Episode 115: Strictly Biz - Determining Your Yes from Your No
This episode is for you if you have a challenging time discerning your YESes from your NOs.
I talk a LOT about boundaries and saying no...but you don't get far in business as an entrepreneur without a saying YES a real lot. So how do you recognize the things that need your energy from the things that don't? Today I’ll take you through my 3 step process to determine my yes or no. I will also address a listener question that came in about this very subject!
Resources mentioned:
If you loved learning from this episode, you can expand even further by learning practical applications and strategies through Erin’s a la carte entrepreneur courses.
FUNK’TIONAL NUTRITION ACADEMY Training & Mentorship for Health Practitioners
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Erin Holt [00:00:05]:
Welcome to the Funk'tional Nutrition podcast. I'm your host, Erin Holt, and I'm a board certified integrative and functional nutritionist. I live on the sea coast of New Hampshire and work with clients in my virtual practice all over the world through private consultations and online nutrition and functional medicine programs. Functional medicine nutrition is all about diving deep with people to get to the root cause of their health issues and that's exactly what I tackle in this podcast. All things health, food and nutrition, unpacking current research, and almost a decade of clinical experience. I love to bring experts and thought leaders to the table so we can all learn together. Please keep in mind this podcast is created for educational purposes only and should never be used as a replacement for medical diagnosis or treatment. Thanks for joining me.
Erin Holt [00:00:57]:
Now let's dive in. Hello, lovely people. We're back. This is going to be the first mini episode where I talk about being an entrepreneur and running a wellness biz. Mini episodes. Just means it's going to be a little bit shorter. My goal is like 20 minute chunks. I don't want you to worry though, because the Funk'tional Nutrition Podcast is not going to turn into a business podcast all of a sudden.
Erin Holt [00:01:25]:
But I know that I have a lot of health practitioners that listen to the show, a lot of wellness pros or aspiring wellness pros. So from time to time, I will jump in with some top of mind topics like I did back in May, episode 102, where I talked about your wellness business in the time of COVID. I got a lot of good feedback from that episode, so I know this type of chatter is resonating with a lot of you. There's not going to be any set schedule. I'm not going to hold myself to any standard. I'm just going to kind of explore topics as they come up in conversation and as they feel relevant to me. And I will always label them Strictly Biz. So you'll know what's, what that'll be in the title - Strictly Biz. So you'll say, oh, okay, this is more geared toward business entrepreneurship type of vibe.
Erin Holt [00:02:19]:
Now, most of this, the best of the best, is going to go into my practitioner and mentorship training. I have a whole concentrated month of modules dedicated to the skills and the practices that I've learned and implemented over the years. Also, a lot of the mistakes the don't do this, do that. And these are the practices that have really taken my business from inconsistent, almost random income to a six figure and then multiple six figure business. So we'll talk about branding and positioning, social media tactics, leveraging yourself as an expert copywriting that converts collaborations, community outreach, money mindset, setting boundaries to prevent practitioner burnout. So all of that is funneled into my program. I will reopen that sometime late fall, most likely, so stay tuned for that. But today we're going to talk about saying yes and saying no.
Erin Holt [00:03:28]:
This has come up a lot in conversations in my DMs on Instagram, and I think it's a good one to bring to the show. So this episode is going to be for you if you have a challenging time discerning your yeses from your nos. Now, of course, you know I talk a lot about boundaries and saying no, but you don't get far in business as an entrepreneur without saying yes a whole lot. So how do you recognize the things that need your energy, that need your attention, that need your yes from the things that don't? Today is going to be part one of this discussion because we could talk about this in many different ways. For today, I will take you through my three step process that I run through to determine my yes from my no. And I'm also going to address a question that came in through DMs from a listener, and we're going to help her talk through some ways to determine her yeses and nos in business and in life. So let's dive in determining your yes from your no. The number one place to start is figuring out your goals and getting really clear on your goals.
Erin Holt [00:04:48]:
And goals don't always have to be financial. It's not like I'm trying to hit this amount of money by quarter one or whatever. Goals can be really anything. Spend more uninterrupted work time with my family. A goal could be to see my friends more. A goal could be to exercise once a day. Right? They could also be financial. Of course they could.
Erin Holt [00:05:12]:
A goal could be, I want 30 people in my next program, right? There's so many different goals, and it's important to note that goals change. And so this will require continuous check ins, right? What's my goal now? What's my goal now? What's my goal right now? If you know your goals, though, then you can run every opportunity through the lens of, will this bring me closer or further away from my goals? And that really gives you a very good checkpoint for your yeses and your nos. Now, I was just chatting with Kyle yesterday, so Kyle is one of my best friends, former podcast co host and former podcast co host, current best friend. But we were talking about our goals, and we have very different goals, same profession, she's a dietitian, she's functional dietitian, same profession, different goals. So her yeses and her nos will look different than mine because her goals are different. For Kyle, her forever goal has been work life balance. And I feel totally fine talking about this because she's actually talked about it on the show before. So as long as I've known her, which is, god, probably like 11, 12, 13, 14 years, I don't know, long freaking time, as long as I've known her, that has been her goal, work life balance.
Erin Holt [00:06:47]:
And that is the most important thing to her so she's going to say yes to the things that feel like they're bringing her closer to that balance. For me, work life balance has never even been a phrase that I've uttered in my entire life. It's just simply not my driving force. It's very funny because I got a DM last week that said, I need to learn your balance, girl. Now, mind you, I had posted a picture of myself at 9:00 p.m. on a Friday night doing work. She said, I need to learn your balance, girl. Woods, work, family.
Erin Holt [00:07:21]:
You're a role model for badass women, which is so kind and certainly made me feel really good. But here's the deal for me, super transparent. Full disclosure, I work seven days a week, and that would not feel balanced to everyone. I know you just see the highlight reel on social media, but yeah, I work seven days a week. That wouldn't feel like it's striking a balance for many people, but it does to me. It does to me. The reason that I have the bandwidth for it, though, is because I've practiced setting boundaries and saying no. I've practiced discerning my yeses from my no.
Erin Holt [00:08:05]:
So I know how much I can handle. And I can open up certain containers to hold a real lot as long as people are being respectful of those containers. And I'm managing my boundaries, the boundaries of those containers. My goal, like big overarching goal, is to make the biggest impact I can make. And the way that I do that is through my work, is through my business. My work is really my sole purpose. It's why I landed here on this planet. It's also my passion.
Erin Holt [00:08:41]:
It fills my cup. Creating things make me feel happy and expansive and filled with joy. So I might say no to some things that somebody else would say yes to, but I might say no to some things in order to make space for more yes in my creative business endeavors, because that's a big goal of mine. Now, if you have a lot of different goals, things can get a little bit complicated. So another goal of mine is to maintain my health. That's my priority. That's my numero uno. By definition, you can only have one priority.
Erin Holt [00:09:21]:
So my health will always take precedence over my work. So I'm always saying yes to things that will bring me health, right? That's why you see me in the woods every day. That's why I meditate. That's why I practice yoga. That's why I do breath work and create alone time even. So, I'm saying yes to those things always and often, even if it means I have to say no to work. So every day, here's an example.
Erin Holt [00:09:51]:
Every day I power down at 5:00 p.m. to make dinner. We are like early bird specials up in here. We eat dinner super early. That's important to me. That's a non negotiable for my health and for my family's health is to make a healthy supper every day. Now, sometimes I sneak in work after dinner, but I'm always powering down so I can cook a healthy meal every night. Another example, I was typing up show notes for this episode at 9:15 at night.
Erin Holt [00:10:23]:
That is way later, by the way, than I'm normally on my computer. I don't want the blue light blasting in my eyeballs. I get super revved up if I work at night or if I'm on screens at night. And I have a very hard time falling asleep. So I could have kept going. I could have probably just kept going on my computer till like eleven. If I just let myself go, I could have been more productive with work. I could have gotten a lot more done.
Erin Holt [00:10:49]:
But I powered down because I know sleep begets health and health is my number one. It is my priority. So it will always take precedence over my other goals. Now, if you feel like you have a lot of goals and you feel like saying yes to one thing might bring you closer toward one goal and away from another goal, sit down and actually prioritize your goals. Remember, by definition you can only have one priority. This like having six priorities bullshit is nonsense, doesn't exist. That is a lie that we've been fed to keep us burnt out, strung out, stressed out.
Erin Holt [00:11:29]:
You can have one priority. So what is it? And then itemize go down and put things in a list for yourself. So that could be your next checkpoint, right? Is this bringing me closer to my most important goals? And again, reminder, goals change. So this will require continuous check ins. This list is going to be dynamic. It's going to be ever changing. So, goals number one. Figure out what your goals are.
Erin Holt [00:11:55]:
And also not the goals that other people put on you, not the expectations that other people put on you, but your true goals. Like deep, deep in your belly, all the way down into your soul. What are your goals? What's your soul's goals? And that kind of brings me to my next one, which is number two. What does your inner compass say? Do a self check in for me. Intuition drives a lot. I know that that is not the case for everybody. I've been practicing intuition and quote unquote, getting in touch with my intuition since 2007 maybe. So it's been a long lot of years of practice and not everybody is as in touch with body signals and all of that.
Erin Holt [00:12:48]:
I totally get that. But it's important in helping you determine your yeses from your nose. Being in touch with your intuition, your body, your higher self, your emotional body. However you obtain information from self. And again, if you don't have those ways, I would super highly recommend figuring that out for yourself. What's your gut sense? Where does that come from? Where in your life have you been when you felt that, I know this is a yes or I know this is a no? It's like a higher knowing your higher self has swooped in and been like, yo, listen, when have you felt that? What has it felt like? That is a super important tool for business and life in determining your yeses and your nos. Another thing I'll throw out there is human design. So episode 109, I interviewed Aycee Brown.
Erin Holt [00:13:43]:
She talked all about human design. This can be a really helpful tool in determining your yeses from your nos. And there's free online quizzes you can take to figure out what your aura type is. But really what we're looking for here is your inner authority. So we all have an inner authority, and it's described as the inner intelligence that enables us to know whether a decision is correct for us or not. OOH. It's like an inner compass that reveals whether something is healthy and fulfilling use of our energy or not.
Erin Holt [00:14:17]:
It's a body based knowing that precedes the cognition of the mind. So my inner authority is emotional authority. So for me, it's best for me to let my feelings decide the yes or no. And since feelings aren't static, since feelings kind of undulate, they're up and they're down. That's what feelings do. Feelings are going to be feelings. They're going to kind of fluctuate. Saying yes to something in the moment is not a good idea for me because sometimes in the moment, I genuinely want to do it.
Erin Holt [00:14:55]:
I'm like, hell yeah, let's do it. All right. And then I'm like, oh, shoot, I wish I hadn't said yes to that, right? Because the emotional wave has kind of fallen, has kind of crashed. So rather than give my answer on the spot, it's best if I say, let me get back to you. Ride the waves of emotion, kind of give it a few days, feel the highs, feel the lows, and then see where you net out. So I used to commit to a lot of things right out of the get go. A lot of it had to do with self worth, which is the next thing we're going to talk about. But I would say, yeah, totally, let's do it.
Erin Holt [00:15:37]:
And then I would feel really resentful for committing myself to those things, right? So give yourself, if you're an emotional inner authority, give yourself a few days to figure out where your emotions are going to net out. So there's different inner authorities. I won't get into all of them because this is not a human design podcast. But check that out for yourself. That might be helpful for figuring that out. And then, like I said, number three has a lot to do with self worth. Does it feel like you have to say yes to prove your worth in the situation, to have a sense of value? I'm going to refer you back to the episode Shit We Don't Talk About or Good Girls Gone Bad. And I explore this concept a lot in my own life.
Erin Holt [00:16:23]:
And it's important to make sure that your sense of worth isn't tied up into your yes. It's not an obligatory thing. You're not feeling obligation because we're supposed to say yes to be the good girl, to be liked, right? And also, do you feel like you're being taken advantage of? For me, the second that I feel like I'm being taken advantage of, I get wicked squirrely and I'm like, this is a no. Like my body rejects that so hard. So if you feel like you're being taken advantage of, that might be another indication of a no for you. Feeling resentful. Like I said, that's another big indication of a no for me. Another thing to think about.
Erin Holt [00:17:07]:
Do you feel like you're giving a lot and not getting anything in return? After a while, that can really start to grind down on you. And you're worth more than that, right? You're worth an equal exchange. You don't have to give and give and give and give until you bleed out. Despite what other people might tell you, you actually don't have to do that. So let's use a real world example so I can describe precisely what I'm talking about. This happened a few years ago. Someone in the local community asked me to speak to a group of teenagers about nutrition and body image. Now, this is a pretty big ask, even though it was an hour presentation she was asking me to do.
Erin Holt [00:17:56]:
It's not just an hour of my time. For every hour of polished content I produce, it's about 8 hours of prep. That is. I've just gotten really clear and honest with myself about what it actually takes to produce something. Even this podcast, that's definitely not going to be 20 minutes. I'm looking at the clock right now, like, we're at 17 minutes. So much for that. But this took me probably like 4 or 5 hours of prep.
Erin Holt [00:18:26]:
Never mind recording time, never mind publishing time, never mind marketing time. So it's a lot of time, right? I'm not just for the podcast, not just like grabbing the mic and hit record. What people see externally is very different than the behind the scenes work. People don't see the behind the scenes work, right? They don't see that. That's why when somebody asks me, oh, should I start a podcast? My advice is always this if you do it, be prepared to work. It is not all fun and games. It's not grabbing a mic and just giving people your thoughts. That's not how you produce a really good show.
Erin Holt [00:19:06]:
It's a lot harder, a lot more time consuming to produce a quality show than you think it's going to be. So she was asking me for an hour. So in her eyes, she's like, I'm asking for an hour of her time. No big deal. But in my eyes, I know exactly how much goes into that 1 hour. And on top of that, I'm actually not trained at speaking to teenagers. I teach higher level concepts to adults. That does not translate over to teenagers.
Erin Holt [00:19:37]:
Anybody listening to this show who has a teenager is probably nodding their head. Talking to teenagers is a special skill set. It's like going to a divorce lawyer and asking them to help you with trademark. Like probably not the best. Probably not the best. So could I have made that work? Of course. Would it have taken way more time and energy to figure it out? Yes. So let me run through my three step process.
Erin Holt [00:20:04]:
Number one was this working toward my goals? Was saying yes to this woman's request taking me closer to my goals? My goal at the time was more one on one clients. So remember, this is a few years back, I wanted more one on one clients, more podcast listeners, and to get more people into my group programs. My goal was not community outreach. That has actually been my goal at certain points of my career, is to get more into the community, to get boots on the ground, to talk to people, to meet people face to face, all that jazz. At this time, that was not my goal. I do like some community events now, but at that point I'd actually already reached my limit. So not a goal now. On top of that, I was a full time stay at home mom.
Erin Holt [00:20:53]:
I was home with Hattie. This is before she started pre K. This is know way before was I was home with her strictly all the time. So I would have had to get a sitter to make it happen. So this was an unpaid gig. I don't know if I mentioned that I was not getting paid for this. This was me donating my time, but it would have actually cost money to do because I would have had to hire a sitter. I was already coming up short for work hours.
Erin Holt [00:21:21]:
So this would have because I was a full time stay at home mom. So this would have drawn from my pool of hours to devote to my own business. So it was actually going to be pulling me away from my goals. And sometimes that can be worth it. So getting the childcare and figuring it out and taking time away from your business can be worth it if it's somehow working towards your goals. But it wasn't because I wasn't speaking to my ideal customers. My ideal customers are not teenagers. That is not who I work with in my practice.
Erin Holt [00:21:56]:
When I speak, I convert. When I teach a workshop, I always walk away with new clients. But I wasn't speaking to potential clients here. I don't work with teens, right? So none of this was bringing me to my goals. Number two, do that inner compass check in. So I was already a no, just based on all of those things that I talked about. And the more time I sat with it, the more I realized that I actually did not want to do it, that it didn't make sense. It was going to take a lot of time that I didn't have.
Erin Holt [00:22:31]:
Now, mind you, this is years ago, so I hadn't dialed in my yeses or my nos at this point, so I said yes pretty immediately. I didn't give myself that time to let the emotions kind of wash through me. I really felt obligated to do it. I felt like there was a lot of pressure being put on me. She was very aggressive in her ask, and I don't mean aggressive, and she wasn't mean and nasty. It was just like there was a lot of energy coming from her. I felt like I should say yes. I felt bad for saying no to a request from my own local community.
Erin Holt [00:23:05]:
I think that's really what it boiled down to. I'm like, who am I to not do this? Who do I think I am? I have to do this. And I also thought teens were getting such horrible nutrition information that I felt obligated to share my knowledge with them. So it was completely a yes out of obligation. And the more I sat with it and the more I thought with it, the more frustrated I was getting about it, the more resentful I felt. But I had already said yes, so I was already committed. And that's a big thing that I want to throw out here, because I talk about boundaries. I talk about saying no.
Erin Holt [00:23:43]:
Boundaries is not an excuse to be a flake. I kind of see a lot of that going on, and at the risk of sounding like a total ahole, you can't just set boundaries so you can flake out on somebody and you're like, oh, it's boundaries. You've heard me say it's okay to change your mind on things. Like, I used to be available for this, and now I am no longer available for this. I think that's totally fine and valid, but you always have to fulfill your obligation, right? You don't change course, like, midstream. You have to learn from your over commitment, and then you say no the next time, but don't bail on people. I think we can take self care a little bit too far. If you're bailing on someone, that's not really cool.
Erin Holt [00:24:27]:
So I'm never condoning that. I'm always saying, like, show up. If you said yes to somebody, show up. Honor your commitment, and then make a new decision next time. I've collaborated with people that were perpetual flakes, and I don't collaborate with them anymore. I need someone I can count on, someone that is dependable. If you're bailing all the time or if you can't organize yourself or you can't self motivate, we're not a good fit. That is the hard truth.
Erin Holt [00:24:58]:
For my business. I need somebody I can depend on and somebody that can self motivate. Somebody that doesn't need me to motivate them, that I'm not good at that. And of course you know, shit happens. There's an emergency, I always have your back. I grant people a lot of grace, but if it's something that's happening over and over again, then I cut my ties. Like J.
Erin Holt [00:25:23]:
Cole says, fool me three times. F the peace sign. Load the chopper. Let it rain on you. I'm not making it to three times with people. It also reminds me of the Maya Angelou quote, when people show you who they are, believe them. Right? I'm getting wiser in my years. I'm not sticking around to have someone bail on me and leave me in a lurch two times over.
Erin Holt [00:25:46]:
I just don't have the bandwidth for that in my business. Long winded way of saying I had made the commitment, so I wasn't going to bail on that commitment. And then number three, self worth. And this is really what changed the game for me. This was a big holding my boundaries moment because I gave the woman who asked me for the favor a list of dates and times that worked for me. I had another big project coming up right around the same time, so I had to be super careful with my time and my commitments. We had agreed on a date. So kind of like a virtual handshake.
Erin Holt [00:26:28]:
Okay, this is the time and the place that worked for me. And then she came back and said, oh, actually, that won't work. Based on the girl's schedules, that won't work. And there was this whole song and dance routine that ensued where she wanted me at a time where I was just simply not available. And we kind of did this back and forth for a while, and that's when the self worth thing really kicked in for me. Listen, I was able to step back and kind of see it for what it was. I'm donating my time and a presentation. I don't also need to bend over backwards to fit her ideal schedule.
Erin Holt [00:27:03]:
I gave her a time, she agreed to it, and then she backed out, saying that that won't work. It is not my responsibility to bleed out to make this happen for her simply because she asked, right? Just because she requested something of me does not mean I'm obligated to say yes. And I know this like, as I'm saying these words out loud, it's like duh. But I had to really learn this lesson. I know she wants it, but just because she wants it doesn't mean it's my responsibility to deliver it. I said on a previous episode, my new mantra is their emergency is not my emergency. Right. And this is a situation where that would really apply.
Erin Holt [00:27:48]:
It is. Okay. So coming back to the yes and the no piece, it's okay for your yes to be conditional yes, I will do this if XYZ if these conditions are met, and if those conditions are not met, then it's a no. So I ended up having to tell her that if we couldn't make it work within the dates that I gave her, then I couldn't do it. So my yes became a no, and this was not well received by the woman, but I am worth more than being jerked around like a rag doll, and I did not need to turn her problem into my problem, okay? Now, for some of you, that whole idea of their emergency is not my emergency. Their problem is not my problem. That will feel extraordinarily freeing to adopt that mentality. When someone gave that mantra to me, I felt like I could exhale.
Erin Holt [00:28:49]:
I was like, oh, my God, this is a gift to change my mentality around that. Now, to some of you that might feel a little jarring or overly harsh, especially to those who genuinely want to show up and be helpers, especially you're like, well, I got into this game to solve people's problems, to help people with their problems. Here's the deal. Me too. I'm a helper. I'm a problem solver, right? I'm in the healing space. I show up and I serve. I help people.
Erin Holt [00:29:24]:
I do it for free. I do it for monies. I help people because I like to help. But think about this. In ten years of private practice, ten years of running group programs, ten years of meeting with people one on one, eight years as a wife, six years as a mom, three years of podcasting and really running social media, being a family member, being a friend, I've had a lot of people utilizing my resources. If I made everyone's emergency my emergency or everyone's problem my problem, then I'd have a whole lot of problems, and I would not have much left to give. So chances are you, too, have a lot of people pulling on your resources. Not everyone's problem needs to be treated like your emergency, okay? So hopefully that gives you a good framework to work within the three step process of figuring out your yeses from your nos.
Erin Holt [00:30:23]:
Now let's go over to the listener question from Instagram. I was doing a story where I was talking about this discerning yeses from nos, and she DM'd saying, this is exactly where I struggle. Mind you, she didn't ask me for anything in my DMs. She was just saying, yeah, this is where I struggle. And then I asked her, do you care to elaborate? Do you want to tell me where you struggle? I invited her into that conversation. So here's what she typed. Let's see if I can simplify it to a big picture. Saying yes to things that provide me opportunity, to my own private speech and language practice eventually, but no to things that add to burnout.
Erin Holt [00:31:08]:
Sometimes these feel the same balancing with Beautycounter, which brings me joy as a side hustle. But director level business is intense. Then add a social life, a deployed husband, being present, all the shoulds. COVID lockdown was amazing because I couldn't say yes. But here we are again, a week out from full time kindergarten and daycare and back to the hustle. How do you grow with saying yes and choosing no and have a balance? I have the personality to burn out and that's always been my level. It doesn't serve me, which I know now. Maybe my thoughts would help someone else, or you've been through it and have the tips.
Erin Holt [00:31:48]:
Either way, I'm excited to hear what you've got. So let's start with goals. What is your goal? What is your goal now? Beautycounter. You refer to it as your side hustle, but is this really your side hustle? Or right now, is it actually your hustle? Hustle meaning is that how you're making your primary income? Is that where you invest the bulk of your time, your work hours to Beautycounter? So by the way, when she says director level business, director level business. Beautycounter is a direct sales company. And depending on the team that you build, you have different titles within your team. And so director means that she's managing a pretty robust team. Like there's a lot of moving parts as a director.
Erin Holt [00:32:39]:
Okay, so there's definitely some time investment on that end. What I want to say about Beautycounter, it's a means to an end, right? You're making money through Beautycounter so you can pursue your passion. If your goal is to create your own business, your own private speech and language practice, if that is your goal, Beautycounter can be a means to an end. I didn't just start out making a ton of money as a nutritionist. I worked at a health food store making $14 an hour. I nannied making just about the same. I started teaching yoga. I did all of these things on the side that provided me an income so I could pay my bills while I worked on building my dream business.
Erin Holt [00:33:36]:
Right? So maybe there might be a perspective change that needs to come into place. A reframe. This is not my end game. Beautycounter might not be your end game, your end goal, but it's providing you the resources to reach your end game. You can make really good money with Beautycounter. And I do think it's important to have multiple income streams for sustainability and longevity purposes if you're self employed. Those of you who are self employed probably really saw the importance of this as we've navigated COVID. Having multiple income streams is huge.
Erin Holt [00:34:14]:
So I do actually encourage practitioners to consider Beautycounter as an income stream. I think it aligns really well with our mission and our goals as wellness pros. And that's really how I utilize it as one income stream. But it's not my primary income stream. Not by a long shot. So I'm certainly not suggesting that you bail on Beautycounter in order to reach your other goals, but get realistic about your time investment. You can waste a lot of time convincing yourself you're working or spending when you're spending time doing things that aren't creating income, right? This is true for anybody's business. This does not just apply to Beautycounter.
Erin Holt [00:34:57]:
We can convince ourselves that we're working, but is what we're investing our time in actually creating income? You have to think about the income piece, too. Listen, if you're not making money, you don't have a business, you have a hobby, right? So we always have to look at the income that's being generated specifically for Beautycounter. How much time are you investing in your team? What are the energy outputs there? And is there a way to streamline that? Maybe you do more group coaching versus individual coaching. And what's the ROI? What's the return on your investment, your time investment into each member of your team? The people that you're investing your time into, are they actually putting in the work? Are they coachable? Are they someone who has reasons or results? That's a Marie Forleo quote, some people have reasons, some people have results. Right? Reasons is another word for excuse. It just doesn't sound as harsh. So are the people that you're investing your time into on your team coming up with a bunch of reasons or excuses why they can't do the work? Or are these people actually producing results? Right. Invest your time, the bulk of your time into the people that are producing results.
Erin Holt [00:36:09]:
And this might be a place where you need to create some boundaries, especially if you feel like you have a lot of energy going out and you're getting little in return. Now, as a Beautycounter consultant myself, I have to be very honest. The more time I invest in Beautycounter, the less time I have to invest in my own business, which is my true calling and my sole purpose. Like I said, the two are aligned, and I'm very lucky that the two are aligned. If they weren't aligned, I wouldn't be a Beautycounter consultant, of course. But it takes a tremendous amount of attention and time to run Erin Holt Health, a tremendous amount. Seven days a week. So I have to really think about where I'm spending my time.
Erin Holt [00:37:03]:
If the goal is to make your speech practice your full time gig, you have to take it seriously. You cannot treat it like a hobby or like a little side project. If you treat it like a hobby, everyone else will, too. If you don't take it seriously, no one else will either. So how are you going to take it seriously? Because creating something new takes time. So you're going to have to get that time somewhere, which means that you'll probably have to say no to some of the things that you're currently saying yes to in order to free up that time. So if you're telling me that you enjoyed quarantine because you didn't have to say yes, I would suggest you really look at that and pull it apart. Look at the specifics.
Erin Holt [00:37:59]:
What specifically did you not have to say yes to? Now, here's the secret. I think you probably know what I'm about to say. You can still say no. This is going to be the point as you're listening, this is going to be the point where you come up with a laundry list of reasons why you can't say no. And then I tell you those are all stories that you're telling yourself, right? If the question is, how do I balance all the things, the answer is I say no to a lot of things. If you have a bunch of reasons why you can't say no to a bunch of things, you're not going to be able to generate the results that you're after. If you're telling me that you get burnt out easily by taking on too many things and you're telling me you don't have enough time to invest in your biz, then who wins? When you say yes to everyone and everything, I'm going to give you a hint. It's not you.
Erin Holt [00:38:58]:
So remember, building something new takes time. You're going to have to carve out that time. Nobody is going to swoop in and give you an extra few hours every day. You have to create that time yourself. I think a very common mistake is underestimating just how much time things take to not only create but also market. I'll give some real world examples in another show, but it takes time. And so knowing that it's going to take time, can you be realistic about your goals? Set realistic goals for this season of your life with a deployed husband. Are these goals realistic for you right now? And something to consider? And this is just kind of a piece of advice that I would throw out there to you is maybe think about creating an audience that's specifically catered to speech and language and you can set aside a few hours a week to create free content for people.
Erin Holt [00:40:03]:
You can work on building an audience before you have a product to sell. And then when it comes time to launch your business, you'll have an audience that you've already established the know like trust factor with that will be eager to purchase your offerings. So even if you don't have the time to spearhead the launch of an entire business right now, there are still plenty of inroads for you to start to carve out that won't require as much of you. Because remember, it's not a if you build it, they will come scenario. That's another super common mistake. You need to woo into court your future clients long before you make them an offer. So you can start that process now. It's much more of a slow burn than we like to think.
Erin Holt [00:40:47]:
And that's why I always tell people, don't compare your goals to someone else's goals. Don't compare your progress to someone else's progress or your success to someone else's success, because chances are you actually don't know their backstory. You don't know how long they've been in the game. You don't know how long they've been working. You don't see the back end side of things, and quite frankly, you don't actually know how successful they are. People talk a good game on social media. You don't really know if that's true. So remember, I want to leave you with this parting gift.
Erin Holt [00:41:21]:
Yeses and nos look different on everybody, so you have to determine your yeses from your nos. All right, so in the next strictly biz mini-sode, which turns out not so mini. That is true Erin form. I'm going to talk about specific yeses and nos that I've said or utilized to grow my business into a multiple six figure business. And I'm gonna talk a little bit about working for exposure. At what point do you stop doing things for exposure and start asking for a paycheck? So that will be coming up sometime soon. All right, you guys have a good week.
Erin Holt [00:42:01]:
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the functional nutrition podcast. If you'd like to submit a question to the show, fill out the contact form@erinholthealth.com. If you like what you hear, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review in iTunes. Take care of you.
