Reframing Consistency as a Heart Centred Entrepreneur

Building a Heart-centred Business Starts Grows from the Inside Out...

What does it look like to build a business from a place of love? What would happen if you stayed curious about your relationship with consistency as it relates to your heart-centred marketing strategies and creating a sustainable business you love?  

What would it feel like to embrace the cheese inside you? 

Ha! Ok that last one may have been a hilarious-yet-unintentionally-awkward quote from Sydney and we're here for it!

Listen in as Sydney and I unpack what it REALLY means to be consistent in your business and why reframing the way we think about what consistency means on a personal level might be the key to you unlocking your inner knowing and trusting your gut as you create a magical business you adore!

Just a Few of the Magical Tidbits Sydney Shared in This Episode...

• Life isn't consistent! Is consistency in our heart-centred marketing strategies as important as we've been led to believe?
• Stop building your heart-centred business based on fear, pressure, or rigidity of algorithms
• The importance of empowerment and self-agency as business owners and the difference between seeking answers and creating answers
• I don't know is just the starting point of your answer before going inward to unlock your inner knowing
• Stay curious about your resistance to certain business-building tools or strategies; use that curiosity to understand your relationship to those tools and strategies!

"Life isn't consistent. Expecting this machine-like work ethic is not honouring our humanity and who we can be. It doesn't honour the richness of answers that come from stopping and taking a moment to pause and not be consistent." - Sydney Fletcher

Check Out All the Goodies We Talked About...

👉 Workshop Replay: I Don't Know Isn't an Answer

👉 Blog: 15 Ways to Set Business Goals this Month that Inspire and Delight You

👉 Podcast: 15 Year-End Questions to Ask Before Setting Business Goals

👉 Beer: New Tradition Brewing Company

DECEMBER LIVE EVENTS

🥳 December 1st: Free Workshop on Zoom - 15 Year-End Questions to Ask Yourself Before Setting Your 2023 Business Goals

🥳 December 5th: Paid Workshop on Zoom - Big Bold 2023

🥳 December 15th: Free Coaching & Coworking on Zoom - Last session of 2022

Helping You Build a Business From Love!

Once described by a client as the perfect mix of no-bullshit and loving floof, Sydney supports new and aspiring solopreneurs as they navigate the vulnerability that is entrepreneurship. With Syd's help, heart-centred solopreneurs face their fears and get the clarity, confidence and self-trust they need to unapologetically create a business (and life) that they love.

Connect with Sydney!

Connect with Lindsay
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Transcript

Sydney Fletcher

[00:00:00] Lindsay: life isn't consistent. Yeah. And so we're expecting ourselves to work in a way that's consistent, but our lives aren't consistent. We have health challenges that come into play. We have grief that comes in. We have all sorts of global , the global pandemic, like there's all sorts of things that we can't foresee.

[00:00:20] Lindsay: That are going to. How consistent we're going to be. So expecting this machine-like work ethic is just not honoring our humanity and honoring who we can be. And I think also it doesn't honor the richness of answers that we can get from stopping and taking a moment to pause and not be consistent. 

[00:00:46] Lindsay: Welcome to the work, less play more podcasts for busy entrepreneurs who are ready to ditch the hustle. Stop burning on busy work and get back to having a life. My name's Lindsay Johnson, AKA The Radical Connector, and I spent the last 10 years [00:01:00] teaching first time entrepreneurs, how to get customers and make money.

[00:01:03] Lindsay: Listen in, as I chat with other hustle, recovering business owners, as we share our top tips, for you guessed it working less and playing more. Let's do this. .

[00:01:12] Lindsay: Friends, welcome back to the Work Less, play More podcast. I am so excited for the podcast episode, that you are about to listen to. We are talking to Sydney Fletcher from Do the Heart Work Once described by a client as the perfect mix of no BS and Loving flu.

[00:01:30] Lindsay: Huh, funny sydney supports new and aspiring preneurs as they navigate the vulnerability that is entrepreneurship with sid's, help heart centered solar, face their fears and get the clarity, confidence, and self-trust they need to unapologetically create a business and life that they love.

[00:01:49] Lindsay: And can I tell you, Sydney and I. I swear are the same person. What do my clients call me? Tough love wrapped in sugar and we have the no BS [00:02:00] wrapped in Loving Flu here with us today. And where I help you take that approach to the tactical, strategic side of your business, si very much helps you take that approach to the internal work the.

[00:02:12] Lindsay: Work as a business owner. We get into it today. We talk about some nerdy things. We talk about some heart based things. We bring the cheesiness, we bring the corny. And our theme really today is about consistency and what consistency means, what that looks like, and most importantly, what it's not. So friends, I don't wanna spoil it anymore.

[00:02:36] Lindsay: Let's go ahead and get started. I hope you enjoy this week's.

[00:02:39] Lindsay: Let's do this thing.

[00:02:40] Lindsay: Oh my gosh. Sydney, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thank you. Friends, we are already laughing and, and as I'm sitting here going, why are we not recording this? We are talking about, uh, the series alone, uh, naked and Afraid and Survivor . That's not the theme of the podcast is that's, that's what we're, [00:03:00] and we're laughing hysterically too, which you wouldn't necessarily expect with those three.

[00:03:06] Lindsay: I, okay, so I've not seen alone, but naked and afraid. It, it, it, I love that show. I actually don't know if it airs anymore. I was watching reruns, but like, oh my goodness. Two people dumped naked in the middle of a swamp, in the middle of a jungle, in the middle of, you know, a forest and like here. Survive. And I think they bring two items with them, like a machete or like a lighter things.

[00:03:29] Lindsay: They get to bring two items with them. See at least on a loan they get 10. Oh. And they get their clothes. They get clothes too, . So what is the, so what is the, the premise of a loan? Is it, is it that they like what is the goal, I guess? Okay. Well, the first season starts on Vancouver Island and it's north. Oh, it's Canadian.

[00:03:48] Lindsay: Yeah. Well, I. I should look into that. I don't know if the production is Canadian. It might have started Canadian, but they since have expanded their wings and gone to other [00:04:00] remote places. It started in Canada, north Vancouver Island on the west coast, very rugged. It's, it's out there and they're dropped by themselves.

[00:04:11] Lindsay: So each contestant, there's 10 contestants and they're each dropped into a particular zone of the island. So they, they never see each other. They're not anywhere close to each other. and they're, they only have 10 things and it's whoever can last the longest. So they're given a radio and like one, I think the first guy that was dropped down, like he within the first two hours

[00:04:34] Lindsay: Cause I like he was out , but I mean, I laugh but I don't know if I would do more better. Yeah, no. Like when I watch Naked and Afraid, like it isn't my worst nightmare. And they're, you know, the, the things they're bringing, like somebody, cuz cuz they're, they're together. They don't, they don't know each other beforehand, but then they literal.

[00:04:51] Lindsay: Have the most awkward introduction of being naked . So they're toge, they're, they're put in places together, naked together. They're, [00:05:00] they're meant to work together and survive together. Wow. What a social experiment. Are they? Same sex? Uh oh. It's generally a, a man and a woman to, of course. About the binary.

[00:05:10] Lindsay: Yeah. Okay. Um, but there's, they're varying in ages and Yeah. Like ethnicity and, and like whatever, like values and, you know, it's, they wanna make for good tv. So there's gonna be a little bit of, of, you know, friction created personality wise. But it's, it's always really neat to see like what people bring.

[00:05:28] Lindsay: Like, I'm gonna bring a pot so that we can boil water. , right? I'm gonna bring a machete, I'm gonna bring a flint. Or maybe they can only bring one item. Maybe it's only one item each. I think it's only one item each, and together they make two. And so it's just really neat to see, to see them get on each other's nerves because obviously they're in this really intense situation.

[00:05:50] Lindsay: And then have that breakthrough where they realize they have to work together if they're gonna survive. And it's just such a great , great [00:06:00] reflection of life and society. I have so many things to say about this cuz first of all, I'm thinking they're clearly not dropped. Vancouver, north Vancouver Island naked?

[00:06:10] Lindsay: No, it would be somewhere tropical. Yeah, like the swamp lands, like there was one, oh my God. Their feet. Cuz they're in water like 24 7. Like their feet are like, flesh is just Oh, and the bugs, the bug. Yeah. Because they have to get a fire to keep the bugs away. It is a, it's a whole thing. Yeah. It's you have to survive.

[00:06:29] Lindsay: Yeah. So the other thing that I was thinking was, I don't know, which one would you rather be on? I'm not sure that I would rather be dropped naked with another human that I've never met before. No . I think I'd rather be on a loan. I think I'd rather do it on my own. , like I like alone. Oh wait, no, good. You said they're not together.

[00:06:48] Lindsay: Oh, man. See, I, I, I take, now let's talk about Survivor. Cuz I love Survivor. I would love to participate in Survivor, but if I could be an entirely different person, , because [00:07:00] I know that I would be kicked off first because I would be not intentionally. Intentionally alienating people, you know? But I just know my own neuro divergence, my own directness, my own drive to just get ish done and not be dramatic.

[00:07:16] Lindsay: You have to play the game and the social team. I, I would suck at, I feel like you'd win entertainment value points though. Like you're such an entertaining human that I think that. Get you through now. My anxiety would take over and I'd be, I'd be a disaster like, get this human away from us. What is this?

[00:07:36] Lindsay: Or, or I could, yeah. Take over and run the whole thing. . Yeah. It's, I it's gonna go either way. Oh my gosh. Okay. So, so speaking , speaking of social skills, survival, , . Having to, uh, entertain people, comedically. Um, let's talk about, is this where we lead into entrepreneurship, [00:08:00] entrepreneurship. Let's talk about entrepreneurship.

[00:08:03] Lindsay: Okay, so, so I know that we have so many things that we would love to talk about. So many things to connect on and, and friends listening, we settled on, we settled on consistency to start off this conversation. And we're gonna, we're gonna see where it goes, but we were talking as well before we hit record here.

[00:08:21] Lindsay: We were talking about consistency. And I had had mentioned. In a lot of ways the word consistency, it feels like it's got a lot of shame and pressure and guilt attached to it, and duty and obligation and, you know, Sydney is here to remind us that consistency is what, tell us in your words whatever you want it to be.

[00:08:44] Lindsay: Yes. Can you give us an example of what, what, how you think of consistency in your life and in your. Yeah. Well, I can tell you how I used to think about it and how I think about it now. Um, so for me, consistency, for [00:09:00] some reason in my head it was daily work, consistent equated to daily, uh, every day for an hour I have to do this, you know?

[00:09:12] Lindsay: So, um, I think what I have learned is that. Now consistency is what I make it. Right. So, I can, I'm try, I'm trying to create my own podcast and I, this was something I tried to do a year ago. Yeah. And I started by doing weekly episodes and then life came in and my nerves came in and I, I stopped and, and that was a conscious choice that I stopped.

[00:09:41] Lindsay: But as I'm starting to return back to the idea of coming back to it, I'm thinking, okay, what do I want the consistency of this podcast to be? Yeah. And I went into it thinking it has to be weekly. And now I'm going into it thinking maybe I do it monthly. I give myself a lead time. [00:10:00] Right. And um, and for me, it.

[00:10:04] Lindsay: Like a more gentle approach. It feels like a more forgiving approach. Yeah. Um, so I think, I think for me now, consistency is what I make it to be. In all honesty, I don't know how important consistency is. I think it's important. Let's talk about that. Coming back. Yes. But how often you keep coming back that's gonna build and grow.

[00:10:27] Lindsay: It's, it's like any, you're building a muscle. Consistency is kind of like a muscle that you build. So, yeah, I, because this is so funny in listening to you and, and because, because we are taught, right? When it comes to like creating content, be consistent in your emailing, be consistent in your whatever, be consistent and yes, but to your point, consistency is what you decide that is for you.

[00:10:49] Lindsay: And so I think about that with my own podcasting or tubing or blogging. It's like adhd, consistent. I, I, I think I'm just gonna lean into that like you [00:11:00] might. Five in a month and then nothing for three . Yeah, right. And, and who said that? That's wrong. And, and I guess, you know, when we talk about algorithms and, and things like that, I mean, maybe, but like I don't wanna live my life at the mercy of algorithms.

[00:11:15] Lindsay: And I also think algorithms are kind of a load of poop, to be honest. , you know, Yes, I'm gonna, people are gonna be very upset with me saying, oh, you're gonna ruffle some feathers. Let's do it. I'm gonna ruffle a lot of feathers. But I don't know, like I didn't find, most of the people that I've worked with as a client, I have not found from an algorithm.

[00:11:37] Lindsay: Yeah. I found through my connections, my network, which the algorithm does play with that, but I think we can put so much weight on algorithms and the algorithms change all the time. Yes. So, you know, it's, it's a moving science just like every other science. You say the importance of empowerment and self-agency as business [00:12:00] owners seeking answers versus create, creating answers. tell us what you mean about that, cuz I feel like that's gonna tie into this mindset here. Mm-hmm. seeking answers versus creating answers.

[00:12:11] Lindsay: Yeah. So one of the things that I am very passionate. Supporting my clients with in our journey together Yeah. Is helping them understand we're creating from the inside out versus the outside in. If we look back to. Days as children and going through the education system, which has loads of benefits, and obviously we know how mu how important education is to a, a human's survival. And thrival, is thrival a word? I don't know, but I love it.

[00:12:47] Lindsay: I like it. We're making it, um, and. What we learn a lot of in that, in that world is how to be given the answers by a teacher. [00:13:00] We're taught to really follow rules. The education system teaches us that there's a right answer and a wrong answer, although I think that's changing a, a bit in the educational field, um, as we're wisening up to this.

[00:13:14] Lindsay: But really we're learned to look outside of ourselves for. So we take that into the world and let's look at how we approach the internet, right? We have a question. We look to Google for the answers. And so I think finding self-agency, learning self-agency, which is such an important component of entrepreneurship, is learning how to start on the inside and ask yourself what the answers could be.

[00:13:40] Lindsay: Yeah. And start there. And really, Check in and, and learning to read your body too, as to like what works for me, because I think there's a lot of people telling us what we have to do or what we should do, but we're all different. We're all unique and we all are going to create things in different ways.

[00:13:59] Lindsay: I really [00:14:00] think there's so much power that we get out of creating answers. Mm-hmm. , one of the rules I have with my clients is, I don't know, as just a starting point, so you can give me the answer.

[00:14:11] Lindsay: I don't know, but that's not gonna stop us from asking the question. Yeah. So really we wanna. Encourage ourselves to look past what we don't know and look inside of ourselves for what possible answers we could come up with. I love that. It's funny cuz you're talking about school education, and again, I come back to even the consistency part for just a moment.

[00:14:30] Lindsay: Like What is being a student right is, if not demanded consistency. Mm-hmm. , right? And, and there isn't much room for creativity. There isn't much room for exploring and doing something different or sticking to your own schedule or following the beat of your own drum.

[00:14:45] Lindsay: And I think that is what draws a lot of people's entrepreneurship is, is either the. Allergic reaction to that level of rigidity in their lives, right? Yes. Right. The need to create, and a lot of folks, that [00:15:00] is their, the entrepreneurial journey starts with the need to create mm-hmm. . Right? And, and you're, I love what you say that, I don't know, it's just a starting point cuz very similarly I say, I don't know as an answer.

[00:15:11] Lindsay: We did a whole workshop on that a couple of years ago. I don't know isn't an answer. How do we start to tap into our inner knowing? Because we do know. Right. Yeah, we, we maybe don't know the technical element. We maybe need to go to Google or go to a professional for that. But when it comes to things like what we want, what we don't want, what we like, what we don't like, what we feel called to do, those are the things that we know, but we are not taught to tune in and listen to that.

[00:15:38] Lindsay: Or there can be a sense. Judgment if we feel like we don't fit in, right? Mm-hmm. or second guessing if it's counter culture. Right. And so that, I think that is one of the hardest things as we flip into entrepreneurship, is learning to trust yourself. Yeah. And put yourself out there. Yeah. And understand that there might [00:16:00] be new answers too.

[00:16:01] Lindsay: Which is to your point around the creativity aspect. I think also, You know, when we were having our banter before we got actually pressed record , um, do you have these moments, I'm sure where you say something and you're like, oh, this is so smart. I have to say outta this, this one point that we were talking about, but.

[00:16:25] Lindsay: This whole idea that life isn't consistent. Yeah. And so we're expecting ourselves to work in a way that's consistent, but our lives aren't consistent. We have health challenges that come into play. We have grief that comes in. We have all sorts of global , the global pandemic, like there's all sorts of things that we can't foresee.

[00:16:47] Lindsay: Yeah. That are going to. How consistent we're going to be. Yeah. So expecting this machine-like work ethic is just not honoring our [00:17:00] humanity and honoring who we can be. And I think also it doesn't honor the richness of answers that we can get from stopping and taking a moment to pause and not be consistent.

[00:17:15] Lindsay: I am pretty sure by the end of this podcast I am going to stop using the word consistent. Like I just think that it's gonna not be a part of my vocabulary that, that's so true in what you just said. That, you know, we. Again, I don't know. I don't know. I don't know where this comes from other than to say multiple places in our society, but we look at ourselves like robots, probably capitalism.

[00:17:37] Lindsay: We look at ourselves like robots and expect ourselves to be robots and expect ourselves to be performing at optimal levels all the time. And if we're not performing at optimal levels, then we better take a frigging course or hire someone to help us become even more opt optimal. Right? Yeah, totally.

[00:17:52] Lindsay: Totally. Like that's just. Nature. That's not, that's not how we are designed. That's not even how it's meant to be. You [00:18:00] know, and, and this is where, I don't wanna go into too much of a rant here, but this is where we do need to challenge capitalism, right? And these capitalist mindsets that you are your worth is tied to your optimal output.

[00:18:11] Lindsay: And if you're not outputting all the time, then your life is inherently invaluable. And that's something that, that a lot of people, I hope, eventually get to and begin to unpack. And I, I do believe that we don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. Yeah. You know, like there, there are great things that come from a level of consistency, but I don't know about you, but I find life to be so paradoxical.

[00:18:39] Lindsay: Right? Yeah. We wanna see things as black or white, all or nothing. And so we wanna say, yeah, consistency is the important thing. When we learn the value of consistency, then we wanna apply it to everything. Yep. But it's also true or, and it's also true that not being consistent is just as valuable.

[00:18:58] Lindsay: So how can we hold [00:19:00] both of those things, both of those truths with the same weight instead of thinking that it's one or the. Well, I think it's, it's also to a reframing, when I talk about no longer using the word consistency, what would we replace it with, right? Mm-hmm. , because there's, then it becomes, the word that keeps popping into my head is desire.

[00:19:19] Lindsay: What do you want? Right? And what do you want? And what will help you get there? And does it need to be rigid? Does it need to be, um, as you said, robotic? Because again, this is an interesting thing because a lot of people, especially in entrepreneurship, but really in anything, people have a lot of desires.

[00:19:38] Lindsay: People want things. So what is it that's stopping you from working towards that? Yeah. I think that's when we get into things like perfectionism. Right? Mm-hmm. and self doubt. What, like, like again, if we were, if, what would, oh my gosh. I don't even know the question here. The question is there's desire, there's a gap between desire.

[00:19:56] Lindsay: What do you think is happening? I actually, it's funny. It's funny and it's [00:20:00] not surprising, but I had a client call this morning where, this is a client I've worked with for over a year. She took a bit of a, And she's recently come back to work with me and we've been talking about the pause that she took.

[00:20:14] Lindsay: Yeah. And it was such a valuable conversation that we had this morning. Cuz the challenge that I gave her was, I want you to explore why you took the pause. Yeah. because I think there's a lot of value that you can get out of exploring why you felt you needed the pause. And not to say that she has to work with me forever and ever.

[00:20:34] Lindsay: That's not what this is about. But it was more about what was causing you to feel like you needed that release. Yeah. Like there was pressure or whatnot. And if you could create this next journey, what would you want it to look like? And so she started unpacking that for herself over the last couple of weeks, and it was so beautiful to see her shift that relationship to the coaching [00:21:00] relationship, which is really about her and her goals and going after what she wants.

[00:21:04] Lindsay: Yeah. And she noticed how. The last couple seasons with me were really, she was coming to that thinking, I have to do this for my business. I have to do this for constant growth. Yeah. There was so much have to and should wrapped around the, the relationship with coaching and with her goals ultimately, that she recognized that and she thought, I want this to be more of a ritual I want.

[00:21:32] Lindsay: Moments coming with coming with you and talking about these goals and working through them to be moments where I'm honoring myself. Yeah. And I'm showing up for myself and I'm living out my truth and I'm amplifying that voice. And it was so beautiful to see and powerful to see that shift. Because I think when we come back to talking about what you just mentioned, you know, we have a desire, we have [00:22:00] a want.

[00:22:01] Lindsay: I think that's that thing. Yeah. That's between this kind of driven machinelike force and instead a creative supportive structure. what's the relationship to ourself. Yeah. And how are we driving ourselves forward? Is it from aggression and push and force, or is it from nurturing and love and.

[00:22:25] Lindsay: Well, and even the, the driving, right, I use the phrase driving a lot and I, and I catch myself when I do it because there's a difference between driving and pushing and being pulled by, you know, being drawn to.

[00:22:39] Lindsay: And so even, even in our language, I'm a big nerd for language and, and the word choices that we use, but a lot of times driving can be associated with running from avoiding, right. A fear, like it can be a high pressure or scarcity based or, or fear based. Impulse to [00:23:00] do something. And can we reframe that again into, is this pulling me forward, um, in my other world as fantastical fatty, where I talk a lot about joyful movement and health at every size and fat liberation, we talk a lot about movement and the myth that exercise leads to weight loss because it doesn't.

[00:23:21] Lindsay: So if we remove weight loss from the picture, Why would you exercise? What would you choose to do? Exactly. And so if we, if we look at, are there any fear based, scarcity based, pressure based, shame based, any, any sort of negative based driver that's moving you towards what you're creating in your business?

[00:23:40] Lindsay: Can we look at that? Can we acknowledge that and then take that outta the equation and reframe it? What would you do if there was no scarcity? What would you do if there was no shame or guilt? What would you do if there was no pressure? Which is part of what I love so much about the way you teach business strategy is.[00:24:00] 

[00:24:00] Lindsay: The removal of those things. Yeah. The making it consensual and allowing choice and freedom to be a part of a part of it. Yeah. I think And then you just get to be able to create the consistency cuz it's something you wanna come to. Yeah. Like reimagining consistency from a have to To all want to, yeah.

[00:24:22] Lindsay: Right. But you really have to change the driving force behind it. If you're gonna do that, you can't just tell yourself, I want to. And want to, you have to change what the meaning behind it is and what you're getting out of it. And I think most importantly, the relationship you have to yourself around that.

[00:24:41] Lindsay: So whether it's exercise or building your business. Yeah. How are you treating yourself in. In the creation of that. Yeah. And it immediately, when you said that, what came to my mind is I, so I I, I work with a lot of folks, so it's so funny. So you and I are the exact same coin, but different sides. You're the internal, I'm the [00:25:00] external, you're the internal motivators and drivers and, and barriers of success.

[00:25:03] Lindsay: I'm the tactical, the skill based, you know, and it's just the, the marriage of what we do is so wonderful. It's a match made in heaven. It's, it's, and so if I. Flip that. So you talked about your, your client and, and that internal for Herb, it becoming more of a ritual and you know, like if I think about when I work with people from a tactical perspective and, and I really teach people to, to view entrepreneurship as a tool to liberation for themselves and others.

[00:25:29] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. . Looking at social media or content creation or public speaking, these are all tools that we're using. And so a lot of conversations I will have specifically right now are around TikTok. Lots of conversations around TikTok, uh, because TikTok is a place where people are growing rapidly with audiences that.

[00:25:49] Lindsay: Genuinely wanna hear what they have to say. Mm-hmm. , right? And the community building capacity is incredible over there right now, but I will get a lot of resistance from people on that. And I, and there's a lot of [00:26:00] conversation around, you have to understand that as a business owner, you need to use the tools that make sense for getting you in front of the right people.

[00:26:08] Lindsay: We have to take ego and emotion out of this. Mm-hmm. , and we have to go number. What is the best tool for me? And number two, how can I do it in a way that is in alignment with my values and I feel good, right? Mm-hmm. , and sometimes that means not using every tool if it's out of alignment, and that's fine, but there's this idea of, you know, we can, we can drive ourselves for.

[00:26:34] Lindsay: Reasons that are not sustainable, as we talked about, but we can also resist things that are inherently good for our business. Yeah, right. Because again, there's, there's that scarcity, fear, inadequacy and imposter syndrome, self doubt. You know, even just as you said, throwing the baby out with the bath water, there can be a real stubbornness in there.

[00:26:55] Lindsay: Mm-hmm. , and it's like, gosh, you gotta get outta your way with that and think about what is [00:27:00] best for your business because you're building a, a baby here, a business. You gotta, you gotta do what's best for it. Right. What are your thoughts when I, what? What do you hear when I say that? What comes up for you?

[00:27:09] Lindsay: I think the thing that comes up for me so often I will get people who have worked with somebody like you has who's told them or showed them the things that they can do to build their business and they keep resisting it. They keep coming up against that wall and that wall is always ourselves. Yeah. And so I think the thing that I always think about is, I often like to approach those strategies from the place of, in those moments when somebody's resisting it, the goal of the tool is different.

[00:27:42] Lindsay: So rather than using the goal of the tool like TikTok to build your business, we use the goal of the tool to build your relationship to yourself. Yes. So like, oh my gosh. Yeah. I'm gonna need to give, you gotta, hang on, gimme a moment. I need a moment that hit and that landed. Okay. Go. Go [00:28:00] into. So we wanna explore and become aware of what are the things that you're telling yourself?

[00:28:06] Lindsay: Yeah. And what are you feeling when you approach that tool? Yeah. And trust me, I get it. Like I'm, I'm holding your hand as a sister. Yeah. Because I understand, um, I do it to myself as well. But until we start to shift that relationship, To ourselves from one of, like, again, it's that force, that pressure, that drive.

[00:28:28] Lindsay: I have to do this to build my business. Mm-hmm. , that's not, you're not coming. With love to yourself around that, and sounds so cheesy, but it's so true. Like of course you don't wanna show up to that when every time you show up, your brain is telling you you're gonna suck. This is gonna be the worst.

[00:28:48] Lindsay: Everybody's gonna hate this. Nothing that you have to say is of value. All of those thoughts coming up, like that's the work that we wanna start looking at and how can you support. [00:29:00] In the coaching world, we talk a lot about belief and um, I wanna start finding a way to really break belief down so that it's digestible and it's not just this flu fee word that we use because it is so instrumental.

[00:29:18] Lindsay: If you are coming into that relationship with TikTok, with those aggressive ways of speaking to yourself, you. Actually believing in the value that you have to offer. Yeah. Right. And when we start to unpack that and see the way we're treating ourselves mm-hmm. , and we start to use that tool as a way to build that connection to ourselves, that love, that value, that belief, owning what we have to say, whether or not people like it or not.

[00:29:50] Lindsay: But just, this is what I have to say. I feel it's important and I'm gonna say it. Then we start to train our nervous system in a different capacity to the tool, [00:30:00] you know, and it's getting, we learn to comfort ourselves when we're afraid. All of those things are so important, I think, to breaking through that wall of resistance.

[00:30:08] Lindsay: Yeah. It, it almost reminds me of, you know, when you're watching a movie and you see a character falling in love and afraid of losing that love, and so they reject, they reject the object of that love before the object can reject them. You know? Totally. Right. You're coming into this and you're going, well, nobody wants to hear me, and they're gonna, you know, I don't know how to do it and I'm gonna look dumb.

[00:30:27] Lindsay: And they're all these thoughts. And so they're rejecting, they're putting the walls up, right? Yeah. And then we also do it by blaming the tool, right? Yes. So we'll be like, oh, no. This tools, I, I'm going through this with TikTok, so I'm like, all aware, very, I'm, I'm in this process myself. We got some self coaching going on right now,

[00:30:47] Lindsay: Absolutely. So, you know, we start pointing the fingers at the tools. I, we see it all the time in social media, right? Yep. How much we hate on social media, and it really has to do [00:31:00] with how we are using it and how we're looking at. You know, and I, and I really hope folks are really hearing this and honestly replayed this podcast immediately cuz that. That is really important, and those are important shifts that we need to make. To our, your earlier point or our earlier conversation around algorithms, people always blame the algorithm, right?

[00:31:19] Lindsay: And it's like, no, again, an algorithm is that platforms tool for making sure that the right people are seeing the content that they enjoy. When you understand that, you don't blame the algorithm, you go, okay, so if I'm not getting seen, Number one, is this even the right place for me to exist? Because sometimes it's not.

[00:31:35] Lindsay: Sometimes you need a different platform. It's not where your people are and it's not where they're, maybe your people are there, but it's maybe not where they're coming to hear from someone like, Right, right. Because there's so many different platforms to get, to get your voice and your content out there.

[00:31:49] Lindsay: But you know, if, if instead of blaming the algorithm, sometimes we also have to step back and go, maybe I'm just creating content that people genuinely aren't connecting to. How can I look at this and at differently [00:32:00] and, and I will say that many times when people are not creating content that people are not connecting.

[00:32:06] Lindsay: Oftentimes it's because they're trying to copy somebody else. Mm-hmm. and not being authentic to their own voice, their own, their own words, their own viewpoint, their own wisdom. Or because there is still a bit of a block there and really truly putting themselves out there authentically.

[00:32:23] Lindsay: Yeah. I also think there's so much value in giving ourselves the space and grace to. Go about it over time. Yes. And I think one of the things that can be so disheartening and why I actually advise people not to look at numbers Yeah. When they're starting out and when they're building that relationship and why, part of why we make the goal, not about the the business results, but about the relationship to themselves is.

[00:32:51] Lindsay: It can be so disheartening when you go in there and you've worked so hard to create something. Yeah. You know, and we all know when we're first starting out, it [00:33:00] takes hours to come out with that post. Yep. You know, and you do it, and then there's crickets. Yeah. And so then you've just proven all of 

[00:33:08] Lindsay: your fears true. And nobody cares about you. Nobody loves you. You'll never be a success. All of those things come up. Yep. And so, Really, I think it can be so beneficial to just allow yourself to be okay with maybe I helped one person today. Yeah. There's so many lurkers out there in the social media sphere that, you know, the likes we, we don't always, people aren't always liking things when they like them.

[00:33:32] Lindsay: Yeah. So often. I think that can be a really useful tool for just helping yourself build the muscle of showing up Yes. Is to, to ask yourself, did this, did this, could this have helped one person. Yeah. And am I okay if I never hear from that one person? Yeah. You know, and this is something I would love to take credit for it, but I learned it from another marketing professional in the sphere named Simone.

[00:33:57] Lindsay: So, so I feel like I should give credit where [00:34:00] credit is due. . I think that can be so impactful for those of us who are feeling that resistance coming up against that wall. Cause Yes, especially when you get further in business, the algorithms are going to be more important and you're going to be more capable of looking at them from a neutral place.

[00:34:17] Lindsay: Yeah. But until that point, we can also be okay with just, supporting one person with our. One imaginary person who may have seen it . Well, and I, and I think this is a phrase I, I tell people often, which is, you need to view your business in terms of years, not months. Right, not weeks. Mm-hmm. . You need to look over the long, the long term of your business and your goals and give yourself that grace and space to figure it out and let yourself get traction and, and momentum building.

[00:34:46] Lindsay: And it is the same with social media. It is the same with your content. It is the same with so many things. It it, it is the same with everything in life. Things are not instantaneous. And I think that, like you said, when when things don't [00:35:00] instantly happen, we don't instantly go viral and blow up. Mm-hmm. , we take that as proof that nobody wants to hear from us and it's like, no, you just don't have enough consistency yet.

[00:35:10] Lindsay: That. Algorithms know that you're taken this seriously and you have to give it time to grow. And you have to give yourself time. And one of the things that is such a blessing when you're just getting out and nobody's really paying attention to you, is you get to make all your mistakes and you get to, you know what I mean?

[00:35:27] Lindsay: Like you make your mistakes, mess things up when you are. Still small and there's no one really to notice. a hundred percent right. Then when you, hundred thousands of eyes on you, you know, then you know you're gonna be like a pro for sure. Oh my goodness. So, if you were to give some advice to listeners right now around this idea of how do I reframe consistency and make it work for me, what would you say? I would ask them to check in with themselves on what they want [00:36:00] consistency to mean to them. Yeah.

[00:36:02] Lindsay: And what they wanna make it mean when they're not consistent. Oh, yes. Because we're not always gonna be consistent. And so decide ahead of time what you want that to mean? Yeah. Yeah. So around here, we always ask the question that the name of the podcast is, work Less, play More.

[00:36:21] Lindsay: And I love it. I love it when guests fill in the blank for their own, their own answer. So I say Work less, play more. I would love for you to fill in the blank. Work less blank, more

[00:36:34] Lindsay: love. O what does that mean to you? For me, uh, you know, my a handle is do the hard work. So love is such an instrumental part of what's behind my practice as a coach. I wanna build businesses that are based on love and based on what's loving for ourselves and for our clients or customers. And so, Yeah, I think work less, love more. Let love [00:37:00] be your guide. Oh God, this is like cheesy. I'm wearing a cheese hat right now. Fresh slice, Swiss cheese, and I'm here for it. I love it.

[00:37:12] Lindsay: I'm learning how to embrace the cheese inside of me. But, um, but which, That's, there's a whole bunch of places we could take that. My brain that did not need to, no, I regretted it as soon as it came outta my mouth, but I'm gonna love myself through it, so, yeah. I love it. Okay, so tell folks where they can connect with you.

[00:37:31] Lindsay: Where, where are they gonna be able to get a little piece of Sydney? You can find me on the gram. Do the heart work is my handle. And, one day, hopefully soon, I, you can also find me on TikTok . You can find me there. There just isn't much to look at at the moment. So funny. I'm working through it, it's fine.

[00:37:51] Lindsay: and I just launched a brand new website, so I would love as many people's eyeballs on it as possible and they can find [00:38:00] that@dotheheart.work. Do the heart.work, and do the hard work, uh, on Instagram. And of course all of those will be in the show notes as well as a cheeky little selfie with Sydney on a beer can.

[00:38:16] Lindsay: Yes. Really clearly. Before we go, I feel like we need to hear this story. Okay. I like many self-starting entrepreneurs, had quite a few hustles on the go when I started out and one of them was I worked at a really great brewery that had just opened up in my town of Comox PC on Vancouver Island. Um, plug for the brewery New tradition.

[00:38:39] Lindsay: They're great. Uh, and we can include the link in the show notes as well. . Our incredible brewer, Patty Sard. She, um, offered an opportunity for those of us who worked there to create our own beer. And once upon a time when I lived in Toronto, I had remembered [00:39:00] drinking a ginger flavored beer, which although like beer dudes are gonna be really appalled by that and.

[00:39:07] Lindsay: I don't know how many beer dudes are listening to this podcast, but probably not many . Probably not many, but it was such a great beer. I loved it. And I was mildly sick at the time, so I was like, this is really hitting all the notes. And I thought about it and I was never able to find a beer like that. So that's what I wanted to create, and we did.

[00:39:26] Lindsay: And it was a big hit. Lots of people loved it. And so we ended up doing a big batch of it and canning it, and I got to be on the can as a cartoon pirate. I love it with your, with your ginger beard , my ginger beard, and uh, funny story I was in for the picture, standing in a speed boat and on a driveway.

[00:39:47] Lindsay: None of this is gonna make any sense and I love it. Great. So we've got the selfie of you and the can on the show notes, so you can, you can see, uh, Sydney and all her ginger beer. [00:40:00] Glory . Yep. That's me. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. Uh, this has given me lots of really fun things to think about, uh, for the rest of the day.

[00:40:10] Lindsay: This has been great. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me and I'm really excited. Spend, uh, December, is it December 4th with you? Very soon at our, at your. We have December. December, we got December 1st is our our year end debrief, where we dive into our 15 year end questions to ask yourself before setting your business goals for next year.

[00:40:33] Lindsay: Uh, so this may not be out in time for folks to join, but I have the blog version and there's also a podcast version of those 15 questions. Awesome. So that's happening on December. Uh, and it's basically, yeah, the, the, you need to do a little bit of a debrief, what worked and what didn't, uh, before you set your goals for next year.

[00:40:51] Lindsay: And then on the fifth, we're doing our big bowl 2023. That's the one. And that one where we're gonna, just like so many [00:41:00] entrepreneurs I've been talking, I feel like the last two years because of the nature of the, the pandemic and where we've all been and what we've all been doing, there has been so much foundation building mm-hmm.

[00:41:11] Lindsay: and so much. Internal and, and, and strategic preparation. And now that things feel so wide open again, everyone is just ready to, to go, to just take off. Dream big, let's do this. Yeah. And so there is a combination of excitement and also. Incredible overwhelm. , a little bit of paddock. So we're gonna be reverse engineering.

[00:41:33] Lindsay: What, what are the goals? What are the timelines? What are the deadlines? Who do you need to hire to support you? Uh, we're gonna have some fun, so yay. I didn't know you were joining us. I'm so glad you be there. I'm stoked. I can't wait. I'm. Definitely one of those excited, overwhelmed people, so I'm looking forward to it.

[00:41:47] Lindsay: Yeah, me too. I'm ready. You were coaching yourself earlier on TikTok. I'm gonna be doing the same thing. Take a deep breath and, and so much, so much of entrepreneurship, and I think a lot of listeners will relate to this, so much of entrepreneurship, friends is [00:42:00] holding onto your vision and not losing your nerve.

[00:42:02] Lindsay: Do you find that a hundred percent? Yeah. Thousand percent. Yeah. Yeah. Hold onto your vision. Don't lose your nerve. Make consistency work for you. Sydney, thank you so much. Thank you, Lindsay. It was a pleasure.

[00:42:15] Lindsay: Friends, Thank you so much for listening in. You'll find all the links to all the resources we discussed over on theradicalconnector.com/podcast. Entrepreneurship is a tool for creating the life of your wildest dreams. It is not meant to take over your entire life. Entrepreneurship has a magical ability to transform your skills, passions, and big ideas into a business that can change the world. But it will also eat up all of your time, money, and energy

[00:42:43] Lindsay: if you let it. If you're a service based entrepreneur and are ready to work less and play more, get on my email list or contact me directly and let's talk about how we can get your business working for you so you can build the life of your wildest dreams and get out there and change the world. Happy [00:43:00] connecting I will see you online.