Ten Simple Tips to Turn Pause Into Profit
If you’re feeling burnt out and overwhelmed with growing your business in a pandemic, this business blog will give you tangible tools to shift from meh to magnificent.
So many entrepreneurs and especially solopreneurs in service based businesses have confided in me that they are struggling with energy, focus and wellness. Exploring business development when you aren’t feeling excited for the future isn’t profitable or of any real value.
As counter intuitive as it may seem in our 24/7 availability work culture, the relief you seek can be found in something as simple as a pause. Just like a speed bump on a residential road or parking lot, however fast you were going, you are now forced into a pause and as a result, an entirely new train of thought.
There are no problems that do not have a solution, just as there are no questions without answers.
A pause allows those fragile new ideas to take root and for serendipitous moments to happen at all.
The practice of letting ideas wander in regular moments of pause, has produced results like fortifying business models with philanthropy built in, gaining the confidence and clarity to scale to an even bigger model and making a greater impact on marginalized groups with your purpose driven business and of course making more money as you have more fun, working smarter by streamlining and automating workflows as you step back and get out of the way of a truly spectacular business.
In 2008, The World Health Organization implemented an intentional pause for operating rooms . It is called the ‘surgical safety checklist’. It’s a simple series of questions these healthcare workers are to ask one another before the start of an operation. Of course there are technical questions, but most of them are not. For example, one of the key items to check off is for the team to introduce themselves to one another by name. The value of the check list lies in the pause taking as they are removed from “the next” and forced to think. These forced pauses have created immeasurable improvements in morbidity and mortality rates.
How can you turn a pause into profit for your burgeoning business?
Like all great truths, the answers are simple. The challenge lies in your ability to consistently and deliberately show up with motivation and enthusiasm for doing less, to cultivate more.
HOT TIP: As you look to foster even more ways to turn pause into profit, look for particular moments, places or routines you can use as triggers. I’m a big fan of the ‘After I // I will’ technique by Dr. BJ Fogg. You can learn more about that on my blog, How highly effective people create lasting change.
When we rely solely on motivation and memory, we do not succeed. Yet, and this is really exciting, when we anchor new patterns of behaviour around existing ones, this is the birthplace of success and lasting change. #youarewinning
Review my list of tips and pick one to try on. Attaching the pause to one of these existing patterns of behaviour is a proven winner.
Here are ten tips to create more pause in your day-to-day life
1) Use your time in a store line-up to simply be and breath. Tap into your senses to take in your surroundings and leave the phone alone.
2) Before you start your car take a moment to pause, smile and breath. Maybe you will even drive in silence, radical idea I know.
3) Pause intentionally before joining a zoom meeting to breath and clear you mind as you anticipate the meeting going well.
4) As you pass through doorways, smile and take an intentional breath
5) Be present and take a moment to pause as you wash and dry your hands.
6) As you sit down at your desk, inhale and ground yourself by placing your feet firmly on the ground beneath you.
7) When you recognize you’ve been triggered and your mood is shifting.
8) Transitioning from work to personal time.
9) Transitioning from personal time to work.
10) As you move between indoor to outdoor spaces, pause and take in the fresh air.
Your best ideas come when your mind is quiet.
If you’re ready to initiate change in your business and life and renew your excitement for business development, pick one technique from the list above and give yourself a one week challenge. Read my blog on how to successfully create new habits here.
A few more blogs that will provide meaningful guidance to slow down to go far include:
The Art of Stillness Can Save You From Burnout
The Three Most Common Mistakes Start-Ups Make That Cost Them Money
What To Do When The Struggle Is Real
One simple way to harness the power of your time is with my weekly planner & goal tracker, My Life ON Purpose. It’s simple, habit forming and you’ll see results in the first week.
Grab your copy here.
Please do reach out for a Discovery Conversation if you are ready to make this day one rather than one day. Schedule a chat that will change your life here.
Onwards & upwards,
Your Coach,
Lisa
Photo By: Michele Mateus Photography
Connect on IG: @BloomLisa
Read more of my blogs for entrepreneurs.
