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Have you ever found yourself finishing your work day deflated, even though you worked your butt off, juggling your business and your home life, or maybe going to bed at night? Your mind's racing and thinking, I'm doing everything right? I feel like I'm working all the time. Why don't I have more clients? Why am I still struggling? Maybe you're even considering just throwing in the towel in 2022 that was me. My revenue had flatlined. Depression had now set in, and I was using alcohol to numb the overwhelming pressure of trying to keep all the balls in the air. I was doing everything the Guru said I should do, but something was fundamentally broken. The thing is, I'm not alone in this experience. So many solopreneurs are caught in this cycle of trying to do all the right things, but feeling like they're not getting anywhere. It's part of the reason that I started this podcast. So wouldn't it be nice to wake up enthusiastic about your day, knowing where you're going to focus, and confident that's contributing to you having a profitable business that you're not constantly putting out fires or scrambling to get things done, to have a clear mind because your business runs on efficient systems that work for you, not against you, to have more time with your family, to have a supportive community of fellow entrepreneurs who get it, who get you, who help you navigate the challenges and celebrate those wins and at the end of the day feeling satisfied and confident in your choices, not lying awake second guessing every decision that you've made. This isn't just some nice to have fantasy. This is entirely possible when you have the necessary pieces that are fitting and working together. And that's exactly what I'm going to share with you today. Ready to break free from the solopreneur struggle. This is the ease and impact thriving as a solopreneur Podcast. I'm Frankie J a sofa, a mum and an eight year solopreneur myself. Join me as I peel back the layers to a thriving online business without the guru hype or the burnout. I'm going to show you the proven strategies and tools that I use so you can build a sustainable digital business without sacrificing your well being. Let's get you thriving as a solopreneur.
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Hey there, and welcome to ease and impact. So if you're new here, make sure you hit that follow button, because what I'm about to share might just change everything about how you view your solopreneur journey. Because when you're a solopreneur, you and your business are uniquely connected, and so when you thrive, your business thrives, and that's the purpose of this podcast, to help you thrive as a solopreneur. Quick story for you. As a kid, I was always the one that my mom gave those impossible flat pack furniture instructions to. I just had a knack for seeing and understanding how the pieces would fit together, even if the manual made zero sense.
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Used later that that ability, those skills allowed me to build a little bridge over a waterway on my property without any engineering or other kind of background or experience. And the reason I mention this is it's actually a great metaphor for what I want to talk about today. Running a successful online business isn't necessarily about following some guru's generic instruction manual. It's about using that as a guide and understanding how the pieces fit together in a way that works for you. So I'm going to give you those pieces, but each of you listening today is probably going to use them in a slightly different way that works for you and your business. So this led me to develop what I call the ease method. It comes from recognizing patterns and gaps that kept showing up in my business, and as I worked with clients, and I spoke about all of those in the beginning of this episode, so much so that clients started to come to me for one thing, such as video creation or online course creation, and we end up working on their entire business because it's all connected. So let me break down for you now the four essential elements that create a profitable but balanced digital business. The first is enhanced mind. If you caught Episode Two about breaking free from solopreneur paralysis, you'll know how critical Your mindset is, because in that episode, we talk about five strategies for beating fear and overwhelm, and they're just as relevant here, because when your head's in the right place, everything else becomes possible. So for example, this could look like some kind of morning routine, meditation and mindfulness practices, understanding energy management versus time management, recognizing and breaking negative thought patterns, setting boundaries with clients and work hours, working through and managing imposter syndrome, cultivating resilience so there aren't any more setbacks, and above all, maintaining work life balance, which is especially important if you're a parent like me. Now, everyone listening to this has a different mind view or perspective on things of what's keeping them up at night.
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So there is no one size fits all here. It's unique to what you need. Number two, align strategy. And this isn't just about copying what worked for someone else. It's about creating a path for your clients in a way that actually fits with you, your business and what your clients needs are. So for example, this could look like content creation that is aligned with your style, your uniqueness, your strengths, not just being the same as everyone else or could be reviewing your pricing. And no, I don't necessarily mean that that means you're charging less, changing how you deliver your training, so that energizes you, rather than draining you or having sales conversations that actually feel good and aren't pushy or fear based, learning to have flexibility, to adapt to different seasons of your life and a workflow that matches your natural productivity patterns. For example, I'm not a morning person, and I have peaks and troughs throughout the day when I'm best matched to a certain energy to get work done. Actually an app I used to discover that was called The Rise app. Definitely check it out. But again, there's no one size fits all here. Take from this list some of the options that you think you could focus on next smart technology. And if you listened to last week's episode, which was all about digital decluttering, you know, I am not talking about having the latest shiny new tool. It's actually just about having the right tools that serve your business. But this can mean using things like automation that actually saves time. It can be used throughout your customer journey, or just making sure that your all your tools talk to one another without Have you having to do tasks manually using AI tools that enhance rather than replace, or project management systems that reduce that brain clutter, or maybe it's Content Scheduling so you're not having to panic because you haven't posted something, or being able to look at analytics that inform rather than overwhelm. And finally, to finish off, the word ease is quite simply your ecosystem.
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So just because you're a solopreneur does not mean you have to do it all alone. In fact, there's a great, I think it's African proverb that says, if you want to go fast, to go alone, but if you want to go far, go together, being able to have a community around you to build you up and guide you is invaluable.
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These are things like mastermind groups, working with coaches or mentors for specific areas to grow in community support groups with some kind of daily challenges or even accountability partnerships or groups. These four key elements are the basis for my ease and impact, membership and community. If you are interested to learn more about that, you can find a link in the show notes. But for now, let me show you how all these pieces fit together in real life. Think about having just the enhanced mind and aligned strategy working together. When these two click, you've got a clear direction you're managing overwhelm. You know exactly who you serve and how, but without the tech and community pieces, you end up spending hours on tasks that could be automated, or getting stuck because you have no one to bounce ideas off or to help you think outside the box that you're stuck in. Or let's say you've got your strategy nailed and your text running smoothly. You could have the best systems in the world, but if you're battling limiting beliefs or lacking the support of a community who gets it, you're still not able to operate from a place where things can be done with ease, where you have a balance in your life and your business, and you're not just hustling and burning out.
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When smart technology and ecosystem integration work together, you've got both the tools and the support to implement them effectively, but without the enhanced mind and aligned strategy, you might find yourself with an awesome set of tech tools that are not actually aligned with your way of working and just makes everything sound automated or like everyone else or like it was generated by AI.
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And finally, with enhanced mind, maybe paired with your ecosystem, you've got the mental resilience and support system to tackle any challenge without the strategy and technology pieces, you might find yourself with all this wonderful potential but no clear path to monetize it. The thing about balance is you can't fake it. Sure you can just push harder, buy more tools, follow more strategies, but this is only going to work for so long. And at my lowest point in 2022 I had all the right pieces according to all the gurus, but they weren't working together. What I've learned and what I see time and time again with solopreneurs I work with is that success isn't about adding more. It's about integration. It's about seeing the whole picture and making all the pieces work together, just like solving those flat pack puzzles, or me building that bridge. I see so many solopreneurs wondering why they feel like they're working hard but they're not seeing any benefit, which is taking a toll on them and their families. Maybe they're just burning out because.
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They're missing certain pieces of their puzzle. They're either trying to do it all themselves, or they're stuck in a cycle of buying new tools, or jumping from tactic to tactic, hoping the next one will be the answer. Or they're following strategies that look good on paper, but don't really work or feel right for them, look I know what it feels like to be drowning in your business but trying to maintain the appearance that everything is fine, and I also know that there is a better way. And using these four elements, working together, you start running a business that feels less like a constant struggle and more like a natural flow of things, hence the word ease. Now I'd love to hear what part of today's episode resonated most with you. Just drop a comment below, because, as you know, even though we're solopreneurs, we don't have to do this all alone. And if you're ready to take what I talked about today and create your own sense of ease, then make sure you jump on the wait list for the ease and impact membership and community. There is a link in the show notes to that below. Join me next Tuesday, 10am New Zealand, time for another episode, and thank you so much for listening, my friends. You.
