In the lead up to my Mid-Year Planning Days this month, I kept hearing the same thing from the women attending.
“I can’t wait to have some time to think about my business.”
Not, “I can’t wait to set my goals” or “I can’t wait to update my business plan”
“I can’t wait to think.”
Because isn’t that what so many of us are missing?
As business owners, we spend our days responding. Solving problems. Looking after clients. Making decisions. Putting out spot fires. Answering messages. Juggling life outside of work while trying to keep everything moving forward.
We’re constantly in our businesses, but rarely create enough space to step back and think about them.
My planning sessions aren’t necessarily about spreadsheets and colour-coded action plans (though everyone does walk away with those).
It’s about creating giving female founders enough space to hear themselves think.
Because once the we dial down the noise and everyone else’s demands, the right priorities usually become much clearer.
Over the Planning Days I ran this month, I watched women slow down long enough to recognise just how much they’d already accomplished.
They celebrated wins that had been forgotten in the busyness of everyday business.
They acknowledged challenges that had become heavier than they needed to be.
They let go of goals that no longer felt aligned.
They uncovered exciting new possibilities.
And perhaps most importantly, they gave themselves permission to stop reacting and start leading again.
One of my favourite moments in these planning days is watching the energy in the room shift.
Women arrive carrying the weight of everything, struggling to even recall what went right this year. They leave with more clarity, more confidence and a renewed sense of possibility because gifted themselves this time and space.
The most productive thing you can do for your business isn’t always working your way through your to-do list.
It’s creating the space to think clearly about what’s actually on it.
I’d love to encourage you to create some space for you to do this for yourself.
Maybe it’s an afternoon with your notebook in your favourite café or a meandering walk without your phone. Block out some uninterrupted time in your diary to reflect before diving into the back end of the year.
Ask yourself:
- What am I genuinely proud of?
- What’s working better than I realise?
- What no longer deserves my energy?
- What do I want the second half of this year to feel like?
You might be surprised what is bubbling away under the surface, just waiting for a little space to emerge.
And if you need some support from someone who can see the bigger picture, ask the questions others don’t, challenge your assumptions and help you make better decisions about your business, let’s chat.
