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What you’ll learn in this episode:
As we approach the end of summer, many entrepreneurs and business owners are preparing for the fall, a crucial time for re-evaluating personal goals and business strategies. This summer, especially considering the impact of COVID over the past 3 years, I embraced a new approach to business planning, creating space and time for intentional reflection and decision-making for the rest of the year. Like many of you, I’ve found this period essential for growth and alignment.
In today’s episode, I discuss the importance of summer reflection, slowing down, and evaluating business strategies, and most importantly having what you need to successfully transition into the fall. I share my tips for how you can emerge from the summer haze and re-enter your business with strategies that will make your last quarter of the year powerful and productive.
By the end of the episode, you will have actionable insights to help you create a thriving business with joy, alignment, and “hell yes” energy, setting you up for an incredible fourth quarter and a strong start to 2024.
Here’s a glance at this episode:
- Embrace September as a New Beginning: Treat the fall like a new year, creating momentum in your business.
- Revisit and Align Your Goals: Assess your objectives for the next four months, ensuring alignment with your summer insights.
- Optimize Schedule and Team Responsibilities: Reevaluate your business operations, looking for efficiencies and resource utilization.
- Prioritize Downtime and Whitespace: Make self-care a non-negotiable part of your business plan, not an afterthought, and most importantly a standing appointment on your calendar!
- Protect Your Energy and Well-Being: Recognize your well-being as the most vital asset in your business and learn how to guard it effectively.
Mentioned in this episode:
Work/Connect with me:
Canyon Ranch Fall 2023 Retreat
Jessica Miller
[0:02] Hello, everyone, and welcome to the It’s Your Offer Podcast. I’m so excited to be here with you for this week’s episode talking about coming out of the summer haze, and looking at your business post summertime.
Jessica Miller
[0:16] So I don’t know about all of you, but this has been a really interesting summer on so many levels for me and my business, and a lot of my clients. After COVID, and after what we’ve been through over the last three years, I think people really needed this summer. They really needed it to reflect, to slow down, to evaluate what’s going on in their business, and to set a different production trajectory and intention for their business going forward. I know for me, so many things shifted this summer. When I went in to the summer, I actually decided that I was going to do things a little bit differently, that I was going to plan my days a little bit differently, that I was going to move into a different rhythm, to try to dial up different, you know, assets in my business and different ways that I actually did business over the summer to give me some peace, space and time to intentionally look at my business. And to decide what I wanted to do for the rest of the year.
Jessica Miller
[1:19] Personally, we also went through a major shift with our family, and with the support that we had for my children during the summer. So for the past many years, as they were very little, we’ve either had the kids in daycare, or some sort of structured daycare that we’ve set them to, you know, five days a week, and we’re able to put them, you know, in there from the morning to the evening, depending on how we needed to slide those, those times around. Or we had a babysitter or a nanny that came over and was staying with our kids during the day. So for us when we moved in and out of summer, things weren’t really any different. It was just sort of, you know, the weather was different. And then different things were going on sort of around us. But as far as our routine and logistics, it was all the same. Well, this summer, I’m here to tell you, it absolutely was not. And in a lot of ways, it was awesome, and I did exactly what I wanted to do, and I took that time to try different things in my business and look at it differently and look ahead. But I will just be completely transparent with you that the change in the routine and the rhythm, completely rocked my world. Totally rocked my world. And it really allowed me to see what happens when you kind of go into this really different routine and a really different rhythm and how you need to navigate through that and how you need to think about sort of re acclimating when that routine and that rhythm shifts again.
Jessica Miller
[2:45] And so today, I want to talk to you about how I’m coming out of what I affectionately refer to as “the summer haze.” And how I’m thinking about the end of the year, the things that I’m putting into place, what things I want to focus on, and sort of the tips and tricks to make that transition.
Jessica Miller
[3:04] So although summer has not been a completely different routine and a different set of logistics for me, I will tell you that I am a pro at shifting, I do it a lot. I either do it based on the circumstances that are happening in my business or in my life, but these external things that are pushing on my business, I do it a lot as I navigate in and out of what is hell yes for me at those times. I also do it based on what my clients are needing and what I feel like maybe the marketplace is dictating for people as they’re moving through their business, and how do we shift in order to accommodate them, and really give them what they need.
Jessica Miller
[3:42] I truly believe, although it is not always smooth, it can sometimes feel very rocky and kind of unsettling, I do believe that shifting and changing and transforming is the key to growth. It really is. And the more that we can do it, and we do it intentionally, and we get ready for it and look forward to it, the better we get at creating exactly what we want through that transformation. And I believe if you want to have an end of year, this sort of next quarter fall into winter, if you want to have the best year and this best q4, this best transition out of summer, you need to plan on that you need to make it intentional, you need to think ahead to it. And there are a handful of things that you can really focus on or tips and tricks to put into place if you’ll call them that, if you will, that make that transition powerful and intentional and actually catapult you into a growth trajectory that can make the end of this year or any year, any transition out of summer, your best time in your business yet.
Jessica Miller
[4:48] So I want to share with you some of the things that I have done. And that I believe if you do those, if you think about that, and you do that as you move out of the summer, you’re going to see an income credible year end, and you’re going to make the transition out of summer in an extremely powerful way. That’s going to set you up to create things, results, impact on your clients, all the things in a way that feels fluid, and dare I say easy, and very powerful. Very powerful. So let’s jump right into what those things are. And I will, I’m going to tell you what, what they are, what I do, and why I do them, because I think both of those things are really important. It’s not enough to just have somebody throw a list at you. It’s almost like you always need to remind people why they should care, why they should do this, and I think that’s the most important because when you buy into the why you will do the what, and it becomes just a very logical thing. And the brain likes logical things. So I will share both of those things with you.
Jessica Miller
[5:51] Okay, so let’s jump in. Number one: I want you to treat September, like it is a new year, and I want you to prepare for the reset. There is something so, I don’t know, it’s ingrained in me about September. Maybe it’s all the years that I was in school, and September was the “New Year.” Or maybe it’s just, I don’t know, the rhythm of my body as I move into cooler weather, especially up here in the northeast, like fall is the time here. And it’s just so amazing. I’ve always thought of September as this new beginning. I’ve always treated it as a new year. And if you’re someone also that follows the quarters, if you’re on those 90-day years, like, I like to operate in those 90-day chunks, then as you come into that September-October timeframe, it’s the beginning of the fourth quarter, which is that natural transition to sort of a quote unquote, New Year.
Jessica Miller
[6:46] But for me, September has always signified new beginnings. And I treat that time of year as if it is a new year. And I will share with you that very consistently in my business, and in the business of my clients, thinking in this way, and treating this time of the year like this has always resulted in the biggest growth and the biggest revenue of the entire year in q4. It happens for me every single year. And I have noticed that happens for my clients as well. So something I am doing and teaching them is creating this massive momentum in this last third to last quarter of the year. I think a big part of that is treating that September timeframe like it is a new beginning.
Jessica Miller
[7:35] So what that means is, I want you to plan as if it’s a new year. What are you going to do in that first week back? Why? How are you going to structure your calendars? How are you going to look at your, you know, your desk and your new beginnings? As you go into that September timeframe, you want to really have this sort of step over the threshold. Like we’re ending something and intentionally starting something new in that September timeframe. So the first thing I always do is I treat that time as a new beginning. One way that you can do this is think about how you cross over into January 1. What are some of the things that you like to do? Do you vision? Do you, you know, create a vision board? Do you set intentions? Do you create goals? What do you do to get yourself to create this new beginning? What are those things that you like to do? And what are the things that you’ve done in your business that work? I want you to pull those back into September.
Jessica Miller
[8:44] So right now, I want you to think about, hey, the end of the year is coming up, right? The end of August is coming up. For some of you your kids are transitioning back to school. Like that’s going to be the quote unquote, end of the year and into a new year. So I want you to think about that timeframe, and I want you to mentally sit down and prepare as if you’re going into a new year. It is a new beginning. It’s time to create new momentum. It’s time to look at it as a new start. How do you want to show up in that new year? And this is extremely important from the mental game perspective as well as operationally and logistically.
Jessica Miller
[9:23] The second thing I do is I always go and revisit my goals and my plans. So what do I want to accomplish in the next four months? Okay, we’re, we’re two thirds of the way through the year, right? We’re moving into this last quarter. How do I want to end this year? What kind of goals do I want to have? What kind of plans do I want to put in place? Is there a time that I want to take off? Are there revenue goals I want to hit? Are there things I wanted to put out into the world that I haven’t done yet? So going and looking at your plans, looking at the goals that you set, where are there gaps? How do you want to shift that? You know, one of the beautiful things about summer and a lot of times shifting our intention, is we’ve had time to marinate and to create. And now we get to take all of that wisdom, and we get to put it into what we’re creating for our goals and our plans going forward. It is so important that we take all of that knowledge into account. And we assess what we have kind of on the docket moving forward, and we decide if that’s what we want, and if we need to shift it.
Jessica Miller
[10:32] So I always go back to my goals and plans so that I can create whatever I’m doing year end with eyes wide open, we’re infusing all that knowledge, and also choosing what it is that I want. Because our wants and desires change when we have time to think about things and marinate. And I would say that’s one of the most powerful ways to be creating in our business. And so we want to take that and really infuse that into what we have going forward.
Jessica Miller
[10:58] The third thing is I want you to go and look at and reevaluate your schedule, your team’s schedule, and the roles or responsibilities within your organization. So one of the great things, I will say, it is the most powerful and positive thing about any shift in your cash flow. And a lot of times this happens in the summertime, when your cashflow shifts, and you start to evaluate your business, or you have the bandwidth or the time to do that, you start to see efficiencies. And it is such a golden opportunity to really dig in and look at what am I doing with my time? What am I responsible for? Who’s on my team? What are they responsible for? How are we scheduling that time? Kind of what is the dynamic between the people and the resources within my business?
Jessica Miller
[11:54] I urge you that as you shift into this quote unquote, New Year and new timeframe that you go back, and you will look at that, because your intentions are shifting because you’re starting new. And very likely your goals and your plans are shifting, often the roles and responsibilities of your team, your headcount, and even the things that you focus on will shift. And it is so important to go and look at that. So you can find those efficiencies, you can dial down or up the things that you need to. Maybe there’s resources that you can combine. Maybe there’s resources that you don’t need. Maybe you need more resources. Maybe you need people to be doing something different. Maybe something has showed up in your team members that you can leverage. Now, maybe there’s an opportunity for layering on some technology, maybe you can put AI into the mix. What, you know, what is happening there with that, that human resource, or any of that tech resource that you can really then layer over or shift as you think about year end? It is always, always a great decision to go back and audit what you have, and then figure out how you can best utilize those resources.
Jessica Miller
[13:08] So going back and looking at what are you responsible for? Where are you spending your time? Where’s your team spending your time? What you know, kind of roles or responsibilities do you have? What do you need more or less of, and start to use those things in a different way, a fresh way, and leverage them to get the best result and outputs that you can to help you get to the goals and to the plan that you have now set in place. Right? Because nothing is like stagnant, right? It’s always fluid. And so it’s always good to go back and look at those things as you’re moving into this new phase.
Jessica Miller
[13:42] The fourth thing is to make downtime and whitespace a non-negotiable part of your business, and to put it on your calendar. So one of the things that many of us do in the summertime is we dial up our time off. We dial up this whitespace maybe that’s a byproduct of the way that our business is moving where we maybe have more time or our client load shifts. Maybe we’re dialing up that downtime and that whitespace because we want to be with our family. We want to be with loved ones. We want to travel. But often we find that people are taking the most time off and creating more white space on their calendar in the summertime. We also tend to see this at the end of the year like holiday time, end of the year shutdown. I do that with my business every year. Those last two weeks of the year we shut down and I noticed a lot of businesses do that. So summertime tends to be one of those times. The beautiful thing about it is you’re flexing these muscles of what it looks like to include that as part of your business plan. Include that downtime and that whitespace as part of your business plan. You also often have figured out how to flex getting things done while actually taking time off and nourishing yourself and your team and all those people with less time, right? You have less work time if you’re taking time off. And you figured out how to do that. Those best practices are gold in your business.
Jessica Miller
[15:18] And as established entrepreneurs, we forget that we are kind of on the grind and on the hamster wheel. And it isn’t till there’s like a forcing function like, hey, we’re going away for a week, or, hey, the kids are out of school, that forces you to shift that dynamic. Once you do, and you have now seen that it is possible, you want to take all of those things, and you don’t want to make it just the summer thing. You don’t want to make it just a weekend thing. One of the things that I have had to learn in my business, I will say the hard way, because I tend to be a type A personality and I go and go and I have a lot of energy, is that I cannot live just for the times when I am not working. That happened to show up every once in a while. I can’t live just for the weekend; I can’t live for the three days I take off. Because what happens is, if I am not actively shifting the way that I think and the way that I show up, and the way that I incorporate things into my schedule normally and consistently, guess what happens? After the three days that I’m off, the old me just shows up again. It shows up with the same behaviors, and it does the same things, and it burns out in the same way.
Jessica Miller
[16:32] So when you start to incorporate these things that shift how you’re showing up, shift the dynamic in your business, and most importantly, they shift you. Because when you’re someone who decides to take, I’m making this up, four weeks of your summer off, you have to become a different person that thinks differently and thinks that that’s okay, and figures out creatively how to do that. In order to accomplish that, once you do that you are forever changed. And now you can take that person right into September. And you can leverage all the skills and all the knowledge that made you that person in the summer, you can be that person in the fall, and forever. So what I want you to make sure that you’re doing is that when you go into the fall, you take that downtime, and that whitespace and all that knowledge of how to do that. And you make it part of your business plan.
Jessica Miller
[17:24] Okay, so when you move over, you transition into the fall, I want you to take that downtime, and I want you to take that whitespace and I want you to put it on your calendar as non-negotiable time. Like, if you have to schedule your social media posts or whatever, if you need to record your podcast, and they are on your calendar as an item, right, as a scheduled time. Now your downtime and your whitespace is on there too. And make it non-negotiable and make it specific. So if sitting down and reading a book was your thing in the summer, where can you do that going forward? And why is it so important? This is the other piece. What is your WHY for it? Does it give you bandwidth? Does it transport you to another place? Does it start to move those creative juices? Does it allow you to sit still? Whatever it is, link it to your results because I promise you, you think it’s just like the romance beach read and like it’s kind of this luxurious thing. But I promise you, it’s not just that. It is creating the results in your business that you are making right now because it is helping you, your whole person, balance all of those things. And those pieces are game changers. So get them on your calendar.
Jessica Miller
[18:39] And last but not least, and this is kind of in line with number four, but number five, last but not least, is get your energy and well-being at the top of your list and guard it at all costs. You are nothing without your energy. You are nothing without you. For 95% of the people that are listening to this podcast, you are your business. If you can’t show up and thrive, if you don’t have the energy and the bandwidth, if you are burning that candle on both ends, if you are burning your team’s candle on both ends, guess what will happen? There will be no business and there might be something that is creating some sort of output. But I promise you it will not be thriving. It will not be fun, and it will not be creating the things that you want and that you came into this business to actually create. You are your most important asset. I have said this 100 times on this podcast. I will say it again. You are the most important asset in your business. All the hell yes, this comes from you. Your hell yes offer comes from you; the energy comes from you. It is so important that you guard that. That includes your HELL YES energy, that includes the things that bring you joy, that includes putting ideal clients and working with those A listers that you want to.
Jessica Miller
[20:09] All these things are part of the energetic sphere of your business. It means having profits enough that you thrive. You should not be struggling. It is okay, and it is part of the whole picture, that you guard those profits that you need to thrive in your business so that you can get what you need. There’s self-sustenance, you can support your family, you can do the things that you want, and put the things out into the world that make you you, and that make your clients flourish. Your colleagues, your team, all those things make up this energetic ecosystem of your business. Your most important thing is to guard that at all costs. And when we transition into these new beginnings, we reevaluate how it feels. What is working? Who lights us up? Who do we love being around? Who do we love working with? Who do we love locking arms with? What offers light us up? What formats do we enjoy being in? What kind of things do we like doing with other people? All of those things matter, and it is so important that you safeguard those.
Jessica Miller
[21:17] So as you’re moving into this next phase, it’s not just what you’ll do, and it’s not just who you’re being, it’s how it feels, right? And you always want to feel forward and protect that energy. It is a big joke that I have with my coaches, and I’ve said this even in masterminds that I’ve been in, sometimes I forget to feel, like I just forget. I am so cerebral about things, that I’m thinking my way through it. I’m constantly thinking it. I’m also sort of this creative problem solver. So I’m always finding these connections to all these things, looking at my business, you know, thinking about my hell yes energy. How do I put that in there? What is the plan? What are the goals? What you know, what do I want to do? All those things, part of that, is its huge energetic burn. And I have to tell you, I love it. I love being in motion, I love creating things. I think it is the backbone of what we do as entrepreneurs is create incredible things in our business.
Jessica Miller
[22:16] In order to do that, you need to guard your energy as if it is the most important asset that you have, and really nurture it, and intentionally put things into your business that really create that energy. So in this time of the year, it’s so important to go back and look at what things do you have, or what things can you incorporate that feed your energy that nourish you, that create that self-sustenance, that give you that re invigorated feeling. Because that is what feeds everything else. Everything else. And when it’s hell yes, all around, that is when it just creates all the incredible things for everybody.
Jessica Miller
[23:00] So as a recap, as you’re coming out of the summer haze, as you’re creating this transition into the end of the year, the fourth quarter, this next third of the year, I want you to think about these five things in your business. And I want you to move through these little tips and tricks and go through your business around these five things. And make sure that they’re locked in as you’re transitioning. I promise you, you will create more, you will feel better, there will be more joy and ease in your business., and almost like stepping over that threshold will be one of the things you look forward to every year because you know what’s coming beyond that.
Jessica Miller
[23:41] So the first thing is treat September like it is a new year, prepare for the reset. Think about how you’re going to transition over and why that’s so important. To revisit your goals and plans, you’ve had the summer, many of us have stepped back, reevaluated, thought about our intentions. Now it’s time to look at your goals and plans and make sure they’re in line with what you really want.
Jessica Miller
[24:04] The third thing is reevaluate your schedule, what you’re doing, what your team is doing, their schedule, and all the roles and responsibilities in your business. As you shift and your goals and your plans shift, then the things that you do that you focus on, that your team focuses on, all those things are going to shift too. You can find so many efficiencies and gaps that can be filled and things that can be leveraged, whether with a human resource or a tech resource or even some of the AI resources that are going to make this end of the year so much more powerful when you find those efficiencies and streamline that.
Jessica Miller
[24:38] Fourth thing is make downtime and whitespace a non-negotiable part of your calendar and put it on there. It is one of the most important things. You have to make the time. You have learned how to do that in the summer. People use that time to dial back often. You figured out how to do that and keep your business going. Now take all that knowledge and apply it going forward and make it part of your business plan, plan and not a byproduct.
Jessica Miller
[25:02] And then the fifth thing, last but not least, guard your energy and your well-being at all costs. That hell yes, that joy, your clients that you work with, the people that you surround yourself with, the colleagues, the places you show up, your team, all of that is part of your energetic sphere in your business. And again, we are all about hell yes here. You can have a thriving business, you can have a summer that is awesome, you can do everything that you want, make the money that you want, work with the people that you want, it can all be in hell yes. But only, only when it comes from you, and you take care of yourself. You are your most important asset in your business. Everything comes from you. That alignment and that energy and guarding it is so important. And the things that you create around you to nourish you are what helped you recreate that energy and put it back out into the world.
Jessica Miller
[25:55] And here’s what I want to say. As you transition into this end of the year, the more powerfully you do that, the more dialed in you are, the more hell yes everything is: you, your business, your offers, the things that you touch. Really, it turns to gold, and the impact that that creates, not only for this year as you transition, but it’s a huge ripple because it affects everybody else. All your clients, all the people that you touch. That is what it’s really all about. That is what it’s really all about. So take this time, catapult yourself into the year end, and watch your results. Your impact in your health, hell yes energy, blow your own damn mind. Until next week, everyone have a beautiful end of summer.
