In this episode, I’m continuing a conversation from episode 90 where I spilled the beans on what happened to me and my business when I hit my highest income month ever. Now that you have the backstory, (&& if you don’t, make sure you tune into episode 90 before this) I’m gonna tell you what I did and didn’t do when my income dipped.

This is the juicy stuff that’s missing in conversations as business owners. Don’t get me wrong, it is so beautiful to witness entrepreneurs, particularly female CEOs, celebrate their big success. But it seems like that’s all we hear about now?! What happens when your business naturally hits ebbs & flows and your income dips? Who’s talking about that?

It me!!

So I’m here to tell you all the things I did and didn’t do when my income dipped just a few months ago. Let’s dive right in.

Here are the things I did not do when my income dipped:

1. I did not push my emotions or feelings down or try to face them alone.

When someone has uncomfortable feelings arise, it can be easy to just jump on the ignore train.

“Ignore the feelings at alllllll costs. Nope. Not dealing with that.”

This is a common reason why a lot of people fall into burnout. It happens when people push through without facing or accepting certain emotions only to have them bubble over to a point where it’s too much to handle. Some people think time is the reason for burnout, but actually, the determining factor is the energy with which you show up in your life. If your energy is zapped, your emotions send you you signals to communicate with you, but if you ignore them, you will most likely end up in burnout.

2. I did not obsess over every dollar, every like, or every view on my story.

I typically don’t pay any mind to likes, views, and comments… all that analytical stuff. Not because I think I’m above analytics, but because I know how much it can truly affect me, so this part wasn’t too hard. But not obsessing over every dollar… or lack thereof… was important.

3. I did not allow for any paralysis or inaction.
4. I did not focus on what wasn’t working in my business.

Often we do this, it’s easier to focus on what’s not working in certain areas of our life. The challenge is to focus on what is working.

5. I did not ignore my finances entirely and hope everything would work out fine.

In the past 5-7 years I have been so diligent with my finances, but it wasn’t always that way. I am so intentional with my finances to ensure things work out rather than acting like they don’t exist.

6. I did not compare myself to others.
7. I did not tell myself lies.

“I’m failing.” “I’m not successful.” Not to say these thoughts didn’t creep in, but when they did I squashed them like a bug. I was actively fighting through the limiting beliefs my brain was presenting to me. My subconscious brain was trying to protect me when, really, those were just lies.

Now for what I did do in my business when my income dipped.

1. I brought my true feelings to my mentors to uncover the root.

I’m allllll about intentional, root cause healing over here so I took all my feelings and emotions and brought them to both my business and spiritual mentor. Why was a dip in money playing such a big factor in my life? Because at the end of the day… it’s really just the money piece. One tiny piece of the giant pie of my life. I had to uncover why it was impacting my confidence, my worth, my patience, etc. and the truth is this was another invitation for me to expand. By choosing to face my emotions head on and link arms with people I could trust to walk me through the process, I was opening the door to expansion.

2. I switched my focus from monthly revenue to overall revenue.

When I recognized that I had subconsciously put a new monthly standard within my business, I hit a wall, and I knew I had to look at things differently. I started looking at the overall revenue as opposed to the monthly. Remember in the last episode I mentioned closing 2022 at around $150k contracted, recurring revenue. Although $22k had been on the lower side of monthly revenue for me… now my overall revenue was at $172k which is something to celebrate and the shift in perspective really helped me see that.

3. I continued making moves in my business regardless of people buying.

I see this a lot… When people stop buying, people are overcome by this paralysis and shift into the background thinking no one will know. Except you’re gonna know. What we do know to be true is that action breeds confidence so if you aren’t taking action, that creates a lack of confidence. Don’t allow for inaction or paralysis. Continue making moves.

4. I continued to work on my relationship with money.

I had to reassess my relationship with money and my money stories so I had tapped into my program BOUNTIFUL. This is one of my favorite programs that I started creating for years before it finally came to life.

5. I refocused my strategy to honor the new season I was in.
6. I did an energetic offer of my entire business.

What pulls your energy away in one season may not be the same thing that pulls your energy in the next. That’s why I like to do energetic audits to see the shifts happening in my business in real time. I do these at least once a quarter.

Sometimes when that call for expansion comes, it’s going to pull you into some really uncomfortable places. My invitation to you is to remain focused on where you’re heading versus where you are. Imagine the woman who is where you desire to be and ask yourself what she’s doing that you need to do to experience expansion to get you there. Operate as the woman who already has the success you desire. 

Remember ebbs & flows are natural. Ebbs are periods of time that allow for expansion if you’re open to it. Stop letting what’s natural (i.e. the ebbs & flows of business) stop you when it’s likely the thing that’s going to propel you forward. Tune into episode 91 to hear more about the background of this story on Shamelessly Ambitious.

Rooting for you always,

Ash

CHECK OUT BOUNTIFUL

CHECK OUT EMPIRE SOCIETY