As entrepreneurs we spend a disproportionate amount of time outside of our comfort zone and this often results in a growth hangover. In this episode you’ll learn a 3 Step Process to create a situational blueprint for a growth hangover. So get out of your head, into your heart and let’s blueprint for your next growth hangover.
Hello and thanks for tuning in to Conscious Business. Welcome to the start of an amazing new week and thanks for tuning into the series on Blueprinting, where we are looking at some of the biggest challenges that you will face as an entrepreneur.
we kicked off this series in episode in episode 130. And just to refresh your memory a situational blueprint is when you create a plan for an event, milestone or maybe even a challenge in your business and “think through” how you’re going to handle it. It helps us prepare for the future scenario by deciding how we intend to handle it, react to it or what action we will take.
So far in this series we have created blueprints for Failure, for Mega success and this week, well we’re going to talk about one of my favourite topics, a Growth Hangover.
And before we dive into a growth hangover I want to shoutout everyone who tuned in last week, and especially to those of you who are active in our Facebook group, continuing the conversation about Blueprinting and what your journey of an entrepreneur is really like.
So a huge shout out to Rayissa, Katrina, Kathy T, Deyanira, Dilhani, Denise, Mollie, Kristine, AJ, Mark, Theodora, Amanda Kingsmith, Haley, Alexandra, and Linda. Thanks for chiming in and explaining your specific fears around mega success. It is SO powerful to really make your fears conscious and the simple act of saying WHAT it is that you’re afraid of helps you to remove some of that fear.
And it is really fascinating for me to see exactly which fears really impacted you. Hands down the most common fear is…. the Worry about maintaining success.
The 2nd most common is the fear that your mega success will be overwhelming and the 3rd most common is the fear of judgment, of being criticized, or tall poppy syndrome.
And if you’re not part of this conversation going on, head over to Facebook and send me a request to join this group. As you’ve likely figured out already, being an entrepreneur can be overwhelming and isolating at times, and so being part of a supportive community is SO important! And it really helps you get the most out if the podcast. It’s one thing to listen to it, but to actually engage with the content and talk about what your biggest challenges are, well that is truly where you will start to see things shift. And for me, the part I love the most is the validation of just how many people are going through the exact same thing I am. I find that incredibly comforting.
So today we dive into one of my favourite topics, the Growth Hangover. And if you haven’t experienced a growth hangover, or you don’t even know what it is, well you’re about to find out!
So here’s a look at what you’re going to learn today:
First, I’m going to explain exactly what a Growth Hangover is
in our second segment, how it impacts you as an entrepreneur
and in our last segment, we’ll create a blueprint for how to deal with a Growth Hangover
So get out of your head and into your heart and let’s dive right in shall we.
SEGMENT 1:
As I said in the intro, a Growth Hangover is one of my favourite topics. It’s something that impacts all of us, but for many people it goes by completely undetected because you likely haven’t ever heard the term Growth Hangover, or you’ve maybe never spent time thinking exactly how exhausting it can be to do NEW things outside of your comfort zone. Even last week, I was doing work onsite with a new team and I explained Growth Hangover at the start of the session, and the participants brought it up a couple of times throughout the session because it was something that really resonated with them. And THAT’s what it’s all about people! It’s about presencing exactly what you are going through in your journey as an entrepreneur. Because as soon as you presence it, you can start to understand it and instead of it happening to you, you can start to be empowered about it and become proactive around it, instead of having to be reactive all the time.
So, a growth hangover happens when we spend a disproportionate amount of time outside of our comfort zone, that require us to exert a large amount of energy either because they are simply new or because they are intimidating to us.
Growth hangovers are very real, and they affect us physically and emotionally, so I want you to start to be aware of them, recognize them, and today we’re going to even plan for them in advance. Most importantly I want you to be compassionate with yourself when you have one.
Think about what happens when you have a food hangover, or a hangover from drinking too much, what happens to you physically? You’re likely tired, you’re not at peak performance. So you might take it easy that day, just phone it in, rehydrate and take it easy on your body. And the same thing applies to a growth hangover. You need to acknowledge what you’ve gone through and then to give yourself the chance to recover. To take it easy, to relax and recognize what you’ve just gone through. If it is something really intense that you’ve just gone through, then once the adrenaline leaves your body, you’re going to feel pretty tired.
When we’re doing things that are new or that challenge us we use up more energy, a simple task we do normally might expend 2 units of energy, but something new that we’ve never done before might require 10 units of energy. Because there’s new elements to the task, we might require more focus and attention.
And if you’re doing anything that is outside of our comfort zone, well – get ready for a really big growth hangover. Because your sneaky little Saboteurs (aka the negative, disruptive voices inside your head that tell you you’re not good enough) will always show up the most and THE loudest when you are on the cusp of big growth. That’s really important, so I’m going to say it again. Your Saboteurs will show up the most and THE loudest when you are on the cusp of big growth. So not only are you doing something new, but you’re battling your Saboteurs while you’re doing it. They want you to stay small, and safe, and so you’ve got to put up a fight to step up and step outside of your comfort zone. They’re like gatekeepers, that challenge you, and question you and try to negotiate all these reasons WHY you should just relax and play it safe.
And this makes it extra challenging because we have to stand up to our Saboteurs.
So, a growth hangover happens when we spend a disproportionate amount of time outside of our comfort zone, requiring us to exert a large amount of energy either because we’re doing something new or something that is intimidating to us.
SEGMENT 2:
The reality is that as entrepreneurs we spend a disproportionate amount of our time outside our comfort zone
It’s true. think about it, we’re doing new things, because we have to, in many instances we’re wearing many different hats and this can be uncertain and maybe a little scary. And this explains why it is so hard to be an entrepreneur, why it is so exhausting and why everything seems to feel like an uphill battle. Because there is a disproportionate amount of NEW. It’s not just about a large volume of work.
You don’t get to specialize in one thing, like you do with a job, you have to do everything, especially in the beginning and THIS makes it exhausting.
And this is the real reason that entrepreneurship is so difficult. I really want to make sure you hear this and understand this, because I don’t think a lot of people really talk about this. It’s not just that we’re working hard and doing a large volume of work, we’re doing things that are NEW to us , often a disproportionate amount of new and this can be overwhelming, exhausting and let’s face it, sometimes a little scary.
People aren’t conscious about their fear and so they procrastinate and avoid things.
That’s what is really going on. But you HAVE to lean in and do the things that are new or a little bit scary for you. You really, really do.
Here’s a little Tough Love :: If you’re not willing to do things that are new or scary your business cannot and will not grow. Let me say that again, If you’re not willing to do things that are new or scary your business cannot and will not grow.
Being an entrepreneur is not a fancy form of a job. And this is a huge misconception I see often. People start a business and think they can work hard like they did in their job and THAT being an entrepreneur is just a slightly larger volume of work that you need to fit in, and if you find ways to be more efficient, and cram more in, you will succeed. But it is not that easy. Nuh uh, sorry.
Being an entrepreneur is not a fancy, souped up version of a job. It’s not. You don’t get gold stars for staying on top of your email, or showing up on time to the office, or dressing in nice clothes, all those superficial and insignificant things that give us a false sense of success in the corporate world are completely irrelevant when you’re running your own business. Do you know why? Because you have bigger things you are responsible for now, because YOU are the only one there to worry about them, like generating revenue and making tough decisions and prioritizing your time, and deciding what is the ONE most important thing to do each day.
Being an entrepreneur is the most intense form of personal development that you will ever go through. Because you need to spend so much time outside of your comfort zone. That is what will move the dial and really grow your business. Do you get that? You’re being called forth in a big way. To learn and grow, and the choice is yours, if you accept this calling to grow on a personal level, YOU will not only be expanding your range, and capability, you will be growing your business, because your business is an organic entity with a soul, it is an extension of you. It is your ultimate opportunity for personal growth, for serving others, for increasing connection, which essentially, raises consciousness.
SEGMENT 3:
OK, so now that you fully understand what a Growth Hangover is, we’re going to create a Blueprint for how you’re going to handle it, when it shows up in the future.
Step 1: Create a frame of reference.
I want you to think back to something recently or any time in the past where you did something that was new or kinda scary for you, basically think back to a time where you potentially had a growth hangover. And try to remember how this impacted you? What did you notice? What did you realize?
For me it’s always a peak/valley pattern. Whenever I launch something big or new or host an event, it always takes an enormous amount of energy. So right after launching it, I typically lean back and take a bit of a break to recharge and recover.
In my last full time job, my boss would always send me on vacation after a big event that we hosted, because I would always be exhausted. And this time away was great to recharge, yes, but also to reflect on what just happened, appreciate the milestone, to appreciate my hard work and determination to get things done.
There is great knowledge and wisdom always in reflecting back because you’ll learn so much about you and what you need in that time.
So, Step #1 is to look back on your past where you’ve had a Growth Hangover and see how you handled it, and what you needed to get through it.
Step 2: Create an action plan of how to deal with it
And you can do this in a few different ways. If your Growth Hangover is going to come from a big event that happens in one day, or maybe you’re giving a big talk or working on a new proposal, then one of the smartest things you can do is proactively give yourself time to relax before. Doing something new can sometimes put us in an energetic defecit, so if you are proactive and build up your energy stores beforehand, then you won’t go into an energetic deficit afterwards.
Another way is to give yourself time to recover by taking time off afterwards, or maybe slowing down the pace afterwards, prepare with a nurturing activity like a spa date, or maybe spending time with friends with really feed your soul.
Another strategy is to balance out all the new with some old. So if you’re going through a period of NEW where you are learning or spending a lot of time outside of your comfort zone, try to balance that out with tasks that you can do easily and effortlessly.
So that is step 2, create an action plan of how you’re going to deal with your growth hangover
And Step 3: is to Share the plan with others
Reach out to someone who knows you well and tell them about your strategy for dealing with a growth hangover and ask for their help. There’s always the possibility that we won’t recognize we’re in a growth hangover at all, so we need these awesome people around us to hold up the mirror and guide us to what we need. Chances are they may not even know what a growth hangover is, so you have the chance to explain exactly what it is and then they’ll be prepared for it too, and you can lean into each other.
And that’s how I want you to create a blueprint for a growth hangover
Step 1 –
Create a frame of reference, understand how you’ve been impacted in the past and understand what you’ve needed
Step 2 – Create an action plan of how to deal with it
and this can be proactively or reactively
and step 3 – Share the plan with others
WRAP UP:
For motivation this week I want you to think of something that really challenged you, either physically or mentally in the past
maybe it was something new
maybe it was something intimidating, or you weren’t quite sure it you could actually pull it off.
Think about how you felt, maybe you were nervous or scared, maybe you were excited and had butterflies in your tummy.
Think back to what you did to prepare and get ready.
Was there physical conditioning, or training?
And then what was it like to accomplish it?
did you feel proud? Did you surprise and amazing yourself?
Did you feel different after you finished it? Did you feel invincible?
Looking back on this extraordinary time, what did you learn about yourself?
How did you grow?
I want you to appreciate the fact that YOU have signed on for a very difficult journey as an entrepreneur, So take time to appreciate everything you have done in the past, and be prepared for all the growth hangovers you have in front of you, because it is through these big challenges that we learn and grow the MOST.
We respect your privacy. We will never sell your information.
Read our Privacy Policy here.