Episode 91: Sharing a breakthrough

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 And now, onto today's episode.

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

01:30 I recently had a bit of a breakthrough in my business so i thought that today, I'd take you behind the scenes and share that with you. So for a while now, I have been trying to find a way to articulate the approach that I use when I'm working with clients and I know that my work is pretty unique. I haven't yet come across anyone else doing what I do the way I do it so sometimes have to work a little bit harder to help people understand what it is and why it's so effective at helping people with their productivity And with the help of the fabulous Janine Coombs I think i have finally nailed it. So the really great thing about Janine is that not only is she an expert at helping people with this stuff

02:07 She's also been a client of mine for a few years now and so she has had the inside scoop on what it is like working with me, and she has experienced that for herself. So between us we have come up with six pillars that underpin everything I do And when they are all in place they will help you follow through on what matters most so that you can make progress in your business without all of the overwhelm We're calling this approach that I use with my clients The Treehouse Method If you've been here awhile then you will understand the significance of The Treehouse If you're new here and you haven't heard me talk about that before, I will pop a link in the show notes to an episode of Unfrazzle where i talk about it at length but the short version is that when you're stuck in the weeds or going round in circles or bogged down in detail. The only way out and back into progress is to lift yourself up To head up to the treehouse where you can clear your head gain some perspective and create a plan thats gonna get you moving forward again

03:00 So the treehouse method is all about what we do once we're up in that tree house. Okay, so here are the six pillars that I mentioned earlier and really excited to share them with you! The first pillar is space And it's about space for you to think away from the noise and free from distractions so that you can find the clarity and focus that you need to move forward. So this pillar is all about having that space in your diary every month, whether that's with me in Make It Happen Club or as a one-to-one client, and giving yourself the space that you need to do your best work Second pillar is Alignment. So this one is all about making sure the plans you're making are taking you in a direction that excites you Now I could use the word vision here but I know that some people struggle with that word so instead, I talk about alignment because it's all about knowing what you want your business and your life to look like so that you can make sure that the plans you're creating are taking you in that direction and not off on a tangent towards something you don't actually want or someone else's version of success

04:00 And then we move on to Life Friendly. Right, life friendly this pillar is there to remind you how important it is that you consider everything going on in your life when you're making your plans Because if you try and keep your work and the rest of your life in two separate containers, you're asking for trouble. It's really not helpful because if there is something big going on in your life so for example a house move or taking care of a sick relative that is going to impact the energy and the mental capacity that you have available for your work And that works the other way around as well right? If you've got a massive launch going on that requires a lot from you

04:37 That is going to impact the energy and the capacity you have for things going on outside of your work. So when you make plans acknowledge that, that is just the truth as a matter those plans will be more realistic and then much more likely to actually happen so making sure your plans are life-friendly that's that pillar And the next one is Achievable. So, the plans that you create when you're in The Treehouse with me will be thoughtfully put together inspired by your vision and rooted in reality they will be very doable making it really easy to follow through and take action right this is not about just emptying your head onto a piece of paper and then calling that our plan we take our time and we make sure that the plan you have in your hand at the end of our session is really doable

05:23 And the fifth pillar is Rhythm. Because making this shift from feeling overwhelmed with half-finished projects all over the place to getting the right things done and finished at the right time, it's not a one and done thing! It's why Make it Happen Club clients join for a year and One To One Clients work with me for at least six months because for the change to be sustainable, your productivity to improve over the long term you need to keep showing up month after month And then the final pillar is that my approach is rooted in neuroscience.

06:14 So the planning process that I guide my clients through wasn't created on a whim, right? It's the result of a lot of reading deep thinking and observing what works for my client. As i said before this is not about doing a brain dump writing a list and then hoping for the best instead you're guided through a process that gets both your conscious and your subconscious mind on board and is setting you up for success So I'm not sure if i've talked about executive function on Unfrazzle before but, I'm just going to give you a really quick overview as another example of what I mean about this rooted in neuroscience pillar. So executive function is the set of cognitive processes that allow us to plan prioritize focus our attention and juggle multiple tasks

06:55 And there are two neural pathways that underlie those systems. There's the hot executive function system, that takes over when our emotions are high in the heat of the moment and then there is a cool executive function that is in charge when things feel calm and stakes are lower Now as you can imagine most people don't make logical decisions or problem solve efficiently when their hot executive function is dominant It's really important we allow space for that cool system to take the reins from time-to-time And that is what I am doing when i'm working with my clients, right? It's helping them take a step out of the chaos away from their busyness away from the distractions so that they can make good decisions about what they are and are not going to do. Every time you visit The Treehouse you're allowing your cool executive function to take the reins which means better decision making and better problem solving So the other thing to mention here is I am a certified NLP practitioner so I bring some of that into making sure that your subconscious is along for the ride

07:54 So the process I've created, the treehouse method and the specific planning process that i've created as part of that means that over time my clients do strengthen their focus increase their self-reliance and build the knowledge that they can get stuff done. And actually that is the thing I love the most about this work it's not just about being more productive Working in this way means that a lifetime of feeling like there's something wrong with you is replaced by deep knowing that you can achieve your goals and make incredible things happen in your business. So just to recap the six pillars that will help you get to that place, we've got space alignment life-friendly achievable rhythm and rooted in neuroscience

08:37 So as you reflect on your own relationship with planning and productivity, can you see where those pillars are working for you? And maybe where they're not. Is there anything there that you can see that you need to strengthen in order to make the changes that you want to make in your life? And if you're ready for some support, if you know that you're going to find this difficult on your own and you want to experience the magic of the Treehouse Method for yourself. If you are listening around the time it comes out doors to Make It Happen Club are open right now they close on Thursday 12th June though so if you want to join us you'll need to be quick! It would really lovely to see you there head to louisemiller.uk slash makeithappenclub I will put a link in the comments

09:13 And if you've missed the boat, if you're listening to this a little bit later than the 12th of June You can sign up for the waiting list and then you will be first in line when the doors open next time. So I hope you enjoyed this little peek behind the curtain of my business and as always I hope that 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