Hey you guys, welcome back to the podcast. I'm excited to talk about when bad things happen, and you still want business growth. This was originally an email I just felt really inspired to write. My clients and some of my friends and myself, honestly, are going through a lot personally. In the last month my youngest had surgery and my grandpa died, and my clients are going through their own journeys with grief and loss and struggle.
And so a lot of the coaching that I've been doing both in our sessions and in Voxer are things about, you know, holding their power, going for what they want, but honoring their needs, honoring their desires to rest or cry or take a break or work, without judging themselves for wanting to work. And so I wrote this little email.
If you're on my email list, you probably saw it. And I was like, man, I think I'm gonna turn that into a podcast episode because I could talk about so many things, kind of expand on the ideas that I shared in the email. It's also in the Conscious Coach Letter. If you go to my website, www.itsambersmith.com/blog. You can read all my letters there, even if you're not subscribed to my email list, which is cool.
So let's talk about when bad things happen, and you still want business growth. The first thing that I'll say is obviously you are human, so you're going to have human things happen, right?
You're going to lose people. People get sick. You're going to be overwhelmed. You're going to experience things because you came to this mortal experience, like you don't leave without going through hard things, that's just what we signed up for. What's interesting about hard things is that your perception of those hard things kind of dictates how you move through it.
And so one of the distinctions I give my clients is there's things that you solve for and there's things that you navigate. To me, like I'll give you an example; my husband has type one diabetes. That's not something really you solve for, it's something that you navigate. I coached someone who lost their mom and I told her the same thing, I was like, you don't really solve for grief, you navigate grief.
And I wanted to mention that at the beginning because some of you guys are trying to solve problems and I totally respect that. There's problems that I want to solve for in my life as well. In fact, I mentioned my baby girl's surgery.
That was something that we wanted to solve for. She was having reflux in her kidneys, was having crazy kidney infections, and the surgery was going to solve that. On the flip side, I mentioned my grandpa died. My grandpa dying is not something that I really solve for. It's something that I navigate. And so the first thing that I want you to do when you're listening to this episode, and hopefully this is one of those episodes that you come back to when you have something hard, and you're still wanting to grow your business.
You can ask yourself, do I need to solve this or is this something that I'm looking to navigate? For the most part, things that are unchangeable like death or like a chronic illness, those things are something that we navigate, which means that you are constantly pivoting and honoring what's going on moment by moment.
It's not something really that you complete and move on from. Like grief, there'll be waves of grief, days that you feel good, days that you feel bad. And then you can approach your business accordingly based on how you're feeling day by day. It's not something that you're like, okay, and I accomplished this.
I would say money mindset is like that too. It's not something that you accomplish. It's something that you continuously navigate. And so if you're listening to this episode, either for the first time or you're revisiting this episode, which is kind of fun to say, just looking into the future is always fun for me.
If you're listening to this episode and you're navigating something, just know that just because you've done the work on it once doesn't mean that you're done with the work. If it's something that you have to navigate, it means that you come back to the work as often as necessary, just like money mindset work, right?
I work with clients who have done so much money mindset work and then they're bursting into new levels of, you know, income. They're always like shocked that the money mindset work never really stops. I mean, that's just one aspect of what we're talking about. Loss is another aspect, hard relationships, healing from your past, things like that, where it's like, I didn't really solve for it, I'm just navigating it.
I think things that are solvable, you know, like an acute illness, like I mentioned with my daughter. Or maybe it's like we need to fix this part of the house or my car got broken into and it's in the shop, like something that is solvable, you don't really think about it again in a painful way. You solve it and then it's kind of done. And I think both types of struggles are super valid and are going to happen to you. And so knowing, okay, is this something I can solve for? No. To me, it gives me a lot of peace because it's like, oh, it's okay that I'm sad. It's okay that I'm crying. It's okay that I'm processing, even though I've already done this work, I'm going to do it as many times as necessary to move through this wave.
I think when bad things happen that you have to navigate, like specifically loss, you can't predict when it's going to strike again, when you're going to feel that heaviness again. And so you just come back to this work over and over and over again.
And so the whole point of this podcast episode specifically, isn't necessarily to help you with your grief, or hardships. It's how do you do the grief and the hardships and still grow your business. So I'm going to talk about the things that I do and just recently did. I mentioned this past month has been pretty insane for me personally.
And my business grew. I had a launch. I'm opening the Matrix, so I have this like private group coming up. I've enrolled a new client, like I'm still growing my business despite all the things that are happening in my personal life, you know, and on top of that, just my regular mom life stuff, right?
I have a second grader at kindergarten or a preschooler, we're busy in our church and our community, and there's like kids events. Like it doesn't really stop. And so these things are useful, even if you're not in active crisis mode, these things are useful to navigate being human with the ups and the downs, with the sicknesses and the losses and the hardships.
These are some of the things that have helped me. And so the first thing that I wrote in my little email was “find your non-negotiables.” I love the word non-negotiables because it's like a list of things that you do no matter what that you're committed to. And I specifically want you to think of the things that are very small, that make a difference to help you create the things that you're committed to.
So, I mentioned, you know, the past month, my grandpa's funeral, Lainey had her surgery, and I had a presale launch for the Conscious Coach Academy, and I opened spots for The Matrix, so I've had a lot going on. Specifically for the Conscious Coach Academy presale launch, I just really committed to basically two things.
I was like, I'm gonna post every day on Instagram, even if it wasn't amazing. I'm just gonna talk about it and put the link up every day. And then I sent about four or five emails, for the launch. And I declared that to be enough and it wasn't super fancy, but it did work. Coaches did enroll. I made money. I signed clients, right?
Like it had the effect that I wanted it to and it wasn't super amazing. It's not like I spent a ton of time curating these posts on social media. In fact, many of you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen me just say like the presale is ending this Friday. Click here to read. The thing that I did do before that crazy week is create a sales page so that people could reference it, which I think, the things that you can do that you create once that serve you over and over like a sales page is really useful.
Over the years I've found that's really helpful for people, is to create something like a sales page or a reference page for people so that you don't have to answer questions over and over again. I wasn't super active on my Instagram except for I made a few posts, and I referenced it a lot in my stories cause I know that that's where most of my people hang out.
And then I sent emails to people who either don't necessarily follow me on Instagram or who just needed that extra touch point to join. And I just wanted to give you an example of what non-negotiables looked like. So when I think of non-negotiables for my clients, it's like, what is the thing that you can do that will make a difference that requires the least amount of effort from you but you can commit to it every day, or you can commit to a certain number of times. Which ties in perfectly to this next thing that I want to talk about, which is simplify, simplify, simplify. Specifically this idea that, you know, the more complicated we make it or the harder we make it, somehow we earn success.
This has been something I've had to unlearn for sure. I grew up thinking like, the harder I worked, or the more I worked, the more money I would make. Cause that's just kind of the, I don't know, the general consensus is, you know, you have to work really hard. Like, if people are making millions of dollars, they've worked really hard for it.
And it's not that I'm anti hard work, cause I do work hard and I like working. But I don't kid myself in thinking if I work more, I will make more. So specifically, like, if you're in a launch, just because you post more or do more things doesn't mean that you're going to get the results that you want. I think specifically in entrepreneurship, that's a really hard lesson for people. It doesn't matter how much you work, that doesn't necessarily equate to results.
And we can talk about this on another episode, about creating value in the world and your perception of yourself and the value that you have, but that's actually what creates the money and success. And so we have to believe in our worthiness to receive and our worthiness to create success before we can work less, especially when you're navigating hardship or loss or sickness or whatever, you have to be comfortable working less and making more money, or at least making the same amount of money that you do when you work more.
And that's a belief thing. And so, simplify, to me, usually means working less or letting go of things that aren't necessary, letting go of things that I don't have to do and just trusting that my work is enough. And so it might look like canceling calls, I've definitely canceled calls when I've needed to. Doing the bare minimum on social media, which I just mentioned and referenced about my launch.
Writing a shorter than usual weekly email or repurposing content. In fact, if you scroll back, I've repurposed content a lot throughout this podcast and a lot of times, to be totally honest, that's because I had a lot going on personally where I wasn't feeling super inspired, and I've been able to repurpose, you know, my masterclasses or old teachings and trainings on this podcast as a way to provide value, but I didn't need to do extra work.
I just sent it to my amazing podcast people, who take care of my podcast for me. So then the next thing I think this is something that goes without saying is like you have to be honest with yourself about how you're doing. So the four questions that I asked in my email or my blog, if you're reading the letter is, do you need time alone? Do you need to cry? Do you just want to work? Do you want a break?
So because all four of those, to me, feel a little different and being honest with yourself helps you know what decisions to make and what things you need to ask for. So I remember the first time, let's see, my other grandpa, this is crazy, I lost both of my grandpas this year.
My other grandpa died earlier this year in March. And I remember wanting to work. Like it just felt good to me to work. And honestly, even with my grandpa who just recently passed, sometimes it did feel good to work. It felt good to work on the sales page or to create content. And other times it didn't.
And so, it's not like a blanket statement. Like I want to work. It's like, in this moment, do I want to work? In this moment, do I want to cry? In this moment, do I want to call a loved one? So those questions aren't something you ask yourself once. It's almost like they're always on your mind and you're trying to give yourself what you need.
And so for some of you, I think you judge yourself for working when that's actually what you want to do, that's what feels good to your soul and that's okay. And other times, you don't want to work and that's okay. You can trust yourself that what you want is safe guidance for navigating and solving the hard things that happen in life.
The thing that I wrote down that I wanted share is, I trust myself to make decisions for the highest good and the highest good doesn't have to make sense to everyone else, it has to feel right to me. When we think of “for the highest good of all,” you are included in that statement. So you have to be first, it has to make sense for you and then it has to make sense for everyone else around you. So it's like, does it feel good to work? Yes. Does it make sense to work right now for my family? No, then I might not work. Right. But if it feels good to me and it makes sense for my family, then I do work. The order of things that I learned from one of my mentors, Melanie Ann Layer, she's like, for me, for you, for us. Does it make sense for me? Does it make sense for you? And does it make sense for us?
That's how I answer those questions. Whether I work or rest or cry or sleep or spend time alone or whatever. The last chunk of this message that I want to share, I think it's probably the bulkiest, which is trust leverage and trust miracles. So learning to trust the leverage that I've built into my business, but also learning to trust God and what some people might call God's grace, where it's like, where God makes up the difference, has been huge, huge, huge for me.
Where it's like, the math didn't really make sense on paper, but I still achieved something that I didn't think I could. Right, where like, the client comes from nowhere. Or someone pays who you sent a link to, but like, they ghosted you and then they paid like late, but all of a sudden the money comes in.
Or someone that had never talked to you before says, you're the perfect coach for me. Like, I've had all those things happen because I believe that God takes care of details that I can't do myself. And we can talk about surrender and trust. There's a really great book called “Letting Go” by David Hawkins that I recommend.
I'm going to spend most of this podcast talking about trusting your leverage that you've created. So these are the beliefs that I think you can practice that make a huge difference. Where it's like people can binge my old content even while I'm not creating new content. I believe clients want to work with me, even if I'm not actively selling something.
Believing clients will reach out, even if I'm in algorithm jail. For a lot of people, they've noticed that their engagement is down. I don't spend too much time with that, but I just choose to believe people go searching for me. That they actually go into the search bar and type in Amber Smith, so that they can find my new content if I have it.
Like, I believe people are looking for me. I believe that relationships that I've built over time will turn into paying clients and referrals. I believe people can go through my older courses and get value. And all these things have to be active, right? Like I'm either writing this down in my journal or I'm believing it.
Like it's a thought that I think or something I speak. I believe people will feel nurtured by my online presence, even if I'm taking a break. So that takes a lot of trust because you're trusting people to go through your old content and to feel taken care of by you. I believe this for my podcast. I believe this for Instagram. I believe this for my blog.
Like, I believe my presence is felt, even if I need to take a break from it. And if you don't have that belief, it's going to feel like you're doing something wrong. For sure, before I believed that little list that I just shared with you of my beliefs. Before I believed those things, every time I took a break, I almost like had anxiety about it, like turning my phone off or not checking Voxer or not creating content or not publishing a podcast or whatever felt like anxiety to me because I had a belief that that was the only way my business could grow.
I think that this work will change your life when you really believe that people are utilizing your old content, that people feel nurtured and taken care of by you. Whether you are active or you're taking a break, they still feel seen and taken care of by you, like you have a relationship, will allow you to have peace of mind as you take the break, or as you grieve, or as you step away from your business, you still have to believe that the business is working. And those are some of the specific beliefs that I've practiced that I wanted to share. I think the big overarching belief is, “My business is working, whether I'm working or not.”
And what's interesting about that belief is this belief has led me to creating courses and a podcast, right? And things that can live on beyond me, not just when I'm actively like coaching or live teaching. My body of work came from the belief that I can take care of people whether I'm working or not.
And that's what I love about content. I think about all the books that I read, and I'm so grateful that those people created it once upon a time. That doesn't mean that they're working at the time of my reading. I might read a book that someone wrote years ago, and I still get to benefit from it and they still made money from it, even though they're not actively working on it.
And so one of the beliefs that I think is useful is that you don't have to work actively to always make money. There is work you can do that we call leverage, like courses, memberships, programs, books, masterclasses, podcasts, things like that, that give you the leverage to help your business work, even if you're not working.
So the thing that I want to mention is that those beliefs are activated. I don't want to say it's not good enough just to listen to me, but it's really not right. You can listen to this podcast and do nothing with the information and nothing will change. But what I hope you do is you activate those beliefs.
And when I say activate, I mean practice those beliefs so they become ingrained in the way that you think and the way that you see the world. And I think another thing that I wanted to mention is not to layer on guilt or shame when you don't work on top of already difficult circumstances. So I was actually coaching a client who was grieving a loss that she had in her life. And it was like, don't add the stress, the shame, and the guilt of not working. Just take care of yourself, just cry today, or just be with your family today, or whatever grief looked like, and don't stress about your business. Cause that's just adding more negative stuff, more heaviness on something that doesn't need to be heavy.
There's times where you support your business, and what's cool is there's times where your business supports you if you put in the work. One of my favorite laws is like the law of harvest. So if you think about it, if you've been planting seeds, and this is why I recommend being consistent with your action when you're feeling good, like creating podcast, or creating content, or nurturing relationships over time, planting those seeds.
Eventually those seeds will become a tree that replenishes you, right? That's how I feel like my business is this past month. It's like, I've put so much work in the past five plus years so that my business can take care of me in this season. I trust that the leverage that I've built allows me to take time off without guilt, without shame, without, you know, worry or anxiety.
And no matter where you're at in your business, you can believe that, that like the seeds you've planted can replenish you and that your business can take care of you while you're grieving, while you're sad. Really, really important shift.
New beliefs are practiced. New levels of trust and faith are practiced. New realities are practiced. So if you've never had the experience of like being in a hard, or difficult personal situation and where your business grows, it's because you haven't practiced it. If you're making money and signing clients relies on you being perfect and not being a human, that's going to fail.
It's not a good setup. But if you can believe, like I can be sad and make money. I can process a loss and make money. I can feel lost in my life or I can feel frustrated by my family or whatever you're going through and I can still grow my business. When you have both of those things going on and you know you're going to be okay, that's personal power. That doesn't mean that you don't take breaks. That doesn't mean that you always have to be on. It is a belief thing where you can become conscious of new realities. Where it's like, I'm sick, and I made a sale today. I lost someone, but I signed a new client. Like, those things can coexist based on what you believe is possible for you.
And so, I think part of that is really, like I said, beliefs or practices. So some of the beliefs that I mentioned earlier, it's like, I believe clients want to work with me even if I'm not actively selling. One of the beliefs that I've been practicing recently is like, I don't have to actively sell one on one anymore.
My one on one clients find me and talk to me about one on one and that has been very, very true, probably for the past, like six months or so. My clients find me and reach out to me. And so when you activate a new belief and you practice it, it does become your reality. And so some of the beliefs that I mentioned, and I'll go through them again, that I think serve, what we're talking about here is like, when things are bad, but you still want to grow your business.
I believe people can binge my old content while I'm not creating new content. I believe clients want to work with me, even if I'm not actively selling. I believe clients will reach out to me, even if I'm in algorithm jail. I believe relationships I've built over time will turn into paying clients and referrals.
I believe people can go through my older courses and get value. I believe people will feel nurtured by my online presence even when I'm taking a break. Those are beliefs that you should practice and activate within you, so that you feel safe taking the break, resting, sleeping, crying, not showing up online.
Like we need to normalize that you're not on all the time. I'm not on all the time. No one is on all the time. And the perception that they are only hurts you. And so I just wanted to give you permission to take the break. This does not mean that you always take the break, that you never work. It means that you work and you rest, you show up and you retreat and sleep, or you know, whatever you need to do to take care of yourself. You can do both because that's actually what sustainable success looks like, is like doing both. This message was more for people who feel like they can't turn off or they feel guilty when they do. And so I just wanted to maybe insert some new beliefs into your awareness.
So that you can believe your business is working even if you are not. That was really, really beneficial for me. When I've been sick, when my kids have been sick, when I've lost people, when people I love are having a hard time and it affects me. Whatever is true for you, whatever you're navigating or solving for, you do got this, like you can figure this out. And I think activating these new beliefs is one of the ways that makes this easier. And it gives you that peace of mind, knowing your business is always working, even if you are not. And I think that's the big message that I want you to take away today. So whatever you're going through, I love you and I'm thinking of you and you got this.
I'll talk to you soon.
