And tuning into yourself that innate, that innate understanding of who you are and what you need. And that innate knowing of how you're really feeling like allow yourself to go there and ask yourself the question, How am I feeling? That's your first action step? How am I feeling? The next one is what micro actions would help you to switch into a lighter, more energized state? And the third part of this is, are you willing to make a promise to yourself to make those micro actions happen? Are you willing to have it stack these so that every day, you can shift into that lighter, more energized state and remain there? So when you're brushing your teeth, when you're making a coffee, when you're taking a shower? The everyday things you do? Habit, stack it with the question? How am I feeling today? When you're brushing your teeth, how am I feeling today? Then what micro steps would help us to shift into that lighter, more energized state? What can I do for myself? What's a micro step that I could do right now that would help? I probably need to go for a walk at some point. Today, I might take a stretch, I might just take some deep breaths, and slowly exhalation. And it's with those micro shifts that you can unwire yourself from overwhelm, that you can train yourself to recognize earlier in the piece, when you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed and stressed. And instead of allowing that to build up like a pressure cooker, instead, you're releasing the valve the valve, you're leasing that pressure every day, or multiple times a day. If you've if you're habit stacking it when you're brushing your teeth when you're making a coffee when you're taking a shower when you're hopping into bed at the end of the night. So what do you reckon? You reckon you can do that? I reckon you can do that. And I'd love I'd love love love for you to send me a DM. And let me know if this episode has been helpful for you. And if it's really what you feel that you now know you needed, because that was certainly the experience from the event that we that we did the other day is at the end of it was like, Ah, that was just what I needed. When I walked in the room, I didn't know that I needed it. But my goodness, I'm so glad we just did that. I hope that that's the sense that you got today. So send me a DM. If that's true for you. Let me know what's been most helpful for you. It's always good for me to get that feedback. I love hearing from our listeners. And remember, you can download all of my doc points to help you with your mindset reset. If you go to Donna han.com forward slash mindset reset. You'll find it there. And that's in front of you today. Thanks so much for tuning in. Enjoy some rest. Enjoy a moment of pause, and have a great day. Bye. Thank you so much for tuning in to this episode of The shiz in business podcast. Make sure you hit follow so that you are the first to know as soon as a new episode drops. And if you really want to deliver me smiles send me a DM find me on Instagram at Donna Han underscore coach and tell me what you loved most
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about this episode. Also, feel free to let me know what topics you need to learn more about if you are a regional businesswoman, ready to rise and soar towards success. I'll see you back here next week for another episode.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
