I’ve been hearing a lot of people talk about how they feel BURNED OUT.
Even my hairstylist was telling me how she’s working more than ever.
See she, like many small business owners, had to pivot their biz in the last year… and create new, diverse revenue streams.
And now that she’s back doing her day-to-day job… she’s STILL doing her side hustle.
She started a mobile service for her older clientele where she went to their homes to do their hair.
And now, many of them still prefer that. So instead of taking 2-3 days off a week… or even a half day where she doesn’t have clients… she’s packed those spots with mobile customers.
But here’s what’s interesting… she told me that yes, while her body hurts… she feels tired at a SOUL level.
So that’s what we’re gonna talk about today.
4 hacks that are good for the soul… when it comes to getting ahead of burnout…
Or even, speeding up the burnout recovery process.
So today’s first hack is… to invest in help.
But for once, I’m not specifically talking about help in your biz.
I’m talking about help for your life.
Like, let’s say you’re so busy growing your biz that you find yourself not having much time -- or let’s be real… ENERGY -- to do things around your house.
Like clean.
Or grocery shop.
Or make meals.
But the thought of paying someone else to do that is a total block.
Maybe you even see it as wasteful or expensive…
So I wanna offer you another way to think about this.
What is your time worth?
If you work with clients or customers, you probably have an idea.
If you don’t know, assign yourself an hourly rate. But something realistic.
Let’s take the case of my stylist I was telling you about.
She was telling me that it stresses her out how dirty her house is right now because she’s constantly on the go.
And on the ONE day off she gives herself, the last thing she wants to do is clean.
And actually, with how sore she’s been feeling, she pretty much CAN’T do the whole house in one day. So when she does clean, it’s a little bit every day… so she feels like she’s always cleaning.
And yet the house is still dirty. LOL
So I asked her how many hours it takes her to do this. If she actually had the energy to clean her house in one day.
She told me 6.
Then I asked her how much money she could make in a 6-hour day at work.
She told me…
Then I said: You can bring in help to clean one day a month for less than that.
It literally blew her mind.
She never thought of it in those terms.
So then we talked about whether the price for a once-a-month housekeeper would be worth it to:
A) Reduce her stress about not being able to do ALL. THE. THINGS with her current schedule.
And B) Feel better about her house being clean.
She said yes, absolutely it’s worth it.
Now, I know I often talk about automating and outsourcing services like these, but there are a few other hacks you could try out if you find yourself on the edge of burnout… and stressing because you feel like you can’t handle the simple LIFE things anymore.
For grocery shopping…
Maybe you don’t wanna pay the delivery fees of an Instacart or something like that.
But have you thought about curbside pickup?
Most grocery stores these days have this service… and the minimum for it to be free is usually low. Like $30-35.
Even Whole Foods has this… you can even use the Amazon app.
So you can shop online… then roll over and have it brought right to your car.
Which saves you time not having to go inside the store to go up and down the aisles.
And if you have young kids… this hack is a LIFE saver.
Everyone literally stays in the car, so no MYSTERY items land in the cart…
...and there’s less chance of a tantrum happening when you say no to that box of brightly-colored, sugar-filled cereal.
So you actually can save money… and time… AND stress. LOL
Sounds like a dream to me!
And one more thing…
If you’re someone who orders takeout or goes out to eat because you don’t wanna cook…
A personal chef may be a good idea for you.
Nope, not kidding.
Some people think this is soooooo expensive.
But it’s actually pretty affordable.
For example, we get 4 entrees a week, plus 2 sides (which is at least 4 servings of each… maybe more depending on what we get).
It costs us between $260-$300 including the groceries -- which is like $15-18 a meal.
And these are HEALTHY meals… cooked to your liking.
Which may be a tad but more expensive than cooking it yourself… but again, what’s your time worth? Especially if you don’t like cooking? Or don’t have the time or energy?
There are loads of modern day options you can look into to take the stress off those life to-dos that don’t seem to get done when you’re in the burnout zone.
And when you look at it from the “what’s my time worth” angle… your hesitancy to invest in help may actually change.
Ok, so the next soul hack that can help you get out of the burnout zone is…
Conscious movement.
Now, what I’ll tell ya is that there are A LOT of conscious movement practices out there.
And some of them you are probably already doing.
Like yoga… or taking a meditative walk outside… being out in nature.
But there’s one I’ve kinda had my eye on lately that I wanna tell you about.
Have you heard of Qigong? (CHEE gong)
It’s actually a meditative movement practice.
There’s a really amazing teacher on YouTube named Lee Holden.
The video I wanna tell you about is “7 minutes of magic” and IT IS.
He calls this video a “body, mind, and spirit workout”.
It is soothing… but also uplifting… and whenever I do it, I DO feel refreshed!
When I’m in my workday and I start to feel the drag coming in… this qigong practice is a lifesaver.
It’s very gentle movements… but it strengthens and stretches the body… encourages fluid movement… and literally brings your awareness into your body.
So you’re not stressing over your thoughts during the practice.
You can do qigong on its own… or pair it with meditation…
And when the weather's nice… it’s awesome to take your laptop into your backyard or patio and do it out in nature.
Because nature is very restorative too. At a soul deep level.
There are TONS of free online qigong videos you can check out.
Now this 3rd hack may be a little controversial…
It’s Take (OR FAKE) a vacation. LOL
I asked my hair stylist when the last time she took a vacay was.
She couldn’t remember. LOL
I instantly saw the look of “NO WAY” in her eyes when I said the word “vacation”.
I knew she was thinking dollar signs… how she was still getting herself back into a healthier financial space after the last year…
I mean, that’s why she was working so hard, right?
She was trying to fill her bank account back up… at the expense of her own health.
So I said… well, what if you FAKE a vacation?
In other words… a STAYcation.
Just time off to recoup.
When I asked her what her ideal relaxation day looked like right now, she said,
- “Going on a hike and then to lunch with a friend.
- Reading a book outside with an ice tea in my hand.
- Then sitting on my couch doing nothing.
- Maybe watching that ‘Mare of Easttown’ show everyone has been talking about for the last month.”
All small things. Seemingly DOABLE thing.
But again, she had a block.
She felt GUILTY that she would take time for herself that way.
At the time we talked about this, her little boy was still in school…
So I was like… what if you just played hookey ONE day?
Don’t book any clients… don’t tell anyone you’re taking the day off…
Arrange for an after-school playdate with your pod…
And YOU.DO.YOU.
Do all those things you said you wanted to do on a relaxation day.
Take the rest you need and deserve.
Watch that Mare of Easttown show… I hear it’s great.
Kate Winslet… I mean, she’s pure magic. That Philly accent is hard to nail, LOL.
The point I wanna make here is… we ALL deserve rest.
If your soul is calling for a day of peace, quiet, and doing NOTHING… that’s what it needs.
So many of us have trained ourselves to be doing, doing, doing. Especially when we’re used to working paycheck to paycheck.
But honestly, there’s no reason you have to wait for a sick day to TAKE a sick day.
Even if you plan it in advance!
Your biz will still be there tomorrow…
And the more you live in scarcity mode… which is exactly what’s happening when you feel like you gotta work yourself to the bone… the harder it’s gonna be to get out.
A bonus day off is probably not gonna kill your biz…
But if you don’t take time for you… and you ARE your biz… the road back from burnout is wayyyyyy longer and harder.
Ok so now on to the 4th and final hack for today…
Of how to feed your soul and avoid burnout.
And that’s to invest in a strategic model to scale your biz.
So with my hairstylist friend I was telling you about… her business isn’t scalable.
If she wants to make more money, SHE has to put in more hours.
Which is what’s leading to the burnout.
She knows I teach this for a living so she asked me how she could make her biz more scalable.
But I know her…
She doesn’t consider herself to be a QUOTE UNQUOTE business person.
She sees herself as a creative. Someone who really loves doing hair.
So we dug into that a bit.
Long story short, she told me the reason she loves being a hairstylist is she loves making people feel confident and beautiful.
And that hair is a HUGE part of our identity.
When you have a bad haircut, it is hard to feel confident.
So she sees herself as a confidence maker. That’s how she feels pleasure. When someone gets up out of her chair and she’s made them feel good about themselves.
Ok now THAT is scalable.
She can’t fit thousands of people into her chair every day… but she CAN show them how to feel beautiful and confident in their appearance every day.
At prom time, she’s booked solid with hair appointments… because she’s really amazing at updos and glamour looks.
So as we sat there… my hair cooking LOL… we came up with three ideas of how she could take this expertise… and put it online.
So she can reach more people… help them feel beautiful and confident… without them having to physically be in her chair.
And no, I’m not gonna tell you what they are… she hasn’t put them out yet… but she will. And they’re gonna start bringing in passive income for her.
MAYBE even more clients if she decides that’s what she wants later in the year.
But right now, since she’s so burned out… handling more people isn’t what will restore her.
But earning more money with ONE TIME EFFORTS… well, yes, that’s super appealing and doable for her.
She felt that would help her get out of scarcity mode… so she was less stressed about that bank account…
And she would feel more comfortable taking time off… taking less clients… maybe even raising her rates…
And being able to outsource more of those life to-dos that were hanging over her head.
I literally saw stress come out of her imagining it. Her soul was able to breathe a bit more even imagining the possibilities.
And actually, she’s going to be attending the upcoming class I’m teaching on this topic.
And you’re invited too!
It’s called “3 Things Your Biz Needs Right Now”.
So if you’ve resonated with this feeling of “I feel stuck’ or “I’m totally in scarcity mode right now” and it’s leading to burnout…
You’re gonna want to get in on this class.
Even if you don’t have your own biz right now.
If you have a hobby or side hustle… and you wanna make some money with it… so you can have breathing room too…
I’d love to see you there.
Again, I’m inviting you as my guest to come… no fee for attending.
It takes Tuesday, June 15th at 10am Mountain.
Maybe plan for about two hours. It depends how many questions I get… but yes, you can ask me questions LIVE about this.
I’ll drop it into the show notes for ya too. And in this week’s newsletter.
So be sure to come!
Before we wrap up today’s episode, let’s recap what we talked about here real quick. I feel like we covered a lot of ground.
Ok, so if you’re feeling… at a soul deep level… that you’re reaching the burnout zone…
There are 4 hacks you can use to feed your soul and avoid (or recover from) burnout.
Number 1...
Invest in help. Not for your biz… but for your personal life. This could be anything from hiring a house cleaning service, doing meal delivery a couple times a week, or doing curbside pickup from the grocery store.
Number 2…
Try a new conscious movement exercise.
I told you about Qigong but there are others like yoga or tai chi.
Try something you don’t normally do… and bring your awareness into your body as you do it.
Number 3…
Take or fake a vacay. AKA: Take a WHOLE day for yourself.
See what your soul is calling for… what would restore you and make you feel better? Then DO it!
Play hookey for a day and don’t feel bad about it. Your biz and life will be there for ya tomorrow.
And finally… number 4… invest in a strategic model to scale your biz.
Because you are the foundation of your business… so if you’re burned out, your biz isn’t going to be as successful as it could be.
You gotta learn tricks to get truly scalable so you can grow… without tapping out your biggest resource… YOU.
Ok friends… I’ll see ya next week…
And I hope to see ya at the masterclass!
And I’ll see ya online.