Scale Your Business by Journaling
You are likely shaking your head reading the title of this blog: “Scale Your Business by Journaling.” You’re thinking, “Yeah, right. I might as well believe in unicorns and fairy princesses.” You might even think I’ve lost my marbles. But wait, let me explain.
As a strategic scaling consultant, I take a different approach than many who share my same mission and title. I believe that everything we do starts with our why and not with the how. Getting clear on your why, naming it and incorporating it into our businesses (and lives) is vital to our growth. Infusing our why into each component of our businesses means that we will grow and scale in alignment with our desires. Further, infusing this why and our values into our hiring processes is how we take the hiring process from strategic checklists to sustainable business habits that feel aligned. It turns out checklists only work if they feel good.
When I first start working with clients, the bulk of our work is about identifying their passion, their why, and their values - the pillars of their business. We dive into this work together and help them connect the dots of their why’s to the business actions they take. I like to use the following journal prompts or questions to get their brains focused on the WHY and away from the strategy of HOW.
Journal Prompts
1. Why did you start your business? Describe that passion.
This is important because after starting a business, we find ourselves doing a lot of everything and only a little of what we are passionate about. Remember your why!
2. What do you love about your business? What do you dislike about your business? Get specific about the work you enjoy, that lights you up, vs. the work that drains you!
Knowing what lights you up vs. what drains you, and accepting that, is a key component to scaling your business. You should be spending most of your time doing work that lights you up; this is the work that you could do for 8 hours and still feel energized. The rest of the stuff you can and should delegate to others. (Yes, this means you should get excited to hire support).
3. How do you want your clients to feel about the services/products that you offer? How do you want your children to feel about your work?
Guess what? This one is a trick. The way you want your clients to feel and the way you want your children to feel about the work you do is actually how you want to feel.
4. If you had a magic ball, what would your business look like in 6 months? In one year? In 5 years?
Chances are, in 6 months or a year you know what you would like to not be doing, but you have a hard time expressing what you would love to be doing. Allow yourself the time and space to write down your desires, and then slowly pivot your business in alignment. Changes don’t have to happen overnight, but once you can express what you really want, your brain will start finding little ways to make those changes happen. It’s magic!
How about those unicorns and fairy princesses now?! Journaling to find and express clarity will truly help you align the work you do with the desires of your heart. Infuse this clarity into all of your business and hiring processes, and BAM… journaling to SCALE for the win!