Choosing enough amidst the hustle

On the back of my recent launch, I’ve been thinking about enough and what enough is in business.

Do we ever reach enough and how do we define enough in an online business world that emphasizes ‘more’? In the post I write about knowing what is enough for us and rooting into that.

Deciding on enough

Practically speaking, it’s probably not that hard to determine what enough is in your business. At least not when it comes to the number of clients, customers, sales, money. If we know what we need to earn in our business, we can calculate what that means in terms of sales, money, clients, customers.

The challenge of enough is largely an emotional challenge.

Our thoughts about enough are influenced by what we read, see and hear around us. Our feelings about enough don’t exist in a vacuum which makes it hard to root into our own definition of enough.

You might be very clear on the money that you want to earn in your business, but worry that the goal you have isn’t ambitious enough, or big enough, compared to other people’s goals. We might think that if we don’t have a financial goal with many zeros, our business isn’t real.

Whether our business is ‘real’ enough, big enough, successful enough or not is something that often pops up in my conversations with clients.

I recognise it from my own experience as well, especially in the first years of my business. When I started, I spent one day a week on my business and, as things tend to be in the early stages, business was slow. I organised some local workshops, attracted the occasional client. But often it felt like I was playing at business rather than actually running a business.

A shift for me came when my business stopped feeling like something that only existed in my head. The moment when my business started really having a life in the real world. Talking to other people about my business, seeking mentoring support and building my own small community of business buddies made my business feel more real. And when my business started to make the kind of money I wanted it to make, the whispers of whether my business was real enough quieted down.

Whether or not our business feels enough is closely tied in with our worth, too.

Are we even spending enough time on our business for it to be a business, not a hobby? Are we enough of a business owner? Are we making enough money to be a business owner, are we attracting enough clients and customers?

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Check back in with yourself, root deep into your vision for your business and trust that this is enough.

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Enough is arbitrary

Enough isn’t just primarily emotional, it is also arbitrary. What is enough to me—for instance financially—might not be enough to you. And what is enough for me might be more than enough for you.

Because enough is arbitrary, it—whatever it is—will never be enough.

I find that this is the case especially when it comes to money. I have clear annual income goals for my business, but can sometimes find it hard to trust those goals. I’ll worry that I should want more, that having more than enough will give me more security and safety.

By now, I know that when it comes to money there is no amount that will completely quiet those worries. I’ve come a long way with these stories over the past year, but I still get moments where I worry that after today I won’t make a single penny in my business for the rest of the year. That even though lovely new clients are signing up and I launched the group programme, all income will now dry up.

I know this isn’t true. I know that this is scarcity speaking: my own hungry ghost or hungry little caterpillar.

I am increasingly able to trust in my business.

And I’ve found that the trick is to check back in with ourselves, root deeply into our vision for our business and trust that this is enough.

Choosing enough amidst the hustle

I’ve build my business on explicitly resisting a lot of conventional business talk. The hustle-talk, the six-figure-talk, the 100K-launch-talk.

I have deliberately chosen slow and gentle (and profitable) as values and guiding words in my business.

I feel really good about my business right now.

It’s doing well, more than well, by any standard that I’ve set for myself. I’m constantly amazed at and pleased with the lovely people I attract through this newsletter, through 1:1 mentoring and now in Marketing without social media.
As I was getting ready to wrap up the launch of Marketing without social media, Kelsey Abbott sent me a lovely note:

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If my newsletters and free resources resonate with you, I might just be the right mentor for you. I don’t believe in 10-step-plans, or get rich quick schemes. I do believe that it is possible to create and run a business that fits you and your life: your values and rhythms, your strengths and passions. I strongly believe that you don’t need to do all the things, or be on all the channels to make your business work. 

I’m here to help you feel more supported in your business. I’m here to give you the confidence to run your business from that place of deep inner knowing inside of you, offering my signature blend of mindset shifts and practical steps.

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This note warmed my heart for many reasons, especially she said that what I wrote strengthened her own desires for her business.

I love how my sharing about my business helps other small business owners, freelancers and creatives—that is why I do what I do.

Sharing about my business feels incredibly empowering. I feel like I’m solidifying the path that I’ve chosen of wanting to run my business differently.

And at the same time, it can feel vulnerable and visible too.

I’m not immune to the whispers in my mind that suggest that whatever I’m doing is not enough. That I’m not attracting enough people, that not enough people have signed up for my group programme, that there should always be more.

What helps me is to find balance and seek inspiration.

I don’t believe in sharing and being vulnerable simply for the sake of it. We never have to share anything that we don’t feel comfortable with. It might feel a little scary for me to share details about my financial goals, for instance, but mostly it feels good to me when I do it.

If it wouldn’t feel good more than it feels scary, I wouldn’t do it.

The more I speak to other small business owners and read about and listen to their experiences, the more I realise that these feelings are normal. I’m hearing again and again that we all have slower seasons. And I’m hearing that we all worry whether our businesses are enough. We’re not alone in this.

An experiment

Take a moment to think or journal about these questions:

1. When do you struggle with thoughts and feelings about enough? In which situations or in which parts of your business?
2. What are these stories about enough telling you? Which stories are underneath them?
3. How would it feel to try to trust that whatever vision you have for your business is enough?

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I’d love to know which of these strategies to feel more supported in your business you’ve tried, and which you’re going to try out? I’d love to know!

Please feel free to share this post it with business friends, in your newsletter or on social media. 💛

I’d love to support you in all phases of your business. Providing clarity, focus and next steps is something that my clients tell me I’m really good at. If you’re curious about how we can work together through 1:1 mentoring, check out what I offer or send me an email–no strings attached. I have payment plans available, and flexible options for mentoring calls (30 or 60 minutes).

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