Depending on how long you’ve been following me, you may or may not know the story of how I failed my way to success.
The short story is that I quit my corporate job with (what I thought was) a solid plan to hit my six-figure corporate salary within one year. But after six months of running my own business, I had only made $830. (Things were pretty bleak to say the least!)
I hear these kinds of goals from business owners a lot. They tell me that they quit their job and have X months to make $Y.
It feels like a ton of pressure!
If you’re in a position where you feel like you have to make money now, there are two paths you can take; one will create what you want while the other will sabotage your results.
The question then becomes, how do you make sure you get on the right path? Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to tell you today.
Why Too Much Pressure Will Completely Backfire
If you’re in an all-out panic and you have to make money fast, truth be told, you’re setting your business up for disaster.
Why? If your potential clients feel even the slightest hint of desperation from you, it will turn them off.
It doesn’t matter how hard you work, how often you blog, how many networking events you attend; if you’re hustling from a place of total panic, people will feel it a mile away and run in the opposite direction.
On top of that, when there’s too much pressure on your business, your creativity suffers immeasurably, because you’re frantically rushing to implement every idea that pops into your head… even if they’re not great ones.
According to a recent Harvard Business School study, “The more time pressure people feel… the less likely they will be to think creatively.”
Click to TweetToo much pressure squashes creativity and sets your business up for failure. Jenny Shih shares a better way.Add all of this up and you’re in a heap of trouble.
You still don’t have the money you need and you turned off your potential clients and you’re so frozen from fear that you can’t find a creative way out of this mess. It’s a no-win situation.
Too Little Pressure Is Just as Bad
Before I go on, I want to be clear that pressure is a tricky line to walk.
(This is where I lived for the first 9 months after quitting my job, until I learned these lessons I’m sharing with you today.)
The flip side, however, isn’t good either. That’s when you’re putting too little pressure on your business.
Afterall, if you don’t need to make money, then you might not feel motivated to do the work required to build a successful business. You can easily stay stagnant, not challenging yourself to get out there and get clients.
If you’re working a full-time job, if your partner is the breadwinner, or if you’ve simply grown accustomed to a certain income level (no matter how low or how high it is), it’s can be easy maintain the status quo and not feel the pressure to build your business.
So then… if too much pressure makes you crazed and too little pressure keeps you stuck, how do you find your sweet spot?
Finding What Works for You
When you’re working under just the right amount of pressure, you’re able to get big things done.
Finding the right amount of pressure for you is highly personal and requires some experimentation.
You might have to swing the pendulum both ways before finding the amount of pressure that works for you and your business. (If I didn’t have my ass on the line at times, I wouldn’t have done the hard or scary things I had to do to make my business successful!)
Here’s how you can gauge where you’re at on the pressure scale:
You’re under too little pressure if you…
- Let months (or years) go by without committing to a big project
- Engage with your audience inconsistently—or drop off the radar entirely for months at a time
- Haven’t gotten new email subscribers in more than a couple of weeks
You’re under too much pressure if you…
- Feel panicky if no one is buying from you and you’re constantly checking your stats
- Take setbacks personally and assume something is wrong with you or your business or your expertise
- Compare your success (or lack thereof) to everyone else’s
You’ve found your sweet spot if you…
- Use a scientist’s mindset when things don’t go your way
- See setbacks as a way to learn more and do better next time
- Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing
- Feel pushed past your comfort zone and you have a plan in place if you don’t see the results you want right away
What’s the right amount of pressure for you?
I’m curious where you land on the spectrum?
How much pressure are you currently under? How is it helping and hurting your business?
Have you found your sweet spot? Any tricks for those trying to walk through this tricky line?
Fill us in below!
My Sweet spot:
I Use a scientist’s mindset when things don’t go my way
I See setbacks as a way to learn more and do better next time
I Don’t worry about what everyone else is doing
I do not feel pushed past my comfort zone and I don’t have a plan in place when I don’t see the results I want right away
I am not stressed enough, it seems a few years ago (after being chronically stressed) I created a no-stress lifestyle for myself. I think I swung that pendulum way too far in the no-stress direction, and now I don’t get that “urgent” feeling to “get cracking” so to speak. Resulting in a very low-volume business, and “getting by”.
I am looking forward to finding that balance.
I can relate, Tammy!
As I’ve been teaching my “Success Without Sacrifice” students, awareness and curiosity are key to helping us find the right balance in anything. Sounds like you have that awareness around action and now have it around “pressure.” Use your scientist’s mindset and see where it takes you here as well!
Thanks for this, Jenny. Just what I need today. I have too little pressure on my business.
Your line about “haven’t committed to a big project” really struck me. I love projects! They’re are a better fit for my personal rhythm, because they have a finite start and finish, and come with ebbs and flows of required time, energy, and enthusiasm. The steady-Eddie, methodical model has not typically been a good fit for me. so I’m going to brainstorm about some kind of project I can implement in the foreseeable future. that will be a good balance for and add enthusiasm to the more consistent outreach and client work.
Love your insight, Mara! We all have to find ways that we work best and getting curious about what that is for ourselves is a suer setup for long-term success.
Oh goodness- living under too much pressure right now. My dreams are filled with being tempted to go back to awful day jobs and trying to convince myself that the bad wasn’t that bad- but I always end up literally running away in my dreams too. I’m waking up stressed and panicked. I quit my corporate job Sept. 1st and was 100% sure I would be earning more and paying my savings account back. None of that has happened. I’ve created great things, developed my niche, and I’m networking like crazy (well for my introverted self anyways). I don’t want to be desperate. I want to create good, put out positive in the world and reach the right clients who want and can pay for what I have to offer. I’m working on developing an online course and some of the content is just coming to me and the rest is still stuck in my head. I need to reset my mindset. It didn’t happen as I thought it would, and that is OK. My practice is not what I thought it was going to be, it’s better. When I allow myself to be open to what is supposed to develop, I am amazed what happens. I need to embrace the discomfort, allow it to teach me, and be open to the lesson. My practice will be successful, and will help women live better and more empowered lives.
Such great awareness of all that’s going on with you, Christie!
Here are some articles that might help you think through your strategy going forward, so you can find one that supports you financially and helps you get your work out into the world.
https://jennyshih.com/2016/11/truth-sales-funnels-dont-really-need-one-focusing-instead/
https://jennyshih.com/2016/11/thing-need-bring-steady-flow-new-clients-consistent-income-month-month/
https://jennyshih.com/2016/10/want-sell-course-product-group-program-read-first-learn-fail-avoid/
Thank you Jenny!!
Oh my god – thank you so much for this eye opening post Jenny! Over the last weeks I was complaining about that I didn’t know why I’m so lazy and couldn’t motivate myself to start my business. Which is totally untypical for me, because usually I’m a do-the-work kind of person. But after highly stressful years and some real health problems that have resulted from it, I just drove everything down. And now for the first time in my life I don’t have the pressure to work so hard. Because I’m in a very lucky situation right now where I don’t have to earn so much extra money…and that’s why I’m so comfortable to just do a bit here and there. I mean this fact was clear to me before your post, but to read it now, is a “do-something-about-it” kick in the ass for me. So thank you so much Jenny.
It’s my pleasure, Anna! Happy to help in all the ways I can. Good luck!
AWESOME. Thank you.
This is really interesting…even though I haven’t yet completely secured how to bring in the figures I desire the first half of 2017…you’ve assured me I’m on the right track. Every time I’ve been clear about my intention, and taken the next step…the next step always shows up. As long as I’m showing up.
Here’s to showing up, in your highest and best self!
Thrilled to help, Laura! Is there something in specific you’re looking for around your next step? I have tons and tons of free resources here and would be happy to point you in the right direction if that would help.
Good luck!!
Thank you, Jenny! Two things come to mind right away. 🙂 I’m teaching a class at New Ren Bookshop in NW Portland Dec. 10 11:00 – 1:00. Very excited about it and would lots of people to come. 🙂 And, I would love any suggestions for speaking engagements here in the Portland area. There you go. Thanks for asking!
This is a good one! I don’t have a resource on it, but it’s a tip I give all of my clients. (Our secret, okay? 🙂 )
At the end of the class, tell people that they probably will go home and have a few questions within the next few days and that you want to address them for them in a free 15 minute follow-up session.
Bring with you a signup sheet of specific days and times and have people sign up there with name, email address, and phone number. Then when you get home, send them a follow up email thanking them for attending and that you’re excited to speak with them and get their questions answered. Give them the details for their call and let them know that the best thing they can do is come prepared with 1 or 2 specific questions.
Then on the call answer their questions. End with a homework assignment; give them that assignment on the call and a due date for that assignment.
Then follow up with them on or just after that due date and check in. When you hear back, feel them out. It could be a perfect opportunity, if they want further help from you, to tell them how they can hire you! And if not, you still made them a superfan!
As far as other engagement locations, I’m not familiar with specific venues but you can ask the people at the event at New Ren… they probably have ideas!
Good luck and report back and let me know how it goes! I’ll be crossing fingers for you!
Thank you! I will. 🙂
Great post, Jenny. What entrepreneur hasn’t stressed about getting clients? We all have. I’ve been in both situations – too much stress and not enough stress, although usually it’s the former and self-imposed, I admit. Even though I’m not in a situation where I *have* to earn a lot of money, I want to so I can do more of the things that are important to me. Plus, I feel an inner drive to share my work and my message. With the big change in my life recently (you know what I’m talking about), I’m re-examining how much pressure I heap on myself and the toll it takes on my life and those around me. I’m glad to be a part of SWOS… it’s helping me to rebalance my life and (hopefully) not to have many regrets down the road about missing out on the unique opportunities my family has right now. I’m getting to the place where I feel more balanced – I’m making my professional contribution but not at the expense of everything else in my life. I love working with clients to turn their brilliance into their own signature programs, but the first part of 2016 was too much of that and not enough time for myself, my health and my family. I swung the pendulum too far.
My SWOS-inspired theme for the rest of 2016 and 2017 is “freedom and contribution with ease and grace”. That’s what I want for all areas of my life: myself, my family and my business.
I love that you’re taking all that you’ve learned about yourself and incorporating it into a new way of doing business that serves you. Bravo! I’m cheering you on!
I need to read this today I set up in March this year and always wanted to start a big project but I think fear has been holding me back. By the end of this week I will have the building blocks in place to get it started.
Fear is a natural part of the business-building process. I love that you’re ready to move forward anyway. That’s how it’s done!
Hi Jenny. Great blog as always. I confess I started looking through my emails to sort them out and just had to read this one. I think I am between the pressure marks right now and that is a good thing for me. My schedule is just incredibly tight so the only way that I am maintaining my balance and also a sense of forward momentum is simply to break up my tasks into very small bits. When I do that it keeps me out of stress and also lets me see that forward momentum hugs Karen