Episode 26: Sharing the messy middle

00:00 Before we get going, I have an invitation for you. If you're ready to find out how much easier it becomes to get things done when you have Make It Happen Club in your life? The doors are open to new members right now and i would love for you to join us! So Make It Happen club is a calm quiet sanctuary where you get the clarity focus and motivation you need Hello and welcome to Unfrazzle with me Louise Miller. If you're a solo business owner and you have a big exciting vision and loads of ideas that you want to get out in the world but without drowning in a sea of overwhelm, then this is the podcast for you. Each week I'll be sharing bite-sized insights to help you stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world It's time to step away from the hustle and find a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity So grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started

01:28 Have you ever stopped to think that when your peers are sharing their offers and their programs with the world, you're only seeing this shiny end product? So it's tempting to compare where you are on that journey with what you're seeing other people putting out on social media. Forgetting the fact there is actually a whole heap of development and obstacles and sticky moments that you're just not seeing! To help redress the balance I thought i'd let you in What went on behind the scenes as I was developing Make It Happen Club back in the day. You know, success is rarely linear so i think it's really important that we share the messy middle of our projects and ideas to kind of normalise the fact that we very rarely land on the finished article first time –it takes a while! So strap yourself in

02:13 Make It Happen Club The kind of seed for Make It Happen Club was sown. So I'd just finished running a live round of my course, Tame Your To-Do List and it occurred to me that having a really gorgeous new way of managing your to do's is fantastic but that's not actually the full picture because to stay organised and to actually get things done you also need a planning habit that will help you to consciously choose which projects and ideas to focus on break those things down start taking action all of that good stuff so when i had that realisation

02:57 I did my very favourite thing which was to sit on the floor with my flip chart paper and my multi-coloured pens, and mapped out the framework for a gentle spacious planning process. Which i then tested out on my mastermind buddies! And from there things happened quite quickly because I don't mess about once I've got my teeth into something so the initial test drive was a success, my process & delivery got a big thumbs up from those who took part So I decided to invite a select group of people into a three-month pilot. So there was no sales page, no big launch just genuine conversations with some of my favorite people so i kept it nice and simple and then on the 30th November 2020 me and nine other fabulous humans gathered together for our very first monthly momentum planning session

03:43 And we all loved it. My grand plan at that point was to use that three-month pilot to test and fine tune my vision for the club, and what was going to be included in it so I could open the doors to more people in February March of 2021. Then January 2021 happened and like many of us after nine months living through a pandemic I was feeling tired, I was feeling really low. I realised rather than rushing to fling open the door I needed to take my own advice and slow things down. And my lack of energy at that time actually meant that i was able to take a bit more space, To reflect on what I wanted Make It Happen Club to look like in the future so that I could ensure it was serving my members and serving me in the best way possible

04:29 And, you know I include me in that last sentence on purpose because we all need to make sure that the projects and ideas we're developing are sustainable to us as human beings. Yes our clients need to be front and centre but so do we! If we bite off more than we can chew or if we lose sight of what we find fun and what drains us We risk burning out and then we're at risk of giving up which ultimately serves no one So i decided to rest up and extend the pilot for another three months And I used that extra time to really pay attention to what was working and what wasn't, which in turn allowed me to make some changes not all of which were easy. So i've always said that Make It Happen Club is here to help you get stuff done not give you more to do and I was starting to feel that what I was creating was moving away from that ethos because I'd been listening to other people rather than listening to myself

05:23 So despite some very well-meaning people in my world suggesting that I needed to give people more if i wanted them to stay in Make It Happen Club, I trusted my instincts and did the exact opposite. I took away everything that might become a distraction from the club's purpose which is supporting them you know supporting members to decide what's important make a plan to move those things forward and then actually take action So from that slightly scary place, really hoping that my instinct was right I took a deep breath and spoke to my founder members about the changes that i wanted to make. And I was delighted and more than a little gobsmacked when everyone who had stayed with me till the end of the six month pilot Was happy to renew despite the fact that I was about to remove some of the elements they'd had access too previously so if thats not confirmation that I should trust my instincts then I don't know what is

06:19 So since Make It Happen Club started in November 2020, 40 solo business owners have enjoyed the peace and gentle focus of the space without all of the extra noise. There's plenty of that out in the world elsewhere we don't need that in Make it Happen Club as well and I've really loved supporting them you know as they decide what to focus on and move into action month after month after month So in hindsight, you know it turns out that the false start that I had way back at the beginning far from holding me back actually served me really well because it gave me this space to dive into what Make It Happen Club needed to be. And four years on, you know I'm loving it as much as ever and the members are loving it too. So have you ever experienced something similar in your work where it feels like things are conspiring against you but when you look back you can see how necessary that was to your continued evolution?

07:09 And it's really hard to see that bigger picture and the lesson when you're in that moment. But that's why I wanted to share this with you because it was really hard for me, that first kind of... well there's the second half of what ended up being a six-month pilot. I only wanted that pilot to be three months, it ended up being six but that was the best thing that could have happened And one other thing that has changed actually since then is the way that I invite people to join us in Make It Happen Club. So doors used to be open all year round, but i started to notice that people found it easier to land into the space when they joined us at the start of the quarter because that way they got to look at what they'd love to achieve over a longer period

08:42 Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle. Sharing is caring so if you loved this episode please share it on your socials or head over to Spotify, iTunes or wherever you get your podcasts and leave me a review! Not only will I be hugely grateful, your ratings and reviews will help others find this podcast so that even more people can make their ideas happen. Thanks so much and see you next time