Have you found yourself in a rut lately? Like a place where you just feel stuck. There are many reasons why business owners find themselves stuck in a rut, but not many know what to do next.
The good news is you are not alone, we have all been there before. In this week’s episode, we are breaking through that business rut and discussing ways to overcome the feeling of being stuck! I am diving deep into the strategies and tactics that you can use to break free from a this rut and get back on track toward success and growth.
Follow along to find the common causes, tips to overcome feeling stuck, and how to maintain your momentum.
Biggest Takeaways:
- 5:33 Common reason why business owners feel like their stuck in a rut
- 6:57 identifying the root cause of business rut
- 8:26 Strategies for breaking free from rut
- 10:21 Maintaining momentum
Recommendations:
A business rut can leave any business owner feeling stuck, depressed and on the verge of wanting to give up. Sometimes it takes a different perspective or a different voice of reason you can lean on to help you through these painful ruts. <a href=”https://jumpconsulting.net/mastermind”>The Mastermind group</a> is a community of like-mined business owners who have all been in the business rut before! This community learns on each other and grows together with monthly HR questions answered live, 1:1 coaching with Bella, and a plethora of support. This is a community unlike any other in the industry and knows the pains of being stuck. But they also know the success of getting out!
Links:
Better Marketing With Bella
Bella Vasta Instagram
Mastermind Group
Transcript
This is episode 320 of Bella in Your Business. Hi there, I’m Bella Vasta from Jump Consulting. You might know me from CBS, NBC, Fox, Huffington Post, Entrepreneur, or maybe you’ve seen me speak on stage or read my book, The Four Dogs That Every Business Owner Needs. In any case, get ready because you’re about to get your hashtag Bella Butt Kickin’ in this next episode of Bella in Your Business.
So what do you say? Let’s get ready and jump. Welcome everybody to episode 320 of Bella in Your Business. It is December 15th. We are almost at Christmas, the end of 2022. I’m not going to say where the year go. The year was 12 months long, just like it always is. And it’s been a really awesome year. I don’t know about you, but I wanted to say thank you. Thank you for listening. And our podcast keeps growing and growing and growing.
I just want to make sure that you have hit that subscribe button. Make sure that wherever you’re listening to this podcast, whatever podcast player, that you hit that subscribe button. That would help us tremendously and would be a really great and easy way for you to say thank you if you are listening and find value in this. We are also going to be taking a break from the show for the next two weeks. We do this every single year. It’s a chance to kind of take one thing off the plate for our entire amazing team.
Chris has been with me for, my gosh, like years. I don’t even know how many years. Always doing podcast production, which basically means anytime I cough, sneeze, or my child comes bursting in here and I have to stop the podcast, he takes care of that. He also makes sure that the sound levels are good and adds the intro and outro onto it. So Chris is amazing. And then we get Jillian on the show notes, making sure that that all also happens. So anytime you read, “what’s this podcast about?” that is definitely Jillian. So we’re going to give them a nice little break for two weeks—they don’t have to do this anymore.
But guys, today we’re going to talk about feeling in a rut. Have you ever felt that way with your business? Feeling stuck? I really want to talk to you about that today because I think there’s a lot of pressure that’s put on knowing what you’re going to be doing in 2023. And this is when we should be planning. I’ll tell you the truth—in 2021, I actually did my whole staycation thing and tried to plan, and I couldn’t plan. You know what happened? I wasn’t meant to plan because this year was a lot of growth for me personally and in business and my organizational structure and adding to the team and all of this stuff. It was more of a structural year for me, not a growth year.
Sometimes when that happens and when you feel like you should be doing more and getting bigger or making all these goals and plans and you don’t, then you kind of feel like you’re in a rut and you can’t get out of it. Then you start getting down on yourself. I mean, come on, have you ever been there? But today’s podcast, I want to show you that there’s always a way. I’m also going to talk about common reasons why we feel stuck in our business, tips for identifying the root causes, and strategies for breaking free from the business rut—including setting goals, networking, and seeking support. We’re going to talk about the importance of taking action and what that looks like, and then how to keep up the momentum because it’s not just enough to take the action, right?
Before we get into that, I know the ones that you may be feeling there’s no way out of might be like hiring. “I hate hiring. There’s no one out there to hire.” Man, have I got plans for you in 2023. I am going to blow the lid. It’s my focus for 2023—my God, there, I said it. Any of you who follow me on Facebook or Instagram know that I just had my own planning session and came up with a really big thing, and I’ll be unveiling it, but I just let the cat out of the bag—it has a lot to do with hiring systems.
The second thing is just happiness in your business. You know, guys, we go through all different kinds of ebbs and flows in our life. I am always going to go back to when I was in NICU with my daughter. When my daughter was born back in 2014, she was only 12 ounces—one of the smallest surviving female babies on the planet. I was running a pet sitting company with 10 employees and I was coaching, but I was also in NICU (baby ICU) for eight to ten hours a day. So when I tell you I felt like I was stuck in a rut and couldn’t do much, thank God for systems and employees, I can’t tell you. I thought it was bad then—coming out of it, coming out of the trauma, coming out of the depression of it, and getting healing from it. And then when I thought I was getting better, toppling right into a divorce—not an easy divorce either—and then ergo more learning and growing, okay?
There are a lot of things in our lives that we end up feeling like we’re in a rut. Some ruts are deeper or longer than others and some aren’t. But I’m here to tell you that there is always a way out. There’s always a way out. Nothing is ever written in stone. There is not a period on anything. There’s an ellipsis—the dot dot dot. There’s an “and.” There’s never a “it’s done, last chapter.” There’s always more. And I want you to remember that.
So today, as I told you, if you’re feeling stuck in your business and looking for ways to break free, then this episode is definitely for you. I’m going to talk about ways to overcome this rut and get back on the track toward success.
There are a lot of different reasons why we can feel stuck in our business. We could feel like we have a lack of direction or clear goals. Many business owners can feel stuck when they don’t have a clear sense of direction or goals in their business. Without a clear roadmap or plan, it can be difficult to know what to do next, and you can feel lost and unsure of how to move forward. There’s also a lack of significant resources or support—lack of funding, staff, or expertise—that can make it difficult to take the next step. Another reason is lack of motivation or enthusiasm. Over time, it’s easy to lose sight of your passion or your drive and become disheartened with your business.
Burnout and exhaustion are also common reasons why business owners can feel stuck. Running a business can be demanding and exhausting, and it’s important to take care of yourself to avoid burnout. Another one is stagnation or growth. When your business isn’t moving forward and you just feel like you plateaued, it can be really frustrating and disheartening.
So what causes this? Well, there are a couple of things. First, you really need to reflect on your business and goals. Take some time to reflect on your priorities. What is it exactly that you want to achieve with your business? The way that I say this on my calls is, “If I gave you a magic wand and you could fix anything, what would it be?” By understanding your goals and priorities, you can get a better sense of whether you’re on track or falling short.
Another factor to consider in identifying the root cause of a business rut is your resources and support. Do you have the funding or staff expertise that you need to achieve your goals? That could be holding you back. You also want to seek feedback from others—your staff, your customers, your mentors. These people might have valuable insights into why you’re feeling stuck, and their feedback can help you figure out the root cause.
If you don’t feel passionate about your business, think about why. Do you feel energized and excited about it, or do you feel bored and burnt out? Understanding what motivates you is important because if you can’t identify it, you can’t solve it. One of my favorite things right now is: you got to feel it to heal it. You can’t just keep burying things.
Some strategies to break free include setting achievable goals. I recommend SMART goals—we do this all the time in the mastermind. Even if it’s a tiny goal, you need to do it. Something a lot of people don’t do is celebrate. Coming up in January, I’m going to introduce you to Becky Lee, and she’s going to tell you about her celebration—it’s going to blow your mind.
You also want to network and connect with other business owners. By networking, you can learn from others who have overcome similar challenges and gain valuable insights. You realize you’re not alone. Another way is to seek support and guidance from mentors or advisors because getting perspective and advice helps you overcome obstacles and challenges. Then you’ve got to take action and be persistent. It’s not like you sleep with it under your pillow and things happen, but you need to start getting momentum. Often great things are accomplished by small, tiny steps. It doesn’t have to be grandiose.
I’m reading The One Thing right now, recommended by the amazing Candy Wheeler, who was our guest in the mastermind last week. She made us all cry. She did a poetry slam, took us through a meditation, and really changed the pace of a lot of things. She recommended this book—it’s amazing. I highly recommend it to you. You’ve got to take action and be persistent. It means trying new things, taking risks, and persevering even when things don’t go as planned. By taking action and being persistent, you can break free from a business rut and move forward toward success and growth.
Once you do that, you’ve got to figure out how to maintain the momentum. Continue setting goals and plans. Stay connected and engaged with others. Take care of yourself. Stay open to new ideas and opportunities. All this is going to help. That means working out or moving your body—I’ve got a treadmill under my desk. I hadn’t used it for two months, but my trainer is getting on me. Just doing something—setting a timer and every hour taking a lap around the block—helps you take care of yourself.
You have to stay connected and engaged with others. My amazing friend Olenka Cullen is a business coach and she helps a lot of CEOs. She’s been on the podcast before, she’s been in the mastermind, and she’s been at my kitchen table giving me my own Bella butt kicking. I said, “Listen, this is what I’m thinking of doing—poke holes in it.” It is so important to have amazing people around you who support, challenge, guide, and motivate you. To avoid falling back into the business rut, you need good people around you and you need to start taking steps forward.
It’s never a period. Remember that. It is never a period—it’s a dot, dot, dot. It is an “and.” You are the only one who gets to decide if you stay in your rut. I know that’s hard to think about and to say, because if it’s depression or mental health, I’m not deflating that. But nobody else can help you get through it other than yourself. It takes tiny actions that snowball into larger actions. Another book that comes to mind is Darren Hardy’s The Compound Effect. Shout out to Michelle—she messaged me this week that she just started that book based on my recommendation. She’s also a mastermind member and Better Marketing with Bella member.
Ruts happen. You’re normal. Ruts—or plateaus, as I prefer to call them—are part of the process. If you’re stuck in a rut, that’s what you need to know. I hope this gives you a little excitement or motivation to get out of it. And if you’re lacking quality people to be around, I really do encourage you to join the mastermind. You’d be shocked and awed by what’s going on there. One member said joining the mastermind breathed new life into her business that she thought was on life support. Another just joined and said, “Bella, I just realized that everyone who’s really successful are the ones showing up, doing the challenges, and asking questions. I’m going to be like that.” She said, “Just put my annual membership on auto renew forever.” It was amazing—and true. Lions hang out with lions.
What are you doing differently in 2023 to get different results? What are you doing differently to amplify your message and get out there more? Are you doing better marketing? Not just Better Marketing with Bella, but are you amplifying your marketing? Are you stepping it up? Every single month, Instagram has had an average of ten changes or upgrades this year. That’s the average—last month it was fourteen. Who are you hanging around? Who is speaking life into you? Who is giving you a hand to get up out of the rut? It all matters.
If you’re in one of those cackling Facebook groups where they just talk about what you can’t do and not about big ideas, I highly suggest you check out the mastermind. Just go to jumpconsulting.net/mastermind. I hope you realize that your rut is not the end—you can truly get past it. It’s been another episode of Bella In Your Business. I wish you a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy New Year, and we’ll see you again in January. I’m so grateful for you listening and wish you the happiest of holidays. Always keep jumping.
So what did you think? Did you love this episode? I sure hope you did because I put a lot of love into this for you. The best way you can show me that is by going to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or wherever you listen to your podcast and leave a review. I just might read it on the next episode. I also want to remind you that when life gets you down, remember to always keep jumping. Thanks for listening.