I don’t want a bigger business than this

On living in the business I’ve already built instead of chasing more...

Photo credit: Unsplash

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much I just don’t have any big ambitious goals for my business in this season.

I just want to keep making the amount of money I already make and work with the awesome humans I get to work with and continue to gently welcome new people into my offerings throughout the year.

I want to continue to work very part time hours so that I have space to hang out with my kid and my husband, read a lot of books, go for lots of walks, and rest alongside my chronic illness each week too.

This quiet, gentle, simple business of mine is exactly where I want it to be, and my biggest desire of all for my work is just to be able to continue to do this work and live this life alongside it too.

And as I write that down it doesn’t sound all that radical, but it feels like it is every time I look around and see how the traditional narrative in the online business world is to be pursuing more, more, more in this journey.

Just this week I was judging myself a little for leaning into a whole lot of spaciousness in my workweek right now.

My chronic illness is very symptomatic at the moment and my mental health has felt a little tender recently too so I’m keeping my workload as light as I can right now so that I have lots of space throughout my work days to work slowly, gently, and take lots of breaks too.

And the truth is that I already have a very spacious workweek: I’ve built my business to a place where I only need to work 8-10 hours a week over 3 part time days.

But to experiment with how I can really put my needs on the table right now in this season I’ve been starting my work day a little later so that I can rest and fill up my tank in the morning by sleeping in and having a slow morning reading in bed, and also by building in a couple of hours break in the middle of my work day so that I can nap if needed or get outside and switch off my brain for a little while.

But a tiny voice in my head has been whispering: you’re not allowed this much spaciousness, Jen.

Don’t you see all of these other thriving business owners, working hard, creating more content than you, pursuing more growth, doing more than you even have the capacity to keep up with?

How can you expect to continue to sustain your business if you’re navigating your working life at such a slow and gentle pace?

I was starting to get stuck in this very unhelpful narrative when I had to pause and remind myself that I’ve already proven for many years now that I’m safe to live and work at this slower pace, and that I already know deep down in my soul that honouring my humanness is the only way to do my best work and actually stay in the arena of my business along the way.

And really what I had to remind myself of is this: I don’t want a bigger business than this right now.

In this season of my life I don’t want more than this tiny beautiful business of mine, this gentle home that I’ve built for myself in my work where I get to walk with awesome humans in their business journey as their guide.

And just because it’s the norm to pursue more, more, more doesn’t have to mean that I opt-in to that narrative too.

Because what’s the point of having meaningful goals to work towards if we’re not actually going to allow ourselves to soak up the magic of actually making them our reality along the way?

And I share all of this to say: it’s okay if you relate to having quiet ambition in your business too.

If you’re also in a season where you want to live in and maintain the beautiful business you’ve already built for yourself, or build your business towards your version of enough and also find joy in the journey to get there too.

We don’t always have to be chasing more, more, more just because more growth could be possible for us in our work.

And we should never forget that maintaining a business is just as beautiful an endeavour as growing one is, and that our goals don’t have to be meaningful or exciting to anyone else but us.

Until next time,

Jen

p.s: there are just a few spaces left for Steady, my gentle mastermind starting in August for small business owners who want to find more calm, courage, and gentle momentum in your business. If you’d love to feel deeply supported in this season of your business I’d be honoured to walk with you in your journey ✨