One of the dreams of every entrepreneur is to have a stable income every month. Stability is something that we all seek both professionally and business. Even if you are more restless and make changes often, you are always looking for some stability even for a short time. I do not mean to spend your whole life with the same unalterable conditions (many people look for just that and it is more difficult, because there will be changes yes or yes.)
One of the things that I have noticed both in my own business and talking to my clients is that we all repeat certain patterns or cycles many times without realizing it. For example, as a client recently told me about keeping energy in her business. It happened to her that she worked a lot of time to end up exhausted and having to take a break with which sales suffered.
Situation that can also happen to you at a professional level, working so intensely for a time that then you will no longer perform the same and your results will suffer (not to mention your health). And that's where the ups and downs come, months of good results and work and months or weeks of "downturn", there is no stability, it is a roller coaster.
And what happens when you have these ups and downs? When you have months without income or without clients or so tired that you lose motivation. That fear, doubts, stress appear, you do not think strategically and you do not make the best decisions.
Something very frequent, especially when you start your business, although it can happen at any time and you have the experience you have. The point is that ups and downs, especially economic ones, are one of the causes of stress, frustration and fear in businesswomen or self-employed workers and also in many professional women who work for others. Do you feel identified?
So what can you do to overcome these stages of ups and downs or the fears and doubts that appear? Is there a method to overcome them or, directly, avoid them?
In my experience, what has helped me the most with my doubts and fears and with the ups and downs is:
1. Be able to recognize and accept the cycles of my business and have strategies to move forward.
Because we all have downturns, be it on a personal or professional level, and there is no sense in resisting, as the saying goes "what you resist persists." The important thing is that you realize what is happening, that you take a deep breath and think about what you are going to do to solve it. Instead of stressing yourself thinking about why things don't work, why you haven't had an income this month, why…
Also, the moment you start to be aware that there are indeed some cycles that you are repeating, that "every time X happens, I act like this" it is easy for you to identify them and get down to work to solve them.
2. Have a good plan to avoid them as much as possible.
For example, in the case of this client who works intensely for certain periods of time and then takes a break that leads to a slowdown in her sales, what is the solution? First, realize that this is your work pattern and from there organize well to work at a more stable rate with which you are less exhausted and your business does not suffer (or not so much). Because it is a pity that your results, your motivation and your health worsen for not being able to organize your efforts well. But of course until you realize you can not do anything about it.
It is important then that you analyze for example your last year and recognize patterns that are repeated. It may be, for example, that every time you have a large income more expenses appear than expected, or that when things go well you start arguing with your partner; or that every time they offer you a good job, you do something to prevent it from going well…
There are many different ways within this type of behavior that is nothing but self-sabotage. It is nothing but fear of some kind and although now we are not going to go into what kind of fear it is (to success, failure, not being up to it…), my goal is for you to realize when it happens, so that the next time you know how to recognize it and one of two:
- Accept that there will be a downturn and when it arrives you are prepared both economically (save for skinny cows) and mentally, so as not to let yourself sink. Change your strategy so that there is no such abrupt stop and the consequences are not so visible.
This way you will be calmer and have better control of the situation. Worth.
So tell me in the comments what pattern or cycle you follow when it comes to your business or profession, and tell me just one thing you can start doing to avoid repeating or to ease the consequences.
