In a session with one of my private clients earlier this week, we created a big exciting breakthrough together that allowed her to create more time + financial freedom. 

Over the past 3 months of working together, one of the big topics we’ve been strategizing around is different ways to scale & grow her business.

But since the quality of her work as a craftswoman/maker is so important to her, as well as the environmental impact of the materials she uses for her product, the traditional approach of making more product for cheaper wasn’t going to fly.

The care she puts into every one of her creations feels sacred to her, and the process of creating feels like a ritual.

So as we were playing with different ideas about how to scale, she came up with the creative insight to outsource the time spent traveling & attending trade shows, pop-up shops, and markets as a vendor by recruiting a few people to be ambassadors for her business, and to take their product with them to the places they were already going.

Brilliant, right?!

Now, she’s able to make more money while cutting travel & vendor costs while continuing to share her gorgeous creations with the world. 

Not only will she be making more money through doing work she loves & that feels meaningful to her, but this shift also gave way to mega time freedom that will allow her to feel more grounded, be a more present partner + mama for her family, & to have more spaciousness to birth her new endeavors that have been hatching as her creative energy has been overflowing since we began our work together.

Now, she has the time, energy, & finances to invest in midwifing her new website, authentic marketing content, an e-course, & can produce her hats without feeling rushed or like she’s forcing her creativity.

Most people think that in order to get more done, we have to be constantly doing more.

We’ve been taught & conditioned that in order to make more money, experience more success, and make a difference in the world that counts, we have to DO more.

In our current collective paradigm, the notion of “doing more” often translates to having to sacrifice our health, our families, our relationships, & everything that isn’t directly related to our business or cause. 

But really, when we take the time to receive support & guidance, step out of the “doing” and into our “being” so that we can hear what we’re being called toward, and honor our unique rhythm and needs, we become so much more productive.

When we finally make the decision to unsubscribe from the old belief system of a pushing, forcing, efforting, struggling, earning, & hustling way of working, leading, & doing business, we can begin to honor a new way of working smarter.

When we free ourselves from the old paradigm of belief, we can begin to implement strategies of working smarter that up-level our results, impact, & freedom in an unprecedented way.

Working smarter necessitates taking time away from working IN our businesses and doing #allthethings on that never-ending checklist, to carve out space to reconnect to the heart of our work, our big picture vision of what we feel called to create, & to deepen into our mission and leadership. 

When we do this, we come back to our work more clear, energized, aligned, focused, rooted, & confident. We feel less overwhelmed, stressed, burnt out, unsteady, flighty, & caught up in the minutia of the daily “grind.”

When we prioritize taking sacred space for ourselves as the leaders of our businesses, we instantly shift from HUSTLE to FLOW.

We become more effective, efficient, and impactful when we take time away from the “busy” to deepen into the high-level planning, strategy, & soul of our creations. 

How to start working smarter today

1. Book out space in your calendar to show up for the higher-level planning, strategizing, & visioning that tends to be the thing we always think will happen later but never does. Make an appointment with yourself that feels fun & enlivening, and weave in some ritual to your approach to make sure it feels sacred to you. You can also sign up to attend a retreat for additional support, block off dates on your calendar for a vacation, & carve out space at the beginning of each week to schedule in self-care.

2. Join a like-hearted tribe of other women walking a similar path who are also committed to living, leading, + working in a new way that honors our unique rhythms, needs, & desires as women today. Find (or create) a sisterhood that takes a holistic lens to see the WHOLE woman, instead of just limiting the scope to her business or her relationships, so that you create results in every area of your life faster and with more ease.

3. Make it known that you’re working on making this shift to important people in your life who can hold you accountable to not falling into old patterns of “grinding it out” & overcommitting yourself to your work at the expense of the rest of your life. This may include your partner, friends, co-working group, book club, women’s circle, family, kids, and self-care accountability buddy. Voicing our intention helps make it feel real, adds some weight and “stickiness” to a new habit, and helps us to stay in integrity with our commitments.

To share how this message has resonated with you, leave a comment on the blog! And feel free to share this post with others.

In Love + Sisterhood,