Most would say Susanne was highly successful—she was impacting the lives of her clients and making good money after all.
But, not so much her Self and her family.
The way Susanne was working in her business was frenetic, ungrounded, and over-extending.
Back then, she packed 11 pre-school yoga classes in a day—hustling from one to another with little space to breathe, or even grab lunch—all before she picked up her own two kids from school, carpooled them around, made the family dinner, tended to homework, and other parenting duties.
Only to handle her business admin, accounting, and marketing later in the evening.
While she was working into the late night—and abandoning her own boundaries—in a way, Susanne thrived on her busy working lifestyle.
When we first started working together, she told me “It’s all I know how to do.” That unless she was going fast all the time, filling her minutes with activities, working hard, pushing, and go go going—then, and only then, would she feel successful.
Until one day, her body said STOP. 🛑
Not long after a very unexpected and traumatic family loss, Susanne followed suit and had her own health crisis.
She had a seizure.
These two events (plus a third challenge with her son’s mental health) inevitably caused Susanne to STOP. To stop hustling. To stop over-extending. To stop betraying her own family and personal needs. To stop doing her business from a state of crazy hustle and deep depletion.
Susanne realized that she could no longer work the way she was. That if she wanted to have a business, which she really does—that she had to run it differently. That she had to run it from a very different pace and place.
And so she stopped.
She cut back on all her classes, got off social media, reduced time on the computer, and only wrote newsletters when she felt inspired.
Together, Susanne and I have been re-writing her values, business plan, and short and long-term goals. And let me say, it includes a LOT of spaciousness—and, designing a work culture that truly works for her, her body, her family, and her well-being.
As Susanne is starting up her business again, she is doing so from a resourced place with radical Self care.
She is exploring delegating and hiring teachers, working sensible hours, is present with her family, and has time for her Self where she meditates, journals, and reads—during the day.
These changes have significantly improved Susanne’s health, well-being and without a doubt her productivity in her business.
Unfortunately and fortunately, Susanne had to go through some major stressful events to catch her attention and ultimately change her way of working.
But you don’t have to.
If you are working your business in ways that feel unsustainable—I invite you to pause and notice if you feel a call to slow down.
If yes, you may be interested to join my upcoming group course for female entrepreneurs who are also committed to working their business from a radically resourced state of being without the hustling, busy-ing, pressuring, or betraying.
If this feels like a shift you are ready to make, send me a message and I will share the details with you.
