1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:01,540 or tell me about your vision. 2 00:00:01,540 --> 00:00:03,500 Yeah, thank you. 3 00:00:03,500 --> 00:00:06,280 So I'm here to help small business owners 4 00:00:06,280 --> 00:00:08,500 ditch the hustle and grind 5 00:00:08,500 --> 00:00:11,080 and learn how to use their time, 6 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,460 their time, their talent and their tactics. 7 00:00:15,460 --> 00:00:17,840 So the three T's effectively, 8 00:00:17,840 --> 00:00:20,260 because there's too many small business owners 9 00:00:20,260 --> 00:00:24,440 stuck in the weeds doing so many things, 10 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:26,400 too many things to be honest with you 11 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:29,400 and not enjoying the business that they've created. 12 00:00:29,400 --> 00:00:31,320 I know I had a client come to me once and she goes, 13 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:33,280 I've created this monster 14 00:00:33,280 --> 00:00:35,740 and now I don't know how to control it, right? 15 00:00:35,740 --> 00:00:38,700 So yes, entrepreneurship is a journey. 16 00:00:38,700 --> 00:00:41,160 We're now gonna get there on the first day, 17 00:00:41,160 --> 00:00:44,560 but we want to aim towards being able to run our business 18 00:00:44,560 --> 00:00:47,680 without being stuck in it 24 seven. 19 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,560 And I have found for myself and for my clients 20 00:00:50,560 --> 00:00:53,760 that actually focusing on those revenue generating tasks 21 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,920 really makes a difference in moving our business forward 22 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,960 and being very intentional with our time. 23 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:04,580 Huge, that monster that gets created is so often 24 00:01:04,580 --> 00:01:07,960 what the beast of broke, we should call it. 25 00:01:07,960 --> 00:01:08,800 Mm-hmm. 26 00:01:08,800 --> 00:01:10,040 That's what I'd say. 27 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:14,160 I'm a big fan of the same, busy as broke. 28 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:15,000 Yeah, right. 29 00:01:15,000 --> 00:01:18,960 We've got to be able to get smarter, wiser, 30 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:20,960 do the right things in the work. 31 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:22,880 James Malachek says it, I love his quote. 32 00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:26,520 He says, don't do the hard work, 33 00:01:26,520 --> 00:01:28,520 don't do the smart work, do the right work. 34 00:01:28,520 --> 00:01:30,320 And I heard that I was like, 35 00:01:30,320 --> 00:01:33,400 I was like, what if I did the hard work and the smart work 36 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:34,560 and I did the right work? 37 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:37,200 I was like, that would be a good move. 38 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:39,680 Not the hustle and grind though that you talk about. 39 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:43,920 I'm very grateful for what you're spreading there. 40 00:01:43,920 --> 00:01:46,560 Where did your vision come from? 41 00:01:46,560 --> 00:01:47,820 Where'd you unlock this? 42 00:01:47,820 --> 00:01:51,280 Yeah, so I think a little bit of trial and error 43 00:01:51,280 --> 00:01:53,280 and learning for myself to be honest with you 44 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:56,320 because when I started my business, 45 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:58,860 it was great for me, I was happy, right? 46 00:01:58,860 --> 00:02:01,000 Working whenever, all the time, 47 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:02,440 but I enjoyed what I was doing. 48 00:02:02,440 --> 00:02:03,760 It was wonderful. 49 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:06,280 And my family and friends were like, 50 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,440 Donna, when can we see you? 51 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:10,640 My kids are like, mom, 52 00:02:10,640 --> 00:02:13,600 are you gonna make it to this week's baseball game? 53 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:16,600 Oh yeah, just one more email, just one more. 54 00:02:16,600 --> 00:02:19,360 And to be honest with you, I was on a road to burnout. 55 00:02:19,360 --> 00:02:21,640 I just couldn't see it, right? 56 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:24,240 But I was headed in that way with no doubt. 57 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:26,520 And so it was really my husband saying, 58 00:02:26,520 --> 00:02:28,280 something's gonna change here. 59 00:02:28,280 --> 00:02:30,640 Or this family and this thing we got going on 60 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:31,920 is gonna break. 61 00:02:31,920 --> 00:02:33,000 Healthy boundary. 62 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:36,240 Yeah, you need to figure out what you're doing 63 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:38,800 because this is not working out. 64 00:02:38,800 --> 00:02:40,680 And I didn't like it, to be honest with you, 65 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:42,360 I didn't like it one little bit, right? 66 00:02:42,360 --> 00:02:45,280 It was hard to swallow, but he was right. 67 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,700 And so I really had to take a step back and say, 68 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:50,600 how can I still continue to grow this business 69 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:53,040 without being in it all the time? 70 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,240 And that's when I had to start to look outward 71 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:58,280 to what big CEOs were doing. 72 00:02:58,280 --> 00:02:59,540 Was I Microsoft? 73 00:02:59,540 --> 00:03:00,640 Nowhere near it. 74 00:03:00,640 --> 00:03:04,320 But how was Microsoft CEO handling his day? 75 00:03:04,320 --> 00:03:06,520 Because, right? 76 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:08,640 They've got a lot more on their plate than I do. 77 00:03:08,640 --> 00:03:11,960 And what nuggets and tidbits can I take from them 78 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:14,120 and then institute in my business 79 00:03:14,120 --> 00:03:16,960 for a small business owner perspective? 80 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:19,240 And so that's when I really developed some, 81 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:21,360 what I like to call CEO habits, 82 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:24,920 which helps small business leaders be successful. 83 00:03:24,920 --> 00:03:25,800 That's phenomenal. 84 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:27,920 I love that you referenced Bill Gates, 85 00:03:27,920 --> 00:03:30,240 or at least the CEO of Microsoft. 86 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:35,240 And his mini-documentary series on Netflix is just awesome. 87 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,720 And in it, it showcases the amount of time that he takes 88 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:42,160 to go on retreats by himself, 89 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:44,780 taking a giant stack of books and paperwork with him. 90 00:03:44,780 --> 00:03:47,880 But he takes sometimes one to three weeks 91 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:52,880 to go and study what wants and needs to study. 92 00:03:53,200 --> 00:03:55,080 He has a pretty darn awesome balance. 93 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:56,400 And some people can contribute to that and say, 94 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,440 well, he's a billionaire, he can do that. 95 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:03,240 We've got to learn to discipline ourselves and say, 96 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:08,520 I mean, I know that if I've got to eat 97 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:10,520 and I need to grow crops to do it, 98 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:12,120 then I need to grow crops to do it. 99 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:14,960 I can't just keep going and doing the same thing, 100 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:16,120 maybe begging day after day. 101 00:04:16,120 --> 00:04:17,920 There's lots of disciplines. 102 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:20,240 And so if you're in that position 103 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,080 where this is hurting you to hear, 104 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:26,440 know that it's just like a doctor 105 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,480 trying to bandage up a wound. 106 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:31,380 Feel good to go through, 107 00:04:31,380 --> 00:04:34,400 but that might be something that you can get help 108 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:35,800 from somebody like Donna to understand, 109 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:37,760 well, how do I go about this for me? 110 00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:39,680 And maybe not hurt yourself so much 111 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,200 in the process of learning to make this shift. 112 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,520 So how did you get started then? 113 00:04:45,520 --> 00:04:48,480 So a husband has a healthy boundary. 114 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,800 He's like, hey, we need you here. 115 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:52,640 He's concerned for sick, your family. 116 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:55,880 And how did you make the transition? 117 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:57,100 Yes, yes. 118 00:04:57,100 --> 00:04:59,720 So it certainly wasn't easy, no doubt. 119 00:04:59,720 --> 00:05:02,560 And it's still a journey I'm on, right? 120 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:04,840 I've certainly come a long way from where I was, 121 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:07,960 but those old habits still want to creep in sometimes. 122 00:05:08,840 --> 00:05:10,520 But really, really started with saying, 123 00:05:10,520 --> 00:05:12,440 okay, it's a mindset shift. 124 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:17,440 I have to think of myself as the CEO of my business. 125 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:20,480 And to some people, especially solopreneurs, 126 00:05:20,480 --> 00:05:22,280 they're like, no, I'm not a CEO. 127 00:05:22,280 --> 00:05:24,680 I don't, you know, I'm not managing. 128 00:05:24,680 --> 00:05:26,120 I don't have a board of directors. 129 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:28,720 No, it looks different, of course, 130 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:33,120 but I'm responsible for the strategy and the vision, right? 131 00:05:33,120 --> 00:05:35,600 Where this boat of my business is going 132 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:37,800 in the next 12 months, the next three years, 133 00:05:37,800 --> 00:05:40,840 the next five years is my responsibility. 134 00:05:40,840 --> 00:05:45,760 And if I'm not clear on that, it's gonna be chaos, right? 135 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,160 So that's where I had to start was to say, 136 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:50,000 okay, what is my vision? 137 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:51,920 Where do I wanna go? 138 00:05:51,920 --> 00:05:54,480 And then what steps do I need to take 139 00:05:54,480 --> 00:05:56,720 to get me closer to that? 140 00:05:56,720 --> 00:05:59,040 And it's not about, I mean, I'm sure you can agree with this, 141 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:00,640 not about creating that vision 142 00:06:00,640 --> 00:06:03,200 and then stuffing it in the back of Google Drive. 143 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:05,840 It's about having it front and center, right? 144 00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:07,840 So that when new shiny objects come in that need- 145 00:06:07,840 --> 00:06:10,920 I didn't mean the podcast that because of that. 146 00:06:10,920 --> 00:06:13,200 Right, yes, exactly. 147 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:15,720 And so it's, you know, when those new shiny objects- 148 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,280 What were some of those first steps you took? 149 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:19,120 Okay, yes. 150 00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:20,600 Do you remember still? 151 00:06:20,600 --> 00:06:21,880 Yeah, for sure. 152 00:06:21,880 --> 00:06:24,000 I know I had to be clear on my vision. 153 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,760 And then the other thing I had to do was look at all 154 00:06:26,760 --> 00:06:28,720 the things that I had to do in my business 155 00:06:28,720 --> 00:06:32,120 and be strategic with my task list. 156 00:06:32,120 --> 00:06:33,880 Because what I was doing is saying, 157 00:06:33,880 --> 00:06:37,680 oh, I'll start at the top and just plow through, you know, 158 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:39,400 as many as I can get done. 159 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:41,440 Or the other ways, depending on my mood, 160 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:43,560 sometimes I would just cherry pick 161 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:45,560 those things that I wanted to do. 162 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:47,040 But I had to be strategic and say, 163 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:50,320 what things are actually going to move the needle forward 164 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:54,080 and make sure I have time in my week to do those things 165 00:06:54,080 --> 00:06:55,880 each and every week, right? 166 00:06:55,880 --> 00:06:57,720 So being realistic about my time 167 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:00,000 and how I was going to spend that time. 168 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:01,600 That was a big one to start with. 169 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:04,760 Another thing was looking at my calendar 170 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:07,920 because I had my calendar wide open. 171 00:07:07,920 --> 00:07:09,720 You could book whatever you wanted 172 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:12,840 whenever you wanted, pretty much, right? 173 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:14,920 And so again, I had to be strategic about that. 174 00:07:14,920 --> 00:07:16,640 No, I have dedicated time 175 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:18,600 when I'm working on my marketing system, 176 00:07:18,600 --> 00:07:20,600 dedicated time when I'm working on my sales, 177 00:07:20,600 --> 00:07:22,840 dedicated time for client delivery. 178 00:07:22,840 --> 00:07:25,480 And you know, those are non-negotiable. 179 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:27,400 Those are booked into my calendar. 180 00:07:27,400 --> 00:07:31,360 I also have dedicated time for my family and my life. 181 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:32,720 Thank you for being here today. 182 00:07:32,720 --> 00:07:35,200 I'm really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 183 00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:37,840 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions 184 00:07:37,840 --> 00:07:40,120 as these episodes continue to move forward. 185 00:07:40,120 --> 00:07:41,840 This is going to get more and more fun. 186 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:43,640 We'll have more and more engagement as well. 187 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:45,760 We'll invite people to participate in the show. 188 00:07:45,760 --> 00:07:48,120 And thank you for giving us your time and attention. 189 00:07:48,120 --> 00:07:50,840 Have an excellent time building out your vision 190 00:07:50,840 --> 00:08:09,840 and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.