I cannot figure out which curtains I want in my office and it is driving me insane. I am mid office reno right now and things are stacked somewhat precariously as they wait for me to get them put away where they belong. The clutter, the undecided curtain issue, the still unpacked boxes, the chaos of taking my office apart and then putting it back together is starting to get to me.
Right now, this is my pile of chaos. It is the roadblock on the well-trod road to working on my business. I, like all business owners, occasionally have one of these piles of chaos build up. (I’m not terribly worried about mine right now, this office will be beautifully put back together by the end of next week). Having a pile of chaos makes us less able to function at our highest level. Chaos can distract us, weigh on our minds, and prevent us from putting in the work or taking the leaps that we need to in order to get where we want to go.
When we think about chaos in a business our brain immediately goes to a big tangle of EVERYTHING gone wrong. But in my experience, we all have these little pockets of chaos, little piles where something has been dropped there to be dealt with later and then another thing and another and another and suddenly you have a pile of chaos keeping you from being your most effective, most aligned self. A lot of times this is a pile of chaos that we have tucked away in the back of our minds (or our closets) and we might not even know it exists but it is impeding our ability to be as impactful (and frankly as happy) as we can be.
So here it is the 10 Piles of Chaos I most often see in Entrepreneurs (and then help them clear away).
LIFE chaos that impedes business
You know you have life chaos if there is something you are avoiding looking at. Maybe it’s your debt, maybe it’s the stack of dishes, maybe it is your kid’s report card, but there is something in your personal world that is distracting you from your business. Having an issue in your home, relationships, or personal life is a big drain on your business. We solve these problems in the same way we solve business problems. We frame the question exactly, brainstorm possible solutions, create a strategy, and chunk that strategy into bite-sized pieces to get you where you need to go. Because I have a secret.
Becoming better at business makes you better at life.
You can be more intentional in relationships
You can be naturally good with money
You can become a great communicator
You can live a life of both productivity and ease
And business is the school that will teach you all of that.
Becoming better at business makes you better at life.
BELIEF chaos that impedes business
We have all heard of imposter syndrome at this point, but I have bad news. Imposter syndrome has friends. There is a pile of chaos in the head of most entrepreneurs and it is whispering to you constantly horrible things like “no one will pay that” “Why do you think you can do this?” “one more episode isn’t going to ruin your life.” What you believe about yourself and about the world drastically and completely affects your actions, your growth, and the success of your business. Sorting out what you believe is the first step in throwing out the beliefs that hurt your business and finding and fighting for the ones that will help you build a business and a vision for yourself and the world.
HABIT chaos that impedes business
Habits make us who we are and good habits in your business are make or break. Our habits make us but how much thought was put into making your habits. When our habits are simply the patterns and routines that we fell into over time they can get jumbled in with the intentional daily actions we try to introduce and form a big ball of habit chaos. Whether you are trying to implement too many habits, are not being intentional about creating habits, or have some bad habits you need help getting over, habit chaos is one of the stickiest piles to work through.
IDEA chaos that keeps you from actually taking action
Good ideas are necessary in business. But so much idea creation that you are constantly in the world of “what if I….” is chaos. An abundance of ideas is a problem if it prevents you from taking action. Strategy and action go hand in hand to build a business. Too much time spent researching and planning and creating potential projects is time not spent actually building your business. Idea chaos is a sneaky pile because it feels really “important” and it is the fun part. Too many ideas can be overwhelming and stick you in the what do I do first/next box. And when you are stuck you can’t move forward.
LOOSE ENDS chaos that impedes growth
Loose ends chaos is the world of the “someday I will get around to it” list. Someday I will follow up and get testimonials from past clients. Someday I will set up a lead magnet to drive email list sign-ups. Someday I will set up my bookkeeping software to automatically import bank info. Those loose ends get tangled up like earbuds you stuffed in your pocket and become a big pile of chaos. This pile of chaos is about doing the 1 hour task that you have put off (cause you don’t have an hour!) which if you did it would save you 4 hours a month. Tie up those loose ends because they are weighing on the back of your mind (all the things you “should” be doing) plus they might save you time or money if you could just manage to clear them out.
CASH Chaos that impedes growth
Whether your cash (or cash flow) is literally a jumble so that you don’t know what is coming in or going out OR your cash is a metaphorical jumble of money mindset issues and bad money habits, I am willing to bet you have some untangling that you could do in the cash department. I work with clients to make sure their NUMBERS WORK. Pricing, payment vehicles, cash flow, money relationship, income planning, income streams, budgets. I could have a list of 10 piles of chaos just related to money. Making sense of your relationship with money and your literal piles of money is key work to any entrepreneurial journey. Chaos in this category is going to create chaos all over the place.
GRIND chaos that impedes growth
I HATE the term grind. The only thing I grind is my coffee beans. Grid implies that you get worn out in the process. I do NOT grind in my business. I work hard (where I need to). I put in all the work that is required of me, but I am not going to wear myself down in the process. In my business, I am looking for growth. I want growth in myself, in my bank account, in my impact, in the lives of my clients. There is no room for grinding down or wearing away. I want to become more not diminish into less. So I work with clients to get rid of the grind. Get rid of the tangles that are making them have to work harder instead of smarter. It isn’t about productivity it is about efficiency.
CALENDAR Chaos
If you are constantly feeling like there aren’t enough hours in the day, you have some calendar chaos, my friend. Calendar chaos is all about time, too little time for family, too little time for yourself, too little intentional time to actually build the business itself. When you have calendar chaos you are trapped in “busy”. Calendar Chaos drains your energy (even more so if you ALSO have no calendar system to keep you organized about the too much stuff you are doing). Some people’s calendar chaos looks like being double-booked or forgetting appointments. Some people’s calendar chaos is hidden under a thin layer of perfect overachieving which hides impending burnout and a deeper yearning for less busy and more meaningful use of time. If we control the chaos in your calendar (welcome to the world of saying No), we can create a life and business that uses your time efficiently and frees up more of it for you.
CLIENT Chaos
Sometimes our clients or customers can themselves be a big old heap of chaos. If you are giving them too much time, not enough structure, or too much of your personal energy with no built-in time to recharge, clients can become the worst thing going on in your business. Untangle the access you give and create clear boundaries and expectations with clients (and with yourself about clients) to smooth that pile of chaos into a sustainable and enjoyable flow of clients, where your favorite part of your business can go back to being the client part.
DISTRACTION chaos that impedes business
Your phone, your home, the news, your dog, your family, your email notification bell, and even your clients are all distractions that tear you away from the essential work to build your business. Even great ideas can be distractions for entrepreneurs (see IDEA chaos). We can be distracted by the next bright shiny idea and not follow through on what we have right in front of us. We can be distracted by the Loose Ends Chaos of the should-do list. Really any type of chaos can become a distraction as well. So our pile of distraction chaos becomes our largest pile. This pile is the biggest baddest downfall of entrepreneurs. Distraction chaos blocks your ability to get things done. The opposite of distraction is Focus.
It then comes as no surprise that my membership program for impact-driven entrepreneurs and visionaries is literally named “Full Focus Entrepreneur”. Focus is the anecdote for all of the distraction chaos that builds up for entrepreneurs (fed by all your other piles of chaos). I work with my clients in Chaos Control days (my full-day strategy intensive) to get their piles of chaos sorted out, organized, manageable, and to create a strategy to keep them that way AND THEN I work with them ongoing in the Full Focus Entrepreneur Membership Program to help them stay focused, identify what to focus on, and, most importantly, hone their ability to focus even amid a world of distraction.
Email me if you want to learn more about working with me to get your chaos under control and bring your vision and the path to get there back into crystal clear focus.