Ep128: Slow progress is still progress

00:52 Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity. I'm Louise Miller and each week i share bite-sized insights to help you step away from the hustle stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world Before we dive into today's episode, if you enjoy what I'm sharing here on Unfrazzle and you'd like to support the podcast You can buy me a cuppa by going to BuyMeACoffee.com slash Louise Miller and making a one-off donation. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes Okay grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started This might be a very short episode this week because the main thing i want to share is right there In the episode title slow progress is still progress

01:38 So many of us solo business owners, it might even be fair to say that most of us are impatient. When we first start out in business, we might know logically that it can take time to reach the point where we're bringing in the income that we need. But still get despondent and frustrated that it's not happening quicker. We know in our heads that we can't go from nobody knowing we exist to being offered amazing speaking opportunities at the drop of a hat but it still feels disheartening when you keep pitching for podcasts and getting ignored! We know most people need to hear about how we help them many times before their ready-to-trust doesn't take the plunge But still we feel rubbish when we send that first sales email and it's met with crickets. So showing up anyway, even when we're not seeing those results yet is hard and it takes resilience and tenacity which is why being a solo business owner is not for the faint-hearted

02:27 And when things are taking longer than we want, whether that's big important things like signing new clients or small important things like writing a blog the best thing we can do is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. To remember that slow progress is still progress and to keep on keeping on So in practical terms that means always knowing your next step and having a rough idea of when you're going to take it. So if a blog for example is taking longer than you thought, and you're not able to get it done in the time you allocated make a rough decision about when you're going to come back to it And if signing clients is taking longer than you thought, make sure you have clarity around the things you can be doing to bring the outcome that you want closer. So for you that might mean proactively following up with people creating some new sales content asking for testimonials to showcase how fabulous you are maybe asking for referrals so get clear on what those things are then pick one of those things so pick your next action and decide when you're going to do it

03:22 A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step and we can all take that one step, can't we? Slow progress is still progress. But I know that that could be hard to remember when it looks like there's no progress right so if that's how you're feeling right now remember that when a seed is planted it takes a while before we see green shoots That doesn't mean nothing's happening, we just can't see it. So even if nobody is replying to your emails or your reach is way down on LinkedIn you still never know who's watching all that needs to happen is for them to see the right message from you at the right time and everything could change but if you stop taking action that won't happen so just as a quick aside I just want to say here that doesn't mean that you should keep doing the same thing over and over again if the approach you've been trying for a while doesn't seem to be working

04:10 I'm in that situation right now. As i record this, I'm pondering what I'm going to change to help me be a guest on other people's podcasts because the approach that I took you know three or four years ago that worked for me really well... That was no longer working so I've given it a really good go over the last six months but I need to change something if I want to see results So I'm not saying just keep trudging on indefinitely there does come a point when you need to evaluate and adjust if necessary But actually trying things and evaluating them, and then adjusting. That's all part of the process too isn't it? So in my mind that is still progress even if it's not bringing us results It's bringing us closer to figuring out what will so the final thing I wanted to mention today In relation to this slow progresses till progress theme Is that sometimes progress can feel slow because we have unrealistic expectations about how long things will take

05:02 So in my quiz that helps people uncover the real reason they're not getting things done, I ask a question designed to find out how good people are at estimating how long it will take them to do something. And based on the results i've seen so far, I can confidently state that the vast majority of people are terrible at it! So if that's you remember it's not that you're not being productive It's just that things are routinely taking longer than you think they will, so of course progress is going to feel slower than you'd like. You're not doing anything wrong but having an awareness that that's what happening and it's just that things take longer than you'd like them too

05:38 When you become aware of that, that can make a big difference psychologically because it just means you're not doing anything wrong. There's nothing wrong with you so just remember that as long as you keep putting one foot in front of the other, as long as you know your next step and you are committed to taking it, you will get to where you want to go! So stick with it celebrate the small steps and enjoy the journey And as always I hope this helps and I look forward to seeing you again soon Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating and review as that will help more people discover this podcast! If you would like to hear more from me to help stop faffing and take back control of your time, you'll find the link to join my mailing list in the show notes and I would really love for you to join us so thanks so much for your support and look forward to seeing you next time