Inspiring Women in Business Podcast - Episode 28 - The Five Pillars of Compassionate, Sustainable Productivity with Louise Miller

podcast May 23, 2022

Most of us are programmed to focus on making improvements for our weaknesses that we tend to forget to value what we are good at and what we love doing. What we think is productive can sometimes make us too exhausted and that holds us back from succeeding.

In this episode, Louise Miller talks about compassionate, sustainable productivity and its five pillars. She also shares her experiences and some advice for people who are starting and growing their businesses.

Key takeaways from this episode:

Productivity is about doing what's important, as efficiently as you can or as effectively as you can, to create space for what you love.
When we take a break our brain can still process things in the background and come up with all the creative solutions to problems.
When starting a business, a sustainable approach is to first know about yourself and to pay attention to what feels right for you.
Give yourself space to think and plan when you are growing your business.
Think about the freedom that getting help is going to give you and how you can then get playful and creative and do incredible things.

The Five Pillars of Compassionate, Sustainable Productivity

Vision - Having a vision is an important starting point to knowing what is important.
Goals - The goals you set should be aligned with your visions and should motivate you.
Organization and Planning - You should make sure that you have plans that will move you in the direction towards your goals.
Awareness - You should pay attention to how we are using our resources to get stuff done.
Habits - Building supportive habits will set you up for success.

Episode Timeline:

00:04 Intro

01:22 Episode Intro

01:48 What help Louise Miller offers to business owners

03:00 How Louise ended up in her business

06:39 The society’s idea of success

08:04 Louise’s definition of compassionate, sustainable productivity

09:31 The five pillars of compassionate, sustainable productivity.

15:12 Valuing the things that we love doing

18:30 The overwhelming idea of having too many ideas

19:16 Planning in a flexible way

21:15 Advice for starting business owners.

22:34 Advice for people who are growing their business.

24:48 Give yourself permission to get help.

25:38 How to find more bout Louis.

26:21 Outro

About My Guest:

Louise Miller is the woman behind bettylouonline.com. She works with busy, successful business owners who want to run a fulfilling business without burning out. She helps them to get stuff done with less stress and more ease, so they can create space for the things they love.

Connect with Louise Miller here:

Website: https://www.bettylouonline.com

LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/louisemiller-bettylou

Workbook: https://www.bettylouonline.com/inspiringwomen

Book Recommendation: Be A Free Range Human by Marianne Cantwell

https://www.beafreerangehuman.com

More about Ruth:

Hi, I’m Ruth, a business coach specializing in helping freelancers and business owners adjust their mindset and their marketing so they can get fully booked with clients they LOVE to work with. I’ve helped hundreds of self-employed women achieve the time and money freedom they craved.

I’ve started this podcast because when I first went all in and left the corporate world to be a freelancer, I was grateful for any work that came my way. After over 20 years of freelancing and working for other people, I started to realize I’d created a glass ceiling for myself.

In 2017, I finally started listening to that voice that had been telling me for a long time that I wasn’t doing what I loved and fulfilling my true potential. It took a critical illness to give me that wake-up call. I don’t want the same to happen to you.

You can expect practical advice, inspiring stories, and a lot of aha moments as we uncover and kick to the curb all the obstacles you have been putting in your way.

I’m on a mission to inspire women to start and play bigger in business.

Connect and know more about Ruth here:

Coaching: https://www.ruthgilbey.com/coaching

Free stuff: https://www.ruthgilbey.com/the-sold-out-solution-2022

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruthgilbeymarketingandcoaching/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruth_gilbey/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ruthgilbey/

Transcription

Ruth Gilbey 00:04

Hello and welcome to the inspiring women in business podcast. My name is Ruth Gilbey and I'm a business and marketing coach. I'm on a mission to inspire women to start and play bigger in business. Now I started this podcast because when I first went all in and left the corporate world to be a freelancer, I was just grateful for any work that came my way. After over 20 years of freelancing and working for other people, I started to realize I'd created a glass ceiling myself. It was in 2017 when I finally started listening to that voice that had been telling me for a long time, that I wasn't doing what I loved, and I wasn't fulfilling my true potential. It took a critical illness to give me that wake-up call. And I don't want the same thing to happen to you. You can expect practical advice, interviews, inspiring stories, and a lot of aha moments, as we uncover and kick to the curb. All the obstacles you've been putting in your way.

Ruth Gilbey 01:08

Hi, everyone, welcome back to the inspiring women in business podcast. I'm delighted to have Louise Miller with me today. And we are going to be talking about the five pillars of compassionate, sustainable, productivity. I can't wait for this episode, but I'm going to absolutely learn loads about this. Hi, Louise, thank you so much for joining me.

Louise Miller 01:28

Oh, hi, Ruth. It's such a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.

Ruth Gilbey 01:32

Louise, could you just let everybody know who you are? And who do you help?

Louise Miller 01:35

Yeah, absolutely. So as you said, my name is Louise Miller. And I work with really busy, successful business owners who want to run a business that feels fulfilling, but without burning out. So you know, my clients want a business with all of the F's. So they want it to flow, they want it to function really smoothly. They want it to be financially flourishing, fulfilling, and Fern all of those fabulous F words, and they want that space to be creative and to enjoy the life that they're creating for themselves. But the problem they have is that they've got so much to juggle, they're struggling to hold everything in their heads. So they have all of these amazing ideas that they really want to get out in the world, but they're not in love with the detail. They start to feel overwhelmed. They become unsure about what to do next. And so really incredible things that would feel amazing end up being put on the backburner and not happening. So that's kind of where I come in, you know, I help those people to find order in the chaos. It's one of my very favorite things to do taking everything that's going on for them right now, all of their brilliant ideas and breaking all of that down so that it's really easy for them to take action on what's most important. So yeah,

Ruth Gilbey 02:39

This is gonna be a good one. So how did you end up having the business that you have today? Before we dig into that, I just want to hear a bit more about you.

Louise Miller 02:46

Yeah, I would love to share. So if we go back to kind of 2015 I was working at a university as a team leader managing a small team and I was absolutely bloody knackered. Sorry, is it all right to say that I was really exhausted. And I can remember really clearly. I was sitting in my office which had a beautiful view of a brick wall fluorescent light, you know, the thing with bloodshot eyes, just feeling absolutely exhausted, emails flying at me from all directions, forgetting to blink, concentrating so hard. And it got to a point where I realized I needed a drink. So I decided to get up, go to the kitchen for a glass of water. And it's literally 15 paces from my desk to where I would go to grab a drink. And in that short space of time, this question popped into my head that just completely changed everything for me. I just heard this question which was you know, "Louise, why are you always rushing to get everything done?" And it came as a real bolt out of the blue because what that made me realize, and it seems so obvious saying it now. But it was this realization that I would never be done. So no matter how efficient I was, how many hours I was working, there would always be more to do. So as I say it seems obvious saying that now, but at the time, it was a massive lightbulb moment for me. And it was kind of this first whisper of there perhaps being a different way of going about things. And from there, I started to get really curious. And I won't go into this in a huge amount of detail because it would be a whole other episode. But I discovered the slow living movement at that time, which made such a difference to my life. But being a human, I didn't actually do anything about it at that point. I just stayed in the job carried on being exhausted until my body started screaming at me and I had basically had a full-on meltdown. Just before we're really big meeting, I couldn't stop sobbing ahead of the course had to kind of gently take me by the elbow and escort me to an office close the door behind me. So I could just sit there and you know, those sorts of sobs that kind of come from deep in your belly and you can't even breathe. It was that and I couldn't stop. It was horrible. And from there, that's when I was like, Okay, enough is enough. So you know, the long story short, I ended up being signed off work with work-related stress and anxiety, which was the best thing that could have happened looking back on it because it gave me the space to consider what I wanted to do next. So What I ended up doing was in the summer of 2016, taking a massive leap of faith and quitting my job to start this business. And you know, it hasn't been a linear journey. When I started, I was working as a, I did a bit of copywriting, I worked as a VA, I think I supported about 30 small business owners as a VA, I did kind of productivity mentoring. And what I realized was that the thing that bugged me was this, what I just described the people with brilliant ideas, who were struggling to get them done, and knowing I could help with that. So that's kind of where I built this business that I'm running today. It's kind of been an evolving thing over the last sort of five or six years, but I absolutely love it, you know, I knew that I could help those people with that feeling of overwhelm. And all of the curiosity and the learning I've done around slowing down has been a huge part of that. So it's been an interesting ride. But I'm really happy I've landed where I have because I love it,

Ruth Gilbey 05:49

Your story really resonates with me, because I know you've listened to my podcast the ways but when I started to slow down after I was diagnosed with cancer, and it was interesting because I always say this, I thought that was going to be the end of my business and the end of freelancing or any kind of like work career business ideas, I thought that it's over. But it was really just the beginning. And at this big question around, why am I busy all the time? Why am I rushing? Why do I feel like I just have to keep filling the space all the time with things? Why do I think that's success? Why do you think we do that?

Louise Miller 06:24

It's a big question. But it's just really deeply ingrained in us from a very early age. You know, I don't know about you, but I remember as a kid, you know, you're not allowed to go out and play unless you've done your homework. And you know, you've got to tidy your room before you're allowed to do anything else. And it is just so deeply ingrained, that must get everything done before you're allowed to relax. That was certainly my experience. And you know, the guilt that comes from allowing yourself to take that space when you know, there are still things that need to be done. It's it's huge. It's, it's really damaging. But I just think it's around us this idea of success that we've all bought into, you know, buy the bigger house, buy the newer car. Why? If that's what you want, then great. But I can remember, you know, I had a really clear, again, another really key lightbulb moment where I just thought actually I don't want that bigger house if having the bigger house means that I need to be working a ridiculous amount of hours in order to sustain it. You know, I'm flow, simple has Rich Moore kind of, that's the life I want to be living. And that's what success looks like for me. But I think that's not what society is putting out there as a measure of success. So it feels a bit countercultural to be, you know, pursuing something different than that.

Ruth Gilbey 07:36

So do you want to tell us a little bit more about the five pillars of compassionate, sustainable productivity? I think that's what we're talking about anyway. But what is that?

Louise Miller 07:45

Yeah. I should probably explain what I mean by compassionate, sustainable productivity first, although you may have already got a sense of that, from what I'm sharing an interesting kind of existential crisis, if you like that I was having in the evolution of this business was, I know that my strengths lie in getting things done, being efficient. And all of that stuff, I just, that's naturally what I'm able to do. And it's where my gifts lie. But as soon as I realized that, actually, that can be really harmful. And this kind of productivity for productivity sake, and always rushing to get to the end of your to-do list all of that stuff, after seeing how damaging that was, I had this moment. So how do I use my gifts and talents in a way that supports people without buying into that damaging thing about you know, your self-worth being tied up, and how much stuff you take off your to-do list? So I came up with a new definition of productivity, that is not about getting more done in less time. Because again, I think the do more in less time thing can lead to a feeling of panic kind of make you start thinking, oh god, I've got to hurry up instead. For me, productivity is about doing what's important, as efficiently as you can or as effectively as you can, in order to create space for what you love. The point is to create the space and like you said earlier not to be filling that space constantly with the feeling we should be doing more. And that is what I mean when I talk about compassionate, sustainable productivity because it's about being kind to yourself. It's about finding a way of getting things done that is sustainable over the long term that feels fun, that's not going to lead to burnout. So that's first of all, you know what I mean? When I talk about compassionate, sustainable productivity, if that makes sense. Yeah, absolutely. Love it. Yeah. And so in exploring that, I came up with realized over time, that there are these five things that I think make up this idea around compassionate, sustainable productivity. And the very first pillar of my five pillars is your vision. So you know, if the definition that I've come up with is about getting what's important done, we need to know what's important, and how do we know what's important, we check in with whether or not it's aligned with our vision of where we want to be heading and we what we want our life in our business to look like. So you know, whether you talk about your vision or purpose or your mission, whatever that big thing is, to me, that's always a starting point. That's always where I start with clients. It's always is always, always a starting point. So your vision is your first pillar of compassionate, sustainable productivity. And then from there, the second pillar is your goals, you know, setting goals that feel really good and that are aligned with that vision. And I know you do this with people as well, you know, you're big on this in your membership as well. But for me, the question that I ask people when they're thinking about their goals is does this excite me? Because if it doesn't, then chances are you're going to find it difficult to get motivated to do it. So does it excite me? Is it aligned with the vision? And why am I doing it and getting a really emotionally compelling reason as to why and then looking at the blooming things, not just writing them down. They're getting there, they're making sure you're checking in with those goals, often to help you stay on track. So vision and goals are really important when it comes to productivity. And then we come on to the third pillar, which is quite often where people think I'm going to start when I start talking about this, which is organization and planning. So you know, often people just imagine that when you hear the word productivity, that's all you're really thinking about is organization and planning. But there's a lot more to it than that, as I've just explained to him, I'll go on to explain when I come to the other two, but yeah, so this is what you'd expect, you know, thinking about how you're managing your to-do list how you're organizing your time, how you are engaging with planning in your business, which is something that a lot of people don't do, or don't do well. So a big part of the work that I do is supporting people with their planning. So all of that stuff, you know, making sure you're really clear about what you need to be doing all of that's going to help you just feel like you're really organized, you know what you're doing, you've got a plan that's going to move you in the direction towards those goals. All of that is the third pillar. And then the fourth pillar, again, is one that's missing for a lot of people. And this is awareness. And I often talk about awareness, like your superpower, really, and your productivity superpower, because I don't know about you, Ruth. But sometimes a lot of people will say they get to the end of the day, and they're not quite sure what happened that I don't know what happened, or did I do today? Have you had that experience?

Ruth Gilbey 11:51

Yeah. Where did the week go? Where did we go? That kind of thing?

Louise Miller 11:55

Yeah, exactly, exactly. And so it's so important. I think that happens when we're on autopilot. And we're rushing about from one thing to the next, and not giving ourselves space to pause. But when we build this awareness, we start really paying attention to how we are spending our time, our energy, and our attention. And those three things are the resources that we all have available to us to help us get stuff done. So it's really important that we are taking notice of where we're investing those precious resources, your time, your energy, and your attention. So that's one part of awareness is really just paying attention. And I do encourage people to write it down. If they do often feel that way of what I don't know what's gone on this week. And what I've been doing, is start writing it down just for a week and see what you spot because the other important piece around awareness is about spotting your patterns, and allowing yourself the space to notice that you can't spot your patterns and build your awareness if you're rushing around the whole time. For so pausing and slowing down, as we were saying earlier is really important, because that allows you to get curious. Curiosity is one of my favorite words. It gets, you can get curious about your patterns. You start to notice the things that are consistently tripping you up, maybe you suddenly realize you are running from the discomfort of something that feels a bit tricky. You're reaching for distractions at this particular point where things start to feel uncomfortable. And if we don't allow ourselves to notice those things, then how can we possibly do something about them. So that awareness piece, again, missing for a lot of people, but really important if we want to boost our productivity. And the fifth one, the fifth pillar is your habits. So building really supportive habits that are going to set you up for success, basically, and again, you know, I mean, there are so many things we could talk about here. But I always think about the really foundational habits that again, people don't think about in productivity terms, but sleep if we're not well-rested, it's very difficult to focus. So prioritizing asleep and building some habits around that to support you and getting the best that you can move, not spending all day sitting at your desk, making sure you get up and have a little bit of a wiggle and stretch and get the blood flowing, making sure you're taking regular breaks, building all of these things into habits. So you don't have to think about them. They just happen so importantly. You know, again, sorry, I'm going off. I'm getting very excited. I'm going off on one. But breaks, are so important. And people tend to think certainly, you know when I think going back to my old job if I were seen or my perception was if I was seemed to be taking a break when everyone was really busy, I would be being judged for that. And people were thinking Who does she think she is having a break when we've got all this work to do? A lot of us carry that with us even when we're our own boss. And we have this really ridiculously relentless work ethic that isn't doing ourselves you know, isn't doing us any favors. When we take a break our brain is able to still process things in the background come up with all the creative solutions problem solve in a way that it can't when we're constantly focusing on something so taking a break is so important and building that like I say into your rhythm for your day so that it becomes a habit is really important. So yeah, those are the five. I rattled through those.

Ruth Gilbey 13:42

It's great though. I'm very aligned with what you're saying. And it's because I had a big shift as you know myself around this but it took me a while. And I still feel I'm doing it to build this habit and remind myself that how being busy all the time wasn't serving me. And I love your part about a book. I was writing it down as you were saying it as well, because I was like, I've got so many questions, but I don't want to forget them. But the thing that you said about noticing the patterns and the awareness, I remember thinking I'd Well I remember realizing, and not being aware of it until I really dug into it that if something was easy for me to do, and I could do it quickly, I didn't value it. I didn't value it. And therefore I didn't put the right price tag on it. If something was hard, and I was it was taking a long time, then that would cost more surely. And that's I think, a big thing for business owners that they are so good at what they do. And they do these things that this is why I talk I talk about it a lot in my membership, as well as like value-based pricing as well around what you're doing. So you just don't it's not about filling your time. It's not your hourly raise. What's that? What value does that bring to someone?

Louise Miller 16:03

Absolutely, yeah. And I'm glad you said that. It's such an important point. And again, it comes back to how we're programmed you know, we're always told to focus on our weaknesses. When we're at school, we don't get encouraged to focus on the things we're good at. So we feel like the things we're good at have no value. It's yeah, really important. And it reminded me actually of one of my private clients a while ago, who we had this massive lightbulb moment in similarly, where she loved to create, she just loved writing. And that felt like play to her. And so she wasn't doing it, because she wasn't allowing herself to do it. And she was frustrated. She was so frustrated that she wasn't doing it. But she couldn't figure out why. And it was when we suddenly realized it was because she didn't value it. It felt like play, it felt like fun. Therefore, she shouldn't be spending her time on it. When she's in work mode, everything changed. And I think she said to me, you know, she's never created so much content with such joy after having that lightbulb moment. So you're absolutely right, these things that we love and are easy, either we don't value or we don't allow ourselves to even do so. Yeah, so important.

Ruth Gilbey 17:05

So yeah, so important. So when people join my membership, I go through this with them, where there's quite a lot of content in my membership. Because I'm a real core, I love creating content. And I love learning. And I say to people don't just dive into it and just start learning everything. I don't want you to be the eternal student, I say do the 90-day goal setting. I say do the questionnaires first and get the awareness first. I see you think something that came up for me is I'm an ideas person, I get lots of ideas, I get very excited. And what used to happen is I never implemented any of them. And I get a bit sad that another month or another year would roll by and I just hadn't implemented or done that thing. Maybe because I wasn't giving myself permission to do it. If somebody came up to me was I hedging my bets about having so many things on my to-do list? I was scared to like focus on something. And I just wondered, wanted to ask you about that. Have you seen that pop-up?

Louise Miller 18:01

I haven't actually not in that term. How interesting. So when you say hedging your bets, tell me more about what you mean.

Ruth Gilbey 18:07

So I felt like I would have I want to write a book. I want to start podcasts, I want to do my membership, bla bla bla bla, and then I go, Oh, that's just too much. It's too overwhelming. I can't do any of it. Yeah. And I did some work with my coach and some awareness around it. And the question that was posed to me was, what would it feel like to pick one thing, right, okay, and not hit because maybe it's easier for me to say, Oh, it didn't happen. And it's safer for me that it didn't happen.

Louise Miller 18:34

Yeah. Okay. Yes, yes. Yes, absolutely. I understand now. Yeah, totally, I think is interesting. Yeah, people, it's almost as well. It's like you don't want to... What I see happening is that people feel like if they say yes to this one thing. What about all the other things? It's like they're rejecting all of these other ideas in favor of this one? And that feels scary to some people, because but what if this isn't the right thing? And what if it should have been that thing? And so they just don't do anything? So it's so interesting, isn't it the way that our minds work with all of this stuff? Yeah, the idea of too many ideas that all feel really big and overwhelming. So I'm just not going to do any of it is very common. Yes, yes.

Ruth Gilbey 19:12

So interesting. So that was just such how can people get started with this? If they're listening to this going and lightbulbs are going for them? What? How can they make a start to kind of create better habits that serve them better?

Louise Miller 19:25

Yeah. So the big thing for me because this is such a sort of in the evolution of my business and where I've landed now, this is the thing that I see making, the biggest difference is giving yourself the time and the space to plan and to plan in a flexible way that is going to serve you rather than I am going to create this plan and I'm going to beat myself around the head with it and still, you know until it's done, and I'm going to make use it as a way of making myself feel bad if we kind of get into the habit of at least once a month sitting down looking at your vision, looking at your goals, looking at your diary so you can see what's going on and then just coming up with a really simple flexible plan of what you're going to work on that month, and it can be as straightforward as that. But again, that requires taking the time away from the doing to be sitting in a quiet, contemplative mode, which a lot of people don't allow themselves to do. So if you're taking anything away from this conversation, then Ruth and I both are giving you permission to sit and do that thinking and that planning that is going to really move you forward.

Ruth Gilbey 20:24

Yeah, one of my mottos is, resting is productive.

Louise Miller 20:28

Absolutely, yeah. And isn't it a shame that we have to frame it that way, though, really? I mean, I say similar things, you know. I wish we could just take a rest, because rest is fabulous, rather than us needing to feel that it's productive. But if that's what it takes for people to actually take the minimum rest, then you know, so be it.

Ruth Gilbey 20:46

I find that when I start working with people, sometimes they're trying to lay a more strategy or more on to their to-do list when actually I'm looking at them thinking, I think you need a rest. Because I think we can fall out of love with our businesses, we can burn out, we can not want to do it. If we punish ourselves like that. It's okay for it to be fun. It's okay. If sometimes it's easy.

Louise Miller 21:09

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I see that all the time as well. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It should be fun. A neat one shouldn't always be easy. We need to challenge ourselves. Yes. But yeah, the fun element should certainly be there. Otherwise, why are we doing it?

Ruth Gilbey 21:23

100%? So what would be your best advice for someone who's starting a new business?

Louise Miller 21:29

I love this question, I think this comes back to the whole thing we were talking about earlier, around awareness. And for anyone who's starting a new business, I think it's really tempting to look out there and see all of the different business models and the systems for this and the, you know, formula for that. And to get really sucked into just running with one of those thinking, that's what's going to work for you. But I think that a much more sustainable approach is to start from what you know about yourself and to pay attention to what feels really good, what feels right for you. And you know, what you know about what doesn't feel good and doesn't feel right for you so that you can make those decisions around your business model, the marketing strategy that's going to work for you with yourself, your own personality, and your own tendencies front of mind. I think that is so so important. And I can recommend a book that will help you.

Ruth Gilbey 22:19

Oh, yes, please. Yeah.

Louise Miller 22:20

Yeah, the book that really got me going is called Be a Free Range Human by Marianne Cantwell.

Ruth Gilbey 22:25

I haven't heard of that one before,

Louise Miller 22:27

I suppose. Yeah. It's brilliant. It's very much about looking at your own strengths, looking at how you want your life to look, the reason that you're going into business in the first place, and starting from there, rather than thinking you should be doing it a certain way, even if that way isn't actually quite right for you.

Ruth Gilbey 22:42

And what would be your advice to someone who's a few years in and they're like looking to grow their business? What's your best advice for them?

Louise Miller 22:48

Yeah, so getting support is always a good idea. When it comes to that point. And again, I've seen a lot of people that have held back from hiring a VA for way too long, and it's kept them stuck. In particular, people who are wanting to use social media to grow their business and are trying to do it all on their own get help. Yes, that would be the thing. And again, coming back to planning, you know, I think planning becomes even more important when you're in that growth phase because it's taking that time and space to sit back a little bit from your business and look at it in terms of where you're heading. And the steps you're going to take to get there will help you communicate better with your team will help you make sure you're not reinventing the wheel. So you don't keep creating new stuff. When you could be repurposing stuff you've already got. It allows you to stay in this more strategic space and make actual... I talk all the time about making intentional conscious choices about where you're going to put your time, your energy, and your attention rather than just responding to things that are flying at you. Because that can send you off down the wrong path. So yeah, giving yourself space to do that thinking and that planning, I think becomes even more important when you're growing and get help for goodness sake.

Ruth Gilbey 23:51

I see such a difference between clients of mine that her trying to do everything themselves to those that have, you know, got even just one person helping them or a small team, how rapidly things the momentum that they can get. But I think it's that just one last question. What advice do you give to people about giving themselves permission to get help, and because people think it's going to hit their bottom line going to take away from their profits?

Louise Miller 24:18

Yeah. And the other objection I hear quite often is "oh, it's quicker just to do it myself." Which I understand because I've been you know, I've been there when I've been taking on members of a team when I'm in my old job, and it does feel like a bit of a struggle, you have to stay focused on the longer term, the short there will be short term discomfort and some settling in time for the person that you're taking on. They're not going to hit the ground immediately understanding everything about you your business and how you work. I mean, a good VA will pick that up really quickly. But it is going to require a little bit of investment from you. But if you can stay focused on what that is going to allow and that it will allow you to stay in your own zone of genius and the things that only you can do. Think about the freedom that that's going to give you and how you can then get really playful and creative and do all of these incredible things. So I think it does feel big and scary for people. And I get that because it's also about letting go of some control, which can be really hard. But just focus on where you're heading. And hopefully, that will keep you motivated to get that support. Yeah. and amazing things await on the other side. I've seen it happen many, many times.

Ruth Gilbey 25:20

Yeah, it's such good advice. One of the things I say to people who are really resistant to it is why don't you just try it for three months?

Louise Miller 25:27

Yeah, great. Good.

Ruth Gilbey 25:28

Do it for three months, see what impact it's made, then you're not I think people think they've got to take on someone. And then it's like, forever. Try it for three months, assess it, review it, see about the return on investment. After three months. They're totally sold. I know. I know. It's gonna it's just getting them into doing it. But yeah, it feels less scary, then. That's so useful, Louis, thank you so much. How can people find out more about you?

Louise Miller 25:52

Yeah, so my website is at bettylouonline.com. And if you're interested in what I've been saying about planning, and you want to experience a kind of gentle and effective approach to that. I have got a workbook on my website. If you go to bettylouonline.com/inspiringwomen, that's a link, especially for Ruth's fabulous listeners, you can go and grab that workbook from there, and I hang out mainly over on LinkedIn. So you can go find me there as well. It would be really wonderful to connect with you there.

Ruth Gilbey 26:18

Amazing. And I will put all those links in the show notes as well. Thank you so much, Louise, that's going to be such a valuable podcast episode for everyone.

Louise Miller 26:26

Thanks, Ruth. It's been a pleasure.

Ruth Gilbey 26:35

Thanks for listening and subscribing to the inspiring women in business podcast. Please do take a few moments to leave me a review. I love getting reviews they absolutely make my day. Also, go and check out my business-building hub. In there, you're going to find lots of great resources, free resources for business owners who are launching, running, or growing their businesses and I have a brand new masterclass for you. It's called the Sold Out Solution and in that, I share my exact roadmap to help you get your first online clients in 30 days. And guess what? It's only a 29-minute masterclass as well. So I get straight into the value. Lots and lots of great advice for you in there. And also, for those of you who watch the masterclass a freebie for you within the masterclass as well go and check it out.