Until Your Vision Feels Right, Nothing Moves You Forward

We all have a vision of creating a thriving business — doing what we love with the clients who touch our hearts.

But the journey from here to there isn't always as straight or as smooth as what we've envisioned.

You may hit points where:

Your work feels stale, uninspired, or just plain blah.
You feel tired and unable to access your creative spark.
You lack the motivation to take the next steps needed to move your business forward.
Your results are difficult to celebrate because they don't seem big enough to get you where you dream of being.

When you are at a low ebb like this, it is easy to second guess your dream of having a flourishing business. You can get pulled under by a wave of frustration and begin to question whether you should even be in business.

Navigating these twists and turns is an essential part of creating a vision that reflects what’s most meaningful to you.

I Get It!

After dedicating myself to a deep dive with a business writing coach the last two years, I've been wanting to share my new insights with you. But each time I’ve been ready to do so, life threw me a bit of a curve ball.

Although I've been working with my existing clients all this time, I haven't had the energy to reach out as much as I wanted.

Since November 2021, my body, mind, and spirit have made it very clear that I needed to focus on my own journey first. New practices and habits are allowing me to nourish and ground myself as deeply as I've rooted my work.

In mid-July I created a vision of a new invitation to share with you, but then I stalled...again! I was feeling all the things I described in the bullet list above.

What the heck!?!

My First Inclination

For a few weeks I did all I could to blast through the creative blocks, the energy blocks, and the vision blocks that had popped up.

Like so many of us when we hit a bump in our lives or businesses, I was motivated to make something happen.

I was tired of not moving forward. I wanted to see progress.

When I started hearing the dreaded mantra — What's wrong with me? — I knew I needed to switch up my approach.

As tempting as it was to keep pushing myself to carry through to success, I had to face the fact that my existing plan wasn't taking me where I wanted it to go.

I've been down this road before. I know without a doubt that there's nothing wrong with me.

I'm not broken, but some thing about my vision or my plan to bring my vision to life was out of alignment. I just couldn't see what I needed to adjust to breathe life into my new idea.

Four Shifts I Made to Refresh My Vision

1) Pause

Before I attempted to find a solution, I knew I needed to stop. It wasn't working to run faster to reach a goal that no longer inspired me. I was being fueled by the adrenaline of checking things off my to-do list so I could feel like I was making progress.

On August 1st, I decided to give myself a spontaneous staycation, which just happened to coincide with my pre-birthday week! Although I had a few appointments already scheduled, I blocked the rest of the week off on my calendar. This action alone allowed me to unhook from the push.

2) Recalibrate

Next I started coming home to myself again and consciously re-aligning with what I hold dear.

I invited myself to lean into my own rhythm again in ways that felt nourishing and weren't constrained or rushed by deadlines or a to-do list. I started relaxing into more spaciousness.
During my week of relaxation, I napped outside (one of my all time favorite gifts of summer), and I started learning exercises that help me bring my jangled nervous system into a more regulated state. (I highly recommend SarahJacksonCoaching on Instagram for simple ways to soothe your nervous system. It's amazing what a difference it makes.)

3) Be Creative

Over the last few years, my main form of creativity has been centered around my work with clients and my business. The way I had been feeling told me that my well of creativity had run dry. From this state of being, I couldn't see any new insights or generate any inspiring ideas.

Then I remembered a discovery my business coach, Angella Johnson, shared in a class I took a few years ago. When you feel disconnected and out of sync with your work, tap into your creativity. The key is to stretch to another form of creativity beyond your work. Try something new: write a poem, dance, paint, sing, bake a cake, draw, create music, color.
Mandalas have always intrigued me. I've enjoyed coloring pre-drawn mandalas over the years, but I'd been feeling pulled to learn how to draw my own. After looking online for some inspiration, I attempted to draw my very first mandala using a spiral-bound journal and a black pen I usually take notes with. It was fun to follow my intuition to see what the next layer would be. I could tell from my wobbly designed that I was missing a few technical details in my drawing process, but with each new mandala, I gained a new insight. I loved the freedom of experimenting without needing to produce perfect results.

4) Learn Something New

When an online mandala drawing course popped into my feed, I decided to jump in. I picked up a few helpful tips for creating an initial framework, and I loved the supply list recommendations. Next thing I knew I was spotting inspiration all around me - the hub cap on our new tiller (More on this story in a future email), sea urchins and shells on my altar, a band-aid box in my medicine cabinet. With each new mandala, I gained confidence, strengthened my skills, and felt more and more joy and energy.

5) Reconnect with Vision

After my week off I had detached so fully from my business, I needed time to reconnect with my vision. It was heartening to realize how many of the pieces I'd been thinking about before my staycation were still viable. A good feeling!

But then I realized I still wasn't feeling very inspired by what I thought were my next tasks. Rather than spiral down that rabbit hole, I turned to one of my new found habits. I spent some time sitting on my chaise lounge in the backyard at dusk with the dragonflies darting back and forth above my head. Then I saw it! By flipping the order of my upcoming projects, I felt inspired again!

From my own journey and my work with my business mentoring clients, I know this:

Until your vision feels right, nothing will move you forward.

Would you like to Refresh Your Business Vision for Fall 2022?

Rather than investing energy in pushing yourself to make something happen with your existing vision, why not focus on sparking a new insight. Often one key insight, one subtle adjustment, or one innovative idea allows the pieces of your business vision to drop into place in a new way, one that excites you, reignites your passion, and motivates you to be in motion again.

Give yourself the opportunity to take a fresh look at how you work with clients, your offerings, and your marketing from within a safe, gentle, encouraging community. Your renewed clarity will fuel your confidence and boost your sense of momentum.

My new 21-Day Insight Journey called Blossom with Clarity generates a boost in clarity for early stage business owners as well as seasoned business owners who support clients in navigating changes in their lives.