I find that when the overwhelm comes, when things in business start to feel out of control, that this method of naming what matters, focusing on a single project, then focusing on steps within that project one at a time helps give clarity and peace of mind.

Gardening is an endeavor in persistent learning and eager hopefulness. A garden is always evolving. Expanding and contracting. It’s the same with business, I may have a vision, but I’m always curious as to how it will actually unfold. It’s the space to allow things to unfold that I treasure so much. s

Opening ourselves to the idea of new identities can be empowering. We come into ourselves as a writer, we see what’s possible with our finances, we feel more like ourselves when posting on social media. We practice and we become.

The idea of committed, but not attached has served me well as my business has shifted incessantly over the years. This idea is interwoven with the practice to balance striving and contentment. Joyfully dreaming of the future, working consistently towards it, but being present with the current moment. Allowing movement forward to be fluid.

Every project in business is an experiment. Nothing has to stay permanently the same. I like to give it 90 days and then evaluate if the decision I made is serving me well. There’s freedom here in the experimenting. It’s a practice in being committed, but not attached.

By planting perennials each year the garden will grow year after year. A compounding effect for the expansion of the garden is similar to the compounding effect of the consistent work we do in business.

Friendships allow us to move thru business without the need to reinvent the wheel. Friendships give us insight into our own businesses that we may not ever have the perspective to see ourselves. Making connection with and curating intentional friendships is the best gift we can give ourselves.

Take it one task at a time. I know from experience that persistence and consistency are the only way thru these seasons. I know to be kind to myself and calmly work towards completing the cycle.

Simplifying creates space. And creating space allows answers to come.

How to approach times of change when we don’t know what the change is yet.

Business happens in its own time. It unfolds like a flower when it is ready. Not ever in the timing that we expect it seems, but on it’s own schedule. Ideas, plans, and movement forward coming to life when they’re suppose to.

Let curiosity guide your small business decisions and the journey will unfold.

Owner Retreats sorted the jumbled pile of things we could be doing as small business owners and laid them out neatly, the most important intentions sorting to priority quite easily.

Business works like that a lot of times, we have to expand in order to contract. We have to go through an uncomfortable phase of “too much” before we can see what we actually need in our business.

So many decisions. And the default is to worry that each decision is the right decision. Perhaps there’s just the decision we make. It’s neither right nor wrong.

Being committed allows us to bend with flexibility where needed. Being attached keeps us rigid. Just as a tree will topple if it does not sway with the wind, being attached will create turmoil in business.

Being a small business owner requires tenacity. There isn’t a single formula for tenacity. Sometimes it means taking one step at a time. Sometimes it is simply sitting and trusting. Perhaps it is holding loosely to our dreams and letting them shift as needed.

Allowing space for ideas to come to life, to unfold in the time that they take comes with a sense of peace. It’s a calm way of doing business. An intentional business.

Many times, the promise of success in small business seems just out of reach. Perhaps because as we arrive, our goals shift. Our desires change. We change.

At the beginning of entrepreneurship we’re pivoting and changing direction a lot. Trying new things to see what works. We’re experimenting and evolving constantly. But, what happens when we get tired of evolving? What happens when changing directions feels so risky?