[00:00:00] Emma: Have you ever felt stuck in a rut? Are you feeling like you're stuck in a rut right now? Do you feel like the business isn't moving the way you want it to and you're not sure why? This episode is definitely for you. Let's just do a quick self reflection activity, shall we? Do you know where you are in your business?
[00:00:23] Do you know where you want to go? Do you know how to get there? And do you know what might be getting in the way?
[00:00:31] I reckon asking yourself these questions helps us work out what's actually happening for us and why we're feeling like we're stuck in a rut. Ask yourself, are you facing any internal or external challenges? Is there stuff going on behind the scenes with the family? What else is happening for you that you feel like you're stuck in a rut?
[00:00:54] I ask people about being stuck in a rut, a lot of people tell me that they're just confused about what to do next. A confused brain does not make decisions and it does not work the best. So the question I ask them back is how do you get clarity on the pieces that you need in order to move forward?
[00:01:13] Clarity helps us with so many things. If we can get clear on the things that we need to do, then we can start moving towards that. And then we kind of get out of that rut that we have created. The other question. That you might want to ask yourself is, Are you still in alignment with your goals or your values?
[00:01:34] Sometimes, especially in the first few years, we take on work that isn't really aligned and we keep doing it because we're nervous to, to jump off the hamster wheel. But it just doesn't work for us anymore. It's not in alignment with our goals. It's not in alignment with our values. We're going against our gut every day and being out of alignment truly sucks.
[00:01:56] The other question I would ask is what opportunities might you [00:02:00] actually be overlooking? There might be. joint ventures that you could be creating, collaborations and partnerships that you could be doing. What opportunities might you be overlooking? And once you have clarity, then we can jump into action.
[00:02:15] Action is my favorite thing. I think if someone doesn't have clarity and they don't have results and they jump into action, those two things come pretty quickly, but we have to jump into action. So here's what I would do if I was going to try and get myself out of a rut and we've all been there. There's no harm in saying, yes, I've been there and yes, it sucks.
[00:02:36] I don't want to be there. So here's what we need to do. First of all, we need to update our strategy, our business plan, analyze what's working in our business and what might need readjusting, what worked. in one year may not work in year two or year three. What worked in one month may not work in months down the track, right?
[00:02:55] So what needs adjusting? Work out the areas where you can optimize so you can make something a little bit better and explore new channels or new tactics or refine your approach. always look at the client journey for this. I look at a client journey. I go, when they come into the Emma McQueen family, what do they experience?
[00:03:14] Is that consistent? What else do I need to do? And an easy way to map a journey is actually grab a piece of A4 paper, work out the steps that people take to come into your world. So for us, we have a business entrepreneur, And they can come in, they can do that quiz and then they go on the mailing list.
[00:03:33] And from the mailing list, we send them a series of emails that says, welcome, welcome to our world. Here are some resources. We've got the go get a book. We've got tea with the queen, the podcast that you're listening to, and we've got blogs and we've got stack of stuff that you can join in with. at your own leisure.
[00:03:50] Then they stay on our list. But then we go, all right, where, how, what else can we do for these people? Why have they joined our list? And what do they actually need? We offer clarity calls [00:04:00] and they are awesome because it allows someone to get unstuck on just one thing. And so I spent 30 minutes on Zoom with someone and I'm like, what's the most important thing that we need to get done today?
[00:04:11] And they will normally tell me this is the one thing. So we talk about that and we help them get unstuck. but updating your strategy, making sure you're optimizing your efforts and also, refining your approach works, works really well.
[00:04:24] The second thing is about collaboration and networking. We have to get belly to belly with people eyeball to eyeball with people. And this is the number one thing that in my group coaching program, Revenue Raiser, we focus very heavily on because that's where they get the results. When people can see you, listen to you, feel you, touch you, then they can feel like they start to trust you.
[00:04:53] They like you and they want to do business with you. The number one thing for results is getting out and about and telling people what you do, sharing. What you do, listening to what they do, how many networking events have you been to where they have had a great conversation because all they've done is talk about themselves.
[00:05:12] Go to a networking function. Be a great listener. and see how you can be of service to that person. Now, there's not always going to be alignment. You might go to a networking thing of 30 people, you might only speak to 5.
[00:05:25] So what? At least you've gone out there and done it. Sometimes getting out and about networking with people means that it just helps us get unstuck from our business. Maybe you've got a business call. Question that you've got roaming around in your head and you don't know how to get it answered. Go to a networking function and you say, Hey, I'm struggling with this thing, what do you think?
[00:05:46] Oh my goodness, will you get answers? I remember when I was thinking about my very first book Go Get Up I was like, oh, I'm just not sure on a couple of these points And so when I was networking people said what can I do for you?
[00:05:58] I'm like actually [00:06:00] I'm writing a book I'm struggling with these things. I need to validate them. Would you mind if I validated them with you? Absolutely no problems. Amazing. It helped me get out of my head and unstuck. And then the last one is seeking support. Feeling stuck is only temporary if we let it be temporary, right?
[00:06:18] We have to do something that helps us get unstuck. Don't hesitate to reach out to those people who are mentors, have been mentors in the past, um, coaches, industry experts. People really want to help. Especially women, women really want to help. I know that because I work with women all the time. And I also know that a lot of the women that I work with get their brains picked a lot.
[00:06:41] Now, some of them don't mind this and some of them get their brains picked so much. It distracts them from the work. So we have to put this into balance and we also have to put this into perspective. But seeking someone out specifically means that it provides fresh insights for you, accountability. and advice to help you navigate the challenges that you're currently seeking.
[00:07:02] I have two coaches as support. One is a female and one is a male, and I use them for really different things. But if there's something very specific, for instance, my good friend Alex, he is a genius basically, and he understands artificial intelligence more than anyone I've ever met. So if I have a question about AI, I pick up the phone, I say to Al, What would you do about this?
[00:07:26] Or how can AI help me with this? And he'll go, Oh, you can do A, B and C. I'm like, awesome. Thank you. I've got that. I've got. Tracy, who is my lawyer and my, one of my business besties, I can call her and say, trace, I've got this issue. What would you do? Or I've got this legal thing. What do I need to do to get it sorted?
[00:07:45] You know, it's just having those people on speed dial So, one, We need to make sure that we're doing enough self reflection that you're asking the question, where are you?
[00:07:56] Where do you want to go? What's the gap? And what might get in the [00:08:00] way? Normally we ourselves. We get in the way of ourselves. Uh, and then also, am I in alignment with my goals and values? They're the self reflection pieces. Then we come back and we go, right, jumping into action, updating our strategy, asking ourselves the questions, what's working and what's not working, ditching the things that are not working, being courageous to say, that's actually not working for me anymore.
[00:08:21] When I hit a certain dollar figure in my business, I had 11 offers out ladies. Oh my goodness, 11 offers. And I thought I was going nuts. So I went right. I'm going to stop. I'm going to pull out my piece of paper and I'm going to jot all my offers down. Then I'm going to work out the offers that bring me joy.
[00:08:37] And then I'm going to work out the offers that are commercial. And hopefully those two things match. Now, luckily for me, we whittled all that back to three offers. Three main offers. One on one coaching with me because I love one on one. Thriving Women, which is my signature program and my corporate programs.
[00:08:54] Three offers, easy. So we want to make sure that we've updated our strategy. We know what's working, what's not working. We collaborate and network, we're out and about, and we're finding the help that we actually need.
[00:09:06] What about you? How are you going to get yourself unstuck? Do any of these tips help? And if you run through any of these activities, let us know. I would love to hear from you. Connect with us via Instagram or email me, tell me what you think.
