Ep. 041: Embrace the Slog, Sister!
Often we hear that running a business is hard work, and while many things about it are challenging, what I've noticed is that it's actually more boring, than difficult.
It's not that successful people are smarter than you, it's that they are often willing to be more consistent with the daily work that's needed to move the needle closer to their goals.
But don't worry! I won't tell you to work harder, or to even do more busywork. Instead I encourage you to embrace the slog of wherever you are and commit to doing more of the work that isn't always fun, but allows you to do the work you love doing the most! Because the reality is, even if you have a large team, there will always be something that just needs to get done, and you don't have to love it.
LINKS & RESOURCES MENTIONED TODAY:
Get my free No-Sleaze Sales Method delivered right to your inbox: Get Instant Access Here
-
Erika Tebbens: Today's episode is going to be a bit on the shorter side. Uh, because I just want to share something with you that is more mindset than strategy. But it's really important, important mindset thing to, to learn and to realize. So, uh, in the episode where I talk about what I learned from 2019, I talked a little bit about consistency and consistency is something I deeply, deeply, deeply believe in.
And last night, I was actually at a networking event in the new town that I just moved to. And I got into a conversation with this guy who, uh, helps new business owners. So he works for this organization and they help a new brand new business owners get things going in their business. And we started talking and we were talking about how a lot of the reasons why people don't end up having longevity in their businesses is not that they're untalented, not that they're stupid or lazy or any of those things that we might think. But it's because the, we think a lot of times, and it, we say it, you know, hustle culture says it - that all work has to be hard.
That running your own business has to just be tons and tons and tons of hard work. Now, honestly, everyday is not sunshine and roses, uh, but there are different levels of hard work, right? So just physically hard work, mentally hard work and emotionally hard work. And, you know, none is more valid than the next.
But when I worked in farming, as you can imagine, that is very physically hard work. And I think for a lot of us, you know, we get that first job in high school and usually it's a job that requires. Like hard physical work, right? So maybe you're, uh, working in a clothing store. You're standing on your feet the whole time and you're running around and you're moving product and you're running go backs and doing all sorts of things like that.
Or maybe you worked fast food again, you're on your feet. It's very fast paced. It's hot, it's greasy. It's sweaty, uh, even babysitting, right? That's hard physical work. And I think that we as humans, most of us are capable of doing a lot of physically demanding hard jobs. Right? We, we can kind of get on board with that, but when it comes to boring work, that is where we tend to go, "Oh God, this is a slog. Like my God is it. I thought it was gonna be, you know, more, more interesting than this, but this is like just kind of a grind. It's, it's a little bit boring." And I'm, you know, especially if you, if you're a solo preneur and you just work from home or a coffee shop or co-working space, like it's kind of lonely.
And I think that it's, that it's just the repetition. It's the redundancy. It's the boringness that really, really gets to people. I mean, of course there's other things, you know, maybe you're having trouble bringing in enough revenue, and so you can't keep the business afloat, and stuff like that. But yeah.
A lot of what I see, uh, even, uh, especially when I was in direct sales, because indirect sales, it is like a business building bootcamp. If you are bringing on new team members and you're a team trainer leader, whatever it's called and whatever company, they're all called different things. You your whole job is teaching people how to run successful businesses.
And a lot of times people think that they are just going to put out their virtual shingle. And say, "Oh, Hey, you know, I'm open for business. And I have these products." And maybe, you know, a couple of times a week, they'll just post about products or posts about sales and they'll just start making money.
Right? But a lot of what I used to have to do and what I would teach the people on my team to do is like, "Okay, every week, here's what you gotta do. You gotta. Uh, write out a list of warm leads. You have to find places to meet new people, whether that's virtually or, or in-person, or combo of the two, you have to customer service, your people who've already purchased from you. Uh, you have to, you know, order new supplies. You have to do this. You have to do that." And really the, yeah, I would go do home parties and the home parties were the funnest part of my job. Like those two hours, I was at somebody's house with a glass of wine, talking about bags and I'm just like kick back laughing, uh, peopling.
That was the funnest part of my job. I know funnest is not a word, uh, but, but roll with me here. Uh, that, that was what I loved the most. What I did not love was having to do all the, of the regular day to day stuff. If I could have paid someone to do all of the rest of it for me and book all of my parties and do all of my customer service follow-ups and do all of that and just would say, "Okay, here's your party schedule and you just show up and just do the parties," Oh my gosh. I would have been happy as a clam. Right? But the reality is, is that there's always, he's going to be some component of your business, especially before you're at a place to hire a VA or any support, help, that is just not super fun. Right? It's just like, not uh, not the most exciting stuff. It's not work that is in your zone of genius or even in your zone of excellence. Like it's super annoying to have to learn new tech stuff a lot at the times when you're like, "I just wanna, I just want to do the work I really want to do." Uh, and at the end of the day, like you either have to spend time or spend moneymto make those things happen.
Now I do think there are a lot of things that people do that are time-wasters. That are not income producing activities. Because the income producing activities that will actually bring them new clients feel scary and vulnerable. So they'd rather spend a whole Workday trying to figure out Canva instead of actually like going out and meeting people and talking to them.
That's a whole separate conversation. But I would encourage you that, you know, part of consistency is the showing up repeatedly to do the things that you know, that are going to move your business forward. This doesn't mean that they all have to be done perfectly. This doesn't mean you can never take time off.
Uh, this doesn't mean that you have to do all of these things forever, or that there will never be joy in your business. I don't believe that at all, but. Typically Monday through Friday, I am, if it's the middle of the day, I'm at my desk and I'm working. It's not always the same kind of work. But I'm here and I'm working.
And there are so many times that I'm like, "Oh my gosh, if I could just put on Netflix or a true crime documentary or podcast. Get out my knitting and a cup of coffee and just lay around with my dog. Like that would be bliss." And you know what? There's no one here that can say I can't. That's the hardest part, right?
There's no boss in my house that is going to yell at me if I go do that. So I really, really have to just keep myself in check. So I would encourage you, uh, now as my tiny dog starts barking at the, the trash collection people that are outside. Of course, right at the end of the episode, uh, I would really encourage you to think about and embrace the fact that sometimes the day to day of business, especially as you are building and growing and all of that. Sometimes it is a bit of a slog. That doesn't mean you should quit. It doesn't mean you're doing it wrong. It doesn't mean. Anything negative really? It's it's just is what it is.
Every single day in business can not just be like the funnest of your life. Uh, and I think a lot of times, you know, people, people make it seem that way online. Cause they're only like the big name, people are, are only showing off like the highlights, like them on vacation or them with their, their flashy car and stuff.
But a lot of times it's a butt on a seat at a desk. And that is okay. And if your why, if your reason for why you have your business, if it is strong enough, when you are in those moments where you're like, "Oh God, I just, I want to, I just don't want to be at my desk. Right. I just don't want to do that one more task on my to-do list."
If you can shift and rethink about why you started and why it, your business matters and the future people you'll be able to serve if you just keep going, then hopefully that will help you keep pushing forward. This does not mean that you have to work 15 hour days either. Definitely rest and take breaks.
Um, but you know, embrace the slog, I guess is my, is my takeaway from this and know that, uh, you don't have to love everything in your business to be a good business owner. So I hope that's helpful. Um, as always, I hang out most of the time on Instagram, my handle is @erikatebbensconsulting. So if you liked this, uh, if you got some ah-has from it or you just want to send me funny feedback or whatever. I would love it if you tagged me over there. Like in your stories or in a post, just to let me know, because I love getting feedback from my listeners and be sure to subscribe too so you never miss an episode. And as always, happy selling.
