When your business is a slog

I have a confession to make.

It’s something I’ve been dancing around and didn’t want to admit out loud. But I had a moment, actually several, earlier today when I thought “What in the world am I doing?”

That question wasn’t in reference to self-doubt, or low self-worth, or even anything I was specifically doing.

It had to do with the way we are supposed to grow our businesses.

The formula seems simple enough. Know what you’re offering. Share it. Grow.

Except it feels more like entering a party of loud male birds doing mating dances over on Instagram. Join LinkedIn, and dig through the weeds of hollowed out AI posts to find true thought leadership. Perhaps a community is where it’s at? There’s plenty, but also diffuse, loaded with rules, and gamified. Gah!

Between this and the tropes of - “Post on the platforms! Consistently! Make ads! Make courses! Follow this template-plan-model! Launch, then launch again, then again! Sellsellsellsell!”

All I can think is - NO.

I have tried to make it work. First thinking it might be me. I experimented, refined, rebranded, reinvented. Then joined Mighty Networks, Circles, Skools, Facebook & LinkedIn groups, Telegram chats, Discord channels, YouTube, Instagram (stories! posts! reels! threads!).

It all just felt noisy, with no clear, directed outcome. Where are the thoughtful conversations? Where are the spaces to invest in what we are each building, to nurture our network, and scale through relationships?

Where is it? Do you know? I want to know!

Because here is my truth:

I love my business. I love what I do. I love working with clients. I love the services I offer. I love creating courses. I love talking on my podcast. I love writing. I even love making my own website. And, I’m good at it. Genuinely.

But for the life of me, I can’t get myself to enjoy how we connect our business with the larger landscape. It’s a maze of algorithms and echo chambers and talking heads. It’s perpetual pitching, “comment this word and I’ll send you things,” and hollowed out AI posts even by really strong writers.

I am trying to ignore the noise and dip in anyhow, but here’s what’s also tripping me up…

I have this weird thing where I actually like to get to know people. As in, real connection. I know, strange.

I want to know what people are building toward the new, where their purpose and passion intersect, how they are translating their gifts into impact and their training into transformation for others. It’s legitimately one of my favorite conversations to have.

I write my newsletters, hoping someone will respond and spark a conversation with me.

I post on the socials, thinking it might actually be a reciprocal, social experience.

I record podcasts, wishing for an email to drop in with what it evoked for them.

But I also want to build together, in real time, with real people, who are pairing their purpose work with the paradigm shift. Like a mastermind without one person leading it. Like a circle of support with those on the same path - investing in each others businesses, giving feedback, referring, sharing. Mutual.

I don’t want the perfect formula for financial freedom so I never have to work again. I love working. I love what I do. I don’t want a million followers. I don’t want to prep my nervous system for going viral. Literally, could care less. I don’t need cheerleaders or vanity metrics.

If I didn’t love what I do, if I didn’t feel called to this work, if I didn’t care about the paradigm shift, if I didn’t sense a spiritual contract to fulfil here, I might have given up a long time ago. But I refuse to.

This is my passion, my purpose, my larger reason for being here. Not just my business, but who I’m meant to serve, who I’m meant to connect with, and what that catalyses for all of us. These are the roots of my part in building the new paradigm. You can’t walk away from that. I can’t walk away from that.

Welcome to inside my head, heart, and body whenever I enter the world of business growth platforms!

Do you have these same desires? To grow your business through real relationships? To scale by referrals from real people talking to other real people about how awesome your business is?

Comment below, or get in touch via the contact button and let me know! I’m scheming something…