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EP 19: What's Next? Navigating Freelance Plateaus
88 Plays11 months ago
Ever feel like you're at a plateau with your freelance or service-based business journey? If you answered "yes," this is THE episode for you, friend! This week, Lindsay and Betsy dive into some ways to identify a plateau and tips on how to navigate your way through the feeling of "what's next" - something many of us can relate to.
Disclaimer: this episode may not be for you and where you are in your current journey. Not everyone has that feeling of needing more or that something else is waiting on the horizon, which is OK!
This episode is broken into five segments; see timestamps below and jump to the part that resonates with your journey the most if you need to!
- 6:05 - Segment 1: Recognizing the Plateau
- 13:48- Segment 2: The Corporate Temptation
- 22:16 - Segment 3: Embracing Entrepreneurial Thrills
- 33:10 - Segment 4: Expanding Your Business Horizons
- 38:22 - Segment 5: Nurturing Sustainable Growth
Follow The Business Playdate online & come say hi!
- The Business Playdate Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebusinessplaydate/
- Lindsay White's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindsaywhite.co/
- Betsy Moorehead's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/betsymoorehead.biz/
- Learn more about Lindsay's marketing program here: https://lindsaywhite.co/
- Learn more about Betsy's marketing services here: https://betsymoorehead.com/
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Transcript
Introduction to Business Playdate
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Business Playdate, a podcast hosted by Lindsay White and Betsy Moorehead, two internet strangers turned business besties. We're two marketing professionals living across the country, raising our kiddos while running our own individual businesses. We built these businesses based on our experiences working in corporate management roles with the end goal to be able to show up for our families first. And we did it. We're so happy you're here with us. Now let's get into this week's episode.
Optimism for 2024
00:00:30
Speaker
Hey, Betsy. Good morning. How are you? Good morning. I'm good. Just here we are week like what? Four of 2024 thriving and surviving. I feel like 2024 is our year. I feel like it is. It is. I do. I was like thinking this morning.
00:00:48
Speaker
on my morning jog that I just feel like things are really good. I feel like we're moving in the right direction in 2024. I feel like I've got my shit together a little bit. I kind of do too, which is like a weird feeling for me. Yeah, and I don't really like what a jinx it, so I'm going to quickly knock on wood.
00:01:10
Speaker
I don't know. It does feel good. I was thinking like, oh my gosh, I can't believe it's still January. I feel like a lot has already happened this month, personally, professionally, business-wise too. It's nice when you can look up and you're like, oh, today it's only January 19th. We still have several more days of the month, but so much has already happened and been accomplished.
Mastering Sourdough & Time Management
00:01:28
Speaker
Well, what's your biggest accomplishment? What are you most proud of? That I'm dominating making sourdough bread.
00:01:34
Speaker
Look at you go. You are dominating. You are crushing it. I actually have two loaves in the fridge right now that I plan to bake off today. Amazing. Amazing.
00:01:45
Speaker
No, I think seriously though. My biggest accomplishments so far are probably really sticking with my time blocks and my flows, but also not just with business, with my daily routine and I've been going on my regular runs.
00:02:05
Speaker
being really kind to myself, at least I'm trying to be. And so I think that's just trickling into all the different aspects of my life, which I'm very proud of. And I can feel it working.
Home Cooking & Family Life
00:02:17
Speaker
So intentionality is my word of the year.
00:02:21
Speaker
We went to a school tour last night and had to grab Chipotle on the way home. And it's so funny because we had the realization like we have not really had any takeout food this year in 2024, which is a huge accomplishment. That is amazing. While we were waiting to move into our house, we were eating a ton of takeout food. And so I'm like, oh my gosh, like we've been cooking almost every night. We have been eating well. So really proud of myself for that.
00:02:48
Speaker
That's a great accomplishment because with two kids in such a busy schedule, it is hard not to just drive through and go get something after school or on the way home from work or something like that. I mean, there's a lot of mental breakdowns during cooking time period, but we're doing it. Someone is always screaming and sometimes it's a child and sometimes it's me. You never know. You never know what you're going to get. I love that. Exactly. Well, good.
Business Growth Disclaimer
00:03:12
Speaker
Well, I'm excited for
00:03:15
Speaker
Another great episode we have here for you guys. Um, Lindsay has like a brief disclaimer that we want to just put out there for a minute. So if you're listening, just take a pause. So the title of today's episode is what's next navigating freelance plateaus. And I wanted to just give everyone a heads up that if you're listening to this and you don't feel that like hunger to do more or, you know,
00:03:44
Speaker
you don't feel like you need to or want to get to the next level of your business, whatever that might be. Don't listen to this episode. You don't need to feel like you need to get to the next level or hit that next income bracket or
00:04:01
Speaker
It's okay to feel totally happy and content where you're at. And this episode might not be for you.
Freelancing Burnout & Thrills
00:04:09
Speaker
This episode is for those of us like myself, who I am feeling this majorly right now, are
00:04:17
Speaker
kind of like having this burnout feeling, this overwhelmed feeling, this lack of excitement about your business and feeling like, okay, there's got to be something next. What is that next business thrill that I'm going to get? This episode is for you, if anything that I just said resonated with you. And if you don't want to feel that way, then maybe just go listen to another episode.
00:04:41
Speaker
Yeah. And I think too, like maybe in the show notes, we'll kind of list out what the different segments are with the timestamps. And if you can resonate with one of the segments, maybe just jump to that part of the episode. Yeah. And that's not to say this episode is not going to be a good episode. It's going to be a great episode. I just don't want to make anyone, I'm super mindful of like, there's so much noise out there. I mean, we just went on a rant about social media. There's so much noise out there making people feel
00:05:06
Speaker
not good enough. And this episode is not intended for that. You should feel good enough no matter what. And if you're not feeling good enough, like maybe you'll listen to our stress episode. Yeah. With Jen, it was great. With Jen, because that was great. I need you to have to like listen to that occasionally on repeat. No, I think that was great. I think that that's a great way to intro this conversation because
00:05:32
Speaker
There are a lot of people out there that probably will want to listen to this episode and can resonate with what we're going to say. And I think that I can partially resonate with this. I definitely am one of those people where like, I do feel okay in my enough, but I do have this kind of like lingering thought of like, what's, what could be next? Like what could be on the horizon? So I'm like, I'm like 50 50, you know? Absolutely. Well, let's, now that we have the disclaimer out of the way, let's get
Recognizing Plateaus in Freelancing
00:05:56
Speaker
started. So today we want to talk about.
00:05:59
Speaker
freelance plateaus and that feeling of what is next. Let's just go ahead and get started with recognizing what a plateau actually is. Do you have any feedback there? Yeah. I think there's several things that come to mind, but if you're
00:06:19
Speaker
If you're in your business and you're all of a sudden like halted with this lack of excitement or like you just feel like you're on this like repetitive wheel, like a hamster wheel or what do they call it? Like a gerbil wheel. Like you're just kind of like, it's very, um, transactional. Like you're just kind of like in and out doing the job every day. There's nothing that's like really making you like filled with joy. Then that might be a sign of a plateau. A funny analogy that I always have in my head is.
00:06:45
Speaker
basketball, like dribbling a basketball. I feel like sometimes in a lot of situations in my life, it's like the ball comes to me and I'm just like hitting it down, like hitting it just keeps coming back. And it's like, no, like I just want to drip. Like, you know, it's like this weird, it's, I'm just trying to get it away. I'm just trying to get it away. And it always is bouncing back. And it's like this weird overwhelming, like by hamster wheel of like, Oh, there's a client request. Like I got to get a diner. Okay. Okay. Like you're just constantly juggling these balls.
00:07:15
Speaker
teenage boys over here laughing. Yeah, right? Feeling the overwhelm of it. And so, I mean, some of the things that make me realize that I'm in this state of, OK, what's next? What am I going to do? I can recognize that I feel that way. But some of the signs that feel that way are like, I'm not excited, right? You might not be excited in what you're doing, or you're not excited to be working. Maybe you're scrolling, or maybe you're doom scrolling when you should be working.
00:07:44
Speaker
Maybe your projects are kind of repetitive. Maybe you're working on the same stuff over and over again and you're just bored. Yeah, for sure. Like feeling like the skills that you have are stagnant and you're kind of feeling this urge or like want to learn something new, but you haven't taken action to do that yet because you're just kind of, don't know where to start. You're just on this repetitive cycle. You're just trying to make it work. You're maybe relying like super heavily on
00:08:13
Speaker
the clients that you have instead of trying to figure out if you need any new clients or you haven't put effort into finding any new clients, even though maybe that's in the back of your head. I feel like one of the things too, and this is specific to me at the moment, but I've had a lot of my clients for a really long time and we're in such a great efficient spot.
00:08:36
Speaker
that I do have the capacity to take on more, but I just haven't. I have not taken action to take on more. When people reach out, I'm like, eh, no, I don't really need any more clients. But it's this place of complacency or stagnant. Whereas I have everyone in such an efficient spot where if you asked me two years ago, can you take on more and be like, no, I'm at my max capacity. But now all of my clients were in such a great rhythm together that I do have more capacity.
Complacency in Business
00:09:03
Speaker
Um, and so, you know, relying on that small group of clients and feeling this complacency, like that's definitely a sign of, okay, where, where are we going here? Yeah. I was talking to a friend in the same, similar space the other day, and we were tired of talking similar to this. Like she kind of had this like sense of, she needed to make a digital product and maybe that was what was next for her. And she was feeling a little stagnant and is this like what she needs to bump up her revenue to the next thing. And.
00:09:32
Speaker
I was talking to her and I was, she was like, I know I need, I need to do something. I just don't know what that is. And I was like, you know what? I feel that all the time where it's like.
00:09:41
Speaker
I love the clients that I work with, but I feel this sense of there's got to be more. There's something that's missing or I want to get to the next step. And I told her, and this is kind of a vulnerable statement, but I was like, I feel like I know I want to do something. I don't know what it is. I want to find someone who can help me brainstorm and really find my calling for the next thing. But then there's this kind of halt inside me of keeping me from
00:10:10
Speaker
reaching out and finding someone to help me do that.
Balancing Business & Home Life
00:10:13
Speaker
And this is going to sound like crazy, but...
00:10:16
Speaker
because I don't want to add more work to my plate right now either. You know, like, I don't know if that like is contradictory of itself, but I know that I'm kind of like, it's almost like I'm afraid to move to the next step. Cause it's like, do I really want to add more work to my plate? Like I'm very like happy with where I'm at almost maybe like too complacent, you know? And so it's like, that's the spot where a lot of us tend to sit in this plateau. And I think a lot of business owners like,
00:10:45
Speaker
And that's okay. You're spending a lot of time right now doing things for your house and for your home. You actually said something to me in a voxel recently where you're like, I like to challenge myself with the things around my house rather than with business right now. And I think that seasons of life are constantly changing. And right now, the season that you're in is like you are being really present with your home and you're serving your home and maybe that's what you're calling is right now. And you don't
00:11:14
Speaker
need to get out of the plateau. You're challenging yourself in other ways. And if you do want to get out of your plateau, amazing. That's great for you. You can and are capable of doing that. But it's going to be a shift of season. It's going to be a shift of the sales. You're going to probably not organize the kids' clothes on a Tuesday afternoon. You're going to be diving into learning a new skill or whatever you're going to have to put in the work. Yeah.
00:11:44
Speaker
I love you. That was so great. I mean, it's true that you can put in the work or not put in the work and put in work in other places. There's only so much we're all capable of giving. Also, my closets are getting done today, so sorry if everyone hears a drill in the background. I'm so excited to see your closets. I'm so pumped on these closets.
00:12:09
Speaker
So yeah, so recognizing the plateau is like the first step here. Like if you feel any of these or maybe like there's other things that you're feeling that we haven't talked about because everybody's situation is different and we would love to hear some of those. I mean, come over to Instagram and tell us like what, or leave a, you know, leave a review here that like kind of tell us, we would love to know because I think the more we talk about this too openly that like these kinds of situations do happen. It's okay to feel like you want more. It's okay to feel like there's something extra out there.
00:12:37
Speaker
It's okay to feel like you're fine, like your disclaimer said too. But if we're getting all this noise thrown at us that we should be doing more and we want to make more money in 10K months, 20K months, blah, blah, blah. You don't have to be doing that. Unless you want to. And if you want to. And it's totally okay to want that. Exactly. If you want to recognize that you're in a plateau and then you have to move forward into what that next step is. I'm in a season of I want it all. I want the next thing, but I also don't want to be present at home.
00:13:07
Speaker
Yeah. The struggle. Yeah, exactly. And I think too, I'm in a season right now.
Allure of Corporate Jobs
00:13:14
Speaker
I feel great. My business is in a good spot. I'm super content with it. But I also know I need to make changes because my season is going to be changing this summer. Yeah. And my kids are going to be home with me a lot more. We don't have great
00:13:27
Speaker
camp options right now and they're going to be home with me. And that's great. I'm looking forward to it. But I know that my work needs to change in how it's done or how it's structured. And so I know that I'm in this
00:13:41
Speaker
seeking ideas phase and like brainstorming phase. And I'm in, I'm in where we're at with segment number two, which is kind of where we're going of, you know, the allure of like trying to figure out what we can do about it and how we can change this. Um, I, we did want to talk about, I think the reason this episode topic even came to was the allure of going back to a corporate job. It is an allure. It does. It does punch.
00:14:10
Speaker
pop in and pop out occasionally, you know? It does. And I think that it probably does for, I don't know, if it does for both of us, it has to pop into our listeners' brains as well. Right. We can't be alone. Yeah. No. We can't be alone. No, absolutely not. And I mean, I think there's a lot of reasons that we get these allures, you know?
00:14:27
Speaker
income stability, it'd be great to not have that worry of like, oh my gosh, if my biggest client left me, then I would have a very small income. That's a terrifying feeling, but that's also a feeling of diminishment. So we can't live in that in fear. We can't be fear-based.
00:14:44
Speaker
Yeah. And then, you know, I mean, like the, like side or like the debunk to that, I guess is what I'm trying to, you know, it's like, we know retainer clients are great and like, and stable and stable.
Retirement & Financial Planning
00:14:58
Speaker
And it does suck if you lose one, cause then you got to find someone to replace it. And so it's kind of like this under overwhelming loom of like, it could happen. Key piece of advice here right into your contracts that you have to have 30 or 60 day notice.
00:15:14
Speaker
from your retainer clients before they leave you. So you have that time paid to find a new client. Yeah. I think another thing that comes to mind is the allure of going back into a corporate setting, a conventional job, all of that is the benefit side of it, especially for the retirement. We mentioned retirement in last week's episode. Yes. I really, really, really want to bring a financial advisor on to talk about retirement options. Any of our listeners
00:15:41
Speaker
our financial advisor who are interested in being on our podcast, please reach out. Please reach out because I think that especially in this space, that kind of thing comes up a lot. It actually came up yesterday in a conversation I was having with another service provider of the
00:15:57
Speaker
I want to be saving for retirement, but what are my options aside from an IRA, you know, all these things. And it's like, you know, if you have a financial planner you're working with, like you can talk to them about that. But I mean, like I brought my, I was like very, it's very like, um, unique that I had a pension at my old job. So I brought that is unique. Yeah. So I brought my pension and like a minor like 401k, you know, I pulled all of that out and put it in an IRA.
00:16:26
Speaker
I haven't contributed to it, though. Girl, you got to do that. I'm bad. I know. I'm given my secrets away to the financial person here that hosts this podcast with me. You got to max that out. I know. That is a definite allure of...
00:16:41
Speaker
a conventional corporate job is a benefit side of it. Insurance, granted, if your significant other works for a company and gets insurance, hop on that. That would be great. Something funny that my husband and I are doing, and we've always done this because we try to have a weekly meeting where we just look at the calendar and what's going on and what we're eating that week.
00:17:03
Speaker
But one of the things that we started doing for 2024, New Year, New Me, is what we're calling $20 investments. And every week we take $20. It could be $200. It just depends how rich we're feeling that day. But $20 and just shuffle it into some savings account, some investments account somewhere.
00:17:25
Speaker
a kid's 529 or my IRA or just slowly siphoning a little bit of money so it doesn't feel... I feel like sometimes there was one year where I funded my IRA all at the same time and I was like, I don't want to... I was so negative on it where I'm like, oh, if I'm just throwing 20 bucks here and 300 bucks there, when I'm feeling like I have that money to just
00:17:51
Speaker
I don't want to say throw away, but like, you know, $20 to spare. I mean, coming from somebody who knows absolutely nothing about finances, me, um, I mean, $20 a week, a little over a thousand dollars. Yeah. I mean, that's like a little over a thousand dollars you could be investing and it feels literally probably like nothing. Yeah. So it's been a fun little thing we've been doing. I'm not going to say $20 isn't nothing to everybody, but on a good day, $20 is everything's expensive these days. So
00:18:22
Speaker
Like a sandwich. $20 doesn't feel like a lot of money these days. No, I'm sad. Thank you very far.
Camaraderie: Corporate vs Freelance
00:18:30
Speaker
So this is a funny one that I know we've both talked about, but another reason I think there's the allure to go back to corporate is someone reaches out. That's connection, an old... What is the term I'm looking for? Someone you worked with? Co-worker? Yeah, an old co-worker, like colleague.
00:18:50
Speaker
It's early, guys. It's 1045. An old coworker and colleague reaches out and is like, hey, I thought of you for this position. We have it open. I'd love to chat if it's something you'd be interested in. It's like that feeling of being wanted is nice. It is nice. I actually had somebody send me a job description for a social media manager position.
00:19:14
Speaker
And I was like, no, thanks. You know, that's very nice of you, but I'm good. Um, but it is, it's nice to be wanted. And it's nice to want people to think like, Oh, they think I would do a really great job at this. So that can be definitely a.
00:19:31
Speaker
Um, an attraction to put into this little, you know, like that corporate temptation. It's like shiny object syndrome too. You know, it's like, Oh, let me look into this. Like what, what kind of salary could this be? What kind of like company culture is this? And well, it's funny. So I saw a post in one of my mom's groups where it was like,
00:19:53
Speaker
We're looking for someone for this role in Atlanta. This was literally last night and I live in Atlanta and So I clicked on it and the thoughts in my head were like, okay. Well, it's like what's it paying? What time do I have to show up to the office?
00:20:08
Speaker
Immediately knolled, immediately knolled. There's no chance I'm leaving my home during any hours to go to any job. No, no, no, no. Even if it was like fully remote work from home, like you're still tied to the man, you know, when you want to be the man.
00:20:25
Speaker
Yeah. What, uh, gosh, I was going to say some things that the, another alert in this like scenario of going back to a corporate job or an office job is the camaraderie that you have with the people that you work with. And I didn't think we don't even have that listed like as like some of the things we were going to talk about, but that's like a big poll. I mean, there are days where like my sweet husband works from home too. And like, we like talk to each other occasionally, like during the work day, but you know, it's like different whenever
00:20:55
Speaker
you have an office full of people who are like a second family to you because you see them probably more than one family if you work in an office setting. And that is one thing that I definitely do miss about the corporate situation. I mean, I was in the same job for 10 years, so I knew those same, it was like all of us worked together for so long, but that is definitely like part of the temptation of
00:21:18
Speaker
when you reach this like plateau and you're like, what's next? And it's like, okay, well, would this be good for my family? And it's like, you know, why did I start this business to begin with? And I do miss the like human connection, but there's other ways of finding the human connection as a freelancer, as a business owner who works for yourself. Like I literally went yesterday and had coffee with another service provider because she and I both were like, we need to get out. We need to like connect with people and make an F intentional effort to
00:21:49
Speaker
to do that. So I think there's other ways that you can schedule that into your week. Yeah. In finding places where you can hang out with people like you and I, we talk on Boxer a lot and we get each other. We get it. It takes time to find your people or your tribe or your community or whatever, but once you do, it definitely helps. It does. It definitely does.
00:22:16
Speaker
All right, so what can we do about it? What can we do about this plateau?
Empowerment from Plateaus
00:22:21
Speaker
I think that we can... I think recognizing it is the first step because it immediately puts you in a place of
00:22:29
Speaker
empowerment. I know that I'm at a plateau. I know I need to make changes. I don't know what those changes are, but now that I know I'm at a plateau and I need to make changes, I'm empowered to figure out what changes I can make. Do you use this when you would make a pro and con list? I actually have a notebook. I literally started a notebook with ideas. Every time an idea pops into my head, it could be as stupid as
00:22:59
Speaker
greeting card business. I'm going to make a greeting card, you know, like it could be so random, but I'm like, let me just like put all of my ideas on a paper so that I've put it somewhere, you know, it's not going to float away. My brain isn't overwhelmed with like trying to keep this running list of like, what I could potentially do. And it also is almost like freeing. Like,
00:23:24
Speaker
open a restaurant, open a wine shop, right? Like I'm never going to do that, but I've written it down and it's almost like gives my brain permission to be like, okay, we've explored that and let's continue thinking. I love that exercise. I think that's wonderful because it gets it out of your head, out of the mental space, kind of puts it out into the universe. And like you said, it gives you permission to think about it and let it go. Somebody yesterday was like,
00:23:51
Speaker
It was like at Ellie's dance class, one of the moms was talking about how somebody told her when some bad energy comes in or a bad thought comes in, give it 10 seconds and then let it go. Yeah. I love that. I was like, I love that. That's hard to do, but I do love that concept. Right. Well, and so things that you can do as a listener to this podcast, or myself or Betsy,
00:24:16
Speaker
some ideas to seek some new challenges in your freelance service business or think about adding new services, think about adding new offers. That's something I'm thinking about right now. I spent all day yesterday building out a new offer that I'm going to be sending out. It's marketing strategy plan templates, y'all. I love that. You're so good at that. If you want it, come get them. But
00:24:39
Speaker
thinking about things. And I'm a big builder. Even if I don't launch something, I love building things. Yeah, you're really good at that. And so I think that brings me some new energy. Lights a fire under you and gives you
00:24:57
Speaker
again, like permission to explore it and then move on if it doesn't make sense. Right. And if I hate the way it turned out, I don't have to, I don't have to launch it. Yeah. Some things too that like come to my mind are finding a new skillset or like doing some like professional development, um, the like investing in something that maybe
00:25:18
Speaker
you have been thinking about wanting to do, like I think I've mentioned, like I'm interested in a mastermind or like some kind of like group coaching program or just something that like.
00:25:29
Speaker
We have great community here and I have found my people and I definitely have my people that I talk to, but I need some business support from somebody who can move me forward in a direction that is not just someone who knows me being like, you can do it, you can do it. I need someone to be like, get the hell up off your ass and let's make this happen. And you try to be that for me occasionally.
00:25:54
Speaker
I do. I do. I think what you're looking for is- I need to pay somebody. I think you need a roadmap or something, or the paying to be accountable for it. Yeah. Yeah. And I'm definitely not one to sit here and say, hey, you should go invest money in something that you don't need. But if you truly think that you need it, and that's going to be the move for you, go for it. Do it. Yeah. Even going on- Sorry.
00:26:18
Speaker
Oh no. I was just going to say, you know, if it wasn't the right choice for you and you think it was a waste of money, like you got to learn that on your own. Yeah. No one else can tell you that. Lesson to learn. Yeah. A lesson you have to learn. Even like, you know, free resources like going on Google or going or not Google, going on YouTube and like looking up like
00:26:35
Speaker
So you want to learn how to be better, and this is totally an example, but you want to learn how to do Excel sheet formulas and be able to build out really cool Excel sheets. You can teach yourself how to do that stuff, or you want to learn Facebook ads. I'm mostly self-taught on Facebook ads. You can totally teach yourself these new skills. It's just being disciplined and putting in the work.
00:26:59
Speaker
and, um, like holding yourself accountable, you know, for learning these tools and not being afraid of like asking questions to people either. I think that's like a struggle that I face is when I don't know something, I'll like Google it to death until I'm finally just like.
00:27:13
Speaker
text somebody that I know that knows the answer, but I didn't want to ask them first. I didn't want to do the research on my own. But even trying out a new tool or a new platform, maybe a new project management system would be a good tool to help get you organized and feeling good and having a new little bit of a
00:27:41
Speaker
I think some other things too is like set time on your calendar to be creative or to brainstorm.
00:27:48
Speaker
I think we're all so freaking busy that being able to set, even if it's go, go for a walk, don't bring your phone, don't listen to a podcast, just be and be with your thoughts, be with your brain. Like think, brainstorm, think about creative ideas, write them down. Like, like I said, I have this notebook and it's full of the silliest of ideas, but some of them are, could be great, you know? I love that. And a lot of them could be terrible, but if you don't have the time set aside to brainstorm, then you might not do it. Yeah.
00:28:16
Speaker
I love that. I need to be better about that because I, um, I'm not really setting time for creativity if it doesn't have to do with like client work or the podcast, you know, but I need to like be better about that for myself. I think that will help me. I think it's really hard to, to step into like a leadership or visionary type of role when you don't set aside that like vision building time. And you can't just craft this vision for your business or for yourself.
00:28:44
Speaker
without like looking, like looking inward and having that time. I don't know. I think that you have to be able to set time aside to do that. Yeah. No, I love that. Another thing I think that you can do is, you know, I have written down say yes with caution.
Balancing Opportunities & Boundaries
00:29:01
Speaker
Um, I think me personally, I'm totally a yes person. If a client asks for something, like I'm going to figure out how to do it. And I think too, like when you're constantly saying yes to,
00:29:13
Speaker
client asks or client demands, you're taking time away from that creative vision time. You're taking time away from yourself. You can easily be leading yourself to burnout. So that's something I think you can be cautious of. But another way to think about that too is say yes to things that if you're not a yes person, maybe consider saying yes to something new because it'll give you the opportunity to try something new. To try it. Yeah. I love that.
00:29:39
Speaker
I know a lot of our listeners are very boundary oriented, which I am as well, but sometimes it's good to, you know, break those boundaries a little bit. Go outside your comfort zone a little bit. Yeah. Um, what are maybe some strategies for kind of reigniting passion and creativity? Have you explored any of those other than like, I love the whole writing down the ideas. Like I love that. I think that's such a great, like tangible thing that people can really start doing.
00:30:06
Speaker
I mean, change your environment. I think that's a big one. I work in my office. I have a lot of windows. It is great. That said, I could go to a coffee shop and it might spark some just different ideas. It's just different than what
00:30:22
Speaker
I usually do. And so I think changing your environment can be great. Learn something new. I know we already talked about that. But again, like you mentioned, learning a new tool or a project management system, that's such a fun thing to do. And it totally reignites these ideas in your head of like, okay, what could I do with this? Look how cool this new
00:30:43
Speaker
thing is within ClickUp or Asana or whatever. And it's like, it just gives you these ideas like Chachi BT is now a thing. And it's like, okay, well, how can I utilize that to the best of my ability to create some sort of new service or offer? Yeah, I think to like collaborating with people that are in similar spaces to you, like,
00:31:04
Speaker
sit down and find somebody that you can talk with and talk about your ideas or that you can collaborate with, that you can like build something with, or you can have like a, like a, um, I'm trying to, what else the word I'm trying to think of. Like, um, like I did a collaboration like face Instagram live with another ads manager. And after we did that, it like really ignited a new passion in me.
00:31:30
Speaker
after I was feeling a plateau on wanting to offer ads management. I think also I talk a lot about what are the things that bring you energy in your days. And so one of the things that brings me energy is talking to people and being in meetings.
00:31:46
Speaker
something that might bring another person energy could be like maybe they love writing a blog post. That brings them energy. It does not bring the energy. But figuring out what those things are and doing more of that. Yeah. And then a big one is exercise, giving yourself
00:32:03
Speaker
Like, I feel like this is a walk. We've become such like mental health coaches. We are. Yeah. But I've noticed such a benefit of going for a run. Like, well, even like this morning, like I was, I had all kinds of thoughts in my head. I think I like, I was, I was like, boxering you. I was like, I'm just going to go for a run and like clear my head before we have the podcast recording. And as soon as I got done with my run, like I felt so much better and I, my mind was cleared and I was like,
00:32:31
Speaker
ready to come on and talk to you because I wasn't when I first woke up this morning. And I think that was like, it's a big thing. Like it kind of goes back to like one of the things I'm the most proud of so far this year is like really like being intentional with taking care of myself and like my mental health and moving my body. It doesn't have to be a run, it doesn't have to be a walk. And I think some of these things can totally be a mindset block and something maybe you do need to get over from like a mental health standpoint.
00:32:59
Speaker
That's what, as we learned from our conversation with Jen, moving your body is one of the ways of keeping your stress, your chronic stress at bay.
Overcoming Plateaus & Expanding Horizons
00:33:10
Speaker
We talked a lot about different ideas on how to seek new challenges and ideas on how to become
00:33:16
Speaker
more creative or ignite your passion in business again. But I think at the end of the day, a lot of this is like going to come down to you as the business owner. You have to take that bold step. You have to put yourself out of your comfort zone. And if you don't want to do that, that's totally okay. But your business is not going to change unless you do, you make a bold decision. Yeah. You're going to stay in your plateau. Yeah. No one's going to be able to do it for you. You are the only one who's capable of making these changes in your business.
00:33:46
Speaker
I mean, that bold move could be hiring someone to take over a piece of your business that you don't enjoy doing or then it frees up your time to think and build and create these new outlets within your business.
00:34:03
Speaker
Yeah. So what is that? So kind of moving on to the next part of this is how are we able to expand our business horizons? What are some ways that we can do that or that we can move into that? What's next concept? I think that's making the bold decisions. Making a choice in what you're going to do next.
00:34:29
Speaker
No one ever wants, making choices is really hard because it feels so finite. Yeah. I was just about to say that word finite. Yeah. And it's a commitment. And I think that's the hardest part is like for me, I have a hard time making decisions. Like I get decision fatigue. I'm constantly making decisions all day long. So then making a choice for myself that only I have control of is really hard.
00:34:57
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Yeah. I have an example of me kind of where I'm at that I'm happy to share. I would do a lot of advertising strategy. I do a lot of advertising strategy for my clients. I do all of the technical stuff. I actually run the ads, all of the management. And I think this thought for me of
00:35:22
Speaker
I'm in, am I in this plateau with doing this? Like what could be next? I know I meant to offer more. I know I meant to do more. I just can't figure out what it is. And so I have this opportunity now to put a proposal together for somebody that would be more of a contract director of marketing.
00:35:37
Speaker
And it feels scary because it's like, okay, this would be more for me, but it would also be a great move to move me into this new direction. So that is a bold decision that I'm going to have to make of when I put this proposal together, what does it look like? Like, what does that mean? You know, what does that mean for my current work, which, you know, I don't think it means like a ton of like,
00:36:01
Speaker
I wouldn't have to get rid of anything. It would just be adding more to my plate, which is like I said earlier, maybe a little bit something that's holding me back. But I know that it's that next step that I need to take to feel like I'm really being fulfilled in my business and I'm like offering my best to my clients. Right. And I think too, being a business owner is a really interesting thing because
00:36:24
Speaker
we're in control. Whereas at our past corporate jobs, there's a ladder that you're following. You know, if you were a account coordinator, eventually you're going to be an account manager, and then you're going to be a director of accounts and that's your progression. And your boss is going to be the one who is determining what responsibilities you are having added to your plate as they see that you're capable of taking on more. Where in a freelance service business,
00:36:51
Speaker
We are the ones who are doing all of that. We are our manager. Yeah. There is a roadmap laid out for us in a corporate job on how to get to the next ring of the ladder, rung of the ladder. But there's not that. We are making the roadmap. We are climbing an invisible ladder that we get to decide how tall it is and how vast it goes. I think that's a great analogy.
00:37:17
Speaker
And it's overwhelming. I mean, there's a reason they don't have it set up like that in corporate. Wouldn't that be interesting? That would be like a wild concept. So it takes a bold choice, a bold decision, and you have to be able to do that. And I think the more you can brainstorm, the more you can
00:37:40
Speaker
like ignite your fire the more you can figure out what does light you up and where you feel that kind of like thrill if you will to move to a different niche or to like expand your skill set or have offer a new offer or completely jump ship and start a whole new business.
Sustainable Offers & Accepting Plateaus
00:37:58
Speaker
Yeah, like I've seen people do that. Yeah, you're gonna have to make a bold choice and you're gonna have to put in the hard work and you're not gonna
00:38:06
Speaker
Like it's going to be a new season for you, a season of building, a season of growth. And that can be hard and it can be scary. And I think that that's the hardest part in this is you're going to have to make a choice to make a change.
00:38:19
Speaker
Yeah, I love that. Kind of goes hand in hand with last week's episode, episode 18 of like now that you've made this bold choice and now that you know you need to take this next step, kind of how are you nurturing that growth with some sustainable offers that feel authentic to this next journey for you, this next season?
00:38:38
Speaker
And so I think if you haven't, definitely go back and listen to episode 18 where we talk about creating offers for your business that are authentic to how you're feeling, to who you are, to how you want your business to be, but that are sustainable so that you can continue down this freelance business owner journey and not reach these plateaus so frequently. Yeah.
00:39:02
Speaker
And I think it's okay to have a plateau. I mean, I would say, I would say I probably sit in a plateau for like once a year. I feel like, okay, I need to take on more. I need, like, I know I'm capable of more. What is more for me? Yeah, a little more frequently than every once a year, probably like every six months for me. But yeah, I think I sit in mine for a bit. Yeah. And try to figure it out. Um, but I think, you know,
00:39:32
Speaker
building something sustainable is so important. So you wanna definitely listen to episode 18 and think about that. And I think the last thing that you can do is create an action plan for yourself. You know, once you've made that choice or that like bold decision, write down a plan that you can follow. I mean, I'm very much like, I need a roadmap to follow and it sounds like you are as well. And like, that's the best thing I think we can do is, okay, it's okay if your action plan doesn't go according to plan, like nothing ever does, but give yourself a roadmap, like,
00:40:01
Speaker
Take an afternoon, throw it down on paper. I want to start offering XYZ. What do I need to have in place to start offering that? What am I going to price it at? Who are the clients going to be? Who's going to buy it? Who's going to be my retainer or client? Write it all down and map it out. Put due dates on it. I'm very due date oriented, and so putting a date on it really helps me. Yeah.
00:40:26
Speaker
I totally agree. Mapping it out is key, getting it out on paper or in a document, however it works for you. Yes. Awesome. Well, I think we talked about some really good things today. How to identify if you are in a freelance plateau, some of the temptation to make a change, why you'd want to make a change, and then some things that we can do about it. So reigniting those passions that you have,
00:40:56
Speaker
seeing where your creativity can land, figuring out some new challenges for yourself, and then how to make that choice and move forward. Yeah, and definitely just remember it's important to stay inspired, be open to new opportunities, but know that you're ultimately in control, and you got this, girl. Yeah, it's a scary place to be, but you got it. You got this far.
00:41:22
Speaker
You made it to the end of this episode too. Could you imagine if you looked at yourself when you took the leap to leave corporate and saw where you're at right now, would you ever be like, oh, she wouldn't feel fulfilled there? When I'm like, oh, OK, I know I'm at a plateau, right? And if I were to look at myself five years ago when I made the jump to this and I saw what I was doing today and saw my website and saw my clients and the money I was bringing in and what services I was offering, I would never be like,
00:41:51
Speaker
Oh, that's not impressive. No, not at all. For some reason today, it's so easy to get in that mindset of like, oh, I'm at a plateau. I'm not impressed with what I'm doing. You would never feel like that. No, you wouldn't. I wouldn't definitely feel that way. I could have never in my wildest dreams imagined what it would have been like three years ago, where I am right now. Yeah, so remember that.
00:42:14
Speaker
Yes, I do. Well, thank you guys for joining. We'd love to hear from you. Again, if you, even if like this really resonated with you and you have kind of like a what's next moment that you want to share with us, leave a review. We'd love to hear that or come DMS over on Instagram at the business play date. And we just appreciate you guys being here with us and going on this journey and listening to us talk about our feelings sometimes. Yeah. So thanks guys.
00:42:47
Speaker
you