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We all know there’s such a thing as working too hard, but how many of us know how to stop ourselves from going overboard with our work. Especially for us entrepreneurs out there, burnout and overwork may feel like the price of doing business these days, but the reality is that we don’t have to be working ourselves to the bone day in and day out! We can put an end to the busy burnout! I sat down with Client Generation Strategist and International Speaker, Mary Cravets, to discuss the easy way we can begin to change the way we approach our businesses and avoid burning ourselves out all the time.
After building her first business, Mary experienced the effects of burnout and working too hard first hand. Though the business paid the bills, she began to feel so overworked and undervalued for all of the skills, knowledge, and time she was providing to her clients that she finally reached her limit.
“I reached a crisis point where I decided I just can’t do that anymore. I just can’t undervalue myself. I just can’t undercharge for what I’m doing.”
After experiencing her breaking point, Mary refocused her efforts, launched her current business, Simply Get Clients, and transformed how she approached her work. Through her personal journey and the work she has done with her clients, Mary has developed some invaluable insights on how to put an end to overworking yourself in your business.
Focus On What Works
There is a signature question in Mary’s business that is at the heart of her and her clients’ success: What’s working? As business owners and ambitious professionals, we tend to put a lot of time, effort, and energy into the work we do. And that is not a bad thing! Having the drive to work and make a big impact in our communities and businesses can keep us going. However, Mary stresses the importance of knowing how to channel that drive into what will truly move us forward on our journey, instead of every flashy opportunity or idea.
“We scatter our efforts so greatly [with] all these new shiny objects and things we hope will work… But this question, ‘what’s working,’ is an incredible place to start moving forward to more productivity, better alignment with your values [and] your goals.”
An Exercise To Find What Works In Your Business
Focusing on what works can apply to so many areas in our professional and personal lives. However, Mary stresses that one of the most crucial areas to evaluate what is working for all of us business owners out there is client generation.
“Clients equals money. And it’s such a simple thing. But I swear, when you get overwhelmed… going back to the essentials is so important.”
As Mary began contemplating how she could improve client generation in her own business, she came up with a two-step exercise for identifying where she needed to focus her energy.
The first step Mary took was to make all the lead generation ideas she had tried, was considering trying, or thought she should try. Then, she made a list of all her favorite clients and how she got them.
“Line by line, I found out that it boiled down to three things. I had a list of like 20 lead generation strategies I thought I needed to be doing. It boiled down to three.”
This simple exercise has now become a cornerstone of what Mary teaches and has helped countless business owners (me included!) generate the clients and leads they want in their businesses.
As Mary mentioned, we often tend to overcomplicate things for ourselves in our professional lives and businesses. All we end up doing when we try to do so many different things is overwork ourselves. Sometimes, the simple solution is the best solution and by going back to the basics, we can say goodbye to burnout and work smarter, not harder.
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Have you heard? Self-love accountability has gotten a whole lot easier! We’ve launched Self Care In Action, a brand new virtual self-care accountability group to help you relax and recharge in the comfort of your own home! Learn more here and join us for our next session on October 27th at 5:30pm ET!